Travel to the mountains and make a fortune in silence

Before long, Wang Qing'er saw a dead tree covered with wood ear mushrooms, and she picked more mushrooms than she had picked from the first tree.

"Let's go up today, and we can have Mu Nan and Mu Xiao lead us further in another day." Wang Cuiying looked at the bottomless mountain valley and felt a little scared, since she rarely came to the mountains.

"Alright, I'll listen to you, Mother!" Although Wang Qing'er really didn't want to go back so soon, she still agreed to Wang Cuiying's request, her eyes still searching around for something.

Suddenly, she saw several white things growing on a withered tree not far away. "Mom, wait for me, I'll go over there and see what those white things on that tree are?"

"Qing'er..."

"Mother, wait here, I'll be back soon."

Wang Qing'er turned and left without looking back, arriving at the tree as quickly as she could.

The two brothers also bought some pork fat, a piece of pork belly, a piece of lean meat, and a whole large pig leg.

A bag of rice and a bag of flour. Mu Nan knew that Wang Qing'er didn't like brown rice, so he bought refined rice. Anyway, his wife earned the money, so it was only right to let her eat something good. Besides, everyone would eat it together.

Wang Qing'er slept until sunrise again. Wang Cuiying knew she was busy until late, so she didn't blame her for getting up late and even left her some food. It was Wang Qing'er who felt embarrassed.

After she finished breakfast, she sat in the yard tearing bamboo shoots when she suddenly heard someone shouting something indistinctly.

She looked up and saw three people approaching: her mother and her mentally challenged brother. The little girl must be her sister-in-law, with whom she had been swapped for a marriage.

Wang Qing'er suddenly wondered how she should address her. She married my brother, so I should call her sister-in-law; I married her brother, so she should call me sister-in-law. Uh! This is so confusing…

Wang Qing'er got up and went out to greet them, "Mother, brother, sister-in-law, what brings you here?"

"Little sister, your brother missed you so much." Wang Qing'er's brother, Wang Qinghao, ran over and hugged her.

Wang Qinghao only became mentally disabled after falling into the water while saving her when he was a child and contracting a serious illness. He was originally very intelligent and had even attended school for a few years.

Hearing the sound, Wang Cuiying came out and ran to greet the person who had arrived. "Oh, my dear mother-in-law, Wan'er!"

Mu Wan rushed into Wang Cuiying's arms and greeted her with "Ah ah".

Upon seeing Wang Cuiying, Wang Qinghao knelt on the ground and said, "Greetings, Mother-in-law."

Wang Cuiying was startled. "Why is this child kowtowing?"

Mu Wan quickly pulled her husband up, gestured at him, and made some "uh-huh" sounds.

Wang Qing'er, holding her mother's hand, watched her brother's adorable antics and burst out laughing.

The group sat in the courtyard, chatting and tearing bamboo shoots, their laughter filling the air.

Wang Qing'er's mother, Wu Lianhua, brought all the belongings she had left at her parents' home and helped her put them into the room.

Looking at the simple furnishings in the room, Wu Lianhua felt another pang of sadness; she was powerless to protect her own daughter.

Judging from my daughter's figure and appearance, and her literacy, if I had looked carefully, she would never have married into such a poor family. Fortunately, we have a house that can shelter us from the wind and rain.

Wu Lianhua forced another five taels of silver into her hand. Fortunately, she would take on some embroidery work when she had nothing to do, so she could secretly save some silver to help her daughter.

Wang Cuiying, who was cooking in the kitchen, looked at her silly son-in-law and felt sad for her daughter. "Wan'er, it's all your parents' fault for being useless and failing to marry you off to a good family."

"Ahhhhh," Mu Wan gestured to comfort Wang Cuiying, and even showed her mother the jewelry her mother-in-law had bought for her. Only then did Wang Cuiying feel a little better.

When Zhou returned from the fields, she greeted her in-laws with pleasantries. Her grandson-in-law bowed to her again, making her laugh heartily. She quickly helped him up.

Several men returned one after another. Wang Cuiying didn't say much when she saw that a large pork leg had been bought separately. She cleaned it and put it in a pot to stew.

I stir-fried bamboo shoots with cured pork, stir-fried mushrooms with fresh pork, reheated the braised rabbit I made last night, and also stir-fried some greens.

Seeing her silly brother-in-law keep putting food on Mu Wan's plate, Mu Nan felt much less guilty.

He noticed that his wife didn't eat fatty meat, so he quietly picked out some lean meat for her and put the fatty meat from her bowl back into his own.

After finishing their meal and chatting for a while, Wu Lianhua said that she was busy at home and needed to take her son and daughter-in-law home.

Wang Cuiying gave them fresh mushrooms, bamboo shoots, and brown sugar to take back, filling a whole basket.

Wang Qing'er ate a rather haphazard meal. She knew exactly what the original owner of this body was like, so how could she recognize mushrooms or braise meat? She was already doing well just by cooking the food.

She was worried that if her mother said even one more word, she would expose her. Fortunately, when Wu Lianhua heard Wang Cuiying and Zhou Shi praising her daughter, she only said some humble words. Although she was suspicious, she did not say anything else. She was happy that her daughter was well received by her husband's family.

After seeing off Wu Lianhua and the other two, Mu Nan saw that only her family members were left, so she put the remaining 105 taels of silver and some copper coins on the table, and then took out the 300 taels of silver notes.

Wang Cuiying and Old Man Mu sat there for a long time, staring at the banknotes and silver without saying a word. They hadn't seen so much silver in many years.

Zhou wiped away her tears and remained silent for a long time.

Old Man Mu reached out and picked up a silver ingot, touching it.

Wang Cuiying picked it up and weighed it in her hands. Her eyes welled up with tears as she asked, "Now we can pay off all our debts, right?"

Mu Xiao said, "Mother, not only can we pay off the debts, but we'll also have some money left over."

Zhou got up and went back into her room, then came out carrying the wooden box containing her money. "This is the money I've saved recently, eighty-seven taels, mostly from selling braised meat. It totals four hundred and ninety-two taels. After paying off the debts, we'll have one hundred and twenty-eight taels left."

The whole family felt as if something had been lifted from their hearts, and they felt much lighter.

Wang Cuiying silently wiped away her tears.

The burden that had weighed on the family for years could finally be lifted, how could they not feel relieved?

Wang Qing'er thought to herself, "Now I can finally eat white rice every meal. And I have to keep the he shou wu that she's been longing for, at least I don't have to sell it all."

The whole family sat silently at the dinner table, even Yao'er sat obediently.

Zhou's voice suddenly rang out, "Who will repay the Yun family's two hundred taels of silver?"

The whole family fell even more silent; at that moment, you could hear a pin drop.

Wang Qing'er didn't know that Mu Nan's ex-wife's family surnamed Yun, so she didn't understand why the Mu family was so silent. "What's wrong with this family? Are they unwilling to repay the money?"

"I'll go." Mu Nan's voice rang out.

"Alright, you might as well go there yourself. Buy some pastries in the county town and bring them with you. You can't come empty-handed."

Mu Nan said, "Grandma, I know."