The rest of the family also dared not plead mercy; even the children from the eldest branch felt uneasy but pretended not to see and silently returned to their rooms.
The lights in the Wang Family’s home were extinguished one by one, plunging it into darkness. Under the moonlight, Wang Yongping knelt alone in the courtyard, his thoughts unknown to anyone.
Come the next morning, Wang Yongping had vanished without a trace, and Jinguan and Jinhoo had also disappeared.
It was Jinhua who secretly told Wang Yongzhu, "Old cousin, I heard early in the morning that Second Brother and Jinguan were discussing going to town since Granny couldn’t make it; they wanted to settle the score with Li Jinzhi."
Wang Yongzhu furrowed her brows. This matter could be big or small, and if the He Family caught the two boys, given Li Jinzhi’s vicious temperament, it was unlikely the boys would fare well.
And after Wang Yongping had kneeled all night, instead of resting at home, no one knew where he had run off to early in the morning.
They had no choice but to call Jindou out and ask him to take a shortcut to town and see if he could bring the two boys back.
Although Jindou, as the eldest, was somewhat mediocre, his dependability and obedience were his strengths. He hurried to the town without delay.
Back home, Wang Yongzhu had already inspected the tampered dye, and indeed, in the daylight, the dye looked black and murky, clearly unusable.
It could only be dumped out.
Watching as the large vat of dye was poured out, Old Granny Zhang couldn’t help but curse, "That’s pure silver going to waste! That damn Li Jinzhi, watch how I slap her hard when I get to town one of these days!"
No one dared to linger in the courtyard while Old Granny Zhang was cussing.
Lady Jiang kept the children inside the kitchen to help her cook breakfast, leaving only Old Granny Zhang and her daughter in the yard at that moment.
Wang Yongzhu spoke softly, "Mother, it’s not a big deal. Only half of the dye was added to this vat. It just means more work. Do we have any bean flour at home?"
Old Granny Zhang quickly nodded, "Yes, yes!"
She got up and went back into the house, scooping out half a ladle of bean flour. Wang Yongzhu then mixed in the appropriate amount of lime powder according to the ratios provided by Xiao Tiantian, stirring the two ingredients evenly until they formed a paste, and carefully added water to blend everything into a lake.
She then had Old Granny Zhang help her find two of the brushes Wang Yongan had previously used, clean them, and dip them in the mix of bean flour and lime. They slowly unfurled a part of the white cloth cut the night before on the stone table.
After a moment’s thought, she began to paint. The first few strokes were somewhat awkward, but soon she got the hang of it.
Old Granny Zhang watched as her daughter painted something indecipherable on the white cloth with the pasty mixture.
After painting, she applied another coat, and once it was slightly dry, she asked Old Granny Zhang to pull the cloth painted with the paste out a bit, revealing more of the unpainted white cloth base.
After repeating this twice, Old Granny Zhang understood the process. As soon as her daughter finished painting, she pulled the cloth out to dry and then slowly rolled it up.
The mother-daughter team worked seamlessly. Once Wang Yongzhu finished painting, seeing Old Granny Zhang still holding the cloth, she took it over. "Mother, are you tired? Let me massage you!" she said, pressing Old Granny Zhang onto a stone bench to perform the massage techniques Doctor Ma had taught her, to help ease her mother’s meridians.
Old Granny Zhang enjoyed her daughter’s filial care, smiling as she said, "Mother is not tired! But what about you? You’ve been painting for a long time. Your eyes must be sore, right? It’s just drawing patterns, but bending over for so long is so tiring. Next time, let Laosan’s wife do it, she knows how to draw!"
Wang Yongzhu was taken aback. Right, how could she have forgotten about that? The embroideresses these days needed to draw their own patterns, so Lady Jiang must be skilled indeed.
But since it was her first time, and still an experimental phase, she could consider handing it over to Lady Jiang once the process was refined.
Lady Jiang had already finished preparing breakfast. Seeing her mother-in-law and younger sister-in-law busy, she didn’t dare to eat first.
Only after the two had finished their work did she come out to call them for breakfast.
After breakfast, Wang Yongzhu asked Lady Jiang to find the needle and thread and tightly secure all the areas she had marked earlier with dense stitches.
Although Lady Jiang did not understand, she was always tactful and did not ask any questions. After tidying up the table and washing her hands, she fetched the needle and thread.
Under Wang Yongzhu’s guidance, they first sewed a sharp knot, and after that, Lady Jiang found her rhythm.
Watching Lady Jiang’s needlework flying through the fabric, Wang Yongzhu sighed, realizing that professionals were indeed different from amateurs. Even though she had learned from Lady Jiang and had some talent, she could not match Lady Jiang’s speed.
Working together, the two sisters-in-law quickly secured all the parts Wang Yongzhu had marked on half of the white cloth with thread.
In the end, the half piece of white cloth took on a very strange shape and Wang Yongzhu threw it into a vat already filled with dye.
The remaining half piece of white cloth was also thrown in.
Watching the cloth absorb the water and slowly sink...
Wang Yongzhu breathed a sigh of relief. Just as she was about to say something, she heard Jinguan’s voice coming from outside.
The yard door was pushed open, and the three brothers Jindou walked in, Jindou with a helpless expression, Jinguan pulling Jinhoo along, still boasting about something.
Upon entering the yard and seeing that both grandma and older cousin were there, Jinguan quickly quieted down and hid behind Jindou.
"What have you been up to?" Wang Yongzhu asked.
"Grandma, older cousin! Early in the morning, I went with Second Brother to the town! We found the He Family’s Shop and I peed right onto their doorpost, and also smeared a couple of handfuls of dog poop on their doors," Jinguan confessed honestly.
Old Granny Zhang took a rare moment to show concern and asked Jinguan and Jinhoo, "You weren’t discovered, were you?"
Jindou stepped forward, "By the time I got there, they had only just gotten there a short while ago. Seeing that the He Family’s Shop had not opened yet, I pulled them back!"
"Alright, go eat," Old Granny Zhang waved her hand.
Jindou and Jinguan went to have their meal.
Jinhoo hesitated for a moment before coming over, "Older cousin, on my way back, I heard people next to the He Family’s Shop saying that the shop usually opens early every day, but it didn’t open today. Some said that early in the morning Li Jinzhi went out, bumped into someone, said she had errands, and rushed off—"
Wang Yongzhu nodded to show she understood, "I know, go eat."
Over there, Old Granny Zhang speculated, "Could it be they ran off early to avoid trouble from us? Pah, count that shameless woman as sensible!"
Then she cursed, "All the kids are back, where on earth has that scoundrel Laosi gone?"
Wang Yongzhu stopped Old Granny Zhang, "Fourth Brother probably needed some time to clear his head. It’s good to let him go out and ease his mind a bit. Once he figures things out, he’ll naturally come back."
At that moment, Wang Yongping was sitting at the mountain hollow’s entrance, lost in thought.
His first instinct earlier in the morning was to talk things through with Song Chongjin, but after walking halfway, remembering what Old Granny Zhang said the day before while beating him, he hesitated.
He hadn’t been concerned before, but after yesterday’s turmoil, he realized upon careful thought that Song Chongjin’s life was indeed difficult.
Relying on hunting in the mountains to support his mother, being a hunter was not an easy job these days. With good luck, there would be game, and the family could keep the stove lit.