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The next morning, while the sky was still pitch black, Zhao Dashu sneaked out of the house with a basket strapped to his back.
By breakfast time, Zhao Dashu still hadn’t returned. His wife, seeing that the troublemaker was gone, perked up immediately. Zhao Zhenyu set down the bowls for her and the two children. “Mother, let’s go back to sleep after eating. No need to work today. Didn’t Father say yesterday? Whoever eats should work.”
Old Master Zhao slammed his chopsticks down hard. “Who gave you the right to speak? Haven’t your parents taught you how to behave in front of your elders?” This was outrageous! A worthless girl actually daring to throw a tantrum in front of him.
“Grandfather, just look—how much did Second Uncle take for himself? How much did our little family of three get? Is this fair? If we don’t eat enough, our legs go weak. How are we supposed to work?”
Fairness? He ‘was’ fairness!
“You get what you’re given. An elder’s word counts tenfold. If Third can’t discipline you properly, I’ll do it myself.”
He had been meaning to teach this girl a lesson for days now. Ever since she fell into the water, she’d been acting up, relying on Third’s backing and showing no respect for him or his wife.
“Zhenyu!”
Madam Song tugged hard on her sleeve, signaling her to stop talking.
“Grandfather, what did I say wrong? Why are you scolding me? Are you saying that just because we’re the third branch, we deserve less food and more work than the other two branches?”
Second Zhao shot his third niece a surprised glance. Normally, this girl wouldn’t even let out a peep if you hit her with a stick—but these past few days, she had changed completely. Could it be that after jumping into the river, her brain had cleared up?
“Your branch has fewer people, so you do less work? If it weren’t for the family supporting you, you’d all be freeloaders, ungrateful wretches. Arguing over a bite of food when you usually slack off—why don’t you work harder instead?”
“Grandfather, have my parents ever slacked off on their share of the work? Ask anyone in the village—has either of them ever been lazy? Second Uncle, tell me, do my parents do less than you? The chores at home—gathering firewood, cutting pig grass—I do those. Lihua feeds the chickens and even catches insects for them. Mother cooks, washes clothes, cleans dishes, feeds the pigs—isn’t she doing all of it? Are we freeloaders? Grandfather, how much work is there in this house? How much does Second Aunt do? How much do my three cousins and their sister do? If ‘that’s’ what you call freeloading, then fine, we admit it!”
Madam Song’s eyes reddened, her heart full of bitterness. She and her husband had never been lazy—they did as much as they could. So why, in her father-in-law’s eyes, were they nothing but freeloaders?
The old man roared, “Second Son! What are you standing around for? Beat her! Sharp-tongued little brat, disrespecting her elders—she’s making a disgraceful scene! Today, I’ll teach her a proper lesson!”
Second Zhao hesitated. He didn’t want Third Brother coming home and picking a fight with him over this.
Madam Song immediately shielded Zhao Zhenyu, kneeling on the ground. “Father, Zhenyu is still young and doesn’t understand. I apologize on her behalf—please don’t blame her. Her body can’t take a beating!”
“Second Son!”
Zhao Zhenyu frantically loosened her hair, kicked off her shoes, and bolted from the main hall toward the courtyard, screaming at the top of her lungs, “Help! Help! Grandfather wants to beat me to death! Help!”
It was breakfast time in the village, and many people were eating outside their homes with bowls in hand. The Zhao family lived near the center of the village. They watched as the girl, barefoot and disheveled, sprinted through the lanes, crying for help.
Oh no!
“Second Son, hurry up and stop her!”
“Yu girl, what’s wrong with you?”
“Grandfather told Second Uncle to beat me—he said he’s going to kill me!” Her eyes were wide with terror.
‘Damn it, what kind of monster is Old Master Zhao?’
“Why would your grandfather beat you?”
“He won’t let us eat…”
“Zhao Zhenyu!”
Second Zhao rushed over, his scalp prickling at the sight of the villagers surrounding her. ‘Damn it, how is this little wretch so fast?!’
“Uncle, please, don’t hit me. I won’t eat the cornbread or drink the porridge anymore. I’ll make sure my sister doesn’t eat it either; we’ll leave it for Grandpa and Grandma!”
Second Zhao’s eyelids twitched wildly. What was this little wretch up to?
“Stop talking nonsense. You ate half your meal and suddenly ran over here. Go back and finish your food.”
“No, no, no, I won’t eat. I promise I won’t eat anymore. I’ll go up the mountain to chop firewood and bring back a few bundles.”
Old Madam Sun rushed over, “You worthless girl, what are you blabbering about? I’ll tear your filthy mouth apart!”
