Er Ya's Mother lacked the firmness of Da Ya's Mother, and she was also someone who heavily favored sons over daughters. She had given birth to three daughters before finally having a son as her fourth child.
In her view, exchanging Second Daughter for thirty jin of rice and one tael of silver was quite worthwhile, as she certainly didn't lack for daughters.
Most importantly, she didn't dare defy her mother-in-law, as she had no natal family to back her up. She lived cautiously in her husband's family, so how could she possibly protect Second Daughter?
The Old Widower cast a somewhat disdainful glance at the sallow and emaciated Second Daughter. Though the same age as Eldest Daughter, one was fresh and lively while the other looked worse than a long-starved refugee. The twelve-year-old girl was listless, her stature no taller than a ten-year-old child.
But none of that mattered. He was merely buying a servant girl to attend to him; as long as she worked diligently, that would suffice.
Compared to the pampered Eldest Daughter, Second Daughter was indeed more suitable.
Second Daughter didn't resist, following the Old Widower as he left. She knew that even if she resisted, it would be futile. Her mother wouldn't protect her like her aunt had protected Eldest Daughter.
She even optimistically thought that perhaps life with the Old Widower would be better than in the Jing Family. As long as she worked hard, the Old Widower should feed her.
Indeed, she would have food to eat, but beatings would be inevitable as well.
This commotion at the Jing Family alerted Eldest Daughter's maternal grandmother's family. Eldest Daughter's grandmother arrived with her three sons and daughters-in-law to support her daughter and granddaughter.
"Madam Jing, is your entire family about to starve to death or what? How dare you try to exchange my granddaughter for grain and silver!"
Eldest Daughter's three maternal uncles wasted no words, immediately pinning down Jing Dazhuang and pummeling him. Old Woman Jing anxiously hopped from foot to foot nearby, not daring to intervene for fear of being caught in the crossfire.
Jing Erzhuang and Jing Sanzhuang kept their distance, more afraid of being implicated. They had experienced the fists of the Ye brothers before and knew it wasn't a force they could withstand.
The sound of fists hitting flesh was painful to hear. Old Woman Jing was unwilling to call her other two sons to help, fearing they would also be beaten.
She could only harshly rebuke Da Ya's Mother: "Madam Ye, are you just going to watch your husband be beaten by your brothers? Quickly stop them!"
Da Ya's Mother held her daughter, turning her back to Old Woman Jing, pretending not to hear.
Eldest Daughter's older and younger brothers were filial enough to try to stop their uncles when they saw their father being beaten, but to no avail. They were pushed away and fell two meters back.
These two good-for-nothings had long been corrupted by Old Woman Jing and were of no good character. They remained silent when their grandmother tried to sell their sister, only thinking of how to benefit from the situation.
After the Ye family uncles finished beating Jing Dazhuang, Ye Sanniang (Da Ya's Mother) proposed a divorce.
"Jing Dazhuang, let's divorce. Your family is a den of wolves, utterly vicious. I fear that if I'm not careful, my Eldest Daughter will be sold off by you people one day."
Old Woman Jing excitedly jumped out, pointing at Ye Sanniang and cursing, "You cheap hussy! You slut! I knew you were restless, wanting to divorce so you can go find your lover, isn't that right?"
She certainly couldn't let Madam Ye divorce Dazhuang; she had no money to find another wife for him.
"Slap!" Old Lady Ye gave Old Woman Jing a resounding slap across the face, pointing at her nose and angrily scolding, "You disrespectful old thing, your mind is full of filthy thoughts!"
Old Woman Jing screamed and lunged at Old Lady Ye after being hit, but no one helped her. Her daughters-in-law all hid far away, watching her being beaten with schadenfreude expressions.
Old Lady Ye's daughters-in-law came forward to hold down Old Woman Jing and beat her. It was a one-sided group assault; Old Woman Jing was only tough within her own family, but a pushover when facing outsiders.
"Jing Dazhuang, if you don't agree to the divorce, we'll beat your mother to death."
