Dong Shan had gone home to help with the autumn harvest, leaving Wang Chunhua alone with nothing to do. So she took her two children to the Liu Family to listen to stories. As soon as she entered the courtyard, she smelled a delicious aroma and wondered what delicacies her family must be eating. Dong Lei immediately rushed towards the back.
He saw Li Mingwei holding a small fan, tending to the stove fire. "Auntie, what are you cooking?"
"Why are you here? Have you finished your homework?"
Wang Chunhua set down little Xiao Yan and smiled, nodding. "All done, I did it last night by lamp light so I could play these next two days."
She peered at the clay pot on the stove, inhaling the fragrant scent wafting through the courtyard. "Not bad at all. You're simmering a soup. When did you learn this from your mother-in-law?"
Li Mingwei looked embarrassed. "My mother-in-law made it. She went out and told me to watch the fire."
She said it needed to simmer longer to become tender and soft.
Wang Chunhua lifted the lid for a peek. It was simmering pigs' feet. She didn't need to ask about its effects, immediately eyeing Li Mingwei's chest. "Not enough milk?"
A hint of bashfulness crossed Li Mingwei's face as she silently nodded. Others nursed for a year or two, but she was only six months in, and her milk supply was dwindling. The baby was no longer getting enough to eat.
Her mother-in-law had simmered many milk replenishment soups for her, but to no avail. Little Bingbing's appetite only grew larger, and she had to find another solution to feed him.
"Sister, little Bingbing is over six months old now. Besides milk, what else can he eat?"
Wang Chunhua had never faced this problem, so she scratched her head. "What did your mother-in-law say? She should know better than me."
"Mm, Mother said he might be able to have rice porridge. She took some rice to the mill to grind into flour and see if that works."
"Try it first. If not, we'll figure something else out. Or see who else is nursing and if they have enough, we can pay them to feed little Bingbing too. It's doable."
After all, this was a crucial growth period. They couldn't let the child go hungry.
Li Mingwei agreed, continuing to tend the fire while Wang Chunhua pulled her up, handing the fan to Dong Lei. "You help your auntie watch the fire. Your mother and I need to talk."
Before Dong Lei could react, the two had already gone inside, closing the door with a bang.
Wang Chunhua seemed to remember something and opened the door again, shouting loudly, "And watch your sister too!"
Then she slammed the door shut once more.
Dong Lei grunted, muttering, "It's just a story book, what's there to talk about? Why all the secrecy?"
He waved for Xiao Yan to sit beside him and handed her the fan. "You fan."
"Okay!"
Xiao Yan examined the fan, finding it amusing, and started fanning vigorously.
Li Mingwei peeked out, a tad worried. "Maybe I should do it. Don't want them getting burned."
Wang Chunhua dragged a stool over to the desk and sat down, gesturing for Li Mingwei to join her. "No need to worry. Dong Lei is over eight years old. He can handle a simple stove. With his father away, I have him help me with the fire every day. He's quite skilled at it."
"Don't fret. He'll call us if anything happens." She pulled out a storybook, looking excited. "Where did we leave off last time?"
Li Mingwei pondered, then got up to open the door before returning to sit beside Wang Chunhua, lowering her voice. "Not that book, the other one."
"We were at the part about this girl named Liu Qiqi who did embroidery every day, nearly going blind, to earn money for a poor scholar to take the imperial examinations in the Capital City. Then the scholar became a top graduate and married an official's daughter, leaving her behind."
Wang Chunhua nodded repeatedly. "Right, right, that's where we were. Then what happened?"
Li Mingwei flipped ahead a couple of pages, scanned them, and continued, "Liu Qiqi stayed home, counting the days, waiting for the scholar to return. But when she heard he had taken an official post in the Capital City and wouldn't be coming back, she scraped together some money to go find him. She endured many hardships along the way. Finally arriving in the Capital City, she discovered he was already married, leaving her utterly devastated."
Wang Chunhua slapped the table angrily. "That ungrateful dog of a man, he can't be let off so easily!"
"Mm, so Liu Qiqi went to file a complaint against him at the officials' residences."
"And then? And then? Was the scholar arrested?"
Li Mingwei shook her head. "No, officials protect their own. The poor scholar's father-in-law was a high official, so others dared not offend him. He quietly informed the scholar, who claimed he and Liu Qiqi were never officially married. He had only borrowed some money from her before going to the capital and had already sent someone to repay her."
Wang Chunhua squinted, deep in thought. "But it didn't mention Liu Qiqi receiving any money earlier."
"Right, the father-in-law investigated and found it was true he had sent money, but Liu Qiqi never received it. The person delivering saw her poor eyesight and destitution so he kept the money for himself. Then the scholar gave her another sum and told her to return home."
"So she couldn't file a complaint against him?"
"They were never officially married, just a verbal agreement with no proof. The officials only go by evidence."
Wang Chunhua was unconvinced. "So the poor scholar just gets away with it like that?"
After waiting so long and ruining her eyesight, all she got was a sum of money.
"No, Liu Qiqi wrote a blood oath and killed herself in front of the scholar's residence. The whole Capital City was abuzz, even catching the Emperor's attention. Though there was no evidence to convict him, the scholar lost his reputation and any future prospects."
"Served him right, the heartless bastard! Got what he deserved!" Wang Chunhua seethed, tears welling in her eyes as she lamented, "Women must be more discerning when choosing men, or they'll end up just as miserable."
Li Mingwei looked awkward, offering her a handkerchief to wipe her tears. "Sister, it's just a storybook. No need to take it so seriously."
Wang Chunhua swatted her hand away, grasping her arm to scrutinize her eyes. "Little sister, your eyes are fine, right? Avoid taking too much embroidery work from now on, understand?"
"Sister~" Li Mingwei sighed helplessly, blinking her eyes. "I'm fine, I only embroider during the day."
"Good, that's good." Wang Chunhua stared at her vacantly for a while, her heart growing inexplicably heavy as tears threatened to spill again.
"Sister, what's wrong?"
Wang Chunhua choked back sobs, gripping Li Mingwei's hand tightly. "Little sister, if... if your husband were to also..."
"You mustn't ever think of doing anything rash! We're both so good-looking. You can just find another man. An unfaithful scoundrel like that isn't worth it!"
"But the child... the child would be without a father, and couldn't lose his mother too!"
Li Mingwei's lips twitched. Her sister was overthinking this.
How could she tell her sister that she was the official's daughter, and if Liu Yizhu dared try anything, he would be the one dead?
