Chapter 85: Sell Her For A Good Price To Raise The Grandson!
After being busy continuously for several days, and now with the little Imperial Grandson, Lin Xin decided that she wouldn’t go anywhere today and would just rest at home for the day.
After the three finished breakfast, Lin Nan found a stool and sat in the courtyard reciting the formulas and medical books that Cui Shi had taught him. Lin Xin held the little Imperial Grandson and sat beside him listening, occasionally clapping her hands to cheer him on. The family was extremely harmonious and the atmosphere was wonderful.
But at He Luan’er’s home, it was complete chaos.
A couple of nights ago, she had secretly taken a hoe and gone out. Although she had been very careful not to make any noise, she still couldn’t fool her parents. But the couple very tacitly pretended not to know. Going out stealthily in the middle of the night definitely wasn’t to do anything good.
But if she had gained something, that would be different. As her parents, taking what she obtained into their own hands was only right, wasn’t it?
Therefore, when the exhausted and empty-handed He Luan’er returned home, what she saw was her parents’ wolf-like gazes and the way they instantly turned cold upon seeing her empty hands.
She naturally understood what her parents were scheming. She couldn’t help but sneer coldly inside, put down the hoe, simply washed up, then went back to her room and fell straight asleep. She hadn’t slept the whole night digging pits and had to be on guard against being discovered—it had worn her out to death.
When she woke up, the more she thought about it, the more something felt off. In her previous life, that chest of gold, silver, and jewels had indeed been dug up at Lin Xin’s home. How could there be nothing this time? Could it be that she remembered the location wrong? Or had someone else gotten there first?
The more she thought, the more confused she became, so she decided to go take another look near Lin Xin’s home, and then she got doused with a big bucket of filthy water and came back.
Upon entering the house, He Luan’er still couldn’t help but feel a chill in her heart. Everyone in the whole family except her was gathered around the table eating breakfast. Her brother saw her come in from outside, and his gaze toward her carried a bit of displeasure, as if resenting why she had come back so early—why couldn’t she wait until they finished eating before returning, so they wouldn’t have to share the already pitifully meager breakfast with her.
“You wretched girl, where did you go to court death again? You got a perfectly good piece of clothing so dirty and stinky like this. Don’t you know how much it costs to make a piece of clothing?” He Luan’er’s mother Mi Shi was closest to the door and bore the brunt of the stench of filthy water on her body. She wrinkled her nose and cursed hatefully.
“Mom’s right! To marry you into a scholarly family in town, the family scrimped and saved from their own mouths to get the money for this clothing. Not only did you not behave properly at the matchmaking, you actually ruined the clothes like this. Are you trying to anger everyone to death?” He Luan’er’s sister-in-law Wang Shi swallowed the egg in her mouth and said angrily.
“Wretched girl, always causing trouble outside. Speak! How did this happen?” He Lao Tou Er put down his bowl and asked.
“How did it happen? Lin Xin dumped it on me. If you’ve got the guts, make her compensate with money!” He Luan’er rolled her eyes hard and headed toward her room with her head down.
“Wait a minute, explain clearly. What do you mean Lin Xin dumped it? Why would she dump it on you for no reason?” As she passed by Wang Shi, He Luan’er was grabbed by her and asked.
“I was the one doused with filthy water, so how can you talk like that! From the moment I came in, not one of you said a word of concern. You immediately called me a wretched girl. Don’t forget, we’re all family. If I’m a wretched girl, then what are you? Wretched old man? Wretched old hag?” After saying that, she looked at her brother and asked: “And you? Wretched boy? And you, what wretched thing are you?” The last sentence was directed at Wang Shi.
“You’ve turned the world upside down! Criticize you a bit and you dare curse the whole family. Today I’ll teach you a proper lesson!” He Lao Tou Er angrily cursed, took off one shoe, and threw it at He Luan’er’s face, hitting her mouth and nose squarely.
An unusually pungent sour smell filled He Luan’er’s nasal cavity and mouth. She bent over and vomited violently.
These past couple of days, she’d been preoccupied with the jewels and hadn’t eaten well, so aside from sour water, she couldn’t vomit up anything else.
As a result of her vomiting, the nearby Wang Shi smelled the sour rotten odor spreading in the air and couldn’t help but squat to one side, retching up all the breakfast she’d just eaten. Even worse, after vomiting, she clutched her belly and sat on the ground, crying out in pain one after another. Through her light gray dress, bright red blood slowly seeped out, like a blood-red flower blooming on gray soil.
“Quick, son, carry your wife to the bed. Mom will go call the doctor for you right now. Your wife is about to miscarry!” Mi Shi had given birth to two children and knew immediately what was happening.
“Oh, oh, okay.” He Luan’er’s eldest brother hurriedly picked up his wife who was slumped on the ground moaning in pain and trotted quickly into their room.
Mi Shi returned quickly, with the village midwife Qin Po Zi following behind her.
“Elder sister, quickly take a look at my daughter-in-law.” Mi Shi pulled Qin Po Zi into the room. Soon after, He Luan’er’s eldest brother was chased out. He rubbed his hands and paced in circles in the courtyard. He Lao Tou Er sat to one side, puffing idly on his tobacco pipe.
Only He Luan’er was still crouched on the ground in her vomiting posture, but her family acted like they didn’t see how unwell she was and completely ignored her.
“Heh heh.” He Luan’er wiped her tears, staggered to her feet, and ran into her own room.
Qin Po Zi and Mi Shi busied themselves for more than an hour and finally managed to save the child in Wang Shi’s belly. But she also said that Wang Shi had to rest well during this time, couldn’t do anything, and it was best not to even get out of bed. If it happened again, even if the child was saved, her body would absolutely not be fine.
The child in Wang Shi’s belly was the first of the next generation in the He family. He Lao Tou Er had always been hoping his eldest son would quickly give him a grandson, but he never expected the hard-won grandson to end up in such a situation. Already favoring boys over girls, he disliked He Luan’er even more now— one could even say he loathed her.
Mi Shi took thirty wen qian, wrapped half a jin of brown sugar, and even pocketed two freshly laid eggs from the chicken coop. Only then did she send off Qin Po Zi with a thousand thanks.
After closing the courtyard gate, He Lao Tou Er and Mi Shi seemed to lose all their strength, sighing as they looked at each other, then unanimously turned their gazes toward He Luan’er’s room. This was all caused by her. If the marriage arrangement with the scholar in town didn’t work out, then they’d sell her for a good price to raise the grandson!
The tacit understanding cultivated over many years of life together allowed the old couple to reach a consensus at this moment.
He Luan’er still didn’t know that because she hadn’t followed the trajectory of her previous life, she was about to face an even more tragic situation than in her previous life.
