Reincarnation and Rebirth

Before I even entered the house, I could hear the old woman cursing in the yard, "A bunch of little hussies, what time is it? They still haven't come back. Just like you, always out running wild. I wonder if they've run off with some random man."

"Mother, Wan'er and the others went to gather firewood," Wang Shi weakly retorted.

"Pah, who knows where he's been gallivanting off to."

Su Wan'er was furious. This old lady was too vicious. In this era, a woman's reputation was so important. How could she make such a fuss about a few girls who were not even fifteen years old?

"Grandma, if you call our work outside 'going out to play,' then next time we'll be like the other girls in the family and not go out. Don't call us to do things like cutting pig feed or gathering firewood anymore."

When Grandma Su heard Su Wan'er's words, she was so angry that she wanted to find a stick again.

"Grandma, I was just saying what you wanted to say, why are you angry?"

Madam Xiang carried Su Jie out of the room. "Wan'er, why are you talking to your grandma like that now? Your grandma is only doing this for your own good. Besides, you can't embroider or make knots. Do you really want to be pampered young ladies at home?"

"How does Auntie know we can't?"

Xiang curled his lip in disdain, "You think needlework is so easy to learn?"

Bah! Su Wan'er wouldn't even look at the embroidery skills of the Xiang family mother and daughter.

But she had no intention of staying at home. Otherwise, how could she improve the meals for her younger siblings? They would be fleeing in two months, and she couldn't afford to be in poor health.

"You brat, hurry up and put away all the firewood, and then feed the chickens."

Su Wan'er glanced at Wang Shi, who had been busy all morning, and then at the others. Just as she was about to object, Su Xiang'er said, "Grandma, I'll go right away."

Seeing that Su Xiang'er was obedient, Old Madam Su glared at Su Wan'er and tiptoed back to her room.

But to everyone's surprise, Su Chen, who was playing with ants on the side, suddenly rushed towards Su Zhao'er, saying, "You good-for-nothing, why do you smell like meat?"

Oh no! Su Wan'er thought to herself, "This is bad." When she was drinking the chicken soup, the little girl was too impatient and accidentally burned herself. A little bit of the chicken soup spilled on her clothes. She thought that after so long, there wouldn't be any smell anymore. But she didn't expect Su Chen to have such a keen sense of smell.

This was quite a surprise. The old lady turned around in a flash, rushed to Su Zhao'er's side, picked her up like a chick, and started sniffing her all over.

"Grandma, you little brat stole food, you little brat stole food."

The old lady's face darkened. "Tell me, did you steal any eggs from the house?"

Su Zhao'er was so frightened that her face turned pale, and she kept waving her hands and feet, "Grandma, I didn't, I didn't steal any eggs from home."

Hearing her youngest daughter crying, Mrs. Wang rushed over from the backyard, carrying a small hoe in her hand.

"Mother, what's wrong? Zhao'er wouldn't steal food. Besides, didn't you already collect and put away the eggs this morning?"

"Hmph, who knows if they've found some good stuff outside and are hoarding it all?" Su Hehua said anxiously as she heard about the meat, and rushed out of her room.

Sigh, Su Wan'er glanced at Madam Wang; it was that wild egg from last time that caused all this trouble.

Wang swayed slightly. "Mother, no, no." She looked pleadingly at her eldest daughter, "Wan'er, tell the truth."

"What do you mean you can't? Didn't they secretly hide it last time, trying to eat it all by themselves? You brat, hand it over right now."

After saying that, Grandma Su was about to start searching.

Su Wan'er is a fifteen-year-old girl after all. If she were to be searched by Old Madam Su, she would lose all face and dignity.

She dodged Grandma Su's hand with a quick movement and sneered, "With these tattered clothes on me, how could I possibly hide anything? Grandma, if you want to ruin the reputation of our Su family's daughter, then feel free to search me."

The old lady hesitated. Her husband's words from noon were still ringing in her ears, but she was unwilling to give up without searching.

"How do you explain the meaty smell on Zhao'er's body?"

