A Good Country Wife

Because Zhao Dahu and his wife were also going to attend the feast, the people from the Zhao family’s old house were very mean to Zhao Dahu and his wife. Being frugal themselves, they definitely planned to walk to the city to save a few copper coins. Zhao Erhu and Lin Yue were reluctant to go to the Zhao family’s old house, so they waited early by the roadside at the village entrance and took Zhao Dahu and his wife to the city in an ox cart.

Seeing Zhao Erhu brightened Zhao Dahu’s eyes. He hadn’t visited his brother since the accident that had left him unconscious, not out of indifference, but the moment Wei family found out, they would never leave him in peace. It was bearable for him, but he feared that the Wei family would make life difficult for his wife and children. Moreover, his presence wouldn’t have been of any help, so he had forcefully suppressed his concern. However, the guilt in his heart was unbearable. After all, blood was thicker than water, and how could there be no affection between brothers? Now that he saw Zhao Erhu standing intact before him, Zhao Dahu’s eyes reddened slightly.

"Younger brother, sister-in-law, what are you doing here? Waiting for someone?" Zhao Dahu asked, suppressing his excitement, never having imagined that Zhao Erhu would have been waiting there for them in particular, and assuming Zhao Erhu had made some other arrangement.

"No, my wife and I knew you were going to the city, so we waited here specifically. Brother, sister-in-law, we’re going to a feast, why are you dressed like this?" Zhao Erhu felt a pang of heartache looking at his older brother and his wife’s weary appearance and clothes. The group at the Zhao family’s old house was really too much—look at what they had reduced his older brother and his wife to—without even proper attire to go out in. Compared to Wei family’s sons who not only dressed well but also had money to spend in the city on entertainment, yet they treated his older brother’s family like beasts of burden. He had never seen such shamelessness.

"Younger brother, we..." Zhao Dahu and his wife felt so awkward under Zhao Erhu’s gaze, they hung their heads and were at a loss for words. Due to enduring hardships for so long, their backs seemed to have been bent under the pressure, making them appear hunched and shrunken.

They too knew they were dressed in a shabby manner, but it was out of helplessness. For today’s feast, they had dressed more neatly and cleanly than usual, and although their clothes had been washed to the point of being faded, at least they were patch-free, the best they could find in their home.

The Zhao family’s old house had not been separated, and being under the control of the formidable Wei family, all the silver Zhao Dahu earned from hard labor had been handed over to the Wei family without keeping a single coin for himself. The Wei family was too busy exploiting his family to give them money for new clothes. However, Liu’s wife had stealthily stayed up late at night doing needlework to save a few coins, but she didn’t dare spend it on such things. There were children to consider at home, and if anyone fell sick, there would be no money to hire a doctor. The money had to be saved for emergencies.

Zhao Dahu had originally planned to just deliver the goods and then leave immediately, not intending to go to the restaurant for the banquet, to avoid embarrasing Zhao Xinglin by letting people know he had such poor relatives. Although Zhao Dahu and Zhao Xinglin did not have as deep a relationship as between Zhao Erhu and Zhao Xinglin, they still got along well.

Seeing Zhao Dahu’s resigned demeanor made Zhao Erhu feel even more stifled, "Wei family and her sons are really too much, big brother, do you plan to just endure this, even if you don’t think for yourself, shouldn’t you consider your sister-in-law and your nephews? Do you really intend to keep being so weak and let your wife and children suffer along with you?"