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“Ning Girl, you sure have a sharp tongue.”
Song Dashan couldn’t help but clap his hands. His eldest son was an honest man who only knew how to work—couldn’t squeeze a word out of him with a stick—and his eldest daughter-in-law was gentle and dutiful. He had no idea who Song Anning took after, but that speech she just gave had him fired up.
“Well, old man, does she have my flair from back in the day?”
“She does, absolutely!” Song Dashan grinned, the knot of frustration in his chest completely unraveled by A’Ning’s scolding.
Mrs. Zhang came bustling out, elated. So satisfying! Truly satisfying!
Before, their family had held back from making too much of a scene with the He family for their granddaughter’s sake. But now, seeing Song Anning finally let go of that He boy, their hearts felt truly at ease.
The little ones had even stopped eating their meat, staring dumbfounded at Song Anning. That Old Woman Zhao was practically the village shrew, always ready to start cursing at the slightest provocation.
“Hehe, that old hag ran off like she was chased by a mad dog. So funny!”
“Sister Anhe, does that mean Sister Anning is the mad dog?”
Song Zexun, sucking on a chicken bone, tilted his little head in confusion.
Song Anhe hurriedly covered his mouth in alarm. “Go gnaw on your bone! If Sister Anning hears you, she’ll beat you to death!”
Song Zexun pouted. “But you were the one who said it…”
“Pah! What’s so great about a Literary Candidate? As if no one else has one in their family. We don’t care. A’Ning is plump—just looking at her brings good fortune. They’re the blind ones.”
“Ning Girl, don’t take that trash’s words to heart. Others would kill to have this much meat on their bones.”
Mrs. Zhang, worried Zhao Lanhua’s words might have stung Song Anning, quickly added a few reassurances. But inwardly, she fretted: *This girl’s temper is still so fiery even after breaking off the engagement. It’ll be hard to marry her off later.*
Song Anning knew what her grandmother was thinking and smiled dismissively. “The engagement’s over. From now on, we’re strangers. I don’t care what strangers say.”
“That’s the spirit! Anyway, let’s not stand around here—let’s eat.”
With that, Mrs. Zhang and Mrs. Liu busied themselves with preparations. Song Dashan handed two strings of coins to Song Anning.
“Here’s 150 coppers. Count them, Ning Girl.
“Those two pheasants were plump and fetched a good price—190 coppers in total.
“Your second uncle took 40 coppers to buy five catties of mixed grain rice, five catties of corn flour, and two catties of mixed grain flour for you, which came to 32 coppers. The salt was eight coppers.”
Song Nian placed the small packet of salt wrapped in oil paper into Song Anning’s hand. It was such a tiny amount—how she missed the big bags of salt from her past life that cost just a couple of coins!
*No, I’ve got to level up the System fast. The System said the System store has everything. There’s so much this family needs to buy.*
Song Anning counted out another 20 coppers, splitting them into two portions, and handed them to Song Dashan and Song Nian. “This is for your hard work, Grandpa and Second Uncle. Grandpa, go buy yourself some wine.”
“Good girl, such a good girl. You’ve really grown up. Grandpa would do anything for you kids—this is too much.”
Song Dashan took out six coppers and gave them to Song Nian. Since he was the one who carried the grain back, he deserved some compensation too. Couldn’t let the second son work for nothing.
“Dad, what’s this for? With Eldest Brother away, A’Ning’s like my own daughter. What kind of father takes ‘hard work’ money from his daughter?”
Song Nian understood his father’s reasoning. The old man had always been fair. Back when the family divided their property, Song Xing was studying in town, which cost money. The elders didn’t want to favor one over the other.
“Dad, the head of the household is strong—just carrying some grain, why would we need compensation? We even ate A’Ning’s chicken. We’re family, let’s not calculate such things.”
Mrs. Liu, holding her bowl, chimed in with a few words of persuasion. Song Nian, hearing his wife speak like this, seemed to recall something and suddenly blushed. Mrs. Liu glanced at him, also turning red, and shyly walked away.
“?”
Song Anning seemed to understand something. What was it? Nothing much, just that a cartwheel had suddenly rolled over her face.
Song Nian rubbed his cheeks, somewhat awkwardly grabbing a few copper coins. “Dad, I’ll go to the village entrance to buy you some wine. Heh, I’ll have a couple sips too.”
“Hahaha, alright! Go call your second uncle—we’ll drink and eat meat together!”
With 145 copper coins left, Song Anning planned to repay a few families first. When she shared her thoughts with Song Dashan, the old man patted her shoulder with deep emotion, his eyes reddening.
“Good, good! My A’Ning has grown up. Your father would be overjoyed if he knew.”
The villagers said Song Feng and Song Zeyu had been eaten by wild beasts, but Song Dashan refused to believe it. He held onto the hope that one day, his son and grandson would return home.
Two tables were set up inside—Song Dashan, Song Erhe, and Song Nian gathered around a small table in the inner room, while the larger outer table was left for the children.
At Song Dashan’s signal to start eating, everyone dug in enthusiastically.
Song Anning also picked up her bowl and ate. Rice was still the best—coarse grains were a bit too dry and hard to swallow.
While stewing the chicken, Grandma had added plenty of mushrooms and dried bamboo shoots. Soaked in the broth, they were fresh, crisp, and delicious. She picked up a piece of chicken drenched in the savory sauce—tender yet pleasantly chewy.
Mrs. Zhang had also stir-fried a dish of wild chives with eggs and made a wild herb soup using the chicken broth.
At first, everyone was a little hesitant to eat, but once the meat touched their tongues, it was gone before they could even react, and they couldn’t help but reach for another piece.
“So good, meat is sooo good…”
The little ones ate with tears in their eyes, their cheeks stuffed full. If only they could eat meat like this every day.
After the feast, everyone rubbed their full bellies, groaning about being stuffed. Song Anning took the two youngest back home, carrying the food Mrs. Zhang had set aside for her mother.
By mid-afternoon, she no longer had the energy to go up the mountain. After sending her younger siblings home and helping Wang Yinger eat, she pulled out the loan slips from the cabinet and studied them carefully.
The compensation for Song Zeyuan and his sister amounted to 1,330 copper coins. Adding the 145 coins from selling the pheasant today and the 129 coins in the System, she decided to repay one tael of silver first and keep the remaining few hundred for household expenses.
Following the order of the loan slips, Song Anning first went to A’Qing’s Mother, who had banged on the door and shouted at her the day before.
“Auntie, you were the first to write a loan slip yesterday—20 copper coins. Please count them.”
A’Qing’s Mother, who had been sitting inside picking at her feet, covered her mouth in disbelief when she saw Song Anning repaying the debt.
“…”
“You’re… really repaying? Actually repaying?”
She had thought the loan slip was just for show. The villagers had agreed to wait a year—if Song Anning couldn’t repay by then, they’d take the matter to the Village Chief.
Placing the 20 coins on A’Qing’s dining table, Song Anning pulled out two more from her pocket and said apologetically, “Before, I took food from your house without asking. These two coins aren’t much, but consider it interest—buy some candy for A’Qing and the others.”
A’Qing’s Mother gnawed on her fingers, her face a picture of sheer terror. Without lingering, Song Anning turned to leave for the next household.
By the time she stepped out of the courtyard gate, A’Qing’s Mother had already scrambled after her in a flurry, shoes slapping haphazardly against her feet.