Traveling Through Those Years Of Farming (Quick Transmigration) - Chapter 36

Lu Miao and the lady next door return from the temple. On the way, they make a special trip to a nearby village to buy a plump hen, intending to nourish her soon-to-be grandson-in-law.

While buying the chicken, Lu Miao feels a bit distressed. The chickens and ducks here are much more expensive than the ones they raise at home, and they don’t look as good. However, the chickens at home can’t just fly over when they want to eat.

The lady accompanying her also seems tempted. She spends quite some time picking through the chickens at the farmer’s pen. Her husband has fared worse than Yuan Ge’er over the past three days, but she is strapped for cash. In the end, she just buys five eggs, planning to make a big bowl of egg soup for her husband.

When they return home, the widow from the other family has already started working on the stove.

Though she is reluctant to buy a whole chicken, she cuts a small piece of meat from the butcher shop. Now, she chops the meat into minced pieces, mixes it with beaten eggs, adds some rice wine and brown sauce, and steams it in a casserole. The room fills with the aroma of meat and a faint scent of wine.

Despite her distaste for the widow’s caution toward her own granddaughter, Lu Miao can’t help but admire the woman.

This woman, who loses her husband at a young age, raises her child through embroidery, pays for her child’s education, and maintains a harmonious household—something not every woman can achieve.

The widow’s embroidery is truly impressive. Lu Miao has seen some of her patterns in the yard; they are lifelike and better than those sold in ordinary embroidery workshops.

Lu Miao inquires about the price. The widow can make a palm-sized pattern and receive fifty coins from the embroidery workshop, which can sell it for eighty coins. However, the workshop provides her with a stable market. If others want her to create special patterns, they have to pay a bit more, but it is still cheaper than buying directly from the workshop.

In recent years, the widow has relied on her excellent embroidery to support her son’s studies, allowing her and her daughter to occasionally buy some fish and meat to enhance their meals.

After seeing the widow’s embroidery and asking about the price, Lu Miao feels tempted. She asks for the widow’s address so that when the family’s grandchildren need clothes for their weddings, they can hire her to do the work.

Of course, items like veils, wedding quilts, and wedding clothes cannot be asked of a widow. It carries a bad connotation and risks violating taboos.

The women work efficiently, and soon a variety of aromas waft from the kitchen.

The widow prepares a bowl of steamed eggs with meat, a pot of cabbage stewed with vermicelli, and a steamed salted fish. This meal, with vegetables, fish, and meat, is considered quite sumptuous.

The Lu family needs no further mention. They have one large hen, half stewed for soup, the other half braised, and the remaining chicken parts stir-fried with chili, making a delicious dish that goes well with rice. The old lady goes to the temple in the morning, so she doesn’t manage to buy fresh river fish at the market. Instead, she uses the small shrimp she brings from home to make a bowl of winter melon and shrimp soup, accompanied by a basin of stir-fried cabbage. This is the kind of New Year’s fare for regular people.

In comparison, the food prepared by the young lady next door seems a bit shabby: a plate of stir-fried cabbage, a plate of pickles, two poached eggs, and a bowl of egg water. It is clear that the poached eggs and egg soup are for her man; the young lady wouldn’t touch them.

Lu Miao carries the food into the room. She isn’t sure if it is just her imagination, but it feels like the distance between Yuan Ge’er and Lu Baobao has grown, as if they are deliberately keeping their distance, as if to say “there’s nothing here to see.”

The old lady ponders to herself how it could be that after just a little over half a day out, the two children’s behavior has become so strange.

“Today’s meal is really rich,” Lu Baobao says, running over with a red face to take the food from her.

Originally, she wants to help in the kitchen, but the old lady tells her that the widow doesn’t like them and advises her not to go near her.

Besides, the old lady wants to cook a good meal for her grandson-in-law. Over the past few years, she has learned some skills from her eldest granddaughter, and her home-cooked dishes aren’t much worse than hers.

“Did you two quarrel?” the old lady suddenly asks after bringing all the food over.

“No, no, why would Lu Baobao and I quarrel?” Yuan Ge’er replies.

“No, I won’t quarrel with him,” Lu Baobao adds.

The two answer at the same time, then glance at each other, blushing and quickly looking away.

The old lady observes them discreetly. The two children are amusing; first, Yuan Ge’er steals a glance at Lu Baobao with his peripheral vision, then quickly retracts his gaze after a few moments, sitting upright as if he hasn’t been sneaking looks at her.

