Font Size:
Ye Caiping finished her meal quickly.
Old Man Ye, however, ate slowly, as if each bite was a treasure. In these times, having food was already something to be grateful for.
Ye Jin’er and her sister also ate with a sense (cherishment).
The Li family’s conditions were better than the Ye family’s, but the only ones who could eat white rice were Li Zhiyuan and his mother, Old Madam Li.
In the past, the white rice sent by the Ye family all went into the stomachs of Li Zhiyuan and Old Madam Li.
Ye Caiping and her daughter could only eat coarse rice porridge mixed with rice bran.
Thinking about this, Ye Caiping couldn’t help but spit on the original owner of the body again.
When she was living in her natal family, the previous Ye Caiping insisted on eating white rice, acting as if she would die without it. She was treated like an ancestor.
Once she came to her husband’s family, she proudly ate rice bran porridge, serving her mother-in-law and washing her smelly feet.
Was this a moral decline, a distortion of human nature, or just a crazy act of stupidity?
…
After lunch, Ye Jinhua went to her room to sew.
Ye Yong, Ye Xuan, and Ye Peng, the brothers, took their axes and went up the mountain to chop wood.
Old Man Ye and Ye Daquan put on their patched-up shirts and went out with their belongings.
Ye Caiping stuffed rouge into Old Man Ye’s hand.
Ye Jin’er quickly wrapped up the candies and also handed it to him.
“Don’t worry, keep it for yourselves,” Old Man Ye said gently, touching Ye Jin’er’s head.
Today’s incident had hurt his two granddaughters.
Besides, it was just two osmanthus candies. Even if they were poor, it was embarrassing to take them back.
Ye Daquan, carrying the bag of white rice, looked at Ye Caiping with a resentful expression, as if asking, “Are you really not going to eat the white rice?”
Ye Caiping glared at him, and Ye Daquan reluctantly followed Old Man Ye out.
Wei Shi and Ye Yinhua were washing the dishes and wiping the table.
Ye Huan’er wanted to help, but Wei Shi hurriedly said, “No, no, Lai’di… no, Huan’er, you go to your room and rest.”
Ye Huan’er looked at Ye Caiping helplessly. She wanted to integrate into the Ye family as soon as possible.
Ye Caiping said, “Rest for today. Second Sister-in-law, from now on, we’ll take turns with you and the elder sister-in-law to do the chores.”
The first and second branches of the family took turns doing the housework, ten days per rotation.
Wei Shi was surprised. Old Lady Ye, who was sitting there picking her teeth, paused and said reproachfully:
“What rotation? You still have injuries. It’s only three months, just rest well.”
Old Lady Ye was heartbroken.
Her daughter was raised with pampering. She felt sorry for her daughter not eating white rice, but the family was poor and couldn’t afford it.
There were plenty of people to do the housework, and she didn’t want Ye Caiping to do it.
Ye Caiping said, “This small injury will heal in a few days. Now, it’s not just me, there’s also Jin’er and Huan’er. We can’t just sit around and wait to be served.”
Old Lady Ye thought about it.
Three months later, her daughter would remarry, but Jin’er and her sister would still stay in the family. Not working would be inappropriate.
She could just let her daughter rest when it was her turn and do the chores with her two granddaughters.
That way, the eldest daughter-in-law, who loved to make trouble, wouldn’t have anything to say.
“Alright,” Old Lady Ye nodded. “Today is the second day of the second branch’s turn. You have eight days to rest.”
Ye Caiping smiled and nodded.
Wei Shi and Ye Yinhua left with the bowls and chopsticks.
Once they were in the kitchen, Wei Shi felt a little better.
Although she didn’t dare to make a fuss like Du Shi, she still felt a little resentful towards Ye Caiping.
Now that Ye Caiping was willing to share the housework, instead of lying down and waiting to be served like before, Wei Shi was as surprised as if she had won the lottery.
…
Ye Caiping returned to her room.
