The Country Maiden: Fields and Leisure

Grandma Wang Zhang came out of the kitchen and saw this scene. She nodded in satisfaction. This is how it should be. Her beloved Zhuzhu must be exhausted today. How could she let her do such heavy work as laundry?

At least these little rascals were observant.

Originally, Grandma Wang Zhang, who had been regretting giving out an extra bun at lunch, now felt that the pent-up frustration had somewhat subsided.

Seeing her own daughter so tired that she could hardly stand, Grandma Wang Zhang hurriedly urged Ming Zhu to go back to her room and rest.

A daughter is precious, and it's not good if she strains herself when she has just recovered from an illness.

Ming Zhu couldn't argue with Grandma Wang Zhang, and, feeling truly at her limit, she didn't make much of a fuss before returning to her room, lying down on the kang, and falling into a deep sleep as soon as she closed her eyes.

When she awoke again, it was already dusk,

In the busy spring season, workers in most farming households would all go to the fields to take advantage of the brief window of farming time.

The Wang Family, having the younger generation's Jindou and Jinhu old enough to work in the fields, left Old Granny Zhang at home to cook, do laundry, and feed the pigs.

After all, Lady Jiang was frail and wouldn't be much use in the fields anyway. But she was skilled at cooking, and with plenty of miscellaneous chores around the house, her presence made everything organized. Although Eldest Lady Lin was somewhat displeased, now that the household was ruled by Wang Laozhu and Grandma Wang Zhang, she had no choice but to hold her tongue.

The midday meal was delivered to the fields by Lady Jiang. After a day of toiling away, the sun began to set, and the Wang Family members dragged their weary bodies back home.

Wang Laozhu, led by his son, daughter-in-law, and eldest grandson, stepped into their courtyard and immediately smelled a strange and enticing aroma.

The scent was indescribable, particularly enticing, especially mingled with the faint hint of meat, which made one's mouth water uncontrollably upon smelling it.

What are they cooking? What smells so good?

Wang Laozhu might have been able to keep his composure, but his grandsons Jindou and Jinhu couldn't, drooling as they ran towards the kitchen.

"Granny, what delicious food did you make today? Why does it smell so good?"

From the kitchen came Grandma Wang Zhang's annoyed voice: "Eat, eat, eat, that's all you think about! What are you looking at? Get out and set the table! Or do you still expect this old lady to wait on you?"

At the same time, she scolded: "Jinhua, Jinhua—where did that cursed girl vanish to? Hurry up and tidy yourself, go wake up your auntie, it's time for dinner—"

Jinhua, having raced out from the pigsty, replied, "Got it, Granny!"

Then she quickly dusted herself off, drew water from the well to wash her hands, and, along with Jinguan and Jinpan, carried the big square table out to the courtyard and set it with bowls and chopsticks.

Only then did she go and knock on Ming Zhu's door, calling out cautiously, "Auntie, Auntie, it's time for dinner."

Ming Zhu responded, tidied herself up a bit, and climbed up from the kang. She felt so sore all over that it was hard to move even a bit.

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She couldn't help but give a bitter smile and felt even more determined to complete her task so she could swiftly regain her figure.

By the time she came out, Wang Laozhu and the others were already seated at the table, with Third Sister-in-law Lady Jiang bringing out food from the kitchen.

Spring plowing was arduous, so Old Granny Zhang had more at hand than usual and didn't skimp on the food as before. Dinner was more lavish than on normal days.

A large basket of triple-mixture buns and a few pancakes, a bowl of cold mixed wild vegetables, and a bowl of pickles. On any ordinary day, everyone would be salivating just by looking at these.

But at that moment, no one's eyes were on the table; they were all staring intently at the kitchen.

Old Granny Zhang carefully carried out a soup basin from the kitchen, its aroma becoming increasingly rich, as if a little hook was pulling at everyone to keep swallowing their saliva.

When the soup basin was placed in the center of the table, everyone saw a pot of clear soup with thin slices of pale yellow floating on top, and a few slices of cured meat shyly visible beneath the vibrant green onion.

Wang Laozhu tapped the table with his ever-present tobacco pipe: "Wife, what soup is this?"

While dividing buns for the family, Old Granny Zhang snorted coldly, "What soup is this? This is the precious mushroom soup that only city folk can afford! It's all thanks to our Zhuzhu. Today, when she went up the mountain, she was lucky enough to find a few Yellow Pine Mushrooms. I told her to save them to sell at the market and keep the money for her dowry. But she's so filial, insisting that this is a fine thing for her parents to enjoy, and feeling sorry for you all working hard these days, she insisted on making it for everyone to try, saying it's to let us taste something fresh! To say our Zhuzhu is just too kind, too filial, willing to take out such precious things for us to eat without resenting me for usually favoring her!"

Ming Zhu was dumbfounded, she had only promised Little Bean to not break her word, hence she decided to cook the Yellow Pine Mushrooms. Where did all these other implications come from?

Such a casual act, and Old Granny Zhang glorified it until even she felt her face burning hot.

The Wang family members looked at each other, considering the flushed and head-bowed Ming Zhu, then at Old Granny Zhang boasting about her daughter's filial piety, and they all started to doubt their ears and eyes: has Zhuzhu, the younger sister, the old maid, changed her ways?

Although Wang Laozhu also hoped his eldest daughter would change for the better, he knew his wife's true colors all too well. Once she opened her mouth, right and wrong were at her mercy.

Perhaps she just forcefully placed the grandchildren's credit onto his eldest daughter, he suspected.

Not to mention Wang Laozhu, even Wang Yongfu and Lady Lin thought the same upon hearing it.

Lady Lin sneered, knowing very well that after yesterday's commotion, the mother-in-law was polishing the face of her sister-in-law, trying to embellish her reputation. It could very well be taking the credit from her own children.

Old Granny Zhang knew the temper of every family member like the back of her hand. In her words, she knew exactly what kind of shit one was about to take just by the way their butt was poised.

Rarely did the eldest daughter earn some praise for herself, yet no one believed it. Old Granny Zhang grew even more distressed for her, thinking that it must be the heartless, backstabbing wretched daughters-in-law who turned her sons and daughters away from her.

With a cold sneer, she filled a bowl of soup for Wang Laozhu with two thin slices of mushrooms and an almost transparent slice of cured meat, and served herself a bowl of the soup too. She generously filled half a bowl for Jinguan and Jinhua, who had also put in effort today, and even Jinpan and Jinshao got a bountiful half bowl. She spared Lady Jiang a shallow half bowl as well.

The rest, she carried the entire basin over to Ming Zhu: "Zhuzhu, I told you not to waste it on those ungrateful wretches with rotten hearts. Who would remember your kindness? Feeding it to pigs would have been better! Really, I must have sinned in my last life to have given birth to such thankless sons and marry a home-wrecker. We haven't even split the family yet, and they can't stand the sight of a sister-in-law! Oh dear, my heart, my poor Zhuzhu, you still think of them, yet they are so heartless! My dear daughter—"

Ming Zhu was flabbergasted. Weren't they just supposed to have dinner and enjoy the mushroom soup? She had been hoping that after the family tasted her soup, at least it would improve their goodwill towards her.

But suddenly, the mood shifted, turning into a scene from a drama of a village termagant oppressing a well-behaved son and daughter-in-law.

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