Chapter 26: 26 eggs were sold in exchange for salt.
Ye Jiu initially thought that He Shi would be upset about bringing up the events of the past, but in just a while, He Shi went out again with high spirits, ordering around Li Shi to do chores.
Well, she really couldn’t understand He Shi’s mindset of having to keep her love rival under close scrutiny by herself and her man, what’s rare is that Old Man Ye tolerated it.
However, Ye Jiu had a deep understanding of this over the years.
Li Shi and her daughter appeared to be pitiful little white flowers, but in reality, their pitifulness was merely a facade when facing the domineering He Shi.
In private, they bullied Ye Jiu, who was controlled by the toxin, seeking revenge on her whenever they got the chance.
Over the years, Ye Jiu had not suffered little from their hands, so she felt no sympathy for them, seeing He Shi grinding them down.
Ye Jiu knew all too well some people’s ugly nature of bullying the weak and fearing the strong because she, who had been abandoned by her parents in her previous life, had also suffered a lot of violence from others.
At first, she didn’t dare to fight back, which led to them becoming more and more outrageous.
Latter on, Ye Jiu began to retaliate. If she couldn’t beat them openly, she’d do it secretly, and if she couldn’t beat them together, she’d take revenge when they were alone, until no one dared to bully her anymore.
Unfortunately, bad luck is bad luck, no matter how you slice it. Just when she finally grew up and was capable of taking care of herself, she contracted a terminal disease that made it impossible to want to live anymore.
Luckily, the heavens still favored her, otherwise, she wouldn’t have been reborn.
Although He Shi and Old Man Ye were not related to her by blood, in Ye Jiu’s heart, they were her parents, more so than her biological ones!
Ye Jiu believed that with the Plane Space as her backing, her future achievements would surely be boundless.
One day, she would have He Shi wear gold and silver, enjoy delicious foods, and no longer have to live like now, unwilling even to eat a chicken egg.
In the dead of winter, with the rare sunshine and no chores to do, Old Man Ye took a stool and sat in the courtyard to bask in the sun.
The third generation children of the Ye family, the older ones went out to play mahjong together while the younger ones squatted on the ground nearby, playing by themselves.
He Shi was in the house fussing over a basket for storing chicken eggs, counting them carefully one by one.
Before long, He Shi came out of the house and stood at the door, shouting to the fourth son, Ye Gaosheng, “Fourth, get up early tomorrow morning. Take the eggs to town to sell, then buy some salt to bring back.”
“Alright, I got it, mother,” Ye Gaosheng replied with a loud voice.
After pondering for a long time, Old Man Ye said, “Old lady, in a month, it’ll be New Year’s, and by then the price of meat will surely go up. Give Gaosheng some copper coins to buy some pork to salt and preserve. It won’t spoil in this cold weather.”
He Shi’s face darkened immediately, “Where am I going to get copper coins from? You know how much money we have in the house. The money the two eldest sons brought back last time has already been spent on the doctor, where am I going to get the money for your meat! Xiaojiu has suffered so much this time, if I had the money, wouldn’t I give her something to nourish her health?”
While speaking, He Shi kept complaining, “It’s so cold, even the chickens don’t want to lay eggs anymore. We used to get at least one a day, or at least one egg every two days from a hen, but now they are all just eating without laying eggs!”
Old Man Ye understood the situation at home, but how could they not have meat for New Year’s?
“Don’t we have two roosters at home? Sell one and exchange it for pork,” Old Man Ye suggested.
Once a year, during New Year’s, was the only time they got to eat a piece of meat, and compared to chicken, pork was more fragrant and fatty.
“So we won’t have chicken for New Year’s?” He Shi hesitated somewhat.