Chapter 21: For The Better
“Will it only be your Father and sister?” Madam Zhao patted Yuhang’s head, feeling a little excited.
Seeing her husband and daughter hatching plans to make money, she felt like there was hope for the future.
Perhaps, at a certain point in the future, she could become the Madam of an official house!
“My mother is the best!” Yuhang hurriedly grinned at Madam Zhao and then added, “Grandma is the best, so is Yuyang!”
“Ha, Yuhang has such a sweet mouth, already knowing how to flatter others!” Grandmother Ciying lovingly gazed at her young grandson with a look of pure affection.
Yuhang’s face turned into a crimson red, and feeling embarrassed, ducked his head and began to gnaw at the cornmeal bun in his hand.
Although no one knew just how they would make money, Bailian’s words had left them a sliver of hope.
They could make their own money!
If Patriarch Li and that one wouldn’t let them study, then if they had their own source of income, all hope would not be lost.
Bailian examined the people in front of her, their eyes twinkling as if they had finally found a dream they wanted to strive towards. Seeing this, Bailian didn’t have the heart to tell them that even if they did end up making money in the future, it would definitely be snatched away by that old woman.
If you want to make a fortune, we must split from the family first!
However, they would have to patiently wait until an opportunity arises, so that this “split” would be acknowledged by the entire village.
After all, of all the virtues, filial piety comes first.
Even if the villagers knew that the Third Branch were not living well, if the Third Branch suddenly decided to split from the main family, someone would always criticize their decision, picking at the little things.
Moreover, if Yuhang were to take the imperial examination in the future, it was imperative that he had a filially pious reputation.
Otherwise, if people really wanted to find out some flaws, this matter could be used against him.
This was exactly why Patriarch Li and Eldest Master had been so angry at Bailian’s threats, but they did not dare treat Bailian as they usually would.
“Come, let’s eat some white-flour buns.” The Third Master swiftly broke the steaming hot buns in half and handed one half to Bailian, “Everyone should have a taste.”
“Father, we just ate some at home, you’re the only one left!” Bailian smiled sweetly at her loyal and caring father.
It really feels good to be cared for by one’s parents ah!
“Yeah! Father, we’ve already eaten.” Yuhang explained, “It’s delicious, Father should quickly try it!”
“Eat!” Yuyang nodded furiously and dumbly followed after Yuhang.
“My children’s father ah, we’ve already eaten!”
“Right!”
Grandmother Ciying and Madam Zhao also nodded in agreement.
“Then I’ll save these for you all to eat at noon.” The Third Master moved to put the steamed buns back into the food basket.
“Ai ya, Father eat! We’ve already eaten, but only Father hasn’t!” Yuhang hugged the basket tightly, quickly scampering away so that the Third Master wouldn’t be able to put it back.
Bailian acted the quickest and couldn’t bear seeing this family struggle so much just over sharing a few white flour buns. Grabbing a warm bun from her Father’s calloused hands, she nimbly stuffed them into his mouth.
Too pitiful!
“….” The Third Master’s eyes turned misty after seeing his family’s stubborn, yet affectionate actions.
Grandmother Ciying and Madam Zhao chuckled, “Eat quickly, we won’t eat what you vomit!”
The Third Master vigorously nodded, and didn’t say anything more. He was too busy savoring the taste of the white-flour buns. So this is what they taste like!
My heart has been melted into a warm puddle, my daughter is really an angel sent down from heaven ah!
Meanwhile, the person in question was casually snacking on some cornmeal buns, the corn grits, and hard texture made them completely unpalatable for her taste buds. She was currently suffering very much but seeing everyone else eat the buns with relish, she tolerated it with a forced smile. This is really too hard to eat ah!
Under Bailian’s henpecking, the family finished all the food that had been in the basket. This was the first time the family had eaten so much!
Hmm..one person’s serving is about one and a half cornmeal buns plus a half of a white-flour bun.
A cornmeal bun was only as big as a small child’s fist.
Bailian looked up, her heart aching.
Everyone in this family is too skinny! They are extremely malnourished and in need of some good food. It seems like my first goal besides splitting from the family is to help them gain weight ah!
“Father, let me take my brothers with me to dig up some wild vegetables near the mountains!” Bailian impatiently popped up, seeing that the sun had already risen far up into the sky, it was probably around 11 O’clock in the morning.
Farmers usually had one or two meals, but the second meal was already around 3 O’ Clock in the afternoon.
“Alright, don’t wander around, just stay near the bottom of the mountain’s forest.” The Third Master uneasily reminded his children, feeling a little worried.
