eurekapd Chapter 13 Solo
Chapter 13 Solo
After Wen Yuxia finished speaking, she led Wen Yunhong into the room. Once inside, she couldn't help but smile wryly, "Grandpa and Grandma are too..."
She didn't know what to say next. Apart from a bare kang (heated brick bed) and a bag of grain, everything else in the room had been taken away; not even a mattress or blanket was left for them.
Wen Yunhong lost his parents when he was two years old and lived with Wen Dashan and his wife for three years. It would be untrue to say that he had no feelings for Wen Dashan and his wife.
Previously, he had always thought that Wen Dashan's desire to return to the main house was just a joke, a way of asking his sister to bring the mother goat home. But now, seeing the empty room, he had to accept that Wen Dashan had really gone to the main house.
With red eyes, he said, "Grandpa and Grandma really don't want us anymore."
Wen Yuxia was not a heartless person; she wouldn't stop Wen Yunhong from fulfilling his filial duties to his parents. However, the current situation truly infuriated her.
She squeezed her eyes shut to suppress her anger and said, "We all live in the same courtyard. Hong'er can see Grandpa whenever he wants. Grandpa is old and should enjoy his retirement..."
Consider the belongings in the house as payment for the care they received from Wen Dashan and his wife over the past three years. With those possessions, the two elderly people can have a foothold in the main house.
These items included grain, bedding, pots and pans, silver coins received during the division of the family property, and silver coins earned from selling grain over the past two years.
The only good thing is that this year's grain harvest has just been completed, and Wen Dashan hasn't had time to take it to the grain store to sell yet. The bag of grain left at home is rice.
Wen Yuxia explained the reasons to Wen Yunhong several times, and allowed him to bring food to Wen Dashan in the future. Only then did Wen Yunhong smile and say, "It's good that Grandpa doesn't live with us anymore. We can go to Grandpa's house to play now."
From the original owner's memories, she learned that her maternal grandparents' home was in Xiaowang Village. The original owner had never been there, but she had met her maternal grandparents and eldest uncle more than once.
Wen Ziyang and his wife would collect herbs to sell at Renhetang in town, and their maternal grandfather and the others would wait outside Renhetang to see their daughter and son-in-law.
The original owner of this body had also been taken by Wen Ziyang to town to sell medicinal herbs, and her grandmother had even bought her candied hawthorns.
My maternal grandmother was very kind, and although my maternal grandfather wasn't talkative, the simple, honest smile on his face when he looked at the original owner's mother and the original owner never changed. My eldest uncle was also very easy to get along with.
The original owner only met the other uncles once, at the funeral of Wen Zihua and his wife, and they were very kind to the original owner and her siblings.
Wen Yuxia planned to temporarily keep the mother goat in Xiaowang Village because her maternal grandfather's family had been kind to her and her siblings.
"Tomorrow, we'll go to town first, and then to my maternal grandparents' house." There are four wild goats in the space. We'll go to town tomorrow morning to sell two of them. It's our first time visiting, and Wen Yuxia doesn't want to come empty-handed.
“Hmm,” Wen Yunhong didn’t understand. Xiao Wang Village was right next door, so why did her sister have to go to town first? But, if her sister wanted to go, then let her go. It wouldn’t matter if she walked a few more steps.
"Da Ya, Xiao Qi, open the door! Your aunt has brought you your meal," Madam Yang called out.
Knowing that the second and third wives would be eager to freeload at his house tonight, Madam Yang had never intended for Wen Yuxia and her brother to come over for dinner.
Firstly, she was afraid that the shameless Zhang from the second wife's side would gossip about her to Wen Yuxia; secondly, she was afraid that the whole family would fight over food at the dinner table, which would disgust Wen Yuxia.
To make a good impression on Wen Yuxia, she served two large bowls of stir-fried and stewed pheasant, including two large chicken legs in the stew bowl.
Sigh, she really went to great lengths to lure Wen Yuxia to her house, Yang thought to herself, while putting on what she considered a gentle smile.
With a creak, the door opened, and Wen Yunhong greeted Madam Yang with a grin, saying, "Auntie,"
Madam Yang said lovingly, "Little Seven, there are chicken legs for dinner today." As she spoke, she walked into the house, looked around, and with an embarrassed smile, placed two bowls of meat and vegetables and two bowls of brown rice on the kang (a heated brick bed).
