Chapter 75.1

Translated by Aviana

As for Yang Tiezhu, it’s been a while since Yang jia had seen him.

In the second branch’s room, Lin Qingwan was the only one living there. As for the third branch’s husband and wife, they seem to be appearing and disappearing elusively all day long; even their silhouette couldn’t be seen. And then there was this dog that Yang Tiezhu had been raising; he had never brought it home. Don’t know when it returned, but all day long it kept following Lin Qingwan.

Piqued with curiosity, Wang-shi asked Lin Qingwan about Yang Tiezhu’s whereabouts when the latter was basking under the sun outside.

Yang Tiegen helped her move the rocking chair outside along with the table for snacks before he left. Reckoning that her man had asked Yang Tiegen to do so, Lin Qingwan’s heart felt as if it had been suffused with sweetness upon identifying her husband’s attentiveness towards her.

Lin Qingwan languidly squinted her eyes, unwilling to respond to her. However, while Wang-shi’s hands were busy washing the clothes, her mouth was nevertheless unwilling to concede as she continued to ask for the second time.

She impatiently replied, “Eldest sao , my man has gone out to earn money for his wife and kids. If not, wouldn’t our whole family have to drink the northwest wind ?”

Wang-shi curled her lips in displeasure, ‘What money can a crippled earn?’ Just as she was about to open her lips, a silhouette entered her sight from the corner of her eyes.

“ Yo , where is the fourth dimei going? What is in your hand?” Feng-shi’s oddity in her action as she came hadn’t slipped from Wang-shi’s notice. Just because she was engaging in conversation with Lin Qingwan, it doesn’t mean that her eyes were solely focused on her as well.

Feng-shi’s body stiffened momentarily before her pace quickened towards the main room as if she hadn’t heard a word.

Had it been someone else, upon seeing the other person disinclined to pay attention to them, they would simply brush it off.

However, Fang-shi seemed to have highly underestimated Wang-shi’s bottom line. Wang-shi leaped up like a tiger. Her plump sprinted up from the stool and dashed to bar Feng-shi’s path.

Not only didn’t she bar her way, but she also snatched things from the other person’s hands.

Wang-shi was enraged when she tore open the cover yet found it laughable.

“Aiyo, fourth dimei, your life is truly good, even eating a boiled egg! From where did you get these eggs? Our family doesn’t eat eggs alone, yo! Our family meals are ‘fixed meals’ yo!”

Lin Qingwan was amused by Wang-shi’s series of yo’s. Sensing a good play was about to begin, she put away her indolent and spiritless appearance and quickly sat upright and fixed her eyes over there.

Da Hei, who had been lying beside her chair, also detected the movements over there. He turned his head and trained his eyes there without moving. Thereby, a pair of a person and a dog watched over the spectacle with great enthusiasm. Lin Qingwan took a handful of peanuts and deshelled them before eating one and feeding the other to Dahei.

After a few days, Dahei had become accustomed to his hostess’s habit of stuffing something or other into his mouth. His actions also became quite fluid. As soon as Lin Qingwan threw one towards him, he would open his mouth and catch it swiftly and accurately.

While over there, Feng-shi’s face turned pitch black.

Feng-shi was truly astute and realized this eldest sao of hers, Wang-shi, was not easy to deal with long ago. After marrying into the Yang jia, apart from Wang-shi, who made a fuss at every turn, everyone else treated her quite well.

As for the family’s dietary habits—although Feng jia has a xuicai , their family’s financial straits were quite poor, far from prosperity. Usually, their meals were composed of thin porridge and a steamed bun, passing their days with difficulty. Thus, she didn’t find the food here unbearable. Besides, her mother-in-law, He-shi, would always try to secretly give her and her husband food at every possible opportunity. And whenever her eldest sao opposed her, her mother-in-law would always help her obstruct her. Her mother-in-law spoiled her while her husband treated her well too. If her eldest sao, Wang-shi, had also given her some snacks, it would have been perfect.

Unfortunately, that was unlikely to happen. Just like today, her mother-in-law gave her a few eggs to boil and eat along with her husband secretly. Obviously, she had been cautious and even boiled the water only on the pretext of taking a bath. Yet, she didn’t escape from Wang-shi’s scrutiny.

Feng-shi’s face turned slightly red, a little flustered and exasperated. After all, it hadn’t been long since she married, and she hadn’t trained her facial expressions yet. Having been caught in the act red-handedly, inevitably, she was beset with slight guilt.

“Eldest sao…”

Feng-shi’s words were yet to finish before He-shi came out to help her out of embarrassment.

Hearing the noise outside, He-shi lifted open the curtain and stepped out. Without a word, she then walked towards Wang-shi and snatched the cover from her hands.

“What’s this fuss about? I let Fang-shi boil a few eggs. Do I need to get your approval?”

This while, Wang-shi and He-shi’s battle of wits has geared a bit, and a mere short sentence as this was unlikely to cool down the situation. Wang-shi’s hands were soaking wet, having been washing clothes till a moment ago. Thus, she began flinging them, also using the act to gain herself momentum.

“Mother-in-law, you are siding with Feng-shi, aren’t you? Why are you shouting at me? Feng-shi secretly pilfered a few eggs and boiled them to eat. When I caught her in the act, you protect her, saying you let her do so. How can you be this biased?

As she was avoiding the water droplets, rage crept up to Fang-shi’s face, turning her red. However, she was caught in the act, making it difficult for her to find words of rebuttal. Thereby, she could only stand aside with the rims of her eyes turning red in ire.

At this moment, Yang Xuezhang also made his way out upon hearing sounds.

Seeing Wang-shi finding faults with Feng-shi again, a crease formed amid his brows. Taking in the reddened eyes of his wife, Fang-shi, he, who had never stepped into women’s quarrels, stepped in.

With respect to his wife, Feng-shi, Yang Xuezhang was pleased to an immense degree. Not only was she pretty good-looking, she also came from a family with a xiucai. Yang Xuezhang’s regard towards this wife of his was pretty high. Thus, he opened his mouth to help her out of trouble for the first time ever.

“Elder sao, those words of yours are extremely unpleasant to hear? Pilfering food? Catching in the act? Do you think everyone is like you?”

Have to say, this Yang Xuezhang wasn’t quite good with words. He was the one who was in the wrong in actuality, yet rather than diverting the topic with a few light quips, he went ahead and stabbed the other person’s sore spot. In such a case, wouldn’t it fuel other people’s ire even more?

No sooner than Wang-shi heard Yang Xuezhnag’s words, sure enough, rage overwhelmed her.

Speaking about this matter, it was a long story.

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