After a while, it is Lu Baobao’s turn to cautiously steal a glance at Yuan Ge’er. She slowly turns her little head, and if Yuan Ge’er so much as breathes a bit louder, she gets startled and immediately turns back, lowering her head to look at her bowl of rice, appearing like the well-behaved child waiting for the meal to begin.k at her bowl of rice, appearing as the well-behaved child waiting for the meal to begin.

Sometimes, the two steal glances at each other in sync, quickly withdrawing their heads, each faster than the last. Their already rosy cheeks deepen another shade.

Lu Miao gradually figures out what is happening. It is clear that the two children have become more perceptive. She wonders what has transpired during her absence.

The old lady begins to calculate in her mind. Lu Baobao is fifteen this year. If Yuan Ge’er can pass the exam this time, she can prepare for their marriage next year. By then, Lu Baobao will be sixteen and Yuan Ge’er eighteen, which will be the appropriate age.

Lu Xiuyu returns just as dinner is being served. She is much less attuned to emotions than the old lady. Even though the awkwardness between the two lively treasures is obvious, she fails to notice it.

Instead, she thinks they must be wearing too many clothes; otherwise, why are their faces so red? It is clearly hot.

“Is this all the food? Didn’t Mother give you quite a bit of silver before leaving? Where did all that money go? It’s my first day back from the exam hall, and this is all you provide me?”

As the Lu family serves the meal, the old lady is about to say something when a quarrel erupts from the next room.

“Where’s the meat? I can clearly smell it. How come everyone else is willing to buy meat for their men to nourish them, while you’re so stingy? You’re really unreasonable, woman!”

Perhaps the woman’s voice is too soft, as only the man’s angry shouts can be heard in the quarrel.

“You eat first; I’ll go take a look,” Lu Miao says, putting down her bowl and frowning as she heads outside.

When she lifts the curtain, she sees a man in his thirties from next door pushing the door open and storming out, holding a cloak as if he intends to eat outside.

Through the open door, Lu Miao catches sight of the young lady squatting on the ground, wiping her tears while picking up the broken pieces of dishes.

As Lu Miao is about to step outside, she notices the widow from the other side leaning halfway out, shaking her head at her, signaling her not to interfere.

The old lady hesitates for a moment. Although she has been getting along well with the young lady recently, they are still essentially strangers. If she goes over to offer comfort, the young woman might not even appreciate it.

In the end, Lu Miao decides not to meddle in others’ family affairs. She lowers the curtain, closes the door, and quietly returns to her seat.

“Sigh——” Lu Miao sighs as she sits down.

The young lady next door truly has a hard life. If her husband treats her this way even after failing the exam, what will happen if he actually passes this time? Will there be any good days ahead for her?

Sometimes, Lu Miao feels frustrated with the young lady for her lack of ambition and perceived weakness. But upon reflection, what else can she do but obey that man? Others have parents to protect them and brothers and sisters-in-law to support them. She is alone. Not everyone has a family like her second son’s, who treats married daughters as treasures.

The young woman has said that for all these years, her in-laws’ only expectation is that she takes good care of her husband. She feels like she has been serving him as if he were a newborn child, while her own child, after weaning, is taken by her in-laws to raise, and she doesn’t feel particularly close to her own child.

During their time living together, the woman often expresses her hope that her husband will pass the scholar exam. If he does, he can take the provincial exams a few more times, and if he doesn’t succeed in becoming a juren (provincial graduate), he can return to the countryside to open a small school. She wouldn’t have to rent a place in town to study with him as she does now, and she could bring her child back from her in-laws and raise him well.

Lu Miao listens silently to her vision of the future, but in the old lady’s opinion, the young lady is fortunate that her husband has failed to become a scholar. If he manages to pass by chance, she fears the consequences…

The old lady shakes her head. Life is difficult for women. Even her capable eldest granddaughter has to think carefully before making decisions. If she were a man, she would have fewer worries.

As a daughter, once married, the only thing she can rely on is her husband’s conscience.

Reflecting on the young lady’s experience, Lu Miao can’t help but worry about Lu Baobao again.

Currently, Yuan Ge’er seems to be a sincere and down-to-earth young man, but if he were to pass the imperial examination or achieve high honors in the future, would his attitude change?

When he enters Tianxia Academy, many feel sympathy for him, believing that the second son’s family is unworthy of him. If he becomes a juren or jinshi, he might take the initiative to dissolve the engagement and offer the second branch some form of compensation. Others wouldn’t think he is wrong for doing so.

After all, many people see the couple from the second branch as a burden. So what if the second branch’s daughter is exceptionally beautiful? When marrying, one seeks a virtuous wife; only when taking a concubine does one consider a woman’s appearance. Yuan Ge’er, being such an outstanding young man, should marry someone who will benefit his future.