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Madam Lu laughed as she recounted the story of Wang Man and the big snake to Aunt Ma Liu, who, wiping her tears, pinched Wang San’s arm hard:
“It’s all your fault, all your fault! You made little Manya take on the heavy burden of supporting the family at such a young age. And on top of that, she dared to fight a giant snake! What about you? What were you doing all this time?”
Wang San took the pinch silently, not moving away, just standing quietly.
Seeing this, Wang Yida didn’t step forward to stop her but stood aside and said:
“Sister-in-law Liu, how about we take this snake to the tavern and sell it?”
“Sell it? Sell what? Such a big snake—I’m taking it home to stew soup for my Wang Baogen to help him recover.”
Speaking was Niu Ni’er, who had been quietly watching the commotion behind them.
She stepped forward only after hearing Wang Yida suggest selling the snake at the tavern, saying:
“If anyone’s selling, it should be them, and the silver they get from it is theirs. What does the Wang family have to do with it?”
Madam Lu sneered:
“How dare you say that? The snake was killed by our Wang Man—why should it be for you? Who do you think you are?”
“Why? Because I’m her Wang Manman’s mother,” Niu Ni’er said arrogantly, holding her head high.
Madam Lu looked at her with complete disdain:
“When you beat Wang Man, why didn’t you say you were her mother? When you didn’t feed her, why didn’t you say you were her mother? When you sold her, why didn’t you say you were her mother? Now that there’s something good to gain, suddenly you’re her mother. Your nerve is thick.”
“You, what’s it to you? Our Wang Man hasn’t said a word—who gave you the right to make a fuss here?”
Niu Ni’er shot Madam Lu a glare, then looked at Wang Man:
“Manya, if you don’t say anything, I’ll take that as your agreement.”
With that, she went to grab the big snake that had been thrown on the ground. Though scared, she forced down her fear at the thought of making a good amount of silver and tried to drag the snake away by holding its head.
With her limited strength, she couldn’t lift the snake, so dragging was the only option.
Seeing her action, Madam Lu couldn’t stand it anymore:
“Niu, what are you doing? That snake was killed by our Wang Man—you can’t just take it away.”
The two women, one holding the snake’s head and the other its tail, began dragging it.
The villagers started whispering among themselves, mostly saying how shameless Niu Ni’er was.
The Wang family members kept dark faces and said nothing, all waiting for Wang Man to speak.
But Wang Man remained silent, sitting aside and watching the drama unfold.
Afraid her mother-in-law might be too old and weak to drag the snake, Little Niu stepped forward to help.
Jiang Maitian grabbed the tail end as well.
Other Wang family daughters-in-law noticed and gathered around to assist.
Niu Ni’er realized she couldn’t outmatch so many people alone and felt reluctant. She tried to persuade Wang Man to speak:
“Manya, hurry up and tell them! Your younger brother is still waiting for some meat to eat. And I need nutrition for my pregnancy belly—you can’t be so unfilial.”
Wang Man pinched her nose, stretched out her leg, and kicked Wang San:
“What are you standing there for? It’s still early. Hurry and take the snake to the tavern to sell it with your brothers.”
“There’s no food left at home, so we’ll buy some grain on the way back,” Wang Man said.
Wang San responded with an “Oh” and stood up, addressing Wang Daniu:
“I’ll trouble a few of my cousins. Having a couple more people will make the trip easier for taking turns.”
The meaning was clear—he was completely ignoring Niu Ni’er.
Niu Ni’er glared angrily at Wang Man and held onto the snake’s head tightly, refusing to let go. Not only that, she shouted loudly:
“Let go! You all let go! I’m telling you, I’m pregnant—if anything happens, you’ll have to bear the responsibility!”
Her words actually worked; Wang Daniu and the others didn’t dare to get too close.
Wang San, being a reckless troublemaker, tried to push her aside, but Wang Gui stopped him:
“Be careful, she might break your porcelain.”
Suddenly, Wang Man screamed:
“Hey, Stepmother, look—the snake is opening its mouth!”
Upon hearing this, Hua Ni’er immediately dropped the snake’s head and hid behind Madam Lu.
Wang Man laughed:
“Thanks to you, brothers.”
Only then did Wang Daniu and the others realize Wang Man was just scaring Hua Ni’er.
They lifted the big snake and left without bothering to find any special tools.
After they left, Hua Ni’er kept cursing Wang Man for being unfilial.
The villagers who had been watching gradually dispersed.
Those close to Hua Ni’er also pulled her away.
In the past few days, Wang Chang’an had been working outside and wasn’t home.
Otherwise, he would have come forward by now.
Wang Jiaojiao had also gone to town with a few friends for fun.
The strangest thing was that Wang Man’s grandfather, grandmother, uncles, and elder brothers didn’t come to watch the commotion at all, as if they knew nothing about it.
Madam Lu and the others, seeing that things had settled down, wanted to leave, but Wang Man stopped them.
“Several aunts and sisters-in-law, don’t leave just yet. Help clean up those red hawthorn fruits; I’ll teach you how to make candied hawthorns. Even though we can’t sell them, we can still make some to eat at home.”
Little Hua hesitated and said, “Wang Man, you handle the making yourself. We can help with the cleaning, but if we accidentally leak the recipe, that wouldn’t be good.”
They were still cautious about the recipe. Hua didn’t want any gossip to follow her later.
Wang Man smiled, “Look at me now—do I look capable of working? I need at least two days of rest. My calves are shaking.”
Wang Man was genuinely unwell.
Since Wang Man said that, Madam Lu and the others didn’t argue and started following her instructions.
To save time, Wang Man had everyone make the hawthorn fruits into small hawthorn balls.
She also said she would send some to the families who helped them.
Madam Lu didn’t object; she even thought Wang Man’s attitude was right. People were helping out of kindness, and you shouldn’t just take it for granted.
Whether the things were good or bad, large or small, the most important thing was the goodwill behind them.
After finishing, Madam Lu and the others left, also helping deliver the hawthorn balls.
Once they were gone, Wang Man went back to sleep.
Her strength had been completely drained. Now her whole body felt sore and weak, and it would probably take her at least two days to recover.
But it was fine—for now, they had money and could buy more of what they needed.
She tidied up the house to prepare for the coming winter. Thinking this, she soon fell into a deep sleep.
When she woke up, the sky had already darkened.
Just as she was about to get up, she noticed Wang San lying sound asleep beside her.
She reached out and gently shook him, saying, “Wang San, you’re back? How much silver did you make selling the snake?”
Wang San, too sleepy to open his eyes properly, mumbled groggily, “Sold it for twenty taels of silver. It’s by your pillow.”
After saying this, he fell back asleep.
Wang Man muttered, “That tired, huh?”
She turned her head and indeed saw a money pouch.
Inside were three silver ingots of five taels each, some smaller pieces of silver, and a few copper coins.
It looked like they followed her instructions and bought grain with the money.
Wang Man went out for a quick walk but didn’t see Auntie Ma Liu. She guessed she must have gone to sleep too.
In the kitchen, there was still some porridge left specially for her, and it was still warm.
After finishing the porridge and using the restroom, she went back inside.
She wanted to call Wang San to sleep on her bed but tried several times without waking him, so she gave up.