Transmigrated as an Unwanted Ugly Girl

With Zhang Huai gone, Juhua felt empty inside. She asked Meizi to go to the riverbank to cut mugwort and kalimeris, and little Zhao Qing naturally tagged along.

Juhua squatted for a while until her legs began to ache. She straightened up and glanced around. Willows cast their shadows over the bright flowers along the riverbank as the water gurgled past. In the distance, she could hear loud shouts from Meizi’s son coming from their house, mingled with Granny Hua’s coaxing voice.

"Meizi, is your mother-in-law helping you watch your son?" she asked.

While deftly snipping at the kalimeris with her scissors, Meizi laughed. "Yep! She and my mother take turns watching him for a few days at a time, otherwise I’d never manage. Sigh, it would have been better if I’d waited another two years for a second child. Having them one right after the other like this... it’s really more than I can handle."

Juhua nodded with a smile. "They are very close in age. The gap between Little Shitou and Qing’er is much better. When Aunt Zhao had Qing’er, Little Shitou could at least help look after his little sister. Now that Aunt Zhao is pregnant again, Qing’er can help with the new baby, whether it’s a brother or a sister."

Zhao Qing, who was squatting beside her, heard this and looked up at Juhua with a small smile before lowering her head to get busy again.

Juhua smiled and squatted down, pointing for her. "Just cut the tender tips at the top. Don’t get the older parts—they’re too tough to chew. If you don’t believe me, try pinching one with your fingers. Besides, this kalimeris and mugwort is everywhere, so there’s no need to be so sparing." Zhao Qing nodded.

Over on her side, Meizi sighed. "Well, there’s nothing to be done about it. We just have to muddle through. Nowadays, my Jingwen sleeps with his father at night, his father helps him get dressed in the morning, his father gives him his bath at night, and his father makes sure he eats his meals..."

Before Meizi could finish, Juhua burst out laughing. "Oh my! Changming is being both a father and a mother to him. Meizi, Changming treats you so well. I’ve noticed he’s practically jogging whether he’s heading out to the fields or coming home."

Meizi smiled sweetly and said nothing for a moment before replying, "I know. He’s always worried I can’t manage at home by myself. When he’s out, he’s thinking about home; when he’s home, he’s anxious about the fields. That’s why he rushes everywhere he goes, isn’t it? Juhua, even my own mother says I picked a good man. That’s why, even though I’m busy from dawn till dusk, I never feel like life is hard, and I never feel tired."

Juhua smiled. ’It must have taken a lot of courage for Meizi to marry Li Changming back then,’ she thought. ’Thankfully, she made the right choice.’

Meizi moved a few steps closer to Juhua and sat down under a peach tree. She patted the grass beside her. "Come take a break. It’s not good for us to be squatting and working for too long while we’re pregnant. The grass is clean here. Come sit for a while and chat."

Juhua called out to Zhao Qing before going to sit beside Meizi. As a gentle breeze blew past, a few pink petals drifted down onto Meizi’s head and shoulders. The young country wife smiled faintly, looking utterly relaxed and at ease.

But Zhao Qing was like a busy little bee. She said to Juhua in a bright voice, "I’m not tired yet, Sister Juhua. You two rest, I’ll keep cutting right here."

Children are just so full of energy and fascinated by new things. She was determined to fill her little basket to the brim to earn her parents’ praise back home.

So Juhua let her be.

Meizi suddenly lowered her voice. "Juhua, do you know? Liu’er is terribly sick. I’m afraid she’s not going to make it."

Juhua was shocked. She whipped her head around and asked in astonishment, "Is that true? Who told you that?"

Meizi said glumly, "My mother told me. She went to Xiatang Market with some others and ran into Liu’er’s mother, who had just been to see Liu’er. She was coming out of the Tang family residence in tears, so they asked what was wrong, and she told them."

Juhua asked, "What kind of sickness is it? Can’t it be cured?"

Meizi shook her head. "It’s not any major disease. She had two miscarriages in a row, and it completely wrecked her body. Juhua, I know that’s just the physical ailment. The real root of the problem is that her life with the Tang family is miserable. So you see, even though it’s hard for me having babies one after another, my life is a happy one, and that’s better than anything. My heart has been aching for Liu’er these last couple of days."

Juhua fell silent. ’Two miscarriages in a row,’ she thought. ’You don’t have to guess to imagine what sort of dark and dirty business went on behind the scenes. In the end, Liu’er just wasn’t able to transform into the kind of woman who could survive in a great family compound.’

Meizi continued, "My mother says that to make a life in a big, wealthy family like that, you have to be tough. Liu’er is a far cry from her mother in that regard. If she were a bit tougher and more fiery, maybe she wouldn’t be in this state."

Juhua gazed at the pink petals on the grass and said softly, "In a great family, just being sharp-tongued isn’t enough. You have to be cunning. We country folk are simple-hearted; there’s a limit to how shrewd we can be. She’s been married for all these years and still hasn’t learned a thing. It’s inevitable that she would lose out."

Meizi nodded. "My mother said Liu’er’s mother regrets it, too. She wants to bring Liu’er home to nurse her back to health, but the Tang family matriarch refuses to release her. She says that when you marry into the Tang family, you become one of them, and if you’re to die, you must die a Tang."

Juhua started to feel indignant. She hated these kinds of rules and proprieties more than anything. She couldn’t help but say, "If Liu’er’s mother really regrets it, she should get the Tang family to divorce Liu’er and bring her home. Maybe then she’d actually have a chance to get better."

Meizi jumped. "Divorce her? That... wouldn’t that be a terrible thing?"

Seeing Meizi’s shocked expression, Juhua decided she needed to set her straight. She rolled her eyes at her. "The woman is dying, and you’re worried about appearances? Meizi, don’t be so naive, will you? How old is Liu’er? If she’s divorced and comes home to recover her health, she can marry again. Or should she just stay with the Tang family and wait to die?"

Meizi clearly couldn’t follow Juhua’s logic. "She’d get better just by being divorced?" she asked hesitantly.

Juhua shook her head. "I can’t say for sure. But weren’t you the one who said the root of her sickness was her unhappy life with the Tang family? If that’s the case, then if she’s divorced and comes home, her mind will be at ease, and maybe the sickness will heal on its own."