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Ye Daquan didn’t believe her. After a moment of thought, his face darkened:
“Well, you little brat, is it because you hate your aunt that you falsely accused her of eating the poisonous root? Just so you could trick us into forcing her to drink dung?”
As soon as he said this, Ye Youtian caught on:
“Jinhua, stop fooling around.”
Ye Jinhua felt utterly wronged. She glared fiercely at Ye Caiping:
“Kind advice is wasted on the ungrateful. If you insist on arguing, then just wait for your doom!”
With that, she turned and ran off.
“You little brat, stop right there!” Ye Daquan shouted at her retreating figure, so angry he wanted to throw the bucket of dung in his hand at her.
But he held back. If he threw it, the entire house would reek, and cleaning it up would be troublesome.
“Big Brother, she’s just concerned about us,” Ye Caiping said.
“No, that brat did it on purpose!”
“Enough, stop arguing,” Ye Youtian said with a frown. He turned to Ye Caiping and asked, “Are you sure you didn’t eat it?”
Ye Caiping replied, “Don’t worry! If we really wanted to die, we might as well hang ourselves from a crooked tree. Why go through such torment?”
Ye Youtian furrowed his brow. Although today had been strange, what Caiping said made sense.
Dying from eating poisonous roots would be an excruciating process—foaming at the mouth, unbearable stomach pain, a burning sensation in the chest and lungs, and difficulty breathing. It would be pure agony.
“As long as you didn’t, that’s good,” Ye Youtian sighed in relief. He turned back to Ye Daquan and said, “Don’t blame Jinhua for this. She must’ve been mistaken.”
“Jinhua was just overly concerned about us. She panicked and called you back,” Ye Caiping added.
“Fine, for the sake of my little sister, I’ll let it slide this time,” Ye Daquan snorted, taking the bucket of dung to the outhouse.
After dumping the dung back into the latrine, Ye Daquan washed his hands and then knocked on Ye Jinhua’s door. “You little brat, if you pull another stunt like this, I’ll break your legs!”
Inside the room, Ye Jinhua was fuming. Hiding under her blanket, she muttered to herself, Go ahead, curse all you want! Once those three drop dead, let’s see if you’ll still have the nerve to laugh.
By evening, Yan Fang and Du Shi returned from the town.
As soon as Du Shi entered the house and heard about Ye Jinhua’s antics that day, her face darkened. She pulled Ye Jinhua into a room, closed the door, and began scolding her in a low voice.
“Are you out of your mind? Why would you falsely accuse her for no reason? You know perfectly well that every word she says outweighs ten of yours. How could this possibly work, you little brat?”
As she spoke, she jabbed her finger hard against Ye Jinhua’s forehead.
“Mother!” Ye Jinhua swatted her hand away. “I didn’t falsely accuse her! I saw it with my own eyes—they ate the poisonous root.”
Du Shi was momentarily taken aback. No one knows a daughter better than her mother, and she could instantly tell whether Ye Jinhua was lying.
She fell into thought. “They really ate it?”
“They absolutely did!”
“Then how come it’s been two hours since midday, and there’s still no sign of poisoning?”
Ye Jinhua was stumped by the question. “I… I saw them eating something soft, sticky, and white at the time…”
“The poisonous root was even left on the ground… Wait! I understand now! They weren’t eating the root—they were eating something else. They deliberately left a poisonous root on the ground to make me misunderstand!”
As she spoke, Ye Jinhua gritted her teeth and stomped her foot hard. “So that’s it! They did it on purpose to set me up!”
After hearing this, Du Shi also thought it made sense, and her face darkened.
It must have been because of the argument she had with Ye Caiping a few days ago. Ye Caiping must have set a trap to humiliate her daughter and teach their mother-daughter duo a lesson.
The thought made Du Shi seethe with anger. What infuriated her even more was that they couldn’t do anything to Ye Caiping.
“That vile woman! She’d better pray she gets married within the next four months. Otherwise, if she falls into my hands, I’ll make sure she marries someone utterly useless!”
Hearing this, Ye Jinhua’s anger suddenly deflated, her eyes dimming as she pursed her lips.
If it really came to that, would Grandpa and Father even agree?
And even if her aunt did end up getting married, so what?
