Chapter 68 - 68 68 There will be plenty of opportunities to deal with you later!

Words : 1675 Updated : Sep 12th, 2025

68: Chapter 68 There will be plenty of opportunities to deal with you later! 68: Chapter 68 There will be plenty of opportunities to deal with you later! Old Granny Zhang made her presence felt once more under the large locust tree at the village entrance, checking the position of the sun, she realized it was almost noon. Although it was the slack season for farming now, the Wang Family’s finances were comfortable lately. With Wang Yongzhu earning money from selling Yellow Pine Mushrooms and adding the ten taels of silver returned from calling off an engagement, Old Granny Zhang generously allowed Lady Jiang to prepare porridge three times a day—a way to fill the belly without consuming too much grain. So, glancing at the sun, Old Granny Zhang knew it was time to go home and take out her share for cooking, as Lady Jiang at home was waiting to put the rice in the pot. Thus, she dusted off her clothes and stood up, “Time has gone by quickly; I need to get back home to cook. I’ll be leaving first.” Only after Old Granny Zhang had walked away did a few women with ulterior motives begin to murmur, “The Wang Family has really struck it rich this time. It’s not even the busy farming season, and they’re still eating three meals a day. Such days, tsk tsk...” Their hearts grew even more feverish. Old Granny Zhang didn’t care what others said; she went home in high spirits. However, upon arrival, she sensed something was off. As soon as Lady Jiang saw her return, it was as if a burden had been lifted, and she even came forward to greet her, a rare occurrence, “Mother’s back!” Then she looked at her own daughter still squinting to thread a needle. Without much thought, her heart immediately went out to her, “Oy, my ancestor, you’ve been learning all morning, why don’t you take a break? Don’t you care about your eyes? Laosan’s House, how are you teaching your sister-in-law? Don’t you know that too much needlework is bad for the eyes? Can’t you persuade her to rest a bit? Are you unhappy in your heart because I asked you to teach your sister-in-law needlework and deliberately making Zhuzhu suffer? I’m telling you, if you are thinking that way, you’d better get out of here right now!” She then scurried over to Wang Yongzhu’s side, cradling her daughter’s hand and inspecting it carefully to see if there were any needle pricks or bleeding. Lady Jiang felt so wronged! She bore the blame like being hit by a pot falling from the sky and couldn’t talk back, standing to one side with an awkward smile. She was used to it by now; whenever it had something to do with the sister-in-law, she could not expect any favor. However, considering her clueless daughter, who had just offended her sister-in-law, and now with the mother-in-law back, what would she do if Zhuzhu complained? Lady Jiang anxiously watched Wang Yongzhu. Wang Yongzhu, who had been sewing all morning and was tired, put down her needlework upon seeing Old Granny Zhang return, rubbing her sore neck, “Mother, I am fine. I feel I am quite talented. I’ve been threading needles all morning and haven’t pricked myself once. Just wait, once I’ve learned, I’ll make a new set of clothes for both you and father.” “Oh, my dear daughter, you are so filial! Alright, then, I’ll be looking forward to wearing the new clothes you make!” Old Granny Zhang beamed a toothy smile, sweeter than if she had drunk honey. Reassured by her daughter that it wasn’t Laosan’s House purposely making things hard for her, she felt at ease. She pulled out her keys, went into her room, scooped out the portion of grain for noon from the cupboard, thought for a moment, and then took out an egg, handing it to Lady Jiang, “Cook this for your sister-in-law, to help her replenish. She’s using her mind for needlework; don’t let her get too tired.” Lady Jiang dared not say anything, receiving it with her head bowed and went off to cook. Outside the courtyard, Jinhua cautiously poked her head out and glanced inside. Seeing no one around, she quickly slipped in and skulked along the wall toward the kitchen. She ran smack into Old Granny Zhang coming out of the kitchen and nearly twisted her waist. Old Granny Zhang scolded her fiercely, “Always gone all day long, where the hell have you been? Have you cut the pig grass? Have you gathered firewood? What kind of girl are you, not helping around the house but running all over the place? What do you look like, sneaking around? What bad thing have you done?” Jinhua was so scared she nearly sat down on the ground. Hearing Old Granny Zhang scold her, she felt particularly guilty. She hurriedly stepped back to avoid