Chapter 3

Chapter 3

Mrs. Zhang felt her breath hitch as Lin Chunyan finished eating the melon and collected the rinds.

These melon rinds were a type of traditional medicine; when dried, they could treat heat phlegm.

With little silver at home, she made sure to utilize everything she could collect.

After tidying up, she was about to head to the kitchen when Mrs. Zhang spoke again, no longer mentioning money. "Are you going to town tomorrow?"

Lin Chunyan nodded, "Yes."

"Then I'll go with you. We can write a letter to your uncle's family once we get there."

At this time, writing a letter required hiring a scribe, usually costing two coins.

Seeing that Mrs. Zhang didn't bring up those matters, Lin Chunyan didn't provoke her further and agreed, "We'll go after catching some fish tomorrow."

After saying this, Mrs. Zhang's anger flared up again, and she sat in the courtyard, cursing Lin Lao repeatedly.

The words were repetitive, but since no one lived nearby except for the Zhao family next door, Lin Chunyan let her vent.

The kitchen was quite hot. After peeling the scallions, ginger, and garlic, Lin Taohong placed them on the cutting board and started the firewood. Seeing Lin Chunyan enter, she looked at her as if seeking praise.

Even though she hadn't been in the kitchen long, a layer of fine sweat had formed on Lin Taohong's forehead.

Wanting to complain but not daring to, she could only look at Lin Chunyan with a pained expression.

"Not bad," Lin Chunyan praised her, telling her to go outside and eat some melon.

When Lin Taohong came out of the house and sat down to eat the melon, she found it particularly sweet today.

As soon as it got dark, Lin Chunyan closed the courtyard gate. Having worked hard all evening, she needed to sleep early.

Not long after closing the gate, she heard knocking. Mrs. Zhang jumped up, grabbing a stick to check.

Lin Chunyan went to the kitchen and picked up a knife.

"Who could it be?" Mrs. Zhang peeked through the door crack and relaxed upon seeing who it was.

It was Lin's Second Aunt, who rolled her eyes and said bluntly, "Who else? I thought since you haven't lit a fire, I'd bring you some food."

She put the steamed buns forward, and under the moonlight, it was clear they contained white flour.

Mrs. Zhang opened the door and let Lin's Second Aunt in.

Their relationship hadn't been harmonious before, but now that Lin Lao had caused such trouble, she felt sorry for Mrs. Zhang.

Before she could express sympathy, Mrs. Zhang told her to drop the pity act.

"Pity who! Just because that wench can bear sons, I have two daughters! And what's more, my daughters are better than any son!"

Though she said this, Lin's Second Aunt didn't take it seriously.

No matter how much she talked, it couldn't hide Mrs. Zhang's insecurity.

Her back wasn't straight.

"My husband said the house should be given to you and the nieces. As for your brother, he's beyond help. If you need anything, just say so."

Hearing this, Lin Chunyan realized their house wasn't actually theirs.

Even if it had originally belonged to the eldest branch, with Lin Lao gone, the house became the property of the Lin family.

Letting them stay was an act of kindness.

But if things turned sour, could they be kicked out?

A chill ran through her, making her feel the weight of responsibility even more.

Buy a cart, start a business, and buy another house.

She planned this in her mind, losing interest in their conversation and soon fell asleep.

Lin Taohong listened intently, wanting to discuss it further with Lin Chunyan, but found her already fast asleep.

Pushing her a few times without waking her, Lin Taohong glared angrily and wanted to slap her back, but hesitated and finally lay down.

Lin's Second Aunt glanced into the room. Mrs. Zhang was strong-willed, but the two girls weren't reliable—one was silent and the other always quarrelsome. Neither was trustworthy.

She had never liked interacting with them and didn't plan to in the future.

After leaving the buns, she walked away, feeling triumphant over the third branch.

Living close to the second branch, Li Shi nudged her husband.

"What should we send?"

Lin Laosan turned over, exhausted from working in the fields during the day. He had no energy to think about it.

As for what happened to the eldest branch, he could only say it was bad luck.

But it wasn't his doing.

Li Shi also thought so. When she gave birth to her first daughter, Mrs. Zhang had mocked her plenty.

Later, she gave birth to a son as her second child, and Mrs. Zhang started to be sarcastic whenever she saw her.

Furthermore, Li's family used to do embroidery, looking down on them, mere farmers.

She could teach her daughter the skill of embroidery. Could Mrs. Zhang do that?

Li turned over, thought for a moment, and picked out a few pieces of cloth from the embroidery basket, made a flower, and planned to send it over tomorrow.

The next day, the sun rose early as usual. Lin Chunyan kicked Lin Taohong awake while she was still sound asleep, "Get up and work."

Lin Taohong half-opened her eyes, seeing the sun had not yet risen high, and wanted to turn over and sleep more.

Back when Old Man Lin was still at home, because they were daughters, he did not let them work in the fields. There was only so much work around the house, and most of it was done by Lin Chunyan.

This led to Lin Taohong developing a lazy nature.

Lin Chunyan did not indulge her. Seeing she wouldn't get up, she directly pulled off the blanket.

"Mom!"

Lin Taohong shouted, waking up Mrs. Zhang who was still sleeping.

"What's all the noise? Go if you're told to."

Mrs. Zhang wasn't a diligent person either. She preferred sitting under the big tree at the village entrance and gossiping with others rather than working.

Others often mocked her for not having a son, but she insisted on showing everyone that one could still hold their head high without a son.

This time, being humiliated, she knew many people would talk behind her back, so she didn't dare go to the tree anymore.

Lin Chunyan took Lin Taohong to the riverbank and taught her how to use a fish basket to catch fish.

The fish basket was woven from willow branches. They had several, all made by the original owner's grandfather.

After a few tries, Lin Taohong managed to catch some small fish. Perhaps she got excited, as she fished very enthusiastically.

Lin Chunyan then turned and headed into the mountains.

The air in the mountains in the morning was very fresh. Some leaves still had dewdrops, which quickly evaporated under the sun.

Lin Chunyan was looking for wild vegetables.

Living off the mountain, there were plenty of good things in the mountains. After just a few steps, she found some dandelions.

These dandelions were no longer as tender as in spring, but they could still be used for stuffing or served cold.

She also liked to drink dandelion tea, which was great for reducing heat in the body.

Lin Chunyan did not pick many dandelions. Soon, she discovered some prickly ash.

This plant was somewhat similar to fragrant leaf. It could be stir-fried with eggs or used in cold dishes.

She also found some wild berries.

Not far from the woods, near some low shrubs, a cluster of small, purple-black berries hung, which were sour vines.

Lin Chunyan picked a few and put them in her mouth, leaving a sour taste.

When these sour vines were green, they made a snapping sound when squeezed. Once they turned black, they could be eaten, tasting sour. Even the leaves were edible.

She picked quite a few to snack on later.

On her way back, she saw Lin Taohong bringing back the fish, though some were very small, which she did not want to throw away.

"There's no meat on these." Lin Chunyan picked out the small fish and placed them in a basin.

Lin Taohong protested, "No meat, so what? I can eat the skin."

Coated with flour and fried in lard, even the skin was delicious.

"Fishing too many small ones will reduce the number of fry in the river."

As they spoke, Li came knocking on the door.

She was petite and delicate, with two dimples when she smiled, making her look endearing.

Lin Taohong loved this third aunt the most and quickly put down what she was holding when she saw her.

Li looked around. When they built the new house here, she had been quite jealous. Little did she know the house had bad feng shui, leading to such an incident after a short while.

She pursed her lips inwardly but kept smiling, holding Mrs. Zhang's hand and consoling her for a long time.