Chapter Seven

“What are you saying, Mother?”
Grandma Wang’s daughter‑in‑law came out of the house.

“I said those four kids from the Bi family—so sensible. Ah, it’s just that their lives are a bit bitter… Look at that, the four sisters even brought quite a few things back to see Old Lady Guo. I even saw the mark of a canned jar in their bag. For someone whose character isn’t all that great, that Old Lady Guo sure is blessed.”

Her daughter‑in‑law laughed.
“Mother, you’re blessed too. In a few days we’ll buy a can of fruit preserves and eat it.”

Grandma Wang gave her a sharp look.
“Tch, it’s not that I crave such things. We have to save money for our Da Ming to marry a wife!”

“Hehe, since you love Da Ming so much, then let him buy you something tasty!”

“Hahaha, all right then, I’ll wait for my eldest grandson to be filial to me. Come, let’s go home for lunch!”

The Bi siblings, of course, didn’t hear this little conversation between Grandma Wang and her daughter‑in‑law. If they had, they would only have given an awkward smile. Grandma Wang was really overthinking it…

Bi Qiuguo walked ahead, lighthearted, then turned back toward her eldest sister.
“Big Sis, give me the water, I’m thirsty.”

Bi Chunliu pulled a jar from her bag and handed it over.

Inside the jar was brown sugar water, more than half still left. The four sisters passed it around, each taking a few sips. When they finished, Chunliu put the empty jar back into her bag. Good—one less burden to carry.

Just then, Bi Weiguo smacked his forehead as though he’d remembered something.
“Big Sis, maybe we should hide this jar outside somewhere. If Third Aunt sees it, she’ll keep it again.”

Bi Xiahé frowned.
“Would she really? Last time we brought one too, didn’t we?”

Qiuguo raised her hand.
“I agree with Second Brother. Third Sister, did you forget? Last time Third Aunt kept the jar too. Otherwise, why would we have bought another can this time?”

“Oh, that’s true!” The three all turned to look at Chunliu.

It wasn’t without reason that they suspected their Third Aunt. She was even worse than they described. Two words summed her up: pluck a feather from every passing goose and take the hide even from a dead beast. Both phrases meant the same thing: stingy to the extreme, greedy for every advantage. A miser who wouldn’t part with a single feather, yet would still gnaw at another miser if she could. Where other families made every cent stretch in two, Third Aunt split hers in six, then still schemed to grab from others. Not a single vegetable patch near their home had escaped her “secret visits.”

Chunliu: … She hadn’t dealt with Third Aunt in a long while and had almost forgotten what she was like.

“So how do you want to hide it? Any good ideas?”

Weiguo: “Why don’t we dig a hole and bury it all?”

Qiuguo nodded—she liked that idea too.

Xiahé shook her head.
“What’s the point of burying it? We don’t have tools, it’s dirty. Second Brother, don’t you know how to climb trees? Let’s just stash it in a tree.”

Huh? So Second Brother could climb trees? Chunliu hadn’t known that.
“Let’s find a hidden branch and put it up there.”

She handed the jar to Weiguo, then thought again. Maybe better to put the whole bag up there too—that would be safer. They could just carry the things for Grandma in their hands.

This suggestion won unanimous agreement. Excellent idea—no need to worry about the jar breaking, foolproof.

So the four of them sneaked back toward the poplar grove outside the village and carefully tucked the bag with the jar into a safe spot in the branches. With that done, they strode forward again, much lighter in step.

When they were nearly at Third Uncle’s house, two women rushed past them, running with bowls and chopsticks in hand, not spilling a drop.

“Eh, can you believe Old Third Bi’s fate? Saddled with a wife like that! Just wait till he gets off work and finds out she’s caused trouble again—who knows what he’ll do this time?”