Old Lady Bai was hesitant, her second son had a lot of complaints to her since the enlistment in the army and separation. She’s afraid to borrow money from him.

“Niang, don’t be like this. The most important thing right now is Xiaofeng’s study. You can’t delay it.”

Old Lady Bai nodded her head: “Well, I will use this old face and talk to Erzhu.” She was now regretting it. If they didn’t separate, her second son’s money will belong to her. Why would she even need to borrow money?

To be able to borrow money, Old Lady Bai and Mrs. Liu save a few pieces of wild vegetables and laid them on the table in the hall, then wait for Bai Erzhu’s return.

In the evening, Bai Erzhu’s family finally came back. When they entered the yard, they saw the old lady and Mrs. Liu standing in the yard and smiled at them.

“You’re back? We know you are hungry, so we deliberately save some food for you to eat.” Mrs. Liu came forward with a smile and stretched out her hand to pick up the farm tools in Mrs. Zhang’s hands.

Mrs. Zhang avoided her hands, and smiled that doesn’t look like a smile: “It’s covered with mud. I don’t want to dirty sister-in-law’s clothes.”

Mrs. Liu immediately retracted her hands. She doesn’t really want to help her carry those things.

Bai Erzhu said to Mrs. Liu: “Thank you for your kindness, but our family has eaten already.”

Bai Erzhu put down the farm tools in his hands without looking at Mrs. Liu and Granny Bai, and then he went straight into the house to go to the backyard.

Passing by the dining table in the hall, he took a glanced at the ‘deliberately save food’. There were only a few pieces of wild vegetables. They have the guts to say that they saved food for their family. Who can eat this?

Seeing Mrs. Zhang also putting down her things, Mrs. Liu asked: “Sister-in-law, looking at your dirty clothes. Did you also work in the fields?”

Mrs. Zhang replied: “We work in the fields. What will we eat if we won’t work? Should we just sit at home and wait to die from starvation?”

Mrs. Zhang was actually referring to Mrs. Liu and Old Lady Bai. Old Lady Bai understood her meaning, but Mrs. Liu didn’t.

“What are you saying, you are a woman. If you don’t stay at home, where will you go? You should let the man do the job in the field. Look at you, your clothes are dirty, take them off quickly. I will help you wash them.”

He who pays attention to everything is a thief.

Mrs. Zhang said with a smile: “Sister-in-law must be joking. When Zhao Lan was here, she works all day long in the fields, but I didn’t hear you say these things.”

Seeing Liu’s embarrassment, Mrs. Zhang added: “There are many women in the village working in the fields. I am not a young lady from a wealthy family. I should help and do some work within my ability, especially, if it’s for the sake of our family, isn’t it right, sister-in-law?”

Mrs. Liu’s embarrassment grew bigger and bigger. Mrs. Zhang was clearly talking about her, implying that she only sit at home and eat.

If it was like before, she already pulled her sleeves and fight with this younger sister-in-law. How could she let this younger sister-in-law scold her? It’s disgraceful.

However, today, was different. She has something to ask her, so no matter how angry she was, she could only swallow it.

“What are you saying? Alright, let’s not talk about it. Sister-in-law, I heard you’ve been working for Bai Zhi?”

Mrs. Zhang let Bai Zhenzhu and Bai Fugui enter the house. She can deal with Mrs. Liu all by herself. With Mrs. Liu’s words and actions, she could guess her intentions.

“Sister-in-law is very well-informed. You also know about it.” Mrs. Zhang looked for a chair and sat down, then she massaged her sore calf.

 

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