Pastoral Splendor

Author's Note: The chapter posted tomorrow morning is an anti-theft chapter. Ladies, you don't need to read it if you've already purchased it. I'll replace it with the new chapter after I wake up, usually around 7 AM.

To celebrate Wenwen's appearance on the homepage's featured list, every reader who leaves a comment under the article within three days will receive a red envelope!

P.S.: Someone gave Sanhua a cheat code, so she can grow a lot of vegetables that we only have at this time of year and cook a lot of delicious food. This has nothing to do with logic, it's just related to the author's imagination, so please don't take it too seriously!

As dawn broke, a bright red sun hung in the sky, dazzling the eyes. The sunlight, like thousands of bamboo arrows, pierced the ground, pinning people to the spot, rendering them unable to move.

"They just kicked you out like that?" Yan Ying could hardly believe her ears, a feeling of suffocation rising in her chest. "They told you to go home, that they'd bring you back if you had a boy, but if you had a girl, they'd divorce you?"

Da Hua wiped her eyes, but tears still streamed down her face. "San Hua, I know that coming back means I'm adding another mouth to feed in the family, but I really have nowhere to go." She choked back a sob. "Old Ge from the village is so kind. He was originally driving his mule cart to Yuzhou City to sell things, but he made a special detour to bring me to the entrance of Xiaojia Village. I stood by that pond at the village entrance for a while just now, wishing I could just jump in and be done with it, but then I thought about the baby in my belly..."

"Big sister, how could you think like that!" Erhua said anxiously, hugging Dahua with tears in her eyes. "No matter what, you can't try to kill yourself!"

Yan Ying felt a pang of sadness upon hearing this. She glanced at Da Hua, realizing how unlucky she truly was. She'd only been married a few years before being rejected by her in-laws. She felt ashamed to return, and it was understandable that she might be contemplating suicide. "Sister, why are you degrading yourself like this? If you take your own life, that bastard can just find another one, right?"

Xiao Dahua wiped away her tears, then reached out and touched her slightly protruding belly. She looked at Erhua and Yanying pleadingly, "Erhua and Sanhua, I only held back because of the baby in my belly. I know that we are struggling financially at home, but I have no other choice. Please talk to my father and mother and ask them to let me stay!"

Erhua grabbed Dahua's hand, tears finally falling from her eyes: "Big sister, just come and stay at our house, stay as long as you like!"

Yan Ying nodded: "Big sister, don't think too much. If you're not happy, you won't be happy either if it weren't for the baby in your belly." She squeezed the bamboo stool that Da Hua was sitting on until it creaked: "Big sister, I'll help you get justice from the Wang family!"

Da Hua looked at Yan Ying in surprise. How could San Hua suddenly become so fierce? Wasn't she always timid and afraid of trouble, and never raised her voice? She never expected that San Hua would be so anxious about her own affairs. No wonder people say, "Even a rabbit will bite when cornered."

"Oh, Da Hua is back?" A sarcastic voice rang out from ahead. The three sisters looked up and saw Xiao Wangshi standing outside the door with her little grandson, Xiao Shitou, with a gloating smile on her face.

Yan Ying instantly understood. Looking at Xiao Wangshi's smile, it was almost certain that she was the one who sent someone to Da Hua's house to report the news. Otherwise, why would she have come here to watch the commotion so early?

"Did you send someone to my elder sister's in-laws' house to report this?" Yan Ying ran up to Xiao Wangshi, her eyes wide, glaring at her with anger rising within her. Although she felt that having a son or a daughter was the same, people in the Great Zhou Dynasty still favored sons over daughters. Da Hua had already given birth to a daughter, so her in-laws were probably already in a bad mood. Now, hearing someone stirring up trouble by sending a message, how could they possibly be in a good mood?

"Oh dear, Sanhua, you're getting more and more unruly!" Madam Xiao Wang put her hands on her hips, her mouth almost twisted to her ears: "How dare you talk to your grandmother like that? Why are you so fierce?"

"Me, fierce?" Yan Ying smiled leisurely: "Am I fierce? I haven't even thrown you out yet, so how can you call me fierce!"

