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Ye Daquan let out a grunt as he placed the burlap sack on the ground.
From his chest pocket, he carefully pulled out a small handkerchief and unfolded it, revealing two osmanthus candies inside.
“Here, I knew you two would come, so your uncle specially went to town to buy these,” he said.
With that, Ye Daquan stuffed the candies into the hands of the two sisters.
However, Ye Jin’er’s expression turned awkward.
At their maternal grandparents’ home, the sisters had always been doted on, especially by their two uncles, who would place all the best things directly into their hands.
In the past, when they visited occasionally, they would accept the candies and snacks without a second thought. But now, as they were staying here long-term, essentially living under someone else’s roof, receiving such treats felt a bit uncomfortable.
Ye Jin’er happened to spot Ye Yinhua standing by the kitchen door and quickly went over to pull her closer. “Cousin Yinhua, this candy was bought by Uncle. Here, take one.”
“Why give it to her? Isn’t that just a waste?” Ye Daquan said hastily. “These were bought for you and Huan’er.”
Not far away, Ye Caiping’s lips twitched. Was it really appropriate for him to speak about his niece like this? Wasn’t he afraid Ye Erquan might slap him for it?
But Ye Caiping was still too naive. Soon, Ye Erquan, Yinhua’s father, stepped out of the room and said, “Big brother is right. Yinhua doesn’t like these things. Jin’er, you eat it.”
Ye Yinhua nodded timidly. “Y-yes… I-I don’t like them.”
Ye Daquan then walked over to Ye Caiping, pulling out another small handkerchief bundle from his chest pocket.
“This is some rouge I bought for our little sister. Big brother knows you like the ones from Zhenbao Fang. Put it on—it’ll brighten you up and help you find someone way better than that scoundrel Ling Zhiyuan! Let him choke on his regret!”
“But rouge from Zhenbao Fang costs more than a hundred coppers a box! Where did you get the money for that?” Du Shi emerged from the kitchen, with Wei Shi following close behind.
Ye Daquan had been dissatisfied with Du Shi since the events of the previous day. He snapped, “What’s it to you? I didn’t use your money anyway!”
“What’s this?” Du Shi stepped forward and opened the burlap sack on the ground. Reaching inside, she pulled out several large grains of rice. Her expression immediately changed. “This is rice? The family can barely afford coarse rice mixed with bran for porridge, and you bought this fancy rice?”
At this moment, Old Man Ye and Old Lady Ye also heard the commotion and came over. They stood staring in disbelief at the large sack of rice on the floor.
Old Man Ye furrowed his brow. “What now? The family’s so poor we can’t even afford a decent meal, How will you deal with all of this?”
Ye Daquan grumbled, “The family may be poor, but we can eat anything. But my little sister needs rice! I borrowed a bit of money from Mr. Zhao in town to buy it. This tight-fisted woman here wants to make a fuss over it!”
Du Shi was so furious that her hands trembled. “We can barely scrape by with coarse rice and wild vegetable porridge, and now at a time like this, why should she get to eat fine rice? I can’t live like this anymore!”
With those words, Du Shi rushed toward the front door. As she passed Ye Caiping, she shot her a fierce glare and ran off, disappearing from sight.
“You stubborn old woman, if you’re leaving, don’t come back!” Ye Daquan shouted, then quickly approached Ye Caiping, grinning. “Don’t worry, little sister. As long as big brother’s here, you’ll always have meat and fine rice at every meal.”
Ye Erquan also nodded. “When you get married, you won’t have to worry either. I’ll send fine rice to your new home.”
Standing in the corner, Wei Shi and several nephews and nieces looked on with blank expressions, clearly used to it all and numbed by the constant abuse.
Old Lady Ye opened her mouth as if to say something but remained silent. She didn’t want to escalate the family conflict, yet she also didn’t want to see her daughter suffer.
Old Man Ye stammered, his lips moving but no words coming out. It was clear he understood the situation needed to change, but he was too fearful to act on it.
Ye Caiping turned to look at him. “Father, I’ll tidy up the room and move out right away.”
At her words, everyone froze in shock.
“Little sister, what did you say? Move out?” Ye Daquan was stunned, his face a picture of disbelief. “Why move out when everything’s fine?”
Ye Caiping stared coldly at him. “I can’t live like this anymore.”
Ye Daquan hastily said, “Little sister, don’t be rash. It’s all that old woman’s fault, always nagging and complaining. I’ll divorce her right away, and let’s see if she still causes trouble!”
Hearing that their mother might be divorced, Ye Yong and Ye Jinhua’s faces changed instantly.
“Is it really her causing trouble?” Unexpectedly, Ye Caiping glared at Ye Daquan with fury. “It’s you and Second Brother!”
Ye Daquan was taken aback. “Me?”
“I stayed here to make amends, not to treat everybody like a servant!” Ye Caiping’s tone was cold. “From now on, I’ll eat whatever everyone else eats. Return this rice and rouge. If you continue to show favoritism and cause chaos, I’ll move out immediately!”
Ye Daquan was startled. “Don’t… How will you live out there? I… I’ll return it, alright?”
