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Ye Caiping returned home just in time for dinner.
They had just put down their baskets when they saw Ye Yong also coming back. The three girls acted as if they hadn’t seen anything, and said nothing.
Everyone in the family was sitting at the dinner table.
Old Lady Ye , as usual, served Ye Caiping a bowl first.
“Mother, I’m not hungry today, you and Father eat more.” Ye Caiping said.
“I, I am too…” Ye Jin’er spoke up, “My sister and I are not hungry, we won’t eat.”
Old Lady Ye frowned: “How can you not be hungry, come and sit down to eat.”
The family’s grain wouldn’t last many days, every meal was precious.
It must be because the eldest daughter-in-law had returned that her daughter and granddaughter were so scared they didn’t dare to eat. Thinking about this, Old Lady Ye glared at Du Shi.
Du Shi choked, she hadn’t eaten yet, but felt full of anger.
Old Lady Ye served the two granddaughters a full bowl: “This wild vegetable is what you dug up, eat more.”
When everyone had their bowls, they started eating.
But Ye Caiping took only one sip and stopped.
Ye Jin’er and her sister tried to eat, but ended up eating only half a bowl.
Everyone then realized that Ye Caiping and her daughters were truly not hungry.
Ye Jinhua’s face turned slightly black, they must have eaten wild things on the mountain.
They found good things and didn’t bring them home, they were eating alone behind their backs!
Ye Jinhua was about to speak, but Du Shi, who was beside her, secretly pulled her.
Turning her head, she saw Du Shi looking at her with a warning.
Ye Jinhua could only close her mouth resentfully.
Du Shi was also angry, but she thought, there were only a few months left before Ye Caiping was going to get married, what was the point of being angry for a few months!
The atmosphere in the entire hall became somewhat awkward and oppressive.
Old Lady Ye coughed dryly: “It must be because you’re not used to the bed and didn’t sleep well, that’s why you have no appetite. Leave it in the kitchen, heat it up and eat it at night.”
“Okay.” Ye Caiping took the rice bran porridge and left.
Ye Jin’er and her sister quickly picked up their bowls and followed Ye Caiping to the kitchen.
Old Man Ye looked at their embarrassed backs and didn’t expose them, only sighed softly.
This daughter, she had been good for a few days, but now she was back to her old ways, what should he do!
After dinner, Old Man Ye and Ye Daquan went to the fields, Ye Erquan took Ye Yong and his brother to the mountain to cut firewood.
Old Lady Ye and Du Shi went to town to find a matchmaker. Old Lady Ye was looking for one for Ye Caiping, and Du Shi was looking for one for Ye Yong.
Wei Shi and Ye Yinhua cleaned up the dishes and went out to wash clothes.
At home, only Ye Caiping and her daughters and Ye Jinhua were left.
Ye Jinhua was sitting under the eaves, sunbathing while sewing shoe soles.
“Eat quickly, this is a good thing, much tastier than rice bran porridge.” Ye Caiping’s voice came from the room.
Ye Jinhua’s face darkened, her younger sister was eating in secret?
There wasn’t enough food left at home. Her younger aunt found something to eat and didn’t bring it out! The three girls were hiding in the room eating alone!
Ye Jinhua couldn’t bear it anymore, she threw the shoe sole and needle and thread in her hand into the basket, and quickly walked towards the north room.
The door was ajar, she pushed it open with a bang, only to see Ye Caiping and her daughters sitting at the table, each holding a piece of soft, glutinous thing, looking like a tuber, but she had never seen it before.
The three girls were eating happily, when they saw Ye Jinhua push the door open, they all turned their heads back.
“Cousin, this cassava is so delicious, do you want some?” Ye Jin’er said nervously.
Cassava? Ye Jinhua was stunned for a moment, then her face suddenly changed.
She saw a piece of earth-brown thing on the ground, she pointed at it with trembling fingers: “This, this is poisonous roots!!!”
When she was young, her grandpa was afraid that they would accidentally eat poisonous roots, so he specially took them to recognize this thing.
“You… you’re eating poisonous roots?” Ye Jinhua was so shocked she could barely speak.
Ye Caiping said: “Actually, it has another name, cassava, as long as it’s processed properly, you can remove its toxins and eat it. Do you want some?”
“You’re crazy!!!” Ye Jinhua’s mind was buzzing, she rushed forward and knocked the cassava out of Ye Caiping’s hand.
With a bang, the cassava fell to the ground, breaking into several pieces.
“Don’t waste food.” Ye Caiping quickly squatted down and picked up the pieces one by one.