Xiao Wangshi was a little timid and shrank back behind the door: "Your mother's womb is useless, who can you blame! I only came to check after receiving a message from Wangjia Village. I meant well, but you took it all for granted!"

"You got a message from Wangjia Village? Who would come to deliver a message so early in the morning?" Yan Ying gave Xiao Wangshi a mocking look: "Don't say that you didn't send someone to Wangjia Village to deliver the message last night! What does it have to do with you that my mother gave birth to a girl? You can't keep your mouth shut, and you're rushing to someone else's house to make a fuss!"

Xiao Wangshi was so angry that she trembled all over. She pointed at Yan Ying and started cursing, "This is outrageous! Your granddaughter is actually cursing her grandmother! Let me tell you the truth, it was your brother-in-law who came to deliver the news today. He's at our house right now. I just came to see if Da Hua has returned!"

When Da Hua heard Xiao Wangshi say that her husband Wang Fugui had come, her eyes lit up. She stood up from her chair and ran to the door, looking at Xiao Wangshi eagerly and saying, "Grandma, my husband is here? Is he here to take me back?"

"Take you back?" Xiao Wangshi laughed, revealing a large front tooth with a piece of vegetable leaf still stuck to it. "You wish! You're just like your mother, only good for giving birth to money-losing babies! Who would dare to come and take you back? Have you forgotten that there's a child left at the Wang family's house that you didn't bring back? What, do you want that child to freeload at the Wang family's house?"

Xiao Dahua's eyes widened, tears welling up in them. She took a breath and whispered, "Ye'er isn't just mine. Her father is Wang Fugui, so of course she should stay in the Wang family. Does she expect her to come back to her parents' home with me and suffer?"

"Girls are all a waste of money, good for freeloading. Why would the Wang family raise her?" Madam Xiao glanced at Xiao Dahua with disdain, a smug look on her face. "I told your father and mother to sell a few of them a long time ago, but they refused. Look at your family now, aren't you just being eaten into poverty by a bunch of good-for-nothings?"

Yan Ying reached out and grabbed Xiao Wangshi's collar: "Don't talk nonsense here, hurry up and get that Wang Fugui over here!"

Wang Fugui came over, but he didn't roll over; he walked steadily, carrying a floral cloth bundle on his back and holding a child who was a little over a year old in one arm.

The child had very fair skin, and his eyes were exactly the same as Da Hua's. When he saw her, he twisted his body, stretched out his hand, and his face immediately filled with tears: "Mother!"

The voice was sweet and childlike, but Yan Ying felt a pang of sadness and bitterness in her heart. This little child was already being disliked by her grandmother's family, yet her father still rushed to send her here. The Wang family was truly inhuman!

Wang Fugui handed Chunye to Dahua: "Daughter, hold her tight."

Da Hua hugged Chun Hua, looked at Wang Fugui, and tears streamed down her face: "Fugui, what did you say when we got married? It's only been three years, and you've already changed your mind?"

Wang Fugui avoided Da Hua's gaze, his face full of embarrassment: "Da Hua, I don't want this either, but who told you not to have a son? Just focus on taking care of yourself. If you give birth to a boy, I'll take you back."

"No need!" Yan Ying stepped forward, blocking Da Hua's path. "My eldest sister will never set foot in your Wang family again. Stop pretending to be helpful here!" She glanced contemptuously at Wang Fugui. "You wait here. I'll go and write you a divorce agreement on behalf of my eldest sister!"

Rather than waiting for the Wang family to write a letter of divorce, it would be better for the Xiao family to write a divorce agreement first. Writing a letter of divorce implies the woman is at fault, while writing a divorce agreement implies a peaceful separation, and bystanders will naturally assume the fault lies with the man. Yan Ying rushed in, seeing Si Hua leading Wu Hua and Liu Hua out: "Third Sister, what's all the commotion outside?"

Yan Ying glanced warily into the room and, seeing that Aunt Xiao hadn't gotten up yet, pulled Si Hua aside and whispered, "Go and watch over Mother, don't let her come out."