Ye Caiping fixed him with a steady gaze. “Good. But you need to promise me one thing—stop arguing with sister-in-law. And also, go to Xiaodu Village and bring her back.”
“What? I have to go get her? She’s got legs, she’ll come back on her own in a couple of days,” Ye Daquan muttered.
“Go get her, I said!”
Ye Daquan looked unwilling, thinking that his little sister should have the best of everything. It was all that old woman’s fault for stirring things up. But since his little sister had spoken, he knew he couldn’t argue.
Seeing that the situation had been resolved, Old Lady Ye let out a sigh of relief. “Tomorrow morning, I’ll go with Daquan to fetch his wife.”
Ye Caiping nodded. “Then I’ll trouble you, Mother.”
She knew that if she went with Ye Daquan, it would show more sincerity. While she had decided to repay the debts of the previous owner of the body, it didn’t mean she was willing to endure Du Shi’s temper.
In three months, once she had earned enough to pay back the thirty taels, she would take her two daughters and move out.
After a long pause, Old Man Ye finally spoke. “As for the white rice, let’s return ten pounds, and keep three pounds. Caiping’s still recovering from her injury, she does need to take care of herself.”
Ye Caiping felt a warmth in her heart but shook her head. “No need, Father. I’m already better. We’re poor enough as it is, we can’t afford to take on more debt with interest.”
The main reason was that she didn’t want to make things even more chaotic.
The ten or so pounds of rice could only be sold if they wanted to resolve things peacefully.
Old Man Ye understood this as well. With a soft sigh, he nodded. Then, he turned his gaze toward Ye Daquan.
“Daquan, how much did you borrow from Mr. Zhao?”
Mr. Zhao was a wealthy man in town, and he was more than willing to lend money to locals, as his interest rates were extremely high.
Ye Daquan stammered, “It… it’s not much, I borrowed four hundred coppers, and agreed to pay it back in a month. The daily interest is four coppers, and by then I’ll owe about one hundred and ten coppers… It’s all spent already.”
“But I’ve thought it through. In a couple of days, I’ll go to town and carry big bundles. I can earn fifty coppers a day. I didn’t plan on using our family money to pay back.”
Old Man Ye’s face darkened. “There are so many people in town, how would you get those jobs?”
“This year, everyone’s been hit by disaster, and everyone’s rushing out to find work—washing clothes, carrying bundles. Even if you lower your wages, you won’t be able to find work. Fifty coppers a day? No one would even hire you for ten coppers a day.”
Ye Daquan wanted to argue, recalling that last year when he carried bundles, he did earn fifty coppers a day. But as he thought about this year’s poor harvest, he fell silent.
Old Man Ye let out a deep sigh. “Go to town and return the goods. I’ll go with you.”
Ye Caiping spoke up, “Even if we’re in a hurry, we still need to have lunch first.”
Wei Shi quickly moved toward the kitchen. “I’ll bring the rice.”
Ye Yinhua, seeing this, hurried to follow her.
Old Man Ye, anxious that they might be too late and the town merchants wouldn’t accept a return, was very impatient. However, since he didn’t want to embarrass Ye Caiping, he nodded in agreement.
Before long, the food was served on the table.
The whole family sat around the large round table.
Each person had a bowl of thin, watery, coarse rice and radish porridge, the rice mixed with some rice bran, and a small dish of pickled vegetables as the only accompaniment.
Ye Caiping couldn’t help but gasp as she looked at the meager meal, realizing just how little food was stored at home and how impoverished they truly were.
And in this situation, Ye Daquan, that good-for-nothing, had gone and borrowed money to buy fine white rice!
No wonder Du Shi had lost her temper!
If not for her being here, the original owner of the body would have probably just accepted and enjoyed the white rice provided by Ye Daquan without a second thought. But if that had happened, and Ye Daquan couldn’t find work, the family would have ended up buried in debt.
Life like this truly seemed impossible to continue!
“Little sister, if you’re not used to it, we could cook some white rice instead?” Ye Daquan, noticing her displeased expression, thought she was unhappy with the meal.
Old Man Ye and his wife also looked at Ye Caiping with concern. Normally, at this point, she would have already started making a fuss.
Ye Jinhua shot a scornful glance at Ye Caiping, thinking she was just saying one thing and doing another.
Realizing their misunderstanding, Ye Caiping quickly explained, “No, it’s not that. I’m just worried when I see the state of the house.”
The Ye family let out a collective sigh of relief.
Old Man Ye and his wife exchanged a relieved glance, feeling reassured by Ye Caiping’s words.
It seemed that after being divorced, her daughter had truly matured.
Ye Caiping picked up her bowl and took a sip, but the coarse rice porridge mixed with rice bran was rough on her throat!
There was no oil in it, and only a small amount of salt was added.
Having grown accustomed to finer food in modern times, she really felt what it was like to live on the barest essentials!
The taste was truly awful!
No wonder this expression is used to describe hard times.
Note:
Characters
Places:
Qinghe Village: FL’s Village
Li Family Village
Great Zhou Dynasty