Chapter 67 - Building a House (1/2)
Madam Liu also knew that her maternal family’s circumstances were not great. Saving a couple taels a year was considered good for them. Because she had a weak constitution, her mother would subsidize her from time to time. When her children’s father had an accident, the family had already taken over two taels to help…to be able to give her ten taels now, she didn’t know where her mother had gone to borrow the money.
She pushed the pouch back and said, “The mud bricks on the house are still usable. As long as we chop some trees down to fix the beams of the roof and then rethatch it with straw, it will be livable. Mother, you and the family also don’t have an easy time at home. My older brothers and their wives all live frugally and it’s only with great difficulty does the family get to save some money. How could you continue to subsidize, me, a daughter who has already gotten married?”
Madam Liu’s eldest sister-in-law, Madam Han, took the embroidered pouch from Madam Yao and stuffed it into her younger sister-in-law’s hands and said, “You and your family will be living in this house, so it’s important that it gets completely fixed. I already looked it over, the kang beds in all of the rooms are unusable. Also this bamboo fence…Younger Sister’s family lives far away from the village and next to a large mountain, this fence is not safe enough. With all these expenses, ten taels may not even be enough! Quickly take it, don’t be polite to your own family members!”
The expression on her second sister-in-law’s, Madam Hu, face continued to darken. The family had so little resources but her mother-in-law had taken all of it and given it to her younger sister-in-law. A married daughter is like spilt water. How could the maternal family continue to subsidize her? She didn’t have the guts to rebel against her mother-in-law’s wishes but when she heard her elder sister-in-law’s words, a tiny sneer slowly grew on her face. She twisted her head around and lightly “tsked…”a breath.
Second Son Liu Han heard her, and he frowned and gave her a glare in warning. The expression on his face seemed to say, ‘if you decide to be a shrewish woman and say something unpleasant, then you’re in for it when we get home’.Madam Hu had a cold-hearted, selfish personality but Xiaocao’s second uncle could keep her in check. She knew that her husband was very filial, and she usually only dared to bicker with her fellow sisters-in-law. However, in front of her mother-in-law, she never had the guts to say a word.
After receiving a glare from her husband, Madam Hu immediately settled down and lowered her head. Not a peep could be heard from her.
The third son, Liu Hao, unloaded a sack of sweet potatoes for the cellar and grinned, “Older Sister! Just take the money. If you don’t, mother will be angry ah!”
Madam Liu wanted to persist in refusing but Yu Xiaocao came up and took the pouch for her and said, “Mother, this money is the sum of Grandmother’s, Uncles’, and Aunts’ good heart and intentions for you. You should take it. That being said, we really do need this money. If you feel guilty about taking it, then think of it as a loan. Later on we’ll return it after we earn some money.”
“That’s right! Yunzi, you’re not even as clever as your child! You must be Xiaolian, right? After not seeing you for a few days, it looks like you’ve become a lot more pale.” Madam Yao linked her hand with Xiaocao’s and repeatedly complimented her.
Yu Xiaocao gently giggled, “Grandmother, I’m Xiaocao. Xiaolian took Little Shitou with her to pick up firewood.”
Yu Xiaocao and Xiaolian were twins, so naturally, they looked very similar to each other. However, when Xiaocao was first born, she had a very weak body and was the thinner and paler of the two. On the flip side, Xiaolian had grown up doing household chores with Madam Liu, so her skin was on the tanner side. When the two girls stood next to each other, it was very easy to tell them apart. However, after consistently drinking mystic-stone water for half a year, Xiaocao’s body had recovered immensely and Xiaolian’s skin had become more white. It was becoming more and more difficult for people to distinguish between the two.
Madam Yao watched the energetic Xiaocao contently and spoke to Madam Liu, “With Xiaocao’s health better, it must be a large weight off of your shoulders. From my point of view, it looks like your complexion has become more rosy too. Did your mother-in-law have a sliver of conscience and decide to invite the doctor over lately for you?”
“How could she ever bear to spend money on me? Whenever I got ill in the past, she always accused me of faking it and refused to let Xiaocao’s father to get the doctor, let alone now. I feel like my body has gotten healthier over the past half year. Also, Dahai had surreptitiously made me take medicine the whole winter without the rest of the family’s knowledge. Although I felt more tired lately taking care of the children’s father, I still think my body feels more limber and dexterous than before. The other day I had fallen asleep on the side of the bed inadvertently but the next day I didn’t get sick. I think my illness has finally healed. Mother, please don’t worry about me anymore.”
Madam Liu felt baffled and joyful at the same time. If even she fell ill in the household, then their family really had nowhere to go.
Yu Xiaocao rubbed the five-colored stone on her wrist and sniggered inside.The Liu brothers first cleaned and organized the wooden rooms. After fixing them more or less, they started to move the items they brought inside. Madam Liu took her two daughters-in-law (Author’s note: Third daughter-in-law’s child was still young, so she couldn’t pull herself away to come) and cleaned up the courtyard in another round. Before any of them could stop and take a break, they rushed home with the ox cart.
Although Madam Yao wasn’t entirely satisfied with leaving things as they were, but she knew that with her daughter’s family of five all squeezed into one room, even if they stayed overnight there would be no place for them to sleep. They needed to get back to Xishan Village before the sun set. Thus, they only said, “We’ll see you again in two days”, and left in a hurry.In contrast, the three Liu brothers stayed behind to help their younger sister and her husband to fix their house before planting season started.
Yu Hai was an honest and kind hearted man. If another family needed help, as long as they asked him, he would always help them enthusiastically. He had a good reputation in Dongshan Village. When the villagers heard that he needed to fix up the old residence, many of them came one after another to help.
The oldest son of Dahai’s Eldest Uncle, Yu Lichun, knew how to lay bricks. Under the urging of his father, he stopped taking outside jobs and came over to help. For the next several days, Yu Lichun brought over his three sons and two grandsons, and they were always the first to arrive and last to leave. Although Dahai’s Second Uncle, Yu Lixia, lived far away, he only sent over one son over as he himself wasn’t feeling well.