The Lady Butcher and the Delicate Bride - Chapter 15

Chapter 15

Since marrying off Mu Dingxiang, Mu Jueming finally got his wish to live in a room of his own. However, what made him unhappy was that the farm work was now waiting for him to handle. In this season, the crops had begun to sprout, and the immediate task was to apply the first round of fertilizer to the seedlings.

Mu Jueming had no idea whether it was the first or second round; he had rarely stepped into the fields since childhood. He was physically lazy and couldn’t distinguish between the five grains. Suddenly being told he had to work the land starting today left him completely dazed.

When told he had no choice but to go down to the fields, a thought flashed through his mind: it’s just six mu of land; even Mu Dingxiang with her small frame could do it, and he was taller than her now, so it should be no problem at all.

However, after working for only one morning, several large blisters formed on his palms. Furious, he threw down the hoe and turned around to go home.

Seeing him return in less than an hour, Mother Mu’s anger flared: “Didn’t I tell you to go hoe the field? Why are you back already? Returning at this hour, there’s no food ready for you to eat.”

Seeing his mother like this, Mu Jueming was also disgruntled: “You didn’t do anything all morning either. I went to the fields to work and hoed so much land that my hands are full of blisters, yet you haven’t started the rice, haven’t fed the pigs, and now you’re yelling at me instead.”

Mother Mu didn’t expect her youngest son to talk back like this. She said angrily: “You can’t even handle that tiny bit of work in the field. When San-ya used to do it, she never complained like you’re doing now. Look at our village, which boy your age isn’t working the land? We raised you this big and you won’t do a single thing.”

Mu Jueming let out a cold snort: “Don’t just talk about me. Look at the other older women in our village; who else is like you, doing nothing but cooking three meals a day?”

Mother Mu was used to being gossiped about behind her back by the villagers, but now her own son was disparaging her. Rage surged in her heart, and she shouted: “I worked hard to give birth to the five of you! I’m home every day cooking, washing, and feeding the chickens, when have I ever stopped? You ungrateful wolf! You don’t appreciate your own mother’s kindness. If you think other people’s mothers are so good, go live with them and don’t set foot in this house again!”

Mu Jueming had a foul temper, but he relied on the family for food and clothes. Unlike Mu Dingxiang, he couldn’t go out to do odd jobs; he didn’t have a single copper coin on him, so he couldn’t afford to be stubborn.

Seeing his mother angry, he muttered for a moment before returning to his usual playful, smiling self: “Mother, I was wrong, I was wrong. It’s just that I don’t know how! I’ve never worked the land in all my years. How about you come with me tomorrow? Once you teach me, I’ll keep doing it. Today was the first day and my hands are blistered. Let me rest for half a day. Anyway, it’s not summer yet, and other families haven’t even started hoeing; there’s no rush.”

Mother Mu rolled her eyes at him, muttered “lazy ghost” under her breath, and turned to head out. As she left, she threw back: “I’m going to Da-ya’s house to check. I’ll have her come back tomorrow to work the field, and you’ll follow her lead.”

Seeing his mother’s silent consent, Mu Jueming was delighted. He changed his shoes and ran out to find his “fair-weather friends” to play.

Mother Mu wasn’t born with the destiny of a wealthy lady, but because she had raised three daughters, she enjoyed a wealthy lady’s leisure. After cooking the three daily meals, she had nothing to do. In her free time, she liked to wander from house to house gossiping. She couldn’t stand seeing other families doing better than hers, and her talk was mostly full of “stepping on the low and flattering the high.” Over time, few of the village women liked chatting with her; when they saw her coming, they would hurriedly close their doors and pretend not to be home.

Seeing that no one would chat with her, Mother Mu loved going to her daughters’ houses. The Carpenter, for the sake of the in-laws’ relationship, found it hard to shut the door on her. However, whenever this woman came, she loved taking advantage; if there was anything good in the house and it wasn’t hidden away, she would take it in the blink of an eye.

Consequently, every time she arrived, the Carpenter’s family didn’t give her a pleasant look. Over time, Mother Mu realized she wasn’t welcome, and her visits became less frequent.

But now there was no one to work the land. Remembering Chu Yu’s fierce and terrifying face that day, she didn’t yet have the courage to call Mu Dingxiang back to help. The second daughter was simple-minded, so she had to turn her attention to her eldest daughter.

