Chapter 8

Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation

Madam Dong Wu was rendered speechless by Dong Nuan again. Second Aunt, who was listening in on the conversation between the mother and daughter, could not help but laugh. “My goodness. I say, Third Brother’s family, Lil Nuan can’t continue acting like this. You don’t even listen to your mother! If you ask me, you should agree to becoming the Liao family’s sister-in-law. Lil Nuan, a village girl who doesn’t even know how to read, has a chance to marry the young master of the Liao family. That’s an amazing thing.”

“How great it is, yes. So why doesn’t Second Aunt ask Dong Xing to marry him?” Before Madam Dong Wu could say anything, Dong Nuan retorted with that.

Second Aunt was smiling happily, even though she was still annoyed about the previous night.

However, now that she was rebuked by Dong Nuan, her face stiffened. She pursed her lips and was about to retaliate when she saw Dong Nuan suddenly clap her hands. She smiled and sighed. “Ah, right. Aunt Liao doesn’t like Dong Xing. She said that Dong Xing is inattentive and can’t tell a hand from a foot. Second Aunt, do you know what that means? Did Aunt Liao say that Dong Xing is lazy?”

The expression on Second Aunt’s face was already ugly, but after being rebuked by Dong Nuan again, she almost stomped her feet in anger, but she could not find any words to counter her. In the end, she shook the cloth towel in her hand hatefully, turned around, and sashayed into the house.

After Second Aunt’s interruption, Madam Dong Wu did not find a chance to say anything else.

Apart from the tension between Dong Nuan and Second Aunt, there were also occasional fights between the others, but they did not cause much of a commotion. Otherwise, Old Dong would not be sitting under the window steadily, his eyelids heavy.

Soon, the breakfast was ready.

Old Madam Dong had absolute control over the matters of the family, so no matter how tired she was, she was unwilling to give power to her daughters-in-law.

Asking her daughters-in-law to cook?

What if they secretly ate the food behind her back?

Therefore, when she woke up early in the morning and woke up the entire family, she also prepared breakfast.

Dong Nuan did not have much hope for the food in the farmyard.

This morning, it was half-dried millet with some old beans mixed in. As the beans had been processed by stone mills, they were in a half-crushed state. It was impossible to tell what beans they were. In addition, there were some chaff and vegetables.

Dong Nuan took a sniff of the smell. There should be cucumber and eggplant. These two were the most common home-cooked dishes in farming houses in this season. There were also other vegetables, but those changed daily.

After the pot was put out, there were rice and dishes. After Old Madam Dong distributed them to everyone, she would carry the rest back to her table to eat.

Dong Tao and Dong Zao returned to the table with rice and ate with their heads lowered. They did not care about what they had promised last night. They were afraid that Madam Dong Wu would remember and take their rice.

The two of them even secretly discussed it and agreed that if their mother really wanted the food, they would force Dong Nuan to give away hers.

In any case, she was the eldest sister. It was only right for her to take care of her younger siblings.

In the end, Dong Nuan did not come to the table at all. Instead, she stood at the door with her bowl and ate.

Farmers were not too particular. Some people even carried their rice bowls to the gate of the fenced courtyard to eat.

When Madam Wu finally got Dong Yao ready, Dong Tao and Dong Zao were almost finished.

“Mother!!!” When Dong Yao saw that his extra meal was gone, he immediately felt wronged and was prepared to throw his bowl.

However, with what happened yesterday, how could Madam Dong Wu dare to let him throw it again?

“Alright, alright. Mother will ask your elder sister to give you some food.” After Madam Dong Wu finished speaking, she shouted at Dong Nuan at the door, “Lil Nuan, get some rice for your younger brother. You’re a girl who eats too much. Be careful not to get too fat. Your in-laws will despise you.”

“It’s fine. I won’t get fat from eating. Tell Dong Yao to eat less, lest he gets too fat and can’t get a wife in the future,” Dong Nuan retorted.

Madam Wu was furious, but before she could speak, she heard Dong Nuan speak again.

For some reason, when she saw that Dong Nuan’s little mouth was about to move, she felt her scalp tingle.

“Heaven is dark, earth golden… The cosmos are vast and diffused. Right, Fifth Uncle, what’s next?” As Dong Nuan ate, she softly recited a few words and asked Fifth Uncle Dong to continue the rest.

She had already dug such a huge pit. Now, it was time to fill it with soil.

Fifth Uncle Dong was eating with his head lowered. He still had to go to town to study later and had to walk through a lot of mountain roads. He had to eat more.

Hearing Dong Nuan’s question, Fifth Uncle Dong replied without raising his head, “What nonsense are you talking about? Little girl, don’t listen to those gossipy old women’s nonsense.”

“Ah? But…” Dong Nuan said with a puzzled expression. She seemed to want to say something but did not know how. Her mouth moved, but she didn’t say anything.

Seeing this, the eyes of Second Aunt, who had just been rebuked earlier in the morning, lit up. She was instantly energized. However, just as her mouth opened, before she could say anything, she heard Liao Mingkun’s voice next door. “Heaven is dark, earth golden; the cosmos are vast and diffused. Sun and moon wax and wane; the stars are fixed in their constellations.…”

Liao Mingkun had the habit of studying early in the morning. However, ever since he passed the student examination and entered the city school, he lived in the city. He could only return home one day a month, so the Dong family had not heard him studying for a long time.

However, for the past few days, he had study leave and was staying at home, so they heard him studying in the morning.

Dong Nuan decided to make use of this point.

Dong Nuan’s timing was perfect. Just as Fifth Uncle dismissed her, Liao Mingkun said the same poem aloud, meaning to memorize it.

After thinking for a long time, Dong Nuan finally said, “But Young Master Liao said that this is from the ‘Thousand Character Classic’ that students learn whenever they start at school. Fifth Uncle has been studying for so many years, so why don’t you know the Thousand Character Classic?”

Dong Nuan’s expression was as innocent as it could be, and her tone was as puzzled as it could be.

As soon as she finished speaking, the entire family fell into deep thought. Only the clear sound of pages flipping could be heard from next door. Every word of hers seemed to stab everyone’s hearts.

Fifth Uncle was actually an idiot. Back when he was young, after working in the fields twice, he refused to do it again no matter what. He shouted that he was talented and wanted to study.

Besides than studying, there was no other way to get out of the farmyard.

When he said that he wanted to study, Old Dong was quite happy. His first four children were all stupid, so he was originally in despair.

Now that someone who was willing to study had volunteered, Old Dong wished he could worship him.

However, not only was Fifth Uncle Dong not talented, but he was also unwilling to improve. He had many bad people as friends. With the hard-earned money of the entire family, he lived a carefree life in town.

This matter was mentioned in the book. It was Liao Mingkun who exposed this. Naturally, he did not want the Dong family to leech off him, so he aimed to get rid of as many parasites as he could.

Dong Nuan was just setting up a trap to expose this matter to everyone earlier.

Of course, she did not need to be the villain. There were many people in this family who wanted to pull Fifth Uncle Dong back from town to farm and give up his wasted opportunity to study.

Eldest Uncle’s family wanted their youngest son to study, Second Uncle also wanted his youngest son to study, and Madam Dong Wu wanted Dong Yao to be enlightened.