Village Chief Li said to Bai Erzhu: “Erzhu, although you have separated, she is still your mother after all. Now that she is in difficulties, you should help her. Well, I’ll make decisions for you. Your eldest brother and sister-in-law, you don’t have to worry about them. They have hands and feet, let them live their own life. But you have to worry about the old lady, you give her 5 pounds of rice per month. You don’t need to worry about anything else. What about do you think?”

Bai Erzhu looked at Mrs. Zhang. Mrs. Zhang’s heart was on fire. She doesn’t want to agree, but what Village Chief Li said makes sense. After all, the old lady was Bai Erzhu’s mother. How could a son let her mother starve to death?

Mrs. Zhang nodded her head. She didn’t say a word, she just turned around and went to their room.

Bai Erzhu felt relieved. Then, hurriedly said: “Alright, I’ll do that.”

Mrs. Liu shouted in anxiousness: “Only 5 pounds? How long will it last? Don’t say for a month, it will be gone after a few days!”

Village Chief Li looked at Mrs. Liu with a sullen face, then said with a trace of disgust: “Are you deaf? Didn’t you hear what I said? These 5 pounds of rice are Erzhu’s filial piety for the old lady. These pounds are not enough, so you, the first branch also have to give the old lady the same amount. I’m telling you, your family received an extra acre of field, so you should give her much more. With Erzhu’s 5 pounds, plus your branch 5 pounds of rice, it will be enough.”

Old Lady Bai’s eyes rolled. Her eldest son’s family will give her rice? He must be joking, right?

When Village Chief Li saw Mrs. Liu became speechless, he waved his hand and said: “Well now, it’s settled. Let’s go.”

The good show ended, so the villagers who were watching the show behind Village Chief Li left. The surroundings outside the Bai Family has quiet down.

Seeing that Bai Erzhu also left, Mrs. Liu busily came forward and pulled the old lady’s sleeve: “Niang, this trick is quite effective. Should we also use this trick to Bai Zhi and Zhao Lan?”

Old Lady Bai looked at Mrs. Liu and said with a bad tone: “I don’t think this will be useful to them, do you really think it will be useful?” She also wondered, Bai Zhi was not someone who had a stone heart before, but now she became a different person.

Mrs. Liu’s dryly smile: “It seems to be useless ~” She turned around and helped the old lady sit down in a bamboo chair in the yard. With a smile on her face, she tried flattering the old lady: “Niang, I will look for Erzhu and ask him about the rice. Don’t worry, I will help you get the rice.”

Old Lady Bai knew this daughter-in-law the most. Her real purpose was very clear to her eyes at a glance.

“No, I’ll get it myself. Just take care of your part. You don’t have to care about my business.”

Mrs. Liu was stunned: “Niang, what do you mean?”

Old Lady Bai didn’t beat around the bush, she directly said: “Erzhu will only give me 5 pounds of rice. Even if I try to be thrifty, it will be difficult for me to survive for a month. You should just give me 5 pounds. I don’t expect you to give me some more. Likewise, don’t come for me and ask for help.”

Mrs. Liu busily said: “Niang, if we don’t look for you, what are we going to eat?”

Old Lady Bai sneered: “What are you going to eat? What do you want to eat is up to you, Erzhu know that he needs to find work to earn money to support his family. What about you? All you do is sleep all day long. Even looking for wild vegetables, you are too lazy. I’m sure even now you’re thinking that it would be nice if you have maidservant to serve you, right?”

Mrs. Liu’s face was covered with embarrassed: “Niang, what are you talking about? I don’t go out to work, isn’t it because of you? You said that you get bored when you’re all alone in the house, so you let me stay to relieve your boredom. I’m just following your arrangement!”

 

---

Thanks for reading, likes, and comments.

TL’s Request: This site run on ads, so please kindly turn off your adblocker or add this site to your whitelist to support my translation, if you can.

No spoilers, please!