Chapter 21: Conversations Between Mother-in-Law and Daughter-in-Law

To Wang Chunlan, the elderly woman’s words were astonishing, leaving her mouth hanging open in disbelief. The surprise on her face was different from before; while the earlier surprise was one of joy, this time it was pure shock.

“Mom, why did you suddenly decide to send Liangzuo to private school? We can’t afford the fees! In my family, there’s a relative from Wangji Village who has a brilliant son, celebrated by the villagers for his intelligence. His grandfather wouldn’t let his three sons divide the family property just to send him to school. This year he failed the xiucai examination again—it’s already the fifth time. His family, once considered middle-class in the village, now struggles to eat! When I went back last time, I heard my mother say that he wasted at least several hundred taels of silver on his education. His aunts thought it was unfair and even hung a rope in the yard to threaten suicide! Just look at our own situation…”

It wasn’t that Wang Chunlan didn’t want Liangzuo to go to school; the truth was that their family had neither surplus grain nor money.

Forget about a hundred taels. Even if she dug up every mouse hole in the house, she couldn’t gather even two taels!

The elderly woman shot a glare at her daughter-in-law. “You didn’t even let me finish talking; how do you know we don’t have money?”

Then the elderly woman pulled out the “small cake” that Song Liangzuo had drawn for her earlier. After some modifications, it had transformed into a “large cake,” and she forcefully fed it to everyone present.

“So, if you want to live a good life, you all need to get up early tomorrow and go into the fields to dig for herbs. And you two! Don’t think this doesn’t concern you and try to slack off. If your brother is capable of passing the xiucai exam one day, you two will be the sisters of a xiucai. Not only will you be able to find a good family for marriage, but you will also have a xiucai brother-in-law to back you up. Are you both afraid your in-laws will mistreat you?”

These last few sentences were clearly directed at Song Jiaodi and Song Jiaomei.

Song Jiaodi didn’t care much about the distinction of xiucai; she only knew one thing: Liangzuo would have her back in the future.

The little girl, touched by this thought, immediately pledged, “Grandma, I’ll go with my sister to dig herbs as soon as the sun comes up tomorrow.”

Although Song Liangzuo didn’t understand why his grandmother was so adept at pie-in-the-sky schemes, he felt excitement about the situation concerning himself and shouted, “Elder sister, wake me up early tomorrow too. I want to go!”

Wang Chunlan wanted to say more but, seeing her industrious children, ultimately chose to remain silent.

She made up her mind to head to the fields early the next day to do some weeding, so that her mother and the children could gather more herbs.

During dinner that evening, the elderly woman first scooped a generous portion of porridge for Song Liangzuo, followed by bowls for herself and Chunlan, and lastly for the two younger girls.

However, today was different from usual: when she got to the last two bowls, she pressed the spoon down into the pot, which meant this time the sisters did not end up with porridge made only from wild vegetables and thin broth.

After finishing their meal, Song Liangzuo went to bed early. In the middle of the night, whether he was half asleep or dreaming, he heard voices in the room.

“You, how can you be so shortsighted? Do you think I don’t know about Wangji Village? You even had to say it in front of the children today.”

“Mom, I’m just worried that studying might not yield results and would waste the family’s silver!”

“Not yield results. If I tell you this is our family’s only way out, would you still think studying is a waste? You’re only looking at the present. Look ten years ahead! In ten years, the sons from the big courtyard will all be adults. They’ll marry and have children, and our family will continue to grow.”

“What will become of Liangzuo then? Are you planning to marry him off or what? No matter which way you go, the identity of my good grandson cannot be hidden any longer. By then, I’ll be in the ground with my eyes closed and knowing nothing. What will you four women do when they berate you with their spittle? We can only take the chance now while Liangzuo is still young to find a way to leave the village. Right now, he wants to go to private school, to take the xiucai exam; isn’t that his way of fighting for a future? Why can’t you, as his mother, understand this!”

“I’m just afraid that you will suffer along with him!”

“What suffering? My life is dedicated to my good grandson!”

At this point, Song Liangzuo fell back into a fuzzy sleep, unaware of the later conversation between his mother and grandmother.

Under the oil lamp, Wang Chunlan glanced at her mother-in-law, hesitated, with a multitude of questions in her mind, but all that came out was one word, “Mom…”

“What is it?”

“Do you… do you think Liangzuo’s character has changed a bit?” Wang Chunlan finally found the courage to say it.

Liangzuo came from her womb, and although he had slept with his grandmother since he was little, she noticed even the tiniest change in him. She felt like something was different about him, but she couldn’t quite put her finger on it.

Tears welled up in Wang Chunlan’s eyes, and she covered her mouth, afraid to make a sound and wake the sleeping children.

The elderly woman instantly blew up, “Why are you crying? You don’t know anything! It must be that heaven sees us struggling and sent a spirit to guide our Liangzuo in a dream. Our Liangzuo must have been enlightened, understands the need to protect us, and knows how to take responsibility for this family now. Chunlan, Liangzuo is your biological son and my grandson. If you say any more silly things, I’ll put you in the pigpen!”

Wang Chunlan had a kind heart but struggled to articulate her thoughts, merely responding with a soft, “Mm.”

The next day, when Song Liangzuo was awakened at dawn by his elder sister’s call, he noticed that neither his mother nor second sister was around when he got up and looked around the house. Upon asking, he learned that his mother and second sister had already headed to the fields early.

The three of them didn’t delay any longer either; they grabbed their bamboo baskets and left the house.

For the following days, anyone who worked early in the fields would see Song Wangshan leading her grandchildren to dig for wild vegetables in the fields or on the hills.

At first, everyone thought their family was low on food and intended to gather more wild vegetables to store for the winter. But soon, they realized something was amiss.

It was already mid-June, and the cow’s tongue grass and dandelions were tough and unpalatable, not fit for consumption—not even suitable for feeding pigs.

Other villagers were gathering wild amaranth instead, as summer amaranth is tender and valuable.

While other families were busy looking for amaranth, purslane, or lamb’s quarters, the Wang family kept digging up those two types?

Eventually, rumors began to spread through the village that what Wang Shan was digging up was medicinal herbs that would be dried and sent to the town’s medicine shop.