Chapter 5: and

In his eyes, his little wife was destined for a life of wealth, yet he had been unable to provide it for her. Because of this, he did his utmost to ensure she ate a little more, but who would have thought that even that little bit extra would make others resent her.

Glancing coldly at his eldest brother, Li Jiang spoke with irritation.

"Does Big Brother also think Mother is giving my wife special treatment?" If you dare to nod, I dare to kick you.

Facing his fourth brother’s gloomy, icy glare, Li the Eldest shook his head: "That is the grain you bought yourself."

Li the Eldest’s wife was choked into silence, and Old Mother Li finally snapped out of her daze.

"Eldest daughter-in-law, I know you are dissatisfied with the Fourth," Mother Li took a deep breath, feeling that the old saying was indeed true.

Poverty breeds pettiness; when people are poor, they haggle over every ounce, but when people are wealthy, their temperament becomes magnanimous.

What she had originally liked about her eldest daughter-in-law was her capability; for years, things had been handled properly. But since the Fourth returned last year, that efficiency had vanished. She would prick the Fourth with a few words from time to time, and after the Fourth brought back a wife, it became open hostility and hidden barbs, and now, it had become even worse.

Was it not just because the Fourth no longer had wages to collect? Was it not just because the Fourth could no longer bring back five hundred wen?

"When you married into this family, the Fourth was only eight. For the year you couldn't conceive, the Fourth went up mountains and down rivers to catch fish and dig for eggs for you. When Dalang was born, he was so sturdy that everyone in the village envied us, and to ensure Dalang had more to eat, he went to the blacksmith shop with Wang Ergou."

"How bitter the blacksmith shop is... Others have to pay to apprentice, and the gifts for holidays and festivals cannot be skimped on. My Fourth, from the moment he entered the shop, brought home wages. From the initial one hundred wen to last year's five hundred, the Fourth hasn't eaten a grain of the family's food since he was ten, and he even sent money home."

"All these years, every time I went to town, I brought back food and supplies for the Fourth, all paid for with the Fourth's money. What the Eldest earned, what the Second earned, or even what the old man and I earned, was never spent on the Fourth. For all these years, it is only we who have owed the Fourth; there has never been a case where the Fourth ate even a single wen more than his share."

"Today, if the Second’s wife had complaints, I, an old woman, could swallow this bitterness. But you, Jiang Xiaoqin, keep harping on about 'special treatment' and 'favoritism'—it makes my heart ache! You know best what favoritism feels like from your own maiden home. I won't say I've wronged you; I haven't even scolded you more than a few times."

"I, Song Xiaohua, consider myself to have treated my daughters-in-law and daughters equally. For so many years, whatever bitterness I could endure, I swallowed myself. And yet, today, I end up being accused of favoritism~~"

The old woman was truly enraged; she had dug up old grievances that had never been unearthed before. Once these words left the old woman's mouth, Li the Eldest couldn't even lift his head.

"Mother, the mother of my children didn't mean it that way."

"If that's not what she meant, then what did she mean? You tell me, what else could she, Jiang Xiaoqin, mean? Isn't it just that she thinks the Fourth has no work to do, that the Fourth has no money to bring home... Eldest, let me tell you, don't say the food I cook for the Fourth's wife is grain bought by the Fourth; just based on the money the Fourth has sent home all these years, I could have let them cook in a separate pot from you. If you have the ability, you earn money for your wife to squander; if you have the ability, you give her your own rations!"

Li the Eldest was speechless, and the eldest daughter-in-law wilted.

If one were to talk about favoritism, truly no one understood what it meant better than she did.

In the Jiang family, there were seven children. The first to the fifth were all girls, and the fourth sister was born nearly five years after her. Yet, she was still a girl. What a blow that was to the Jiang family! And it wasn't just that the long-awaited child was a "money-losing good"; her mother had been injured giving birth to her, nearly becoming unable to have more children. Fortunately, those years were good, and her mother recovered, subsequently giving birth to two younger brothers.

