The Lucky Farmgirl
Chapter 477 - 466: Metamorphosis

Chapter 477: Chapter 466: Metamorphosis

"Your mother chose good wives for your brothers, why do you think that is?"

Manbao: "Why do you think that is?"

"Because your mother suffered a heavy loss before."

Manbao always felt that her grandaunt was mocking her father, yet she lacked solid evidence.

"When your mother first married into the family, what did your father have besides a face?" Aunt Lai criticized, "Your grandfather was no good either, and neither was your grandmother. One was spoiled by your grandmother, see that Laizi’s family?"

Aunt Lai said, "Back then, your family was almost as bad as Laizi’s. The fields around the village were nearly abandoned, and it wasn’t until your grandfather and grandmother leisurely started the spring planting. Always three steps behind everyone else, when others were fertilizing and weeding, they just started planting the seedlings..."

The onlookers and a bunch of children from the Zhou family were all stunned. My God, was this really the Zhou family?

"Your grandmother resented your maternal family for the high bride price they demanded, and from the moment your mother entered the door, she was worn down. Oh, those days were so hard," Aunt Lai couldn’t help but sigh, "So, Manbao, when you choose a family in the future, you have to keep your eyes wide open and don’t follow the same path as your mother."

Manbao nodded fiercely. Although she hesitated and felt pained about taking sides between her father and mother, she still decided to lean a little more on her mother’s side.

From a young age, although Ms. Qian never talked about where her illnesses came from, the adults outside all said that it was from overwork.

Even Zhou Wulang had some memory of it, but he only knew that his mother worked very quickly and deftly, unaware of how much she suffered when she was younger.

These things, probably only Zhou Dalang, Zhou Xi, Zhou ErLang, and Zhou Sanlang still had some memory of.

According to Aunt Lai, it wasn’t just Ms. Qian who suffered; Zhou Dalang also had a rough time as a child.

Back then, Zhou Jin was quite lazy; going to work in the fields, he could find an excuse to run back home three times in a morning, wasting all the time on the road.

And Grandpa Zhou claimed he was still not recovered from his illness, while Ms. Zhang was pregnant with Zhou Yin, treasuring her belly like a precious jewel, not even leaving the house, let alone helping Ms. Qian.

So Ms. Qian, pregnant with a big belly, also took Zhou Dalang with her to the fields.

To keep the child from running around, she tied a rope around Zhou Dalang’s waist and tied him to a tree at the edge of the field so she could see him every time she looked up.

Aunt Lai sighed, "There were many mosquitoes in the fields back then. Your mother covered your older brother’s hands and feet, but his forehead and face were exposed, including those little palms. When she finished her work and looked up, the child was bitten badly by insects..."

Manbao and the others gaped in shock.

"Your mother then carried your older brother all the way back to her maternal home, crying, and dropped him off there." At that time, it was Aunt Lai who accompanied Ms. Qian back. After the spring planting was over, Eldest Uncle Qian took his two younger brothers to beat up Zhou Jin and took their sister back home to stay for more than ten days. Grandpa Zhou had to personally plead with the Qian Family before taking her back.

But Ms. Qian’s situation only improved slightly until Ms. Zhang gave birth to Zhou Yin but had no milk.

Zhou Yin was then sent to Ms. Qian’s side.

Perhaps because he was the child of their old age, or perhaps because they had given the Zhou family two sons for two consecutive generations, Grandpa Zhou and Ms. Zhang doted on Zhou Yin exceptionally, much more so than when Zhou Jin was born.

At that time, Zhou Xi had been born for just over three months. Ms. Qian had already returned to the fields, thinking about weaning her child. But because of Zhou Yin, not only was she able to spend most of her time at home to care for the children, but Grandpa Zhou and Ms. Zhang also fed her meat and eggs as if they cost nothing...

What rules are there in the Zhou family about men carrying water?

Those were set by Ms. Qian herself. In the three years after she married into the family, the water for the Zhou family was always carried by her. The other three adults in the Zhou family would rather not wash their faces than carry water.

But it was because Zhou Yin woke up once and couldn’t find Ms. Qian and cried as if his breath was cut off, Zhou Jin then scolded his father and went out for the first time to replace his wife, carrying the first bucket of water from the spring.

After the first bucket came the second, and from then on, Ms. Qian never carried water again.

Old Zhou carried water for about ten years until Zhou Dalang turned thirteen and immediately handed over the burden to him.

It was Ms. Qian who had trained Old Zhou, but it was too hard. Aunt Lai said, if she hadn’t been captivated by his looks and chosen someone hardworking in the first place, there wouldn’t have been so many troubles afterward.

"Zhou Yin, he’s a child who really knows how to be affectionate," Aunt Lai’s gaze fell on Manbao’s face, and she sighed deeply, "Your mother often said that he was her little lucky star."

Wasn’t he a little lucky star? Since Zhou Yin was born, Ms. Qian’s life had gradually improved. When Zhou Yin was three years old, Grandpa Zhou and Ms. Zhang even handed over the Zhou family to Ms. Qian to manage.

Even Zhou Jin had to back down then.

Zhou Yin had always been raised by Ms. Qian, and compared to the always-sick or temperamental Ms. Zhang, he obviously preferred his sister-in-law.

So even during the New Year’s, he didn’t want to go back to the Zhang family with Ms. Zhang but rolled on the ground wanting to follow Ms. Qian back to the Qian Family.

He was just two years old, right when he was learning to speak, and he would always stammer to call Ms. Qian ’mom’. That habit wasn’t corrected until he was five years old.

From this, one could see how good his relationship with Ms. Qian was. Even the people from the Qian Family Village liked their sister’s little brother-in-law, so the accusations from the Zhang family that Ms. Qian mistreated her mother-in-law’s youngest child, and sold the young child for money, were regarded as a joke by the entire Qili Village, including the Qian Family Village.

Especially in Qili Village, everyone knows everyone.

Aunt Lai took Manbao’s hand and with significant meaning said, "Back then, Zhou Yin willingly sold himself. When your mother found out, she nearly fainted."

Uncle Lai also sighed, his voice lingering, "Times were hard back then. Several people starved to death in our village."

"Yes, your mother once soaked a pancake and shared it with a family. She just used a rope to tighten her stomach and drank water. Your little uncle didn’t have the heart to watch so he ran out looking for work, and he actually found a way to survive."

Aunt Lai tightened her grip on Manbao’s hand and said, "Not only did he bring back a bag of grain for your Zhou family, but he also found work for the young and strong men in the village. The passing merchant who took him had a kind heart, hiring people from the village to move fabric for him, and later introduced everyone to another manager in the county. The people in our village survived on the little food they could save from selling their labor; no one else starved to death."

Aunt Lai scoffed and said, "It was because the Zhang family held onto the matter of Zhou Yin selling himself, they came demanding the food, which was replaced by your little uncle’s life. How could your parents give it? The two families fought, and some things were taken."

"What happened after that?"

"After that?" Aunt Lai laughed, "Your eldest uncle went to the Zhang family with your cousins and your brothers, and for five or six years after that, the two families didn’t interact. This fight probably froze relations again for another five or six years."

Her eyes twinkling, she said, "At our age, who knows how long we can live? Once your two uncles from the Zhang family die, this relationship can also fade. Whether we interact or not, it doesn’t really matter anymore."