When she arrived, the Carpenter’s door was closed. Mother Mu knew where their field was, so she turned and went directly there. Sure enough, from a distance, she saw several people hoeing the crops.

Seeing Mother Mu approach, the smiles on the faces of the Carpenter and his wife vanished instantly. They lowered their heads to work, not even greeting her.

Mu Yuzhu, however, saw her mother coming and asked, “Mother, why are you here?”

Mother Mu, seeing several people in the field working with their heads down and that no one but her eldest daughter was paying her any mind, felt displeased. She said coolly: “I want you to come back tomorrow to work at home. San-ya has married out, and your brother doesn’t know how to hoe. Your family has so many people; you come over and help for a few days.”

Hearing this, the Carpenter’s wife, Mrs. Liu, turned dark in the face: “We can’t even finish hoeing our own land; how could we go help another family? The child is small and there’s no one to watch him. Your house has so many able-bodied men; when Da Linzi was your son’s age, he was already working the land. You have only a few mu of land and you come to my house demanding someone to help? Why don’t you just ascend to heaven?”

Mother Mu put on a stern face: “You have so many people, you’ll be done in two days. It’s only natural for Da-ya to go back and help her parents work for two days. If there’s no one to watch the child, I’ll watch him. Making such a fuss over such a small thing—acting this stingy as in-laws is really too much.”

Mrs. Liu didn’t expect to be checkmated by Mother Mu and was almost moved to tears of anger. But the Carpenter was honest and weak and couldn’t stand up for her. She could only say fiercely to Mu Yuzhu: “If you listen to your mother and go back to help, I’ll have Da Linzi divorce you. Then you can go back and work like an ox or a horse for your parents and brother, and I won’t stop you!”

Mother Mu actually laughed upon hearing this: “Go ahead and divorce her then. Our Yuzhu is so beautiful; even if she’s had a child, there are plenty of people who would want her.”

The underlying meaning was that if her eldest daughter was divorced and returned home, she could be married off again to collect money once more. If she could get twenty taels of silver like she did with San-ya, her life would be wonderful.

Mu Yuzhu’s face turned deathly pale at those words. No matter how weak she was, she didn’t want the Carpenter’s family to divorce her. Although Mrs. Liu didn’t usually like her, that was because of the trouble her natal family caused; the life she had since marrying over was many times better than before. She did not want to go back and be enslaved by that group of “vampires” again.

Moreover, the child was still small. If left to her mother’s care, given her mother’s usual temperament, there was no telling how she might mistreat the child. Currently, her status in the Carpenter’s house relied entirely on her son. In the past, she was timid and didn’t dare disobey her mother, but now that her future was at stake, she couldn’t allow herself to be led by the nose.

So Mu Yuzhu hurriedly spoke up: “Mother, there’s too much to do at home; we can’t help you. My younger brother will have a break from his studies soon; why don’t you have him go back and help for a few days? The child is very clingy right now, and I have to be with him at all times.”

Hearing her daughter-in-law say this, Mrs. Liu’s expression softened slightly.

Being rejected by her eldest daughter for the first time, Mother Mu was instantly displeased: “Even you won’t listen to me? I worked so hard to give birth to you and raise you, and now you’re fine once you’re married, you don’t care about your parents anymore.”

Mrs. Liu heard this and sneered: “Isn’t that right? A married daughter is like water thrown out; do you really expect to collect the water back?”

In the past, Mother Mu could order people around mainly because Mu Yuzhu was too weak to resist. Now that she was determined not to go back and help, Mother Mu had no immediate recourse. Furthermore, with the in-laws right there, she couldn’t exactly drag her back by force. In the end, she could only leave, grumbling and cursing.

It was rare for Mrs. Liu to see Mother Mu suffer a setback, and the grievance in her heart vanished instantly. She glared at her own old man, calling him “useless,” and then said to Mu Yuzhu: “You should have rejected her like that long ago. You’ve been married over for so long; is she going to bring people to snatch you back? As long as she doesn’t come here to make trouble, I won’t bring up the matter of divorcing you again.”

Mu Yuzhu gave an “un” and silently continued hoeing with her head down, saying nothing else, but in her heart, she prayed that her mother would not come again next time.

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