Chapter 21

Shuiqing had an idea in an instant.

She still had to rely on Fan Jin’s reputation.

However, her convenient husband was still in town selling He Shou Wu to make money, so she would have to wait until he returned.

The urgent matter now was to recover the mushrooms—the result of the four children’s early morning labor, and she couldn’t let it go to waste on unpleasant people!

Besides, at over a hundred yuan per kilogram, the earnings from the mushrooms would be at least a thousand yuan. That could buy a lot of rice, white flour, and pork belly.

“Let’s go!” Shuiqing stood up and spoke to her children around her.

The six of them, with some carrying kitchen knives and others shouldering hoes, marched proudly towards Sun Jinhua’s house.

Such a large group startled the women who were cooling off and working under the tree shade at the village entrance.

“Oh dear, what’s happening with the Fan family’s second branch?” Aunt Zhang asked loudly.

Other women also stood up in succession.

Guangning Prefecture had many waterways, with rivers crisscrossing and encircling Shanshui Village. The village was surrounded by rivers, making it the most secluded.

Normally, the villagers rarely went outside. Except for a few difficult households, most were kind-hearted and lived in harmony despite their poverty.

Seeing the Fan family bring knives was undoubtedly a significant event for Shanshui Village!

“Don’t do anything foolish, talk to me if something’s wrong,” Aunt Li quickly approached, holding Shuiqing’s hands and patting them to comfort her.

The other women also left their farm work and gathered around, offering advice.

“After yesterday’s division, good days are ahead. You mustn’t do anything rash,” Wang Guifen quickly advised.

“Was the family division unfair yesterday? No worries, the village head is still here. Don’t use knives, that could get you in trouble with the authorities,” Li Tiantian softly reminded.

“Yes, exactly, let’s talk it out.”

…

Shuiqing originally had only a sparse knowledge of the village women, but now she matched their faces with names.

Their genuine concern warmed her heart.

She had always believed in treating people generously if they respected her and being vengeful if they wronged her.

She was very clear about who treated her well and who did not.

She decided to give these kind-hearted women a tangible benefit when buying the water caltrops later!

But before that, she forced out tears, feeling both heartache and anger, as she recounted Sun Jinhua’s heinous act of pushing her sister down a steep slope over the mushrooms. Of course, she added some embellishments.

Then Fan Jiang, with reddened eyes and choking voice, said, “Aunt has always been unfriendly to my elder sisters. They have always respected her as an elder, doing all the farm work… Now, after dividing the family, Aunt robbed us of our mushrooms on our mountain and hurt my second sister for a basket of mushrooms! I can’t stand it. I must get justice for my second sister today!”

The focus wasn’t on Sun Jinhua stealing mushrooms but on her deliberate revenge and harming her niece.

The women, who hadn’t realized the severity initially, now understood Sun Jinhua’s maliciousness through Shuiqing and Fan Jiang’s repeated emphasis.

“Too wicked! How can we have such a bad person in Shanshui Village? Guifen, go home and fetch your father-in-law,” Grandma Xu first spoke, frowning deeply.

She had really thought Sun Jinhua was improving and had praised her, but now felt utterly embarrassed.

Thinking those mushrooms were stolen, and Sun Jinhua even hurt her niece for some common mushrooms, she felt her words praising Sun Jinhua were now slapping her own face!

Wang Guifen responded promptly and ran home to bring her village head father-in-law for justice.

Seeing Wang Guifen go for the village head, the other women escorted Shuiqing’s family to the Fan’s house.

“Let’s go, we’ll go with you and make Sun Jinhua explain!”

“Don’t be afraid, the village head will be here soon. You shouldn’t act rashly with knives, hurting people will get you in trouble.”

“Aunt Li is right. Going to the authorities isn’t easy. Let’s just make Sun Jinhua return the mushrooms and ensure she makes amends.”

…

Shuiqing’s family wasn’t there for violence; the weapons were just for deterrence.

With a large group of women helping, the deterrence was sufficient. They immediately agreed sensibly, “You’re right. We were just too angry before.”

“We’ll remember your kindness, and thank you properly once my husband returns.”

In the village, mutual help among neighbors was normal. Hearing Shuiqing value it so much and promise gratitude, the women waved it off repeatedly.

“No need, no need.”

“It’s nothing, no need to thank us.”

They decided to speak a few good words for the Fan family’s second branch later!

Shuiqing, hiding her emotions, silently added: Of course, I’ll go. Thanking is secondary; buying water caltrops is the main thing~

The group marched mightily to Sun Jinhua’s house.

·

Fan Qian smoked a dry pipe, sitting on a long bench, watching his wife sort bamboo mushrooms under the eaves.

He puffed on his pipe and mumbled, “It’s not even noon yet, and you’ve collected such a large basket of bamboo mushrooms. Seems quite easy, you should go again tomorrow.”

Sun Jinhua rolled her eyes almost to the sky.

Her husband really didn’t know a thing about farm work!

Nobody else knew when she left in the morning, but her husband should. She took a seven-year-old girl with her, and they couldn’t have collected so many mushrooms even if they pulled them out by hand!

Fan Zhaodi glanced at her mother and said to her father, “Dad, Mom took these mushrooms from our big and second sisters. Should we return them?”

She saw her mother squinting her narrow eyes, her face dark and yellow, and her thin body trembling, so she didn’t dare to mention her mother pushing her second sister down.

Fan Qian was stunned and asked Sun Jinhua in disbelief, “You took these from the elder girls?”

“Those girls pretended to be obedient at home! Now that the family is divided, they think they’re tough. I just wanted some mushrooms, and they wouldn’t give me any.

I said they were ungrateful, but you didn’t believe me. Now they won’t even give us mushrooms. Tell me, what’s the point of raising girls?” Sun Jinhua sneered indifferently.

Luckily, she was taller and stronger than the two girls, otherwise, she might not have gotten the mushrooms.

Fan Qian knocked his pipe and shouted, “Foolish! Mushrooms are everywhere, why not collect them yourself? Doing this for some worthless mushrooms makes our family look bad. We have four sons, do you want to ruin their marriage prospects?”

Sun Jinhua retorted, “So what! As their aunt, I took some mushrooms as a form of respect, and people will only say those girls are ungrateful.

Besides, am I the only one eating these mushrooms? I’m bearing the bad name for our whole family!”