Jing Dazhuang was a filial son. Seeing his mother beaten black and blue, his earlier resolve to refuse the divorce instantly vanished.
How could a wife be more important than his mother? If it's divorce, then so be it. After all, he already had two sons.
He gritted his teeth and said, "I agree to the divorce. Release my mother first."
Ye Sanniang's younger brother, Ye Tingfeng, immediately ran back to their temporary lodgings to fetch writing materials to help his sister draft a divorce agreement. He was the most educated in the Old Ye Family, having already passed the child examination.
If not for the famine year, he would have been taking the provincial examinations this year.
"Mother, what are you doing? Isn't little sister fine? Why must you break up this family?" Ye Sanniang's eldest son, Jing Dabao, looked on with disapproval, even glaring at Eldest Daughter, feeling it was all her fault.
Ye Sanniang ignored her eldest son. She had long been utterly disappointed in these two sons and had no hope for them.
Ye Tingfeng quickly returned with the completed divorce agreement. Ye Sanniang bit her finger and pressed a fingerprint on it. Jing Dazhuang was illiterate and didn't know that the divorce agreement stated that Eldest Daughter had no relation to him and would henceforth take the Ye surname.
He thought it was just a regular divorce agreement, but he still felt he should be angry and indignant.
He glared with round eyes, but only for a moment. The three Ye brothers stood nearby, eyeing him fiercely, with an air that suggested they would beat him to death if he didn't press his fingerprint.
With no choice, as his own brothers wouldn't help him, he could only press his fingerprint in frustration.
Seeing their parents truly divorcing, Jing Dabao and Jing Erbao felt a moment of panic, but quickly dismissed it.
They felt their mother was too inconsiderate, always causing unrest in the family. The divorce was a good thing; in the future, they wouldn't have to worry about their mother interfering with their marriage prospects.
Ye Sanniang didn't know what her two ungrateful sons were thinking, and even if she did, she wouldn't have cared. Surrounded by her brothers and sisters-in-law, she took her daughter back to the Ye family.
Old Woman Jing sat on the ground, crying and wailing, cursing the Ye family's ancestors for eighteen generations. However, all the spectators had dispersed, leaving her to perform her one-woman show.
Jing Dazhuang went to help his mother up, only to receive a slap in return.
"You useless thing, you just stand there watching while others bully your mother."
The filial son Jing Dazhuang silently endured his mother's "love," while his two good sons turned away in disgust, pretending not to see.
Mother Lin returned from watching the spectacle and began animatedly sharing the gossip, concluding with a sigh to her husband and son, "In these chaotic times, such incidents will likely become more common."
Lin Fucheng comforted his mother, "Mother, don't worry. I won't sell my children."
"Of course you won't. Even if you wanted to, you don't have any to sell!" Mother Lin flew into a rage at the mention of this, grabbing a fire poker and giving her son a sound thrashing.
At twenty-seven or twenty-eight years old, he still couldn't find a wife.
Bah, what rotten luck!
Old Man Lin sat to the side, chuckling as he watched the mother and son's chase of attack and retreat.
Chang'an and Old Gu Six were chewing on dried meat, watching Lin Fucheng scurry about, finding it quite amusing.
After a brief rest, they prepared to set off again. Chang'an lifted the curtain of the carriage window to look outside. These refugees were far better off than those they had encountered initially; at least these people had food, water, and clothing.
With so many people on the road, it was inevitable to come across some peculiar characters. The most frequent and lively disputes were about mother-in-law and daughter-in-law relationships, as well as the issue of favoring boys over girls.
One mother, in an attempt to get meat for her son, wanted to sell her fourteen-year-old daughter to Old Gu Six as a concubine.
"I see that your family only has a father and daughter. It must be inconvenient without a woman to take care of household chores," she said. "My daughter is very hardworking, with a voluptuous figure that's good for childbearing. She can give you a chubby son to continue your family line. You can take her away for just one cured meat."
Chang'an thought to herself that it was another trouble brought on by cured meat and rice. They just wanted to leisurely escape the famine, why did they keep encountering such bizarre people?