“Cousin, it’s really edible.” Ye Jin’er said.
“Eat? You, you actually want me to eat this thing? I’m crazy to eat poisonous roots! Oh my god!!!” Ye Jinhua felt like she was going crazy, her face was pale, she rushed out of the door.
She ran all the way, her mind buzzing non-stop.
She finally ran to the field and saw Old Man Ye and Ye Daquan weeding in the wheat field.
“Grandpa, my younger Aunt and cousins are secretly eating poisonous roots!” Ye Jinhua hadn’t even stopped when she shouted at them.
She didn’t want to care about their lives, but if they ate poisonous roots, they had to see a doctor, and then they would have to spend money again!
“What?” Old Man Ye and Ye Daquan stood up abruptly, the grass they had pulled out fell to the ground. “What did you say?”
“Huff, huff… I saw it just now, my younger aunt and cousins were eating poisonous roots, Grandpa, you quickly go and force them to drink manure, make them spit out the poisonous roots!”
Old Man Ye finally came to his senses, he turned around and ran towards home.
Along the way, he kept confirming with Ye Jinhua whether Ye Caiping and her daughters were really eating poisonous roots.
He couldn’t understand, a few days ago Liu Heigou had been poisoned by eating this thing, how come his daughter suddenly became so reckless.
Ye Jinhua described what she saw in vivid detail, she was only a few steps away from swearing to heaven.
She was worried and a little gloating, her younger aunt and the others were going to be forced to drink manure, just thinking about it made her excited!
Soon, the three of them arrived home in a flurry.
Old Man Ye and Ye Jinhua ran to Ye Caiping’s room, while Ye Daquan rushed to the outhouse first.
“Bang!” The door of the north room was pushed open again, Old Man Ye rushed in: “Caiping, you—”
He choked on his words, only to see Ye Caiping and her daughters sitting on the bed mending clothes, looking relaxed.
“Father, why are you here?” Ye Caiping put down the needle in her hand and stood up with a smile.
Old Man Ye was stunned: “You… did you eat poisonous roots just now?”
“What?” Ye Caiping looked puzzled: “What are you talking about, how could I eat poisonous roots? The day before yesterday, Liu Heigou was poisoned. I’m not stupid, how could I eat that thing.”
Ye Jin’er and Ye Huan’er beside her nodded, but their bodies were a little stiff.
Old Man Ye didn’t really believe that his daughter would eat that thing, he looked at Ye Jinhua suspiciously.
“Little sister!” At this time, a low shout came, only to see Ye Daquan, with a full scoop of manure, rushed to the door, because he was in a hurry, he almost splashed Old Man Ye and Ye Jinhua.
Ye Jinhua spat, jumped behind Old Man Ye .
The whole room was instantly filled with a foul smell.
“Little sister, take a sip!” Ye Daquan was about to pounce on her.
Ye Caiping jumped back in fright, covering her nose: “Yue～～It’s so smelly, take it away!”
“It’s smelly, that’s right, only smelly, disgusting, can you vomit clean. Come on, take a sip!” Ye Daquan looked distressed, he was both worried about his sister and determined.
“Vomit what, I didn’t eat poisonous roots!”
“What?” Ye Daquan scratched his head.
“Impossible! I saw them eating it with my own eyes.” Ye Jinhua glared: “They even said it’s not poisonous roots, it’s cassava! Grandpa, Father, you have to believe me!”
“At noon when we were eating, they couldn’t eat, right? They must have eaten poisonous roots on the mountain! After dinner, I saw them eating in the room, they even asked me to eat with them!”
Speaking of which, Ye Jinhua shivered: “I’m afraid they’ll die, so I came to find you, Grandpa.”
Old Man Ye and Ye Daquan looked at each other, for a moment they didn’t know who to believe.
Ye Caiping smiled at Ye Jinhua: “Jinhua, poisonous roots usually take about an hour and a half to take effect, you said we ate them on the mountain before lunch, why haven’t we been poisoned yet?”
Ye Jinhua choked, she was a little frantic: “No… you didn’t necessarily eat it on the mountain, I saw you eat it just now… anyway, Father, quickly force her to drink manure!!”
Note:
Characters
Other Characters:
Heigou – Ate poisonous roots
Heigou’s mother
Doctor Zhao
Zhao Facai – Neighbor
Village Head Ye- Sometime Ye Lizheng (Lizheng is a title that refers to Village Head/Chief)
Ye Bajin – Village Head’s Son
Fubao – Village Head’s Grandson
Places:
Qinghe Village: FL’s Village
Li Family Village
Great Zhou Dynasty