Chapter 38: Probing
Su Yaoguang cooked braised pork, sweet and sour pork ribs, steamed egg custard, and then made some mushroom soup.
With these few delicious dishes on the table, Zhang Zhaodi, who was used to saving, felt heartbroken.
“Mom, Wangshu and I earned eight taels of silver. You don’t need to worry about not having money to spend. We’ll earn even more silver. Eat up, eat more. You’ve become haggard. Nourish yourself well.”
She kept picking food for Zhang Zhaodi, and before long, Zhang Zhaodi’s small bowl turned into a little mountain shape.
Zhang Zhaodi lightly tapped the back of her hand with her chopsticks and said grumpily, “Do you think I’m a pig? Eating so much. Stop picking for me. If you pick any more, I’ll get angry.”
As she spoke, she divided the things in her bowl to Zhou Wangshu and Su Yaoguang, leaving only one piece of braised pork and one piece of sweet and sour pork ribs. The steamed egg custard was too soft and had already blended with the rice.
She looked at Zhou Wangshu and asked, “Yaoguang said you made money. Did those cosmetics you made before sell? Did people really buy those things and you earned eight taels?”
Zhou Wangshu nodded very seriously. “It’s true. Yaoguang wouldn’t deceive you no matter who else she might deceive. Yaoguang and I went together. Yaoguang was amazing and even helped the shop owner sell clothes to earn a dividend. We sold a total of more than twenty boxes, with more than forty boxes still unsold. After coming back, Yaoguang and I made some more, but they haven’t set yet. Once they do, we’ll go into the city again.”
Zhang Zhaodi held Su Yaoguang’s hand, feeling the calluses on her fingers, her nose souring. “My daughter is more capable than her mom.”
“Mom, I’m not as capable as you.” Su Yaoguang hugged her. “I didn’t give birth to a child myself, didn’t wash diapers myself during the postpartum month, didn’t carry a newborn child up the mountain to dig wild vegetables… Mom, when Daughter was little, I had no way to share your burdens. But from now on, I will. We mother and daughter will always be together, and our days will get better and better.”
“Pah, who wants to be with you forever? You have Wangshu. From now on, you’ll be with Wangshu every day.” Zhang Zhaodi scolded laughingly.
Someone was knocking on the courtyard gate.
Hearing this knocking, Zhang Zhaodi and Su Yaoguang, who were immersed in their mother-daughter affection, didn’t want to open the door.
This knocking sound was not unfamiliar to them. Every time it appeared, it meant the visitor had bad intentions.
However, the other party kept knocking nonstop. If they continued, it would disturb the neighbors next door, so they had to open the door first and then chase the person away.
Zhou Wangshu stood up. “I’ll go take a look.”
Su Yaoguang and Zhang Zhaodi wiped the tears from the corners of their eyes and composed themselves. The place wasn’t tidied up yet when Zhou Wangshu’s angry voice came from the courtyard entrance.
“What are you doing here?”
“I’m Zhang Zhaodi’s mother-in-law, Su Yaoguang’s biological grandmother. This is my eldest son’s home. How could I not be allowed in?” Grandma Su strode into the courtyard.
After just a few steps, her knee hurt, and she knelt on the ground.
“Ah…” Grandma Su’s face turned deathly pale from the pain.
Zhou Wangshu frowned. “What exactly are you here for, old lady? It’s so late, why aren’t you resting at your own home? Why come here to make trouble? Do you want to drink manure water too?”
Grandma Su’s face changed drastically. “Pah, this old lady wouldn’t… Fine, I just heard Yaoguang’s mother came back and came to see her.”
Grandma Su remembered the purpose of this visit and restrained some of her anger. She had almost forgotten the main reason she came here today. She was used to being arrogant and hadn’t corrected it yet.
Speaking of which, this Su Yaoguang had really grown bold, her courage getting bigger and bigger. Before, she was just like Zhang Zhaodi and didn’t dare refute her at all. Whatever she fancied in their home, she just took it. Now that girl had gotten clever and even started guarding her food.
But that made sense. This orphan and widow survived on that bit of childbirth fee. If she didn’t guard her food, they’d probably run out of grain immediately. It seemed they had reached a desperate situation, so they were throwing caution to the wind.
Since they were in a desperate situation, they should just be obedient and marry Mutou. As long as she married Mutou, at least they wouldn’t starve. Mutou’s family only had him. If she gave birth to a son for him, wouldn’t all of Mutou’s things become hers?
“Mom, what made you think of coming to see me today?” Zhang Zhaodi came out.
Grandma Su sized up Zhang Zhaodi and said, “Was this childbirth smooth?”
“Why is Mom suddenly concerned about my work?” Zhang Zhaodi said. “Could it be that you know our orphan and widow life is hard, so you want to help us out?”
“I know it’s not easy for you, but it’s not easy for me and your father-in-law either. With Yaoguang’s dad gone, I can only rely on the second and third sons. The third is always in the city and rarely seen all year. Only the second son’s family gives me some hope. We have five mouths to feed there, and our days are much harder than yours.”
Help them? What a pipe dream.
Even if she couldn’t finish eating, she’d feed it to the chickens and dogs rather than this disaster star and money-losing goods.
“If that’s the case, what’s the use of asking me? This family was stingy and petty. I did so much for them, but in the end, I still didn’t get the childbirth fee.” Zhang Zhaodi said angrily. “I’m very tired and want to rest early. If Mom has no important matters, please go back first!”
“Your family made something delicious. It smells so good. Since I’m here, I’ll just eat a meal at your place. It’s been a long time since I ate at your house.”
As Grandma Su spoke, she walked toward the inside.
Su Yaoguang blocked her way.
“Grandma just fell. Go back and rest quickly! It’ll be dark soon, and the road won’t be easy to walk.”
Grandma Su felt scared just looking at this face.
She glanced at the table in the hall and saw only a few bowls of soup on it, nothing else.
Could it be that another family made something delicious?
Then how did this aroma drift here, so rich it made her tongue crave it.
Seeing there was no bargain to be had and no news to probe, Grandma Su didn’t want to stay in this heavy-yin-energy place and turned to leave.
As soon as she left, Zhou Wangshu immediately shut the door.
Zhang Zhaodi gave Su Yaoguang a thumbs up. “My daughter is still the smart one. She served the mushroom soup in bowls ahead of time to get through it.”
Su Yaoguang brought out the hidden meal and set it on the table, saying to Zhou Wangshu and Zhang Zhaodi, “If she didn’t leave soon, the braised pork would have gotten cold. Eat quickly. It won’t taste good once cold.”
“What did she come for?” Zhang Zhaodi said. “Just to ask if I got my wages?”
“She was probing you to see if you’ve run into any trouble. Mom, I originally thought you just had bad luck with an evil family, but now it seems there might be something fishy about this matter.”
“You mean the Feng Family was a trap set by your grandma and them?” Zhang Zhaodi said angrily. “If that’s the case, I absolutely won’t let them off.”
“Mom, do you want to completely shake off the people from their family?” Su Yaoguang said.
“Although your dad is gone, you are still their Su family bloodline after all. How could we shake them off? Unless I take you and remarry, but I don’t want to betray your dad.”
