Chapter 25: Chapter 25
Chapter 25
The sons, daughters-in-laws, and all the children and grandchildren were stunned into silence. This Grandfather Mu, known for his utmost patience, had always let Miss Zhu handle things unless it was truly a serious matter. Seeing him lose his temper like this meant the whole house had to quiet down and listen.
"Phew, let it be. From now on, no one should disturb Xiao Heng and the granddaughter-in-law again. If you don’t listen... you will definitely regret it," the old man warned. Even his wife, sitting quietly, also been pointing at, along with their children.
It was a long while after Grandfather Mu had left that Grandmother Zhu finally spoke.
"This old man, getting grumpier by the day. Sigh." Miss Zhu said.
She tried to lighten the mood in the house, otherwise the children would just sit without saying a word.
"Mother, about the land, will you take the lead?" Yi Fan was not yet ready to give up.
Having regained her composure, she went to massage her mother-in-law’s legs, using the opportunity to bring up the important matter.
She knew how crucial the farmland was for the family. If that old man was to receive the rights alone, their share would be minuscule, as the old man funneled all his earnings into the communal pot, unlike their own incomes which were saved for family expenses, children’s education, bride-price, and daughters’ dowries.
Of course, she didn’t want it to end that way. If they could secure 50 mu of farmland, she might be able to send her sons to school. Being a man, they must have knowledge. Just by being literate, they could be hired to work for the government. Even if they didn’t pass the civil service exam, just being able to assist in minor tasks was a matter of pride. Who wouldn’t want to seize such an opportunity?
"Sigh, since your father has spoken, let it be that way for now. Besides, as he said, if we stir things up now, it’ll only get worse. Who knows how many villagers are waiting to snatch our share? Better we keep a low profile for now." After she finished, the elderly woman quickly followed her husband.
She left Yi Fan to feel annoyed, couldn’t stand missing the opportunity.
"It’s easy for him to say. He’s secured his rights, unlike us who have gained nothing. How are we supposed to finance the children’s education now?" Yi Fan muttered.
She watched her children, who were of school age, wishing they could have a better future.
"This Mu Heng really married well. Who would have thought that someone from the capital would have so much wealth? Maybe we should go to her house to check if there’s anything else worth taking. If there is... we could get our share before others," Ji Chuang was very greedy, not even letting the old issues fade before wanting to create new ones.
"Mother, Father, I will go and practice making traps. As for... Brother Heng’s household matters, I think you shouldn’t meddle. If Aunt Ji wants to go, let her go alone. Last time she already caused displeasure at Brother Mu Heng’s house. If she stirs up trouble again this time, Grandfather is sure to lose his rights to the leased land."
A boy sitting in the house listened intently to the entire situation, his face showed he was sick of this.
In truth, he really disliked the behavior of the people in his home, but as a child and a grandchild, what could he say when even his parents agreed with it?
While he desired the opportunity to study, as his parents expected, and wanted to be literate, he knew that if there was no opportunity, there was nothing he could do. He resolved to take Brother Heng as his role model; if there were no opportunities, he would have to create them himself.
Brother Heng had two siblings to look after, with no parents left, yet he managed to care for them without letting them starve or ever begging for money from the main house.
To him, Brother Heng was the best example of someone who could stand on his own two feet. Therefore... he would follow in Brother Heng’s footsteps. If he wanted to study, he would save money to pay for it himself, as they say, one could become a scholar anytime, but the moral of a person is so easily discarded.
Yesterday, his parents fought with Brother Heng just to seize the sister-in-law’s money, which deeply embarrassed him. If he were to go to school, and his classmates asked where he got the money for his education, what would he say? That he stole it from his sister-in-law who is Brother Heng’s wife?
Would that leave him with any dignity at all?
If he said he earned it himself, by hunting deer, bears, or catching rabbits, wouldn’t that make him prouder of himself?
The young man finished speaking and stood up, followed by the other children, leaving only two who agreed with their parents. Those two disliked Brother Heng for not prioritizing family over others and not sharing when he had means. This thought was approved by their parents.
The other three, including the young man who spoke, left the room with grim expressions.
“Big Brother Feng, I am so embarrassed. Everywhere I go, people say our parents are exploiting Brother Heng. And Xiao Long also got hurt, and Younger Sister Huan’er even got a wound. I feel so sorry.”
The younger boy said, referring to his oldest brother affectionately as Big Brother Feng.
“I feel the same. I agree with everything Older Brother Fu said. Brother Heng and the younger siblings are already struggling, and our parents still meddle with them,” said one of the girls, feeling guilty.