With Father’s doting on her, wouldn’t the family continue to support her and her husband’s household just like before, draining the family’s resources until it was an empty shell?
This kind of dreadful life, controlled by an overindulgent aunt, felt like it would never end. When would there ever be a way out?
“Jinhua?” Seeing her daughter suddenly looking so dejected, Du Shi couldn’t help but call out.
Ye Jinhua glanced at her and said flatly, “Instead of worrying about things that don’t matter, why not think about what we’re going to eat once that bag of coarse rice is gone?”
Du Shi’s expression changed slightly. Recently, she had also noticed that the porridge had become thinner, leaving them hungry right after eating.
With that thought, Du Shi quickly walked out of the room.
Before long, she arrived at Yan Fang’s quarters.
Yan Fang was lying in bed, resting.
They hadn’t taken an ox cart to town today, so the round trip took an hour and a half on foot. With her bad legs, she was utterly exhausted.
When she saw Du Shi lift the curtain and enter, Yan Fang opened her eyes. “Did you finish scolding Jinhua?”
In Yan Fang’s view, what happened today was entirely Ye Jinhua’s fault. She had falsely accused Ye Caiping to get her punished by being force-fed dung water.
Du Shi’s face darkened. What does this have to do with my daughter?! Clearly, it was Ye Caiping who set her up!
But she had no proof.
Suppressing her anger, Du Shi frowned and asked, “Mother, how much grain do we have left in the house?”
Yan Fang sighed softly. “Enough for just a few more days.”
Just as they were talking, Wei Shi walked in holding two coarse porcelain bowls. “Mother, I’m about to cook. Oh, Sister-in-law is here too!”
Du Shi gave her a nod.
Yan Fang got out of bed, walked over to the grain cabinet, and unlocked it.
For farming households, grain was the most important resource, always kept under lock and key in the head of the family’s room. Vegetables, on the other hand, were stored in the cellar.
Yan Fang opened the grain bin and lifted the lid. Inside, the coarse yellow rice had dwindled to less than half a bucket—barely around 15 or so jin (roughly 7.5 kilograms).
She scooped out a cup of rice with the measuring bowl and poured it into Wei Shi’s rooster-patterned bowl.
The amount was about one jin (approximately 500 grams)—just enough for the family’s fourteen members to have one meal.
To feel full, an average person needed to eat at least two liang (about 100 grams) of rice per meal.
The rations meant to feed fourteen mouths had been stretched painfully thin…
Yan Fang opened another cloth bag and scooped a cup of rice bran into another bowl. “That’s enough. Go make the meal!”
Wei Shi responded with a quick “Got it,” and turned to leave.
Du shi, seeing the household’s grain supply dwindling by the day, couldn’t hide her worry. “There’s only enough grain left for a few more days. And then… what about the New Year? Sigh!”
Yan Fang said, “We’ll take it one step at a time. If it really comes down to it, I’ll swallow my pride and go back to my maiden family to borrow some.”
Du shi pressed her lips together, saying nothing more, and quietly left the room.
At dinner, everyone stared at the porridge, now even thinner than it had been at lunch. They all understood the reason and wore troubled expressions but didn’t say anything.
The next day at lunch, after everyone had eaten, Old Man Ye sighed softly, “There’s not much rice left at home. From now on, in the evenings, don’t add coarse rice when cooking.”
Wei Shi replied woodenly, “Understood.”
The faces around the table turned pale. That meant they’d be eating nothing but turnips for dinner.
But there was nothing they could do—everyone understood the family’s dire situation.
Just as the group was about to disperse, Ye Caiping suddenly spoke up, “Wait, Father, I have something to say.”
Old Man Ye turned to look at her. Ye Caiping said, “Yesterday, Jinhua accused me of sneaking poisonous roots to eat…”
Ye Jinhua’s expression shifted dramatically, and she abruptly leapt to her feet. “It was my fault, alright? Can we just drop it already?”
This whole thing had been her own foolishness—she’d fallen into a trap. She’d already been punished for it! What more did they want?
Did they have to keep bringing it up just to get her beaten again?
“No, you weren’t wrong. I really did eat poisonous roots yesterday at noon,” Ye Caiping said calmly.
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