Chapter Eight: Let's Settle Our Internal Conflicts First!

The Bai family was stunned. Wasn't Sheng Wanqiu supposed to be most fond of their eldest son?

“She even dared to hit you? Brother, wait right there—I’ll go tear her apart!” Bai Xiaolian was furious. Her eldest brother was the most brilliant scholar in the village; maybe one day he could pass the imperial exams and become an official. She would then be an official’s daughter. How dare Sheng Wanqiu try to break his leg? It was outrageous.

Bai Xiaolian rolled up her sleeves, grabbed a stick, and stormed out without hesitation.

“Xiaolian, come back at once! What kind of example is that for a girl?” Bai Jiangshi shouted sternly.

Hearing her mother’s voice, Bai Xiaolian stopped in her tracks, her tone filled with grievance. “Mother, are you really going to let that little wretch Sheng Wanqiu bully my brother?”

“That’s enough! Come back quickly and put that stick away!”

“If she doesn’t give in, there’s nothing we can do. Haoyu, stay away from her from now on. Since she doesn’t know how to cherish you, she’ll regret it someday.”

“If she won’t give it to you, there are plenty who will. Xiaolian, come over here. Mother has something to tell you.”

Bai Jiangshi’s eyes flickered as she called Bai Xiaolian over. The two whispered for a long time, and the more Bai Xiaolian heard, the brighter her eyes became. Then she stepped out of the courtyard.

At Sheng Wanqiu’s kitchen, the aroma of cooking had already drifted two miles away. Passersby near her courtyard sniffed the air enviously.

“Whose cooking is that? It smells so delicious—just one whiff and you know there’s meat simmering!”

“It’s really tempting! My mouth’s watering.”

Not only passersby noticed; the families of Sheng Dabai and Sheng Sanshu, who had recently split from the main household, also caught the scent.

The children drooled, inhaling deeply the meaty fragrance.

Lady Liu Juan, the wife of the eldest uncle, was deeply aggrieved. Since the split, the second uncle’s three kids had been dining with the old lady, no doubt because she was hiding family wealth, benefiting those three children unfairly. Otherwise, how could the second uncle’s family be eating meat?

Her family was the main branch, and by right the old lady should be living with them. Even if the old lady had money, it should belong to their branch. Now, it had all gone to the second uncle’s family for free.

“Mother, I want meat!” Sheng Yaozu, seeing his mother’s gloomy face, tugged at her hem and said weakly.

“Eat, eat, eat—always thinking about food! Do you think our family is rich enough to afford meat?”

“You want meat? I want meat too!” Liu Juan’s voice rose sharply, frightening Sheng Yaozu into tears.

Sheng Yaozu was seven years old, with three older sisters above him. Though a boy, his personality had been spoiled by Liu Juan—timid, weak-willed, and prone to crying at the slightest trouble, hardly like a boy at all.

He was also small and thin. Despite often eating first, he looked malnourished, resembling a five-year-old child in stature.

“Cry, cry, cry—just crying! Even if you cried yourself to death, no one would bring you meat.”

“Always eating—why didn’t you all just eat yourselves to death? Heaven truly is blind!”

Liu Juan started her veiled insults. The two families were separated only by a bamboo fence, so Sheng Wanqiu heard every word.

“Oh, heavens! Truly blind! If you had sight, strike these wicked, rotten-hearted people down with lightning!”

“All these wild rabbits over the hills, you can’t catch any yourself but want to freeload at home. You really think you’re the Queen Mother of the West? Tsk! Lazy, stinking rogue—eat dirt!”

“Jealous just because others eat meat. Such people deserve to die! Oh heavens, open your eyes! Strike these dirt-eating scoundrels with lightning!”

Sheng Wanqiu would not tolerate this. Whether it was the original owner’s temperament or her own nature, she was never one to be trampled on.

Fighting, cursing, veiled insults—these were her specialties, and she had never been afraid of anyone! Except, of course, the old Sheng matriarch—this old woman was untouchable.

“Sheng Wanqiu, who are you cursing?” Sheng Zhaodi couldn’t stand it anymore. She wanted to gain favor with her mother, so she wouldn’t be denied food.

“I’m in my own yard. I can curse whoever I want!”

“I advise you to mind your own business. I’m a year younger than you and can catch rabbits on the mountain—two at a time! Tsk, tsk, tsk. You’re older than me but never caught one. I wonder if it’s because you’re lazy or you catch them and eat them yourself!”

Sheng Wanqiu put her hands on her hips, gloating as she shouted at Sheng Dabai’s family.

Her words made Liu Juan narrow her eyes and glare at her eldest daughter.

Indeed, the two girls were only a year apart. Why could the “little wretch” Sheng Wanqiu catch rabbits while her own eldest daughter hadn’t even found a wild duck egg? Could it be that her eldest daughter was secretly eating what she found?

“Mother, I didn’t! Don’t listen to Sheng Wanqiu’s nonsense!” Sheng Zhaodi shivered when she met Liu Juan’s gaze.

She did sometimes sneak away to eat found treasures—mushrooms or wild bird eggs—but she had never caught a wild rabbit.

“You naughty girl, secretly eating good things behind my back. You’ve been raised in vain!”

Liu Juan saw her eldest daughter’s panicked expression and understood everything. She grabbed a broom and started beating her.

“Mother, I’m sorry! I really won’t do it again, don’t hit me!”

“Mother, forgive me! I promise I’ll never do it again!”

Sheng Zhaodi’s cries from Liu Juan’s beating delighted Sheng Wanqiu immensely. Hah! Still too inexperienced to mess with her!

The old Sheng matriarch, seeing her granddaughter’s sly smile, was resigned. Though the eldest family was restless, now that she was old, she no longer managed much.

“Grandma, it’s time to eat!”

Sheng Huai’an set the bowls and chopsticks neatly, and Sheng Huaimu placed the small stools by the table. Sheng Wanqiu first washed two small clay pots and filled them with the stewed rabbit meat—reserving these full pots for her eldest and second eldest sisters.

The rest was for the four of them to share. With seven rabbits cooked, after filling two pots, there was still a large basin full.

Today’s meal was coarse grain rice. When the stewed rabbit was placed on the table, the two boys’ eyes lit up.

Heavens! So much meat! Their eldest sister was truly capable!

“Stop standing there daydreaming. Wash your hands and come eat.”

“Grandma, you too—go wash your hands!”

“You brat, still complaining! What a nasty habit!”

Though the old matriarch grumbled, she complied. After washing their hands, the three of them sat down and began their meal.