Chapter 50: The Three Cousins

“Otherwise, where do you think the eggs I gave you came from? Enough now—go sit in the main hall. The food will be ready soon. Once everyone’s here, we’ll eat.”

Seeing Zhou Xiufen nosing curiously around the kitchen,
Zhang Jinlan quickly shooed her toward the hall.

Two quarters of an hour later,

everyone had arrived,

and the meal officially began.

Since the Zhou family had come today,
the table inside couldn’t seat everyone.

The children were moved to the courtyard.

Each held a bowl in their hands,
heads bent over their food without looking up.

“Sworn-sister, are you trying to ruin yourself?”
Zhou Xiufen, sitting in the hall, froze when she saw the spread before her:
a heaping egg custard, stir-fried eggs with daylily,
and thick, hearty rice porridge.

Who cooked with so many eggs like this?

“You think I’m as stingy as you?”

Zhang Jinlan shot her a glare.

This meal alone had used up twelve eggs.

Partly to celebrate her eldest grandson successfully breaking off the engagement—
and even earning back three taels of silver in the process.

Partly because her daughter and granddaughters were all too thin.
Her heart ached for them, and she wanted to nourish their bodies a bit.

Otherwise, she would never have been willing to spend eggs so freely.

After all, one egg could be sold for two copper coins.

Feeling generous for once, Zhang Jinlan tilted her chin high and never let it drop the whole time.

“Yes, yes, you’re the generous one. I can’t compare.”

Mouth full of food, Zhou Xiufen didn’t dare argue.

She picked up her chopsticks and shoved a big chunk of egg straight into her mouth.

Sunfu was too busy eating to even speak.

“Sworn-brother, you’ve gone to such expense. Then I won’t stand on ceremony.”

Sun Tiesuo still had some sense of manners.
He first scooped a bite of porridge,
then reached with his chopsticks for the dishes.

“Mother, why are there polished rice grains in the porridge? Are things at home going so well now?”

Jiang Sanhe, staring at the mixed porridge in her bowl, gasped.

Her husband had told her polished rice in town now sold for over a hundred coins a dou.

And her natal family could afford to eat it?

Could it be they’d been living well behind her back?

“Not at all. Fubao fell into the water a few days ago and got sick. I couldn’t bear it, so I bought a bit of polished rice—just for her. But that child is so filial. She wouldn’t eat it alone no matter what, insisting I mix it with brown rice so everyone could share. So I had no choice. You’re lucky today—you get to share Fubao’s blessing.”

Of course Zhang Jinlan wouldn’t tell the truth.

Her voice echoed faintly in the hall.

If polished rice weren’t impossible to pick back out,

she would have cooked a separate pot of coarse rice for the others.

Truly, it was wasted on the Zhou family.

“What’s the point of spoiling a little girl like that? She’ll just marry out when she grows up. Raising her so delicately is a loss. In the end you’ll only get two taels of betrothal money. Don’t make a losing deal.”

Hearing how much Zhang Jinlan doted on her granddaughter,
Zhou Xiufen looked at her like she was a fool.

“My Fubao won’t be marrying out. She’ll be taking a husband into the family.”

Zhang Jinlan’s tone turned colder.

“What? Taking a husband-in-law? Are you out of your mind? You’ve got plenty of grandsons already—why give a granddaughter a husband to bring in? Where would he live? Your house is tiny. Once all your grandsons marry and have children, there won’t be room to breathe.”

The moment Zhou Xiufen heard “husband-in-law,” she lost her appetite.

She sprayed spittle as she argued.

“Enough chatter. Eat. When we’re done, we’ll go home. There’s still work waiting in the fields.”

Seeing his wife’s sour expression,
Sun Tiesuo rapped his chopsticks on his bowl and barked.

Zhou Xiufen immediately shut her mouth.

The hall fell into a cold silence.

Meanwhile, the courtyard bubbled with chatter and laughter.

“Cousin, your grandmother really spoils you.”

