The Comeback of the Charming Farmer's Wife

By the time they reached the old residence, they found the courtyard utterly silent; Ms. Wang and the Land Officer’s wife looked at each other in bewilderment. Had no one from the grandmother’s family come to attend the child’s baptism, or had they simply not arrived yet?

Ms. Wang looked up at the sky—the sun was not yet set, by all accounts, they should have arrived by now.

As they approached the entrance of the fourth branch of the family, they could hear Ms. Luo cursing with a lack of confidence.

Wondering whether to enter, Ms. Liu came out from inside, paused upon seeing the two women, and upon noticing the baskets they were carrying, understood the situation.

"So it’s just you who still remembers—her own father doesn’t care at all."

"What happened?" asked the Land Officer’s wife eagerly.

"Could Fourth truly have failed to report the good news to his wife’s maternal uncle’s home?"

Ms. Liu shook her head, "Report the good news? Right now, no one knows where Fourth is. Not only did he disappear without a word, but he also took all the family’s money."

"How could this happen?" Ms. Wang gasped in shock. Fourth was being incredibly unreliable. Even if the child was a daughter, she was still his own flesh and blood. How could he despise her like this? "How long has he been gone?"

Ms. Liu thought for a moment and replied, "It seems he’s been missing since he returned from your place. You must not know, these past few days Ms. Luo didn’t even have food to eat. Seeing Yang Dongxue messing up cooking at the stove, unable to do it properly and burning the food, I just couldn’t bear to watch and had to come over to help."

In the past, both Ms. Liu and Ms. Luo were ladies accustomed to delicate living, but since Old Lady Hua passed away, they even managed to prepare a meal that resembled something edible. So, seeing how Yang Dongxue was faring, they simply couldn’t stand by.

Ms. Wang, hearing that it was Ms. Liu who had been looking after Ms. Luo for the past two days, felt quite moved.

Over the years, Ms. Luo had berated the first branch of the family countless times with veiled insults. Now, seeing Ms. Liu set aside her grudges to tend to Ms. Luo, it was quite admirable. Considering what kind of person Ms. Liu used to be, the change was truly significant.

"Let’s go in and see for ourselves; we can’t just go back since we’re already here," said the Land Officer’s wife.

Ms. Liu hurriedly added, "Yes, you go in first. I’ll fetch the things I’ve prepared. If all else fails, we can prepare something for the child ourselves."

"Agreed!"

With that, Ms. Wang and the Land Officer’s wife went inside. Ms. Luo, disheveled and dirty, was still cursing non-stop. The child, placed to the side, was actually sleeping soundly.

"Quiet down for a while. If the child wakes up again, you’ll have to console her," said the Land Officer’s wife as she entered the room.

When Ms. Luo saw it was the Land Officer’s wife and Ms. Wang, both carrying baskets, she knew they were there for the child’s baptism and suddenly burst into tears. Her crying woke up the baby, and soon the whole room was filled with crying sounds.

"What’s the matter now?" Ms. Liu came in with a basin of hot water.

"Indeed, why cry so much?" The Land Officer’s wife quickly went to soothe the child. "Such loud cries—look, you’ve woken up the baby."

"Auntie!" Ms. Luo dabbed her tears and said, "Tell me, why am I so unlucky? That shameless Yang Xiaochuan, he took all the silver from the house. Now I have no milk either, and the child is just being fed with rice soup. Look at her, third sister-in-law, the baby used to be so chubby but just look at her face now, it’s not right."

"And about today’s baptism, I had long told him to buy eggs to boil and dye red; his response was what’s the point of boiling them, saying it’s just a girl, not even notifying my natal family. Today it’s just you who remember to come and see the child. Tell me, why am I so unlucky?"