“Okay!” Bailian energetically grabbed Yuhang and Yuyang one by one and then turned to assure Madam Zhao, “Mother and Grandma don’t need to head back, just wait here for us to return, we can go back together!”
Bailian was worried that these two frail women would be targeted by those at home after they returned.
“Alright.” Grandmother Ciying beamed at her granddaughter and nodded, “The chores at home have been finished, and they don’t dare to make a move against us here.”
Bailian gaped, Grandmother Ciying seemed to have misunderstood her. It’s not that I’m afraid, I’m worried about you ah!
But, it didn’t matter, she was fine as long as the results were the same.
As Yuhang picked up the basket, Bailian held hands with Yuyhang, walking towards the back mountain forest.
This village is called Wuming (Wuming literally means “five names”) Village because there are five main surnames in the village and the surname Li was one of them. Every villager had one of these surnames. According to the elders of the village, in the past when the Wuming Village had been founded, there were five ancestors with these five surnames, and that is why the village had been named as so.
There were endless mountains and wild forests located near the back of the village. It was rich in vegetables and resources, making it good for collecting beneficial herbs or hunting. However, there were also many dangerous animals and wild beasts inside, so very few people ever ventured far into the mountainside. Only those with a few martial art skills had the skill and confidence to come back alive.
The side closest to the village was merely the outskirts of the mountain and it’s forests. Many villagers would dig up wild vegetables and pick wild fruits because of how close it was to the village. With so many people walking about, over time, the wild animals who had lived near the periphery of the mountainside had already retreated deep into the forest.
That’s why the location only had a few sporadic rabbits, pheasants, wild vegetables, and the like. With so many people picking and hunting near the area, there wasn’t that much to go around, but it could let families get by if they were in dire financial straits.
The Li Family owned a lot of farmland and there was naturally enough sustenance to go around, but the miserly Matriarch Wang was very stingy, In addition, the Eldest Master and his son, Yuwen, spent a lot of money on studying, so the crops, besides the ones kept for food, were all sold to make ends meet.
Therefore, in addition to collecting ragweed to feed the pigs, the three siblings also had to dig wild vegetables to make up for the lack of food at home.
Matriarch Wang just couldn’t stand seeing the three siblings idling around the house.
“You guys dig wild vegetables here!” Bailian pointed to the grassy area where they often dug up wild vegetables and herbs. She then pointed in the direction of a nearby stream, “I’ll go over there and take a quick look to see if there’s anything worth dredging up!”
Close to them, a few villagers were also laboriously digging out wild vegetables under the baking sun. Most of them were women as children rarely came so close to the mountainside.
This was because, although this was only the outskirts of the mountainside, there was still a high possibility that one would encounter a wild beast like a wolf or bear. As such, it was rare for villagers to send children as young as Bailian and her siblings to come and dig.
“Sister, we’ll stay close to you!” Yuhang pulled Yuhang protectively closer to Bailian.
Yuhang was feeling a bit worried, after all, Bailian had been seriously injured yesterday and was afraid that her condition would suddenly worsen and she would be in big trouble! As a man, he should protect his sister!
“Then…fine!” Bailian had long noticed Yuhang watching after her rather closely and could only reluctantly agree.
Then, leading her brothers to a large babbling stream, which was located inside in the mountain, a good distance away from the safe outskirts the villagers frequented. The villagers would not come here unless they were desperately hungry and in search of sustenance.
This was because a person in the village had once unfortunately encountered a wolf pack here before.
“Sister, what….did we come here for? I’ve heard….that there are wolves…” Yuhang peeked around nervously, tightening his grip on Yuhang subconsciously.
When Yuyang heard the word “wolf” come out of his brother’s mouth, his usually expressionless, dull face showed a slight trace of year, and he shifted closer to Yuhang’s side.
Yuhang was seven-years-old, only one year younger than Bailian. Yuyang, on the other hand, was only five-years-old, and it was natural that he would be scared of going to a place known to have wolves running about.
“It’s fine! Don’t you have your sister here? There’s a lot of wild vegetables and herbs growing around here, much more than the outside. If we pick a lot, we can hide them in a secret place and take them out when we feel hungry!” Bailian patted her chest to ensure that she would protect them and then eagerly pointed to the abundant wild, fresh vegetables peeking out from the dark, moist soil.
Few people frequented this area, which meant that the wild vegetable here was obviously much bigger and had grown with all the nutrients it needed, without getting plucked prematurely by human hands.
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