Old Granny Zhang’s pointed finger and cautiously explained, “Nanny, I’ve already cut the pig grass, and I’ve gathered the firewood. It was Zhuye who came by today to ask about our family, saying that the gardenia tree we talked about last time has developed many flower buds, and she knows little miss likes them. She said that if little miss wants them, we should transplant them in the next few days, otherwise, it will be too late. She just got caught up playing and forgot, and only remembered when I was walking her back home.” Old Granny Zhang frowned at the mention of the Li Family, but for the moment she didn’t think too deeply about the inconsistencies in Jinhua’s words. It was Wang Yongzhu who, having tidied up her needlework, came back inside after washing her face and hands, and upon hearing Jinhua’s words, hurriedly said, “Of course we want them. You go tell Zhuye tomorrow and see whether we should dig them up ourselves or if they will do it for us.” Hmph, let you laugh at me for being fat, I need to get some emotional compensation, after all! Seeing that Wang Yongzhu had agreed and did not mention her earlier outburst, Jinhua felt somewhat relieved. Not daring to loiter around Wang Yongzhu any longer, she eagerly volunteered, “I’ll go tell her right now—” With that, she ran off. Wang Yongzhu let out a cold laugh, Hmph, little maid, you sure run fast! There will be plenty of opportunities to deal with you later! Old Granny Zhang still had some lingering doubts, “Do we really need the gardenias from the Li Family’s house? Don’t we already have those planted in our courtyard?” Wang Yongzhu did not bother to explain. If she told her that Li Zhuye felt she had misspoken and wanted to offer the tree as an apology, it might stir up more trouble still with Old Granny Zhang. So instead, she adopted an indignant posture, “Why shouldn’t we want them? After all, Li Zhuye’s Family and Li Dagui’s House can’t produce two different ‘Li’ characters. Just consider it compensation from them to our family, if it’s free, why not take it!” Upon hearing this, Old Granny Zhang’s anger turned to joy. Her daughter was finally showing a bit of her own mettle! In the past, her daughter was raised indulgently; the family never shortchanged her, and she had no appreciation for the benefits of such mundane things as food, oil, salt... She disdained everything and thought little mattered. If Old Granny Zhang hadn’t kept such a close watch, the house might have been completely moved to the Song Family by now. Seeing her daughter seemingly wiser now, Old Granny Zhang quickly decided to impart some marital wisdom, to spare her from future hardship. Since there was still some time before the meal, Old Granny Zhang simply took her daughter back to the room to chat some more. “Yongzhu, it’s hard on you, but you seem to have come to your senses now. You never wanted to listen when I tried to tell you before. Our life as women is tough. We only get a few carefree days in our parents’ house. Once married, we have to serve the in-laws above us, look after the man below us, and when there are children, we have to rear them. Life is like burning lamp oil, dwindling day by day.” “If you find a good man and have a few sons, maybe one day when you grow old, you might have a day when you can finally enjoy some happiness. But if you end up with a man who doesn’t know how to cherish his wife, and he beats you two days out of three, and you live with in-laws who treat you like you’re less than human, life is nothing but bitterness, and maybe you won’t find rest until you’re dead.” “In my lifetime, I didn’t enjoy any blessings at home. Your grandparents favored your uncles, and I was nothing but a maid who tended the fires. I started doing chores as soon as I could walk, cooking, washing clothes, feeding pigs, chopping wood... Even so, sometimes I was full, sometimes I was hungry, but barely escaped starvation. And yet, it was only because I had a tough character and was willing to fight and scramble that I made it to marrying your father.” “After marrying your dad, who is a decent man and treated me well, what about your late grandmother and grandfather, were they good people? When I entered your dad’s household, I became a stepmother immediately. Your grandma kept hoping I would quickly bear them a Wang son to carry on the family line, yet was also wary of me mistreating the maid left behind by my husband’s former wife. Those days were so tough. If it wasn’t for my fruitful belly, bearing two children in three years, would your grandmother have let me live a good life?”

Chapter 68 - 68 68 There will be plenty of opportunities to deal with you later!

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