Old Lady Ye sat on the bed, talking to Ye Caiping about personal matters.
“Does your head still hurt? You should apply medicine now.”
Old Lady Ye was about to open the dresser, but Ye Caiping quickly pressed her hand, “I already applied medicine before dinner. The wound is much better, it doesn’t hurt or itch anymore.”
She had already sold the wound medicine and couldn’t let Old Lady Ye know.
“By the way, Mother, how much food do we have left?” Ye Caiping wanted to understand the family’s situation.
Old Lady Ye’s heart jumped reflexively. In the past, after Ye Caiping asked this question, she would search for the remaining food in the house and take it all back to her husband’s family!
But remembering that her daughter had already divorced, Old Lady Ye breathed a sigh of relief:
“Although the autumn harvest was just a few days ago, after paying the grain tax and debt, we only have about twenty pounds of rough rice left. We’ll mix it with radishes and rice bran, and save it carefully. It should last us half a month.”
Ye Caiping thought about the meal she just had, and felt terrible.
This bowl of radish and rice bran porridge wasn’t even half filling. She had just sat down and was already feeling hungry again!
“Do we have any money left?”
Old Lady Ye looked at her speechlessly, “Your father and I have been emptied out by you! Even the half penny we kept hidden in the mouse hole was taken by you.”
Ye Caiping was stunned.
Could this original person act like a normal person? Apparently not!
Old Lady Ye continued, “And when you were carried back the other day, you were barely breathing. We spent three taels of silver to buy two pieces of ginseng, ground it up, mixed it with water, and poured it down your throat. That’s how you came back to life. We still owe Doctor Zhao two taels.”
“Besides that, there’s five taels owed to the village head, and three taels to your second uncle…”
The money owed to the village head and second uncle was borrowed for Ye Caiping.
At that time, Zhiyuan wanted to take the imperial examination, and the original owner went back to her natal family to ask for money and food. She sold the two pigs at her natal family, as well as all the chickens and eggs…
In short, if Old Man Ye could be sold for money, her natal family might have been sold off by her.
After selling off all the livestock and remaining food at her natal family, the original owner still complained about not having enough. Old Man Ye and Ye Daquan were heartbroken and quickly borrowed money from the village head and second uncle.
This memory flooded back into Ye Caiping’s mind, and she wanted to slap herself.
The original owner was truly a monster!
She had burdened her with a debt of ten taels!
No, she had to get some money quickly! She would go up the mountain tomorrow to see what she could find.
Old Lady Ye also saw Ye Caiping’s worry:
“Don’t worry about that. Your father and two brothers will handle it. You should think about how to find a good husband within three months. If you go over time, your elder sister-in-law will find you a crooked and ugly one.”
“I’ll go find the matchmaker after I pick up your elder sister-in-law in a few days!”
Ye Caiping was speechless, but Old Lady Ye wouldn’t believe her if she said she wouldn’t marry or that she would earn enough money to repay the thirty taels. So she said:
“No matter what family the matchmaker finds, you can’t agree. You must tell me, and I have to give my consent.”
Old Lady Ye laughed, “Alright, alright, but don’t be too picky.”
Ye Caiping smiled but didn’t answer. Not being picky was impossible! No matter what family it was, there would be nothing satisfactory, only unsatisfactory!
Her parents and two brothers spoiled her, so Ye Caiping wasn’t worried that they would go back on their word.
“Grandma.” At that moment, Ye Jin’er and Huan’er walked in.
Ye Jin’er handed the osmanthus candies wrapped in oil paper to Old Lady Ye:
“Grandpa told us to keep the candies… I want to share them with my cousins. Grandma, please help me divide them.”
Ye Jin’er knew that the first branch had prejudices against them, and they dared not eat these candies.
Old Lady Ye was filled with joy and quickly took the candies.
Note:
Characters
Places:
Qinghe Village: FL’s Village
Li Family Village
Great Zhou Dynasty