Su Sanmei smiled as she carried Su Xiaolu out of the chicken coop and walked around the courtyard.
Su Xiaolu looked into the house and struggled.
Su Sanmei sighed. "Simei, why do you like vats so much? Fine, let's go take a look."
Su Sanmei carried Su Xiaolu to the water vat and squatted down to let her play.
She did not notice that Su Xiaolu's placed her hand on the water vat and a small stream of water flowed into the vat.
After playing for a while, Su Sanmei carried Su Xiaolu out again. Su Xiaolu stopped crying and yawned sleepily.
Su Sanmei carried her into the back room and put her on the bed, patting her gently.
Soon, Su Xiaolu fell asleep.
Su Sanmei covered Su Xiaolu with a blanket before leaving quietly. She was going to catch insects to reward their hen. It laid big eggs and gave them so many chicks.
When she passed by the chicken coop, Su Sanmei said to Madam Zhao, "Mother, Simei is asleep. I'll go find some insects to feed the chicken."
Madam Zhao nodded and said, "Go ahead. I will clean these eggshells."
The 16 chicks, all out of their shells, filled the coop and chirped. The anxious hen cooed on the ground as well.
Madam Zhao carefully placed the chicks on the ground one by one and watched as they ran under the wings of the hen. Then, she brought the nest down and cleaned out the eggshells inside.
Madam Zhao muttered to the hen, "You must protect your children well."
Madam Zhao scattered the eggshells into the vegetable field before she went to the land not far away to cut grass to feed the rabbits at home.
The family did each of their jobs well and were extremely busy.
What made Madam Zhao the happiest was that every time Su Sanlang entered the mountains, he would return with something.
Some of the animals that died in the traps were skinned and marinated before they were hung above the stove to smoke them into cured meat.
The fur would be washed, dried, and made into shoes for the children.
By November, the family had already accumulated 25 taels of silver by relying on the wild animals in the mountains. The couple decided that they would go into town to find a doctor for the two children on the 20th of December.
However, what Madam Zhao did not know was that plans could never keep up with changes.
Su Sanlang's family was getting better and better. It was impossible to hide it from the villagers. Gradually, people knew that Su Sanlang never missed whenever he went hunting in the mountains.
While the whole village was talking about how lucky Su Sanlang was and how much money he had made.
Because of this, Madam Wang was so angry that she fell sick.
The reason why Madam Wang fell sick was also because she often cursed Su Sanlang in her courtyard. Su Sanlang was not affected by it, but she was depressed because of it. Her pent up anger caused her to fall sick, and her mouth was full of blisters, causing her to suffer.
As he knew that Su Sanlang's family was doing well, Old Master Su was unhappy too.
Meanwhile, since Su Sanlang's family had left, Su Dalang and Su Erlang, who had to do more labor, were not having a good time either. There was no need to mention Madam Li and Madam Zhou. They had once imagined that they would have a good life after kicking the third branch out. Instead, they were suffering even more.
With Madam Wang down, Madam Li and Madam Zhou were even more upset. Although Madam Wang was ill, she still did not shut her mouth. She cursed whoever she saw. Even after seeing a doctor and taking medicine, she did not get any better.
Old Master Su did not even enter her room.
On this day, Madam Li had just brought food in to serve Madam Wang before Madam Wang started scolding her. "Who asked you to make the porridge so hot? Are you trying to scald me to death?"
Madam Li was filled with anger. She did not know where she got the courage to flare up. "I know that Mother dislikes my cooking. After all, Mother has been served by Third Sister-in-law for the past ten years. How would I know what you like?"
This hit Madam Wang right in the heart. She immediately picked up the wooden stick beside her pillow and hit Madam Li. "You piece of trash, what kind of sh*t are you sprouting…"
Madam Li could not afford to fight back, so she immediately ran out.
Madam Wang could no longer hit her. Her face twisted with anger. She knocked on the edge of the bed with the wooden stick. "That bastard was born to jinx the Su family. That heartless thing…"
Madam Li ran out and said to Old Master Su, "Father, Mother's illness was caused by Sanlang and Third Sister-in-law. Anyway, Third Brother's family has become capable now. Why don't we let them come back? It's getting cold and it's going to snow soon. It won't be good if Chong and Hua are too cold."
This was not something an ordinary person could endure. Only Third Sister-in-law could endure it.
Besides, Madam Zhao had finished her confinement period and could work again. She could not give birth in the future, so it was not a bad thing for her to come back.
With her around, all of Madam Wang's anger would be directed at her.
Madam Li glanced at Madam Zhou and said, "Second Sister-in-law, speaking of which, you haven't seen Third Brother's little daughter yet, right? You should also want to see your little niece, right?"
Madam Zhou instantly understood what Madam Li meant. She immediately smiled and said to Old Master Su, "Father, she is right. No matter what, we're still a family. It's good enough for Third Brother to go out and suffer a little, but it's better to let them return home after they've suffered enough. Although Chong and Hua are not smart, they're still descendants of the Su family. They can't leave the family."
Madam Zhou's words were also said beautifully, but just like Madam Li, she wished for Madam Zhao's return for her own good.
As for Old Master Su, he had been moved by what the villagers had said recently.
In the past, they did not realize how much labor they would lose without the third branch. This autumn harvest was so busy that they immediately knew that losing the third branch was a loss and not a profit.
With Madam Li and Madam Zhou's persuasion, Old Master Su's gloomy expression eased up a little. He looked at Su Dalang and Su Erlang and asked, "Dalang, Erlang, what do you think? Are you willing to let Third Brother come back?"
Su Dalang and Su Erlang immediately nodded.
Su Dalang said, "Father, after all, we're brothers. Chong and Hua are also our nephews. It's getting cold. Let them come back."
Su Erlang added, "That's right, Father. We're all family. At the end of the day, blood is thicker than water. Let them all come back."
Su Sanlang's diligence and hard work went without saying. Even Chong and Hua were better workers than their own sons. Chong and Hua were stupid and did whatever they were told, but their own sons were different.
When they were tired, they would lose their temper and not work. They also talked back and would be disobedient. Their ability to work was not as good as Chong and Hua. In this family, they really could not do without the third branch. Without the third branch, everyone was exhausted. It was better to let them come back.
Old Master Su nodded calmly as well. "What you all said makes sense. How about this: Madam Li and Madam Zhou will make a trip down and tell them that I'll allow them to come back to the family if they can get Sanlang to come back and bow his head. The family will live their lives as usual."
"Alright, Father. I'll go with Second Sister-in-law now."
Madam Li immediately agreed and left with Madam Zhou.