At this moment, she forgot the joy she felt when Wen Linshi directed her men to empty Wen Yuxia's house. Instead, she felt a bit resentful towards Wen Linshi for her unseemly behavior, having removed all the tables and chairs.
Wen Yuxia said with a faint smile, "Aunt, we don't have any bowls or chopsticks at home. I'll wash these bowls and bring them to you later."
Yang patted her forehead and said, "Look at me, I forgot to bring the chopsticks." Then she turned and shouted outside the room, "Yunhai, bring two pairs of chopsticks."
Yang set out dinner in the courtyard, at two tables. Wen Dashan and his wife, the eldest son's family of six, the second son's family of four, and the third son's family of five all ate dinner together in the courtyard.
Wen Yuxia and her brother ate in their room while listening to the shouts and curses coming from the yard as people fought over the meat.
"Waaaah, I want chicken legs!" Wen Yunhu from the third branch of the family burst into tears as soon as the food was served.
The four large chicken legs were distributed by Yang to Wen Dashan, Wen Linshi, Wen Yunhai, and Wen Yunyang.
Wen Yunbo from the second wife was also unhappy: "It is right for Grandpa and Grandma to eat the chicken legs, so why are the remaining two chicken legs given to the son of the first wife?"
“Yes, sister-in-law, Xiao Jiu is still young, it’s only right that he eats chicken legs to nourish himself. Yunhai is the eldest brother, he can’t let his younger brothers take it from him. In my opinion, this chicken leg in Yunhai’s bowl should be shared between Xiao Ba and Xiao Liu,” Zhang said as she put the chicken leg from Wen Yunhai’s bowl into her own.
Xiao Ba is Wen Yunhu from the third wife's family, and Xiao Liu is Zhang's youngest son, Wen Yunbo.
Zhang showed no favoritism. After dividing the chicken legs, she let Wen Yunhu choose first, then put the remaining half into Wen Yunbo's bowl, gesturing with her eyes for him to eat quickly.
Wen Yunhai's eyes reddened with anger: "Second Aunt, I'm the eldest grandson of the Wen family, why can't I eat chicken legs? Give me back my chicken legs!" With that, he reached out and grabbed the bowl of stir-fried chicken from their table, heading into the room.
He chuckled to himself, thinking that it was fine if he wasn't given chicken legs; this bowl of chicken was all his to keep.
Zhang was surprised that Wen Yunhai dared to take away one of the only two meat dishes on the table. She quickly picked up the remaining bowl of stewed chicken soup and poured it into her own and her two sons' bowls.
The three children, Wen Yunjiang and Wen Yunhe from the first wife's family, and Wen Yunchen from the third wife's family, burst into tears upon seeing that not a single drop of chicken soup was left on the table.
Wen Dashan insisted on finishing the chicken leg in his bowl before looking up at the table with the woman and child. He frowned and said, "Can't you even eat in peace? Old woman, aren't you going to do anything about it?"
Sitting next to him, Wen Linshi, who had been suffering from a severe toothache for the past few days, was slowly enjoying a chicken leg when Wen Dashan called her name.
He then glanced at his eldest daughter-in-law, Yang, and scolded, "Are you dead? You can't even arrange a meal properly. Hurry up and go to the kitchen and bring out two more bowls of meat!"
The world is vast, and food is the most important thing. As for who ate all the meat and vegetables on the table over there, Wen Linshi didn't want to care. She just told Yangshi to scoop out two more bowls and that was it.
Madam Yang was very unhappy and scolded her two sons, "You're not quick enough! What are you crying about? The chicken is gone. If you want to eat it, then get off the table!"
After saying that, he pulled Wen Yunjiang and Wen Yunhe off the stools, silently moving his lips a few times, indicating that the two should go find Wen Yunhai.
Seeing that only his son was still crying at the other table, Wen Zihua picked up seven or eight pieces of chicken and put them in his own bowl. He got up and walked over to the other table, saying with a smile, "Chen'er, Dad has brought you some meat."
The farce caused by chicken came to a perfect end, and Wen Dashan suddenly felt exhausted and regretted the decision he made that morning to help his eldest son.