Seeing the look in Mrs. Wang’s eyes change, Mrs. Lin hurried to speak before she could. "It’s not that I’m jealous she made money. I’m just confused about you all buying land—her family has always been crying poor!"
Mrs. Wang finally lost her temper. "How has she been crying poor? Have you ever lent her a single coin? Look at this three-room, run-down thatched hut! And look at Qingmu—he’s so old and they still don’t have money to arrange a marriage for him. Is that what you call *just* crying poor? They finally managed to scrape together a bit of money to buy land. Do they have to give you a detailed explanation for it? Should they also go around beating gongs and drums to announce where the money ca from?"
Mrs. Lin, seeing that they had argued for a good while without explaining where the money for the land ca from, was both angry and annoyed. "So, did the money just fall from the sky? If you don’t want to say, then don’t. Who are you trying to fool with all this nonsense?"
Ugh! The way this Second Aunt talked was infuriating.
Juhua and Qingmu stared at the three won, a bit dumbfounded. Qingmu, especially, regretted his loose tongue. ’I shouldn’t have told her the truth,’ he thought. ’I should have known what she was like.’
Zheng Changhe thoroughly despised his brother-in-law’s wife. With Mrs. Wang here, however, it wasn’t his place to interrupt. Besides, he didn’t even know how to begin arguing with that woman. ’If it were up to ,’ he fud internally, ’I’d just slap her and see if she keeps running her mouth. Seriously! Why on earth should we have to tell you where our money ca from?’
Juhua saw her mother’s expression darken as if she were about to explode. She quickly stepped forward, pulled her mother back, and said to Mrs. Lin, "Second Aunt, you don’t need to wonder anymore. The money ca from so recipes I ca up with. I told them to the Shopkeeper at the restaurant in Xiatang Market, and he gave several taels of silver as a thank you. Isn’t our family poor because we have so little land? That’s why Mom and Dad couldn’t bear to spend money on food or clothes and put it all toward buying land. And you can’t bla my mom for getting angry. She goes out to sell vegetables every day, trudging through villages and alleys just for several cents. In this dead of winter, her face is all chapped from the wind. It’s been really tough on her."
Mrs. Yang said nothing, her lips pressed into a thin line, her face like a sheet of ice. Even Mrs. Wang’s usually kind face fell. She stated flatly, "It doesn’t matter where the money ca from. It’s theirs. Whether they earn a thousand or ten thousand, it’s what they deserve for their hard work. What does it have to do with you? Hurry up and pack your things to go ho. Qingmu is back now; where are you going to have him sleep tonight?"
Seeing that she couldn’t impose on them any longer, Mrs. Lin went to pack her clothes, pouting.
’So Juhua really is capable,’ she thought. ’No wonder her aunt treasures her so.’ If Mrs. Yang could have heard that thought, she’d have skinned her alive—implying she was just like Liu’er’s mother, acknowledging only money and not people! Mrs. Yang had *always* treasured Juhua, thank you very much.
When Laicai saw that after all that fuss they still had to go ho, he was about to start wailing. But Mrs. Wang threatened him, saying that if he didn’t leave, she would throw him out on Little Qing Mountain that night, give him no food, and let the wolves co eat him.
Laicai, seeing there was no hope of staying, started demanding this and that instead. He had already taken half of the snacks Qingmu brought back and was reaching for more, but he didn’t dare after Mrs. Wang shot him a glare. Then, he demanded his aunt pack him up a lot of pig offal and head at.
"I want to eat pig ears! Aunt, pack a lot of pig ears for ."
Mrs. Yang was in a difficult position. The pig ears weren’t just boiled in the big pot; Juhua always braised them separately and served them cold with seasonings. They didn’t have any ready at the mont. If she gave them the raw ones, she knew from the looks of Mrs. Lin that she definitely wouldn’t know how to prepare them.
Juhua was willing to do anything just to get this little terror out of the house. She imdiately said, "I’ll make so. It’s very quick. By the ti you’re done packing, I’ll be almost finished. Brother, co help stoke the fire."
Qingmu quickly agreed and went to the kitchen with Juhua to cook the pig ears. Mrs. Yang also started bustling about, grabbing pots and jars to pack the pig offal.
The mother and her two children were busy in the kitchen when Mrs. Lin ca in and said to Mrs. Yang, "Sister-in-law, you’re packing so much, but it’ll eventually run out. When that happens, Laicai will just start pestering again."
Juhua and Qingmu stared at her, stunned. Even Mrs. Yang was glaring at her with a dark expression. What did she an by that? Did she expect them to supply her with pig offal for a lifeti, sending more over whenever she ran out?
Mrs. Lin seed to realize she had gone too far. She blushed slightly and said with a laugh, "Why don’t you just give a few sets of the cured pig offal and two pig heads? I’ll cook them myself when I get ho. That’ll save Juhua the trouble, right?"
’Save the trouble?’ Juhua thought indignantly. ’Dad and Mom already did all the most troubleso parts! I even rubbed the seasonings on the offal and heads when they were being cured. All you have to do is toss them in a pot and boil them, and she calls that saving ** trouble?’
Qingmu sat in front of the stove opening, stoking the fire without saying a word.
’He was furious. He saw his parents and sister toiling every day—washing, scraping, curing, and sun-drying everything. And Second Aunt just waltzes in and asks for several sets of offal and two pig heads? As if our things just fall from the sky! Mom’s hands are cracked and bleeding, while she prances around all neat and tidy, always looking for a handout.’
Mrs. Yang, however, nodded and said, "Alright, take so ho. Second Brother hasn’t had any yet. Take so back so he can have a taste."
She had another thought: the food wasn’t just for Mrs. Lin. Mrs. Wang always had a quick al and left whenever she visited. This way, she could pack a lot more and consider it a filial gift for her own mother. She figured Mrs. Lin wouldn’t dare eat it all herself.
After Mrs. Lin left, Juhua quietly asked Mrs. Yang, "Mom, should we pack so of that ginseng for Grandma? Does Grandma eat from the sa pot as Second Uncle?" ’If that’s the case, won’t Second Aunt just end up eating it all?’
Mrs. Yang shook her hand. "No need. I have a plan. Your grandmother wouldn’t accept it anyway. And yes, they eat from the sa pot. Besides, they’re all perfectly healthy. Who needs nourishing supplents? Next year, during the first lunar month, I’ll have your grandmother co stay for a few days, and I’ll stew so for her then."
Only then did Juhua fall silent.
When everything was finally packed up, it ca out to half a carrying-pole’s load of things. They had no choice but to have Qingmu carry the pole and escort them to Xiatang Market.
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