Chapter 23: The Crime of Gender 23
Mr. Qin was full of doubt, wondering what else there was to say about Second Lady? Old Chen had already been punished, wasn’t Second Lady’s only task now to recover from her injury! But at this moment, whatever the village chief said, they had to listen. Mr. Qin forced a smile at the village chief, "What matter with Second Lady? Please, tell us!"
"Second Lady was badly injured just now, and the doctor repeatedly ensured she is well taken care of before leaving. She needs to eat some good food to replenish her energy and blood. You must keep an eye on that troublesome wife of yours. I know how your family treats Second Lady; it must have hurt to make you buy medicine. If you’re asked to spend more money buying meat for Second Lady to nourish her body, you definitely won’t be willing!"
That is definitely unwilling, in the minds of Mr. Qin and the others, Second Lady was just a girl, not deserving of eating meat to replenish her body with herbal medicine, that’s already plenty! But this couldn’t be said to the village chief, Mr. Qin had to clarify, "That’s not right! We wouldn’t do such a thing!"
The village chief impatiently frowned and said, "Enough, families have lived together in this village for decades, everyone knows about each other’s character. Don’t say those beautiful words anymore. I know, even if you’re forced by me to agree to buy nourishing things for Second Lady, afterwards you’ll treat it as idle talk or only buy a little and say unpleasant words to Second Lady. Even if you don’t say anything, your wives will.
I won’t let Second Lady suffer from that. Whether you buy or not is up to your conscience. Remember this, not paying for it doesn’t matter, but do not covet the wild boar the child caught. Don’t dispute it. Keep it all for the child’s recovery! I’ll have someone inspect it. If I find you don’t heed my words, I’ll double the punishment for the Chen family!
Also Mrs. Bai, she’s Second Lady’s birth mother and will surely take care of her dearly. Before Second Lady’s injury has completely healed, Mrs. Bai must stay to take care of her. You can’t make Mrs. Bai work, everything should be prioritized for Second Lady’s recovery!"
Mr. Qin was still unwilling. Mrs. Bai, despite appearing weak, was clean and efficient in both household and field work, almost as good as a strong laborer. With the sowing season approaching, losing Mrs. Bai would increase others’ workload, and importantly, the harvest might be affected. Mr. Qin could not possibly agree.
Mr. Qin and Qin the Third were also upset. They had long coveted the meat Qin Shuangshuang brought home. Whether to sell it or keep it, they’d already planned it out. It could be said they’d already considered the meat as their own. Now having to give it all up was as painful as cutting their own flesh.