Chapter 6: I’ll Continue to Snatch His Pie Tomorrow
“Yuntang, what are you doing standing at the door? Come in now.” Mrs. Xie-Qin came out from inside.
When Su Tao saw an adult coming out, she held back her threat and ran back home swiftly. She entered the house in one go and closed the door.
She was disgusted by the smell on her hand in the next moment. “Retch~”
She hurriedly found a rag to wipe her hands, but the smell lingered even after she wiped her hands clean. She looked at the white egg. Even if she was hungry, she couldn't stand the smell.
However, she was unwilling to waste the egg by throwing it away.
Judging by Mrs. Su-Qian's reaction, she knew how difficult it was to eat eggs usually.
There was a big kitchen in the main house of the Su family, while there was a small kitchen in the house where Su Tao and her family lived. This was where water was usually boiled and where people washed up.
Lin Sanzhu walked in as soon as Su Tao sneaked into the small kitchen. Lin Sanzhu caught a strong sour smell, pinched her nose and gave Su Tao an angry look. “Did you fall into the stinky ditch again, wretched girl?”
“Do your eyes grow behind you? Good grief, I wonder if I forgot to give you eyes at birth.”
Su Tao lowered her head and said nothing. After Lin Sanzhu glared at Su Tao, she took a basin of water for washing feet and went out.
Su Tao heaved a sigh of relief. She found a wooden basin, washed the egg with water and stuffed it into her clothes.
At this time, Lin Sanzhu walked in and cursed again, “If you go to bed without washing up later, I’ll beat you to death! You were so audacious today. You even threw a tantrum. You should consider yourself lucky that your grandma didn't beat you to death today.”
Seeing that Su Tao was silent, Lin Sanzhu thought she had been subdued. She continued to say, “Now, you’re obedient. Why didn’t you behave this way earlier? I really must have owed you in my past life.” After she finished talking, she looked outside and quickly took a bowl from under the cabinet.
Su Tao glanced at the bowl. It turned out that there was a small piece of meat. Lin Sanzhu met Su Tao’s gaze, picked up the meat with her hand and stuffed it into Su Tao’s mouth. “Don't tell anyone about it. If your grandma finds out, you’ll get it from her.” After she said that, she licked the oil on her fingers.
Meat was only served when the men were at home, but women and children didn’t get to eat the meat.
She hid a small piece of meat tonight and her mother-in-law almost found this piece of meat.
Su Tao was stunned for a moment. She subconsciously wanted to spit the meat out, but soon held back and swallowed the meat in her mouth.
She couldn't believe that Lin Sanzhu had hidden the meat for her. She hesitated for a moment before she took out the egg.
She really wanted to eat the egg alone, but she couldn't find a chance. Besides, she was really worried about that fool, Su Zhi.
If Su Zhi made a slip of the tongue, she would be in hot soup.
Under the moonlight, the egg was vaguely visible. Lin Sanzhu's eyes widened. Then, she closed the door with a snap and said in a low voice, “Wretched girl, how dared you even steal an egg? Aren’t you afraid of the beating?”
“Brother stole it.”
Su Tao betrayed Su Zhi without any hesitation. She wasn’t someone who would forget her grudges. If it wasn't for him, she wouldn't have knelt for the whole day.
Lin Sanzhu pointed at her forehead when she heard that, "You and your brother are really courting trouble. Didn't you learn your lesson when you stole an egg last time? Don't steal eggs again next time.”
“Take it properly. Don't lose the eggshell. If you leave any trace of it around, your grandma will find it.”
After she left, Su Tao smelled the egg and found that it wasn't smelly. She stuffed it into her mouth. The aroma of the egg gave her the urge to lick her fingers.
However, she managed to hold back the urge.
The original host’s mother wasn’t entirely an honest person either.
After lying on the bed, Su Tao finally heaved a sigh of relief. A day spent at the Su family's house made her feel like she was running for her life.
She even had to endure hunger.
After she relaxed her mind, she began to think about how to get Xie Yuntang to kill her.
She didn't want to stay here even for a day longer. She was poorer than her grandfather in the famine years.
However, Xie Yuntang was an innocent and sweet milksop. He wouldn’t dare to kill her merely at her request. She had to make him angry.
If she provoked him with a few words when he was angry, it would probably work!
Yes, that was it! She would continue to snatch his pie tomorrow!
Over at this end, Lin Sanzhu entered her room and quickly closed the door. She fed the egg yolk to Su Fu and whispered, “Hurry, eat it.”
Su Fu had heard earlier that an egg was missing at home, but he didn't say anything. He said in an honest manner, “Dear, you eat it.”
“You have to work every day. Hurry, eat it. I’ll give the rest to Zhi'er and the others.”
After Lin Sanzhu stuffed the egg yolk into his hand, she went to Su Zhi's room and came out after a while. When she returned to her room, she found that Su Fu hadn't eaten the egg yolk yet. “Hurry, eat it and go to bed early.”
Su Fu knew the way his wife was. He reckoned that she didn't keep the egg for herself, so he fed all of it into her mouth. “You eat it. You've lost weight recently. Did Mom make you do a lot of work again?”
“I haven’t lost weight. I’m still plump. I’m not tired. But your daughter wanted to eat meat. There wasn’t much meat and Mom was there, so I gave your daughter one piece of meat less. Since then, that lass had been behaving strangely.” Lin Sanzhu was a little worried when she said that.
As a girl, her daughter wasn’t favored by the family. If she wasn’t diligent, she would definitely be starved and beaten.
Lin Sanzhu might have beaten Su Tao fiercely usually, but if she didn’t do it, her mother-in-law would beat Su Tao. Lin Sanzhu knew how strong her mother-in-law was. Su Tao wouldn’t be able to withstand the beating.
Su Fu felt a little guilty. “Just bear with it for a few more years. Once our family moves out and lives independently in a few years, I’ll buy meat for you.”
“Forget about meat. I’m thankful enough as long as we can fill our stomachs. Don’t worry about it. Just work with peace of mind. I’ll watch over the kids.”
Lin Sanzhu stuffed the egg yolk into his mouth and said, “You mustn’t collapse, otherwise the kids and I will have no way out.”
The next day, the sky was gray. The rooster next door crowed repeatedly.
At first, Su Tao didn't react. She covered her ears, feeling a little irritable.
In the next moment, Lin Sanzhu's voice was heard. “Wretched lass, are you still sleeping? Hurry, get up and cut the ragweed!”
Su Tao was probably really scared of being beaten.
Lin Sanzhu's voice was like a reminder of the beating she suffered. She reflexively got off the bed and ran out without putting on her shoes. “I’m coming.”
Lin Sanzhu had no reason to be angry when Su Tao was obedient. She ordered Su Tao to work. “Your brother is still sleeping. Go wake him up, then go and cut the ragweed together. Don't cut the sweet potato leaves again. Otherwise, if your grandma sells you, I won’t be able to help you.” After Lin Sanzhu finished talking, she combed her hair and walked outside.
Having escaped a beating, Su Tao heaved a sigh of relief. Then, she grabbed the back basket while yawning several times.
Su Zhi's room was one-third smaller than hers. Although Su Tao was a little surprised, she didn't dwell too much on it.
In her eyes, this family was really poor.
In the room, Su Zhi was sprawled on the bed. Su Dou laid beside him with his eyes open, neither crying nor making any noise.
He isn’t that annoying.
She picked him up and then slapped Su Zhi, hitting his arm with a slap sound. Her slap wasn’t light at all.
She was a petty person. This fool caused her to have knelt all day. Fortunately, the egg wasn’t found, otherwise she would have met her doom and reunited with her mother in the afterworld.