But even though the Jiang family finally had sons, she, the girl who caused her mother to have fewer sons, remained a sinner in the eyes of the Jiang family.

When she was young, she followed her two brothers all day. If the brothers caused trouble, she was the one beaten; if the brothers ate good food, she watched. As long as the brothers had any issues, she was the one who took the blame.

In Jiang Village, she was known by everyone as a tomboy, and in the neighboring villages, no one dared to propose marriage to her.

Just when her parents thought they would be stuck with an old maid, the mother-in-law sent someone to propose. Thus, she married into the poorest family among her five sisters, and her life was the hardest of the five.

But after entering the Li family, she felt she had enjoyed great fortune. The respect she never enjoyed as a girl was given to her by the Li family. Although her food and clothing were not as good as her sisters', and her mother-in-law was formidable and strict, she had never let her go hungry.

Seeing the eldest sister-in-law acting like a quail, Li the Second’s wife tried to smooth things over: "Mother, please don't be angry. The eldest sister-in-law is only like this because of the children."

"Hmph~" Mother Li snorted coldly: "She is the children's mother, but I am the children's grandmother. Have I ever withheld a single bite of food from the children?"

If she hadn't been withholding food from the children, how could they have saved so little in a few months? The eldest daughter-in-law was simply making a mountain out of a molehill.

Madam Jiang was not an unreasonable person. Having grown up alongside boys, she was actually more sensible than the average woman. It was just that some things are forgotten over time, and when life becomes difficult, one must find a reason in others. And once she started looking, she found the Fourth Uncle, who had returned home to eat for free. And the Fourth Uncle was one thing, but he had even brought back a "useless piece of trash" when they were all nearly starving. And bringing her back was one thing, but she was different every single day.

She was already a formidable person; how could she suffer such a loss? And so, she found everything about Qin Wangshu displeasing.

If the old woman hadn't dug up the "trash" today, she wouldn't have felt she was wrong anywhere. But once it was dug up, she truly didn't even have the face to breathe loudly.

"Mother, I was scared by Sanlang." Admitting her mistake, Madam Jiang pulled over her stunned child: "You dead child, what are you spouting? What kind of person is your grandmother? How could she withhold your rations?"

First startled, then frightened by her mother, and then intimidated by her grandmother, Li Mingyao felt very aggrieved as a few slaps landed on his bottom.

"I didn't spout nonsense! Erya, tell my mother I didn't spout nonsense!"

The dazed troublemaker Erya subconsciously pointed at Qin Wangshu: "...It was Fourth Aunt who said it~"

Fourth Aunt, Qin Wangshu. Suddenly being named, Qin Wangshu was speechless.

"...I did say it, but I was just telling Li Jiang that we couldn't go on like this, that the family's grain wasn't enough for me to eat my fill."

If one person couldn't even eat their fill, wouldn't the others starve to death?

Li the Eldest’s wife:...Why didn't you say that when no one was around? Adults can understand, but how can children distinguish such things?

"Sigh~" The old woman let out a long sigh: "What can we do? They won't let us leave."

Who didn't know that if things went on like this, they would starve to death? But the yamen wouldn't let them leave, so what could they do?

"Don't~" Old Man Li's words had only just begun when he suddenly stopped. Looking at the raging fire at the yamen's camp, he actually carried a hint of joy: "Village Chief!"

Stumbling, bumping into and knocking over several people, he finally shook the sleeping Village Chief awake. Then, he pointed directly at the fire, and following his voice, those nearby who hadn't fallen asleep raised their heads and looked in the direction he was pointing.

"It's on fire!"

"It's chaotic, it's chaotic over there!"

"Quick, take this opportunity to leave~"

The camp was on a farm near the official road outside the county town, and more than twenty thousand refugees were gathered by village and town. The time was not yet very late, and the sky had just turned completely dark.