Jiang Sanhe’s eldest daughter, Sun Zhaodi,
had overheard the talk in the hall.

Her eyes shone with envy as she looked at Jiang Fubao.

“Mm-hmm. Grandma treats me very well. Elder Sister, do you live well at home?”

From the original host’s memories,
there had never been these three cousins.

Today was the first time meeting them.

Curious, Jiang Fubao asked cautiously.

“Grandmother always scolds us,
but she never hits. Compared to other girls in the village, we’re doing okay.
It’s just that we’re often hungry.

Grandmother says, when Mother gives birth to a younger brother,
we’ll need to save money for his future marriage,
so no money can be wasted.

Mother often drinks medicine too, which costs a lot.
Usually I take my sisters to the mountain to gather firewood, catch bugs,
and dig wild greens.
It’s not too bad.”

At only eight years old,
Sun Zhaodi didn’t know how to lie.
She answered honestly.

“Is Auntie sick?”

Hearing that Jiang Sanhe often drank medicine,
Jiang Fubao thought she must be ill.

“No. Grandmother says Mother is like a hen that won’t lay eggs.
She bought all kinds of folk remedies for her to drink.
The medicines are expensive, from traveling doctors.
But even after more than a year,
Mother still hasn’t conceived a little brother.”

Sun Zhaodi’s face fell.

She desperately wished her mother would give birth to a brother soon.
Then maybe Grandmother would stop scolding her.

“Die-mei, eat more.”

Before Jiang Fubao could reply,
Zhaodi picked up another piece of egg and dropped it into her younger sister’s bowl.

“Fourth Sister? Elder Sister, didn’t Aunt only give birth to three of you?”

Jiang Fubao tilted her head, confused.

Could it be Jiang Sanhe had borne four children?

Where had the extra one gone?

Had a child died?

“Not Fourth Sister—Die-mei. It’s the name Grandmother gave.
She said it was to curse the fourth baby in Mother’s belly,
that it would never be another girl.”

Zhaodi was already mature for her age.
Of course she understood the cruel meaning of her sister’s name.

Lowering her head in shame, she went on:

“Grandmother said I was called Zhaodi—to ‘invite a younger brother.’
But no younger brother came.

Second Sister was called Laidi—‘bring a younger brother.’
Still, no younger brother came.

The names didn’t work.
So she named our little sister Die-mei instead.”

Hearing this, Jiang Fubao felt her chest tighten.

She lost all appetite.

Who named a granddaughter Die-mei—“Death-girl”?

If Jiang Sanhe’s fourth child was another girl,
wouldn’t that name be a curse on her life?

Truly, Heaven had shown mercy.

If she had transmigrated into the Sun family instead,
she would have run away that very night.

There would be no reason to stay in such a household—
and she certainly wouldn’t waste her spatial treasures
to improve the lives of people who valued sons over daughters.

Jiang Fubao stood up,
set her bowl gently on the bench,
and walked silently back inside.

She had just remembered something.

In her space, there were still a few milk candies left over from before she transmigrated.

She couldn’t do much for her cousins,
but at least she could give them a taste of sweetness.

With sweetness in their mouths,
their hearts wouldn’t feel quite so bitter.

Back in her room, she shut the door and entered the space.

She dug out three pieces of milk candy—no more left.
She would have to wait for the space to refresh.

But three was just right—
one for each cousin.

She peeled off the candy wrappers.

They were covered in words and expiry dates,
so she couldn’t take them out as-is.

Fortunately, each candy was wrapped in a thin layer of edible rice paper.
And since it wasn’t hot yet,
they didn’t melt in her hands.

She hid the candies in her sleeve,
left the room,
and tugged her three cousins toward the backyard.

“Elder Sisters, open your mouths.”

She looked mysterious.

The three girls were puzzled,
but obediently opened their mouths at the same time,
like nestlings in a bird’s nest waiting to be fed.

It was oddly adorable.