Chapter 54: Dropping Out
Su Yaoguang and Jing’er chatted and laughed all the way home, where they met three people on the way. One was wearing the academy teacher’s clothes, and the other two were Yihui and Xiao Yanci.
Yihui saw Su Yaoguang, his eyes full of disgust.
Xiao Yanci’s expression didn’t change as he stepped aside to make way for the two.
After carrying the water home, Su Yaoguang said to Jing’er, “Go find out what those people just now came to the village for. That one with eyes on top of his head is called Yihui, he is Yihuan’s brother and also Zhong Lanhua’s son. That one who kept his head down and didn’t speak is called Xiao Ci, he is a servant bought by the Jiang family.”
Jing’er had only been here a few days, but she had already seen Zhong Lanhua and Zhaodi bickering several times. She also knew from Su Yaoguang that the two families were sworn enemies.
Now that Su Yaoguang asked her to inquire about the news, she immediately agreed, picked up the basket and pretended to go pick vegetables, but actually went near the Zhong family to inquire about the news.
Zhaodi went back to her maternal family today, and it was unknown if she would return. In previous years, she would definitely come back overnight, after all, in previous years the mother and daughter had no money, and the gifts they brought back to the maternal family were just over ten eggs. Today was different, Zhaodi brought back a pound of meat. That money-grubbing uncle, seeing the meat, should awaken a bit of conscience.
Not long after, Jing’er returned and said to Su Yaoguang who was making dinner in the kitchen, “Yaoguang, I found out. That teacher came to the village to discuss with Zhong Lanhua about changing Xiao Ci’s household registration to commoner status, letting Xiao Ci go to the academy to study, and said that as long as the Zhong family lets Xiao Ci go study, both his and Yihui’s tuition fees would be waived.”
Su Yaoguang stirred the soup in the pot and said with downcast eyes, “That’s not strange.”
Even without her, Xiao Yanci would not be content to be a servant; he would find every way to fight for a future for himself.
However, what did it have to do with her? In this life, she had no connection with him. Whether he soared to the sky or sank to the bottom of the lake, it had nothing to do with her.
“Godmother, you’re back.” Jing’er saw Zhaodi entering the door.
Hearing Jing’er’s words, Su Yaoguang went out to greet her and saw that Zhaodi’s hair was disheveled and there were scars on her face, so she hurried over: “Mom, what happened?”
Jing’er was sitting in front of the stove and had only seen Zhaodi’s figure earlier, not noticing anything wrong with her. Hearing Su Yaoguang’s angry and anxious voice, she also came out to check.
“Godmother, who bullied you?”
Zhaodi straightened her hair and tried hard to cover it up: “No one, who could bully me? I’m so fierce, you all know that.”
“Mom, did Grandpa hit you?” Su Yaoguang frowned. “You brought a pound of meat, and they still hit you?”
“No. I’m already a mother, why would they hit me? I went back to my maternal family wanting to help with some work, and I fell, that’s how it happened.” Zhaodi said, “You didn’t see it, I carried a pound of meat back to my maternal family, and everyone in the village was praising me for my filial piety! I was really glorious this time, not aggrieved at all.”
“Mom, wash up first, and I’ll apply medicine for you.” Su Yaoguang said.
“Yaoguang, let me do it!”
“Okay.”
Jing’er fetched hot water for Zhaodi and mixed it with cold water. While Zhaodi was bathing, she delivered clean clothes to Zhaodi’s room.
Zhaodi found it inconvenient to wash her hair, so Jing’er stayed to wash it for her.
Zhaodi wiped her cheek and said with a smile, “This water is too hot, it steamed up my eyes.”
Jing’er said, “Yaoguang made hair nourishing cream this time, with some herbs added to blacken hair, which she and I made together. I don’t know if it works well. Mom can try it, and if it works well, we can sell it for a good price.”
“How’s that scar removal face cream you’ve been working on lately?”
“It’ll be ready tomorrow. Then we can let Godmother try it too. You fell pretty badly, but with the scar removal cream, there absolutely won’t be any scars.”
After Zhaodi finished bathing and came out, Jing’er wiped her hair for her again. After wiping it half dry, she applied medicine to her wounds.
“Mom, Jing’er, time to eat.” Su Yaoguang said.
“Coming right away.” Jing’er replied.
Seeing the wild celery stir-fried with meat, leek stir-fried egg, and mushroom soup on the table, Zhaodi said distressingly, “You girl, did you fall into the pot? Why did you make so much?”
“Mom, you’re injured like this, don’t you need to replenish well?” Su Yaoguang said, “Our family doesn’t lack this bit of food now. Just eat, and buy more after you finish.”
“Prodigal thing.” Zhaodi said with her mouth, but picked up some meat for Su Yaoguang, and also gave Jing’er a chopstickful. “Each of you is so skinny, eat it all up since you made it, it won’t taste good if left until tomorrow.”
Su Yaoguang and Jing’er also picked food for Zhaodi.
Seeing this, Zhaodi’s eyes reddened.
Zhaodi buried her head in eating, sniffed her nose, put down the bowl and turned around: “My nose is a bit stuffy, I’ll go wash it.”
While Zhaodi went to the kitchen to fetch water, Jing’er said worriedly, “Yaoguang, was Godmother bullied?”
“My grandparents had three daughters and one son. Every time Mom and my two aunts went back to the maternal family, they would suffer a bellyful of anger. This time she brought a pound of meat back, I thought it would be better, but now it seems some people are simply not worth associating with. If she doesn’t want to say, we’ll pretend we don’t know. That’s her knot in her heart, she has to untie it herself, no one else’s advice will work.”
“I’ve seen quite a few families that favor sons over daughters. In my view, since they’re not welcome, just ignore them. Don’t they say that a married daughter is like spilled water? Since the water is already spilled, why bother with them?” Jing’er said, “I hope Godmother figures it out soon and doesn’t get hung up on it.”
Zhaodi came back and urged them to eat: “What are you waiting for me for? Eat!”
At the Jiang family doorway. Zhong Lanhua saw the teacher out and said, “Teacher, it’s late today, why not stay at our home!”
“No need, I have a relative not far from here, I’ll borrow a night there today and return to the city tomorrow. I’ll give Yihui and Xiao Ci three days to rest and recuperate. You handle this matter well in these three days, and once it’s done, come to the academy to find me.”
“Thank you, teacher, we’ll definitely hurry to get it done.” Zhong Lanhua said with a smile, “Take care.”
After the teacher left, Yihui entered the courtyard with a cold face.
Zhong Lanhua looked at Xiao Yanci and said with a smile, “You boy really have some ability. These few taels of silver weren’t wasted.”
Xiao Yanci cupped his hands and said, “Xiao Ci is fortunate to be taken in by Madam. If he fell into those harsh families, he might still be living a life worse than death now.”
“It’s best if you think that way.” Zhong Lanhua looked at Yihuan beside her.
Yihuan said, “Mom, let’s eat first, we’ll discuss other things later.”
“Alright, eat first.” Zhong Lanhua said, “You came back in a hurry, we haven’t had time to cook, come over and tend the fire.”
