Granny Song heard the commotion and wanted to come over and check it out. As she entered, she saw Second Lang’s wife angrily grabbing Song Yuanbao’s arm, demanding compensation for a chicken, or else she would break his leg.
Granny Song’s face turned cold, "What’s going on here?"
Upon hearing her mother-in-law’s voice, Second Lang’s wife’s actions became more restrained. She pointed to the bald egg-laying chicken in the basin, wiping tears while saying, "Mother, please judge the situation. Yuanbao, this little rascal, has the audacity to come to our house and kill chickens. I only have a few egg-laying hens that I’ve raised for over half a year, just hoping to collect some eggs to sell. Do you know how hard this is for me?"
Granny Song glanced at the basin and complimented with a smile, "This chicken looks good, Erlang, hurry up and chop it up for a stew. I, this old lady, would like to have a taste too."
Second Lang’s wife was dumbfounded, forgetting to let her tears fall, just standing there like a wooden stake, staring at Granny Song.
Song Erlang didn’t move, casting a sidelong glance at his wife.
Seeing her son’s cowardly appearance made Granny Song angry; she shot a glare over, "What’s the matter, am I, the mother, not allowed to eat chicken from your house?"
"What are you saying, Mother?" Song Erlang said with a forced smile, "I’ll go stew it for you right away."
Second Lang’s wife watched helplessly as Song Erlang took the egg-laying chicken into the kitchen, chopping it into pieces with a few bangs, putting it in the pot. Her heart ached! It hurt so much!
But she dared not make a sound.
First, she genuinely feared that her mother-in-law would get serious. No matter how fierce her temperament, she was ultimately just a daughter-in-law. Even after the family split, her mother-in-law was still her mother-in-law, the real head of the family. In the future, she had to live under her mother-in-law’s authority. If she made too much of a fuss, she’d end up being the one bullied.
Second, she often went over to ask for meat, and now that people came to ask for something in return, she couldn’t very well use the split as an excuse, for saying that would only embarrass herself.
This silent suffering, she could only swallow it.
Granny Song glanced at Second Lang’s wife, seeing in her expression a silent resignation, and felt satisfied, asking Song Yuanbao to move a chair over, she sat outside with her grandson to wait.
After the chicken was cooked, she didn’t ask Song Erlang to set the table to eat. She went to his cupboard, took a big bowl, scooped all the chicken and broth into the bowl, and placed it on a stone block outside. The grandmother and grandson each took a pair of chopsticks and started eating.
They finished the meat, drank all the broth, leaving just a pile of chicken bones.
When the grandmother and grandson left, Second Lang’s wife sat on the ground, wanting to cry but no tears came.
Song Erlang bent over to pull her up.
Second Lang’s wife refused to get up, covering her face with both hands, "What have I done to deserve this?"
"You’ve done plenty," Song Erlang remarked aside, "Today it’s killing a chicken, next time it might be a pig or lamb. As long as you have the guts to go over, they’ll have a reason to demand something in return. See if you can learn a lesson from this."
Second Lang’s wife wiped her tears with her sleeve.
No more, she’s really too terrified to ask for more now.
Just one chicken took a pound of flesh from her, if they really come to claim a pig or lamb next time, wouldn’t it take her lifeblood?
Wen Wan incited Song Yuanbao to create such a scene, aided by the mother-in-law’s encouragement, which truly brought about a permanent solution. From then on, Second Lang’s wife dared not easily visit again, and the households finally settled into peace.
As the year turned, in early February, the county posted a notice announcing the date of the county exam as February 18th.
Song Wei returned after registering, and Wen Wan had a bad feeling.
She didn’t keep it from Song Wei and told him directly.
Last year, due to the matter with the Da Huan Mountain Coal Mine, Song Wei had made an impression in front of the County Magistrate, and County Magistrate Lu knew Song Wei’s name, but hadn’t seen what he looked like.
During the county exam, County Magistrate Lu was the chief examiner, and while patrolling the exam hall, he unintentionally saw Song Wei, recognized him, and thus secretly manipulated the grading, leading to Song Wei failing the exam.