Zhao Zhenyu immediately knelt down, biting her own leg hard, sobbing uncontrollably, “Grandma, I’m wrong, I know I’m wrong. I won’t eat the cornbread anymore, I promise I won’t!”
“You worthless girl, you finally understand. You’re a money-losing burden, how dare you eat dry food? What makes you think you deserve it?”
Second Zhao was shocked, “Mother!”
The people around them sucked in their breath. She called her own granddaughter a worthless girl, over and over again!
“I know, I know. But Grandma, please give me a meal. Don’t make me work anymore, okay? I can’t even wash clothes properly, I can just feed the chickens and pull weeds.”
“Blah, you worthless girl, you’re a worthless life. How can you not work? Hurry up and get back to work…”
“Shut up, are you crazy? Call the child back to eat. What are you talking about?” Old Master Zhao’s face was ashen, struggling to hold back his anger at the old woman. “Zhenyu, go back and eat. Was that just a joke, or did you really mean it?”
The crowd murmured in disapproval. The old man felt embarrassed and wished he could leave immediately. “Everyone, go home. It’s just a child throwing a tantrum. There’s no need for all of you to gather here. Go, go, don’t let it delay your meal. Song, don’t you think you should take your child home?”
“Alright, alright!”
Madam Song was terrified of taking her daughter home, fearing she wouldn’t be able to handle her. Sweat trickled down her forehead. What should she do, what should she do?
“Grandpa, you really won’t hit me?”
“No, I won’t!” As if that were possible!
“Aunt Liu, please help me. I’m chopping firewood on the mountain. Please call me back to save me, okay?”
The Zhao family members: … How did this situation arise?
“Of course, how could it be otherwise? Everyone in the village knows you. Who doesn’t know that you make your grandchildren gather pig fodder and chop firewood? It’s not just me, Aunt Liu, but the whole village know. Uncle Zhao, it’s not our place to interfere. Who chops firewood if not the men? In your Zhao family, you make your children do it. Don’t you have men?”
Old Master Zhao’s face turned beet red. Was everyone laughing at him for not being a man?
“No, no matter what, Lihua is only four years old. The children are so thin they look like they’re three. It’s pitiful. Every time I see them, I give them half a cornbread. You can’t stand it, but I like them very much. I can’t bear to see them being treated this way.”
Zhao Zhenyu was furious. She had come to seek help, but instead of getting support, she was met with ridicule. Her face was flushed with anger.
Old Madam Sun was about to curse again but was immediately intimidated by Old Master Zhao’s glare.
The Zhao family members all had faces as black as the bottom of a pot. When they returned home, they hung their heads like defeated roosters. This time, they had lost face in front of the entire village.
They couldn’t hit her, they couldn’t curse her. This worthless girl had become so difficult to deal with.
When they arrived, Zhao Dashu was already there. After listening to his daughter’s account of the incident, he said nothing and pulled his wife into the house.
“Old man, it’s all because of Third Zhao. He doesn’t care about our reputation at all.”
“Shut up!”
Stubborn fools. This time, his discipline had failed. He couldn’t teach a wooden-headed person to be smarter. Sigh, if it weren’t for the silver, he wouldn’t have married this fool.
Mistaken!
Maintained for decades, their reputation was ruined in just one morning.
Old Master Zhao squinted his eyes. Third Zhao’s daughter was quite a handful!
………………
“Father, what’s going on?”
Zhao Zhenyu’s eyes sparkled with anticipation as she looked at him.
“Collect, collect everything fresh and dry. We definitely can’t sell the dry ones; they’ll be visible when we dry them in the courtyard.”
“how much copper coin per pound?”
“Twenty cash coins!”
“Is that so!” Madam Song covered her mouth in surprise.
Zhao Zhenyu saw her mother’s reaction and thought, “Twenty cash coins? What can we do with that? Do we have any savings?”
“Father, Mother, you continue working. I’ll go pick some.”
“Who said you’ll pick? Today, the whole family will stop working for a while and go pick honeysuckle. After picking, we’ll store it in an old abandoned house on the mountain.”
Father was so domineering!
“Mother, Father?”
“Getting scolded for working and getting scolded for not working, it doesn’t matter either way.” Zhao Dashu was cold and indifferent, planning to let things be and help his daughter earn some private savings.
“Zhenyu, here are seven cash coins from today’s sale. Keep them.” He gave the money, not hiding any for himself. This money was for his daughter. Moreover, he didn’t care anymore, hhe knew that her brothers, Big Brother and Second Brother, had their own savings, while he had nothing. He was just concerned about his daughter’s well-being and didn’t mind being shortchanged.
Zhao Zhenyu wasn’t polite; she took the money and stuffed it into her bosom. She felt safe keeping it on her, not fearing her grandmother would search her.