“Exactly, Big Brother Feng. Can we go check on the younger siblings? I heard Brother Heng isn’t home today. I wonder if the kids have had anything to eat,” another girl mentioned.
“Sigh. Let’s do that then. We can gather some wild vegetables to give them. Slowly though, do not let our parents find out, or we’ll definitely get a beating again. Let’s go, Xiao Fu, Lin’er, Lan’er,” said Mu Feng seriously, and the three kids nodded, certainly agreed with their big brother.
They didn’t take long before setting out to forage for wild vegetables. Although they didn’t find much, it was still something for the children to eat.
The four kids looked around cautiously, did not dare to face the big brother, hoping to sneak over while Xiao Long and Huan’er were alone. However, while they were peeking, a cough startled them.
"Ahem, what are you all doing here?" the deep voice of a man called out, causing the children to slowly shrink their heads.
"Brother Heng, ahem, how are you?" Mu Feng was the first to greet.
But he immediately felt like slapping himself in the mouth for asking such a thing—there were still bruises on other’s face. How could he even dare to ask him how he is.
Seeing the awkwardness of the young boy before him, Mu Heng couldn’t help but find the situation slightly amusing, despite the issues he had with the boy’s parents. The relationship between them as cousins was still good.
These kids often liked to run around him, especially Xiao Feng, who was skilled at setting traps, thus often came to learn from him.
Xiao Fu, on the other hand, wasn’t much into trapping or hunting but knew a lot about herbs and vegetables. Mu Heng had this knowledge too, as he used to follow his parents to gather forest goods since he was young.
His mother got some herbal knowledge from her father who was the right hand of an herbalist before. He used to gather herbs to sell to the herbalist, so she often followed Mu Heng’s father into the forest to collect herbs. Mu Heng, who also followed, learnt a lot from them.
Xiao Fu, who loved herbs, hence, frequently followed Mu Heng on these herb gathering trips.
The two young girls also enjoyed playing with Mu Heng a lot. Before, he always brought something for them to eat, maybe because he was the oldest boy, and because his parents were generous, every time they made snacks, there would always be a share for others. Hence, these girls often followed him home when he mentioned having treats.
"I’m fine. But what brings you all here?"
Mu Heng asked, raising an eyebrow. It was the time when the Mu family should have known about the land lease. He had rushed to spread the news throughout the villages, even hiring a cart driver so he could come back quicker. He was very pessimistic, thinking that the Mu family would definitely cause trouble at his house over the land rights.
Mu Heng thought if they dared to create more trouble... even the 50 mu of land that his wife had given them out of generosity, he would cancel it all! Because his little wife had shown goodwill, and if they still thought her kindness wasn’t enough, then they shouldn’t take any.
Of course, Mu Heng was unaware that the lease of 50 mu of land Yueqian gave was all a trap. If these people didn’t get the lease rights at all, would they really give up so easily?
But since Yueqian had already granted them 50 mu, those people wouldn’t dare to cause trouble, fearing that she might revoke their rights. The selfish people would surely fear her displeasure. So, for now, they wouldn’t create any problems; she believed that.
For the 50 mu of land, to ease her annoyance, it was fine to let them benefit a little. All she needed was for the village leader to step up, allocate the desolate and difficult-to-reach lands for them, torture them a bit for her satisfaction. That was enough for her.
Yet, to Mu Heng’s eyes, Yueqian’s goodness seemed far greater. He hadn’t realized his petite wife had a hidden plan; thus, he only thought she was too kind.
Mu Heng was straightforward—if he wanted to retaliate, he’d simply deny those people the leasing rights. He hadn’t thought about how chaotic it would be now if those people didn’t get their rights.
Unlike the Young Villainess Qin, who knew many more dirty tricks!
Would the Mu family dare to move freely now? Everyone was watching. If they did anything against her, the villagers would surely inform her. Some might do it to return a favor, but others might do it hoping to secure another 50 mu of leasing rights. The discomfort and unease were yet to come!
Back to the four kids, who were secretly looking at each other. Mu Feng, being the eldest, had to speak up when no one else dared.
"Brother Heng, we’re worried about you and the little ones, so we sneaked over to visit you all," Mu Feng said guiltily.
"Brother Heng, we found some edible greens along the way too. You could use them to cook..." Lan’er had not finished speaking when the delicious aroma of meat wafted over, right to her nose.
"Hmm? These wonderful smells..."
Lan’er turned to look at Lin’er, who also loved food. Xiao Feng and Xiao Fu felt the same. Other than the nice scent of the herbal chicken stew, there also was the aroma from the soup, seemed to be delicious.