Seeing Yan Ying's solemn expression, Si Hua also became a little nervous and craned her neck to look outside: "Oh, our eldest sister and brother-in-law have come back to their parents' home? Did they come to see Mother because they know she gave birth to a younger sister?"

Yan Ying pinched Si Hua's arm: "Don't mention it. The Wang family is awful. They actually want to divorce our eldest sister. Go and keep an eye on Mother. She just gave birth and can't take any more stress."

Sihua was shocked and turned to rush outside, shouting, "What did our eldest sister do wrong that the Wang family wants to divorce her!" She angrily pointed at Wang Fugui and said, "Back then, he insisted on marrying our eldest sister. That stepmother said a lot of bad things about our eldest sister, and he said that he wanted to marry her because she was beautiful, regardless of whether our family was poor or not. How could things have changed in just three years?"

Yan Ying paused, surprised that Wang Fugui was actually so sentimental. But Si Hua was right, how could he have changed his mind in just three years? Pushing Si Hua inside, Yan Ying patted her head and said, "Just take good care of Mother. Second Sister and Third Sister will take care of things outside, don't worry."

"Hmm." Sihua looked at Yanying with admiration in her eyes. After what happened yesterday, Yanying had become an omnipotent person in her heart. Since her third sister could make them eat white rice and delicious meat, she could also solve this problem for her eldest sister.

The thought of meat made Sihua's mouth water. She quickly put her fingers in her mouth and slurped them, then turned and took Wuhua and Liuhua's hands: "Let's go see Qihua."

Five and Six, being young, couldn't understand what was going on outside. Hearing that they were going to see Seven, they were both very happy and, along with Four, went inside like a gust of wind.

As dawn broke, a bright red sun hung in the sky, dazzling the eyes. The sunlight, like thousands of bamboo arrows, pierced the ground, pinning people to the spot, rendering them unable to move.

"They just kicked you out like that?" Yan Ying could hardly believe her ears, a feeling of suffocation rising in her chest. "They told you to go home, that they'd bring you back if you had a boy, but if you had a girl, they'd divorce you?"

Da Hua wiped her eyes, but tears still streamed down her face. "San Hua, I know that coming back means I'm adding another mouth to feed in the family, but I really have nowhere to go." She choked back a sob. "Old Ge from the village is so kind. He was originally driving his mule cart to Yuzhou City to sell things, but he made a special detour to bring me to the entrance of Xiaojia Village. I stood by that pond at the village entrance for a while just now, wishing I could just jump in and be done with it, but then I thought about the baby in my belly..."

"Big sister, how could you think like that!" Erhua said anxiously, hugging Dahua with tears in her eyes. "No matter what, you can't try to kill yourself!"

Yan Ying felt a pang of sadness upon hearing this. She glanced at Da Hua, realizing how unlucky she truly was. She'd only been married a few years before being rejected by her in-laws. She felt ashamed to return, and it was understandable that she might be contemplating suicide. "Sister, why are you degrading yourself like this? If you take your own life, that bastard can just find another one, right?"

Xiao Dahua wiped away her tears, then reached out and touched her slightly protruding belly. She looked at Erhua and Yanying pleadingly, "Erhua and Sanhua, I only held back because of the baby in my belly. I know that we are struggling financially at home, but I have no other choice. Please talk to my father and mother and ask them to let me stay!"

Erhua grabbed Dahua's hand, tears finally falling from her eyes: "Big sister, just come and stay at our house, stay as long as you like!"

Yan Ying nodded: "Big sister, don't think too much. If you're not happy, you won't be happy either if it weren't for the baby in your belly." She squeezed the bamboo stool that Da Hua was sitting on until it creaked: "Big sister, I'll help you get justice from the Wang family!"

Da Hua looked at Yan Ying in surprise. How could San Hua suddenly become so fierce? Wasn't she always timid and afraid of trouble, and never raised her voice? She never expected that San Hua would be so anxious about her own affairs. No wonder people say, "Even a rabbit will bite when cornered."