Chapter 7

Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation

Dong Nuan was not surprised that Madam Dong Wu would say such rude words.

Dong Yao followed behind Madam Dong Wu. He was still holding a grudge against Dong Nuan for not giving him her egg. When he heard that Madam Dong Wu was scolding Dong Nuan, he also put his hands on his waist and raised his neck. “That’s right, that’s right. Eldest Sister should help us with our work!”

Hearing his words, Dong Nuan was so angry that she laughed. “You’re our biological mother, but I’ve never seen you help us children.”

Madam Dong Wu choked and could not say a word. Dong Yao also froze like a chicken that was being choked. He looked at his mother one moment, then at Dong Nuan. He did not know what to say.

At this moment, Dong Sanchun came in. Noticing that the atmosphere in the room was tense, the honest man scratched his head and asked in a silly voice, “What’s wrong? Hurry up and sleep. We still have work to do tomorrow.”

Almost all of the fields had been watered today. Tomorrow, it was time to pull out the weeds and remove the insects. None of these tasks were simple.

After Dong Sanchun finished speaking, he went to bed by himself. He did not care about what happened to his wife or his children.

He was tired and needed to sleep.

Dong Sanchun looked honest, but he was actually very self-centered, or rather, very selfish. He only cared about himself in his heart. He looked concerned for others, but he was actually cold.

Even though there was a huge commotion at home, he did not bother intervening.

After Dong Sanchun entered, Dong Zao and the others were afraid to disturb their father. Dong Yao did not dare to stretch his neck, and Madam Dong Wu did not dare to say anything.

The family went back to their own beds to sleep.

Dong Zao and Dong Tao still held a grudge against Dong Nuan for not helping with the work, so the two of them looked at each other and tacitly went to bed first, filling up the small bed.

Seeing this scene, Dong Nuan smiled, turned around, took off her straw sandals, and went to sleep on the bedstove.

The bedstove was very big. It was more than enough to fit two adults and Dong Yao, a half-grown child.

Even if Dong Nuan were to crawl up there, there would be more than enough space.

However, in the past, Madam Dong Wu did not allow the girls to go up at all, afraid that her precious egg would be squashed.

Now that she saw the Dong Nuan coming up, her face darkened again. Her voice was filled with dissatisfaction. “Why are you here? Can’t yousleep in bed with the others?”

“I tried, but I couldn’t. Dong Zao and Dong Tao have gained a lot of weight recently. Did they steal Dong Yao’s food?” Dong Nuan lay down and said casually.

At the mention of Dong Yao, even though Madam Dong Wu was exhausted, she instantly stood up.

Therefore, as soon as Dong Nuan finished speaking, she got up with a whoosh and glanced at the small broken bed on the ground.

Dong Zao and Dong Tao didn’t even have time to shift their posture before they were caught by Madam Dong Wu.

Madam Dong Wu did not care about others. She would only act according to her own thoughts, or in this case, Dong Nuan’s thoughts.

To put it bluntly, her mind revolved around Dong Yao.

Therefore, when she saw this scene, Madam Dong Wu’s face grew long again. Dong Nuan felt that she could compare her face with a donkey’s.

“You two brats, from tomorrow onward, give half of every meal you have to Lil Yao.” When Madam Dong Wu thought about how these two brats had secretly eaten Dong Yao’s food when she was not paying attention, she gritted her teeth in hatred.

Dong Yao did not mind watching the commotion. He even clapped his hands and said, “Yay! I’ve lost weight recently, Mother.”

When she heard her precious egg say that he had lost weight, Madam Dong Wu’s heart ached again. She quickly comforted him and took out a handful of beans that she had secretly pulled out from the ground in the afternoon. She coaxed softly, “Eat more. These fresh beans will definitely be crispy and tender when you bite into them.”

The soybeans would only truly mature after autumn. They looked like tender little broad beans now.

Even if they were not cooked, they still tasted good raw.

When Dong Yao saw that there was really food, he completely woke up and ignored everyone else. He grabbed the beans and started eating.

Dong Zao and Dong Tao were filled with hatred. They stared at Dong Nuan on the bedstove as if looks could kill.

Unfortunately, Dong Nuan could not be bothered with them. They wanted to cause trouble, right?

She was just helping them. Sure, they did not need to thank her, but why did they hate her?

The bamboo spirit thought that humans were so unreasonable.

That night, Dong Nuan’s family’s room was not the only one where schemes were unhatching.

Old Master Dong was already prepared to ask someone to sell the big fat pheasant at the market and exchange it for money to pay for Fifth Brother’s food. This would have been a stab in the heart to the entire family.

No one said anything on the surface, but in secret, they were annoyed.

Dong Nuan’s wave of aggression had helped Fifth Brother get an advantage. The problem was that the idiot, Fifth Brother, didn’t notice anything wrong at all. At night, he even had some fun with his wife.

The next morning, before the roosters even crowed, Old Madam Dong stood in the courtyard and started to wake the entire family up like she was singing a opera.

“The sun is already shining, why aren’t you getting up yet? Which branch’s woman is the laziest?

“Hey! Don’t you know what time it is? There’s a pile of work waiting for you in the fields. Do you still want to sleep?”

…

Old Madam Dong was not the only one doing this. All the families were the same, and it was always the Old Madam or Old Master of the house doing it.

Each house’s cadence rose and fell like a symphony in the morning.

Of course, some families were excluded from this. For example, Liao Mingkun’s house next door. He was a refined scholar, and there were only two of them in the family. There was no need to specially get up early.

However, Liao Mingkun was very disciplined. Otherwise, it would be impossible for him to become a powerful minister in the future.

However, when he woke up early in the morning, he wanted to read for a while. He heard shouting for a while until it finally stopped, and he realized it had been quiet for a while.

Liao Mingkun was not very observant. From time to time, Mother Liao would cough. He was extremely frustrated, but he had nowhere to vent.

Dong Nuan had a good night’s sleep. When she woke up, the entire family was up.

Everyone was washing their faces in the courtyard. Seeing her come out, Old Madam Dong pulled a long face. However, for the sake of the big fat pheasant, she did not say anything. Madam Dongwu did not have any such hesitation. “Lil Nuan, you’re really getting more and more ridiculous. The entire family is up and waiting for you.”

“Why are you guys waiting for me? Isn’t breakfast still not ready yet? Besides, everyone has to wash their faces. We’re not going in any particular order. If I wake up a little later, I can let everyone wash their faces first,” Dong Nuan replied casually. She did not use the wooden basin to wash her face. Instead, she scooped water with a ladle and rubbed it simply.

There were only two wooden basins at home. The entire family shared them and washed their faces and feet in them.

As a bamboo that loved to be clean, Dong Nuan really could not stand it.

It was still acceptable for everyone to wash their faces together, but washing their faces and feet…

No way, no way!