"What explanation? Didn't she eat eggs this morning? She's just a little kid, it's not strange that she accidentally got some on her clothes."

Su Wan'er said without blinking or skipping a beat.

Grandma Su looked at the siblings suspiciously, and said sternly to Su Xiang'er, "Xiang'er, you tell me. If you dare to lie, I'll beat you to death."

Oh, so you know to pick the softest persimmons.

Su Xiang'er lowered her head, not daring to look at Old Madam Su.

Su Wan'er's hand tightened. Could this girl be unable to withstand the coercion?

The next second, Su Xiang'er raised her head, her eyes full of tears, "Grandma, we've been gathering firewood on the mountain all this time. Where would we get meat to eat? If you don't believe me, you can go to the foot of the mountain and ask."

Seeing her like this, Grandma Su still didn't believe her. "Did you catch something good on the mountain?"

"Grandma, my aunt went to the foot of the mountain today too. We heard wolves howling from the back of the mountain. We girls didn't dare to go into the mountains. We just gathered firewood around here. If we could catch something good, wouldn't all the aunties who dig for wild vegetables be hunters?"

Su Wan'er breathed a sigh of relief. If the timing hadn't been so inappropriate, she would have applauded her younger sister. It wasn't that she condoned children lying, but in the current situation, it was clear that telling the truth would only bring more trouble. Her sister was beyond redemption.

Su Chen was still rolling around on the ground. He hadn't eaten any eggs today, and now that he smelled them, he was incredibly hungry.

At this moment, an impatient voice came from the inner room: "What's all the noise about? It's not a holiday, why are you eating meat?"

Madam Chen naturally heard her child's voice outside while she was in her room. Seeing that the old man was angry, she asked Su Qing'er to bring the child into the room.

"Chen'er, in a couple of days your mother will take you back to your maternal grandfather's house for a meat feast."

"Really?" Su Chen wiped her nose and stopped crying after receiving an affirmative answer.

After all this, it was getting late, so Madam Wang took Xiang'er back to the kitchen to cook, while the other families continued to sit back and enjoy the fruits of others' labor without a care in the world.

Su Wan'er decided to avoid the trouble and took her younger siblings back to their room. Madam Wang watched her retreating figure but remained silent. Su Xiang'er, as always, dutifully helped out.

"Xiang'er, did your eldest sister say anything to you?"

Su Xiang'er lowered her head and tended the fire. "No."

"But Mother always felt that she seemed to have a problem with Mother."

“Mom, I think my eldest sister is right. Why do we have to do all the housework?”

Upon hearing this, Wang's hand holding the spatula trembled slightly. She glanced uneasily at the kitchen doorway, then sighed, "It's all my fault for being useless and causing you all to suffer."

"Mother, we were just scolded by Grandma, and she even tried to search Eldest Sister's body. Why didn't you help protect her?"

With a trembling mouth, Madam Wang murmured, "Your grandmother has a bad temper. Since we didn't hide anything, we're not afraid of being searched. Mother... Mother thinks it's better to avoid trouble. Once your grandmother has vented her anger, everything will be fine."

Sigh, Su Xiang'er silently tended the fire, no longer saying a word.

Dinner was the same as breakfast, except without eggs.

This time, when Xiang reached for Wang's bowl again, Su Wan'er looked over. Wang panicked and quickly picked up the bowl, drinking it down in a few gulps.

Xiang Shi, dissatisfied that she hadn't received it, said, "Second sister-in-law, I still need to breastfeed Xiao Jie. Why didn't you let me have a turn?"

Wang lowered her head and chewed on the cornbread in her hand. "I've been busy all day, and I'm hungry too."

Unexpectedly, Madam Wang would actually resist. Madam Xiang sized her up and was about to speak when Su Wan'er interrupted her, "Auntie, the master has already said that one should not speak while eating or sleeping."

In the Su family, the old master's words were like imperial edicts. Xiang Shi secretly glanced at the man's table, but ultimately kept quiet.