Xiaoyi Village and Zhaozhai Village were next to each other, separated by a small river. After crossing the small stone bridge, they arrived at Zhaozhai Village.
At this moment, it was noon. Although it had just entered summer, the sun was still very strong at noon. The villagers who went to the fields to work had also returned home one after another.
On the way, they would occasionally encounter a few villagers who had returned from the same village.
As soon as they arrived at the village entrance, they met Shitou's wife, Sun Liuniang. Sun Liuniang's family was from the same village as Sun Mei's family. The two of them had known each other since they were young.
Coincidentally, after they got married, Zhao Shitou and Zhao Dong were also good brothers. The two families were now neighbors and were only a wall away, so their relationship was very good.
As soon as she saw Sun Mei, she welcomed her warmly. The two of them chatted for a while before Sun Liuniang started talking about Sun Mei's sister-in-law, Zhu Sanniang.
"Tsk tsk, if you ask me, your big brother is really unlucky to have married a crazy woman like Zhu Sanniang. However, he left early. I don't know if he's lucky or unlucky."
Sun Liuniang was a very simple person and did not have any bad intentions. However, there was one thing about her and that was that she had the habit of gossiping. She liked to gossip whenever she saw someone she disliked.
She must have seen Madam Zhu's mistake today and started to feel indignant.
"Once your brother leaves, the Zhu family will be completely exposed. The lazy woman will make the three children suffer. No, there are two now. I heard that she sold the girl at home this morning!"
"Tell me, in this peaceful and prosperous era, which family would sell their children? If you ask me, she's ruthless!"
Sun Mei sighed silently, but she did not answer Sun Liuniang.
Sun Liuniang also knew Sun Mei's personality. She was a person who didn't like to talk. She naturally didn't think of letting Sun Mei reply, so she started complaining to herself.
"Tell me, it's summer. She's resting at home and letting the two children go out to work. If I remember correctly, her eldest son is only ten years old, and the youngest is only eight years old.
Although the children of farmers were tough and worked early, she decided to rest and let the children do all the work. What was going on?
"Let me tell you, I don't know how this damned woman could end up with two children. Now, the sun is so bright, and the two children are still busy in the fields. The villagers who passed by persuaded them to go home and have a meal first, but they didn't dare to!"
Zhao Zhitong, who had forgotten about this, remembered it now. She felt uncomfortable listening to it and subconsciously hugged Sun Mei's neck tightly. She cried out in a pitiful voice, "Mother~"
"It's alright. I'm here," Sun Mei said gently as she supported Zhao Zhitong.
Sun Liuniang, who was chatting happily at the side, naturally did not know that what she had just said had made Zhao Zhitong feel uncomfortable. At that moment, she turned around and suddenly saw a few villagers carrying a person and rushing towards them.
As soon as the group of people approached, she recognized the person being carried and immediately exclaimed, "Hey, isn't this the eldest son of the Zhu family! What's going on?"
Sun Mei also recognized him and was equally surprised.
Among the group of people carrying Zhao Cheng was the village chief's eldest daughter-in-law, Tian Cuihua. She explained the situation as she walked.
It was roughly as Sun Liuniang had said. On a hot day, the two children were still working in the fields. A warm-hearted person like Tian Cuihua would definitely persuade them to leave when she saw them.
Coincidentally, just as she was about to call them back, Zhao Cheng fell to the ground. At that time, she was frightened and hurriedly called the passing villagers to carry him back to the village.
One of the experienced villagers could tell at a glance that the child did not faint from heatstroke. He seemed to have fainted from hunger.
Sun Mei was surprised.
When they split up, her stepmother-in-law, Madam Wang, was stingy, but her sister-in-law was an orphan and a widow. She already felt that it was a little too much for her clansmen to agree to split them up. When they were dividing the assets, she naturally would not let Madam Wang do anything rash.
Therefore, she still received a lot of assets. She was also given 20 acres of farmland, and the flour and wheat were enough for her family of four to eat until the harvest. This did not include the ten taels of silver that Madam Wang had given her.
Therefore, when Sun Mei saw that she was actually going to sell her daughter today, she couldn't understand. She originally thought that she might have favored boys over girls and sold her daughter to give her two sons good food.
But now, the older son could even faint from hunger. It didn't look like that.
It seemed that the village chief's wife did not slander her when she said that good things did not fall on the child!
A group of people carried Zhao Cheng and hurriedly walked towards Madam Zhu's house.
However, to their surprise, when they arrived at Madam Zhu's house, they found that the door was tightly shut. They knocked for a long time, but no one came to open it. It seemed that there was no one at home.
Tian Cuihua was puzzled. "That's strange. It's noon. Madam Zhu isn't cooking at home. Where did she go?"
She could not enter her house, but she had to save them. Hence, Sun Mei asked someone to carry them to her house first.
Seeing that Sun Mei had accepted the two children, the others heaved a sigh of relief. After sending them to Sun Mei's house, the kind villagers dispersed.
Sun Mei went to the kitchen to get a bowl of cold water from the bucket. She had no choice. There was no kettle at home, and she could not boil water on the spot for drinking water. She definitely did not allow her family to drink the raw water in the water vat.
Hence, after cooking dinner, she would boil a pot of boiling water and pour it into a bucket.
After scooping it up, Sun Mei even dug out a spoonful of white sugar from the sugar jar and added it in. Only when the sugar had completely dissolved did she come out with water.
After being malnourished for a long time, Zhao Cheng must have low blood sugar now.
After feeding him half a bowl of sugar water, he slowly regained consciousness.
Seeing that he had woken up, Tian Cuihua and Sun Liuniang heaved a sigh of relief. They bade farewell to Sun Mei and returned home.
It was noon and they had to go home to cook.
As soon as they left, Zhao Cheng and Zhao Yu thanked Sun Mei and wanted to go home.
The two children were extremely thin. Their bodies, faces, and clothes were also dirty. They looked like motherless children.
Thinking of the village chief's wife's words, Sun Mei hurriedly stopped them. "Your mother isn't at home either. Wait for me for a while. I'll cook some noodles for you. You've all fainted. Eat something before leaving."
Zhao Zhitong leaned on the table at the side and pulled her two brothers. "Brothers, don't go. Mother's noodles are delicious."
"No, no, we-we're not eating anymore." The two children refused repeatedly.
As they spoke, they were about to walk out. How could Sun Mei really let them go? Now that Zhu Sanniang was not at home, they either had to go to the fields again or sit at the door under the sun and wait.
Whether it was out of pity for the children or out of consideration for her reputation, she could not let the two children go back directly.
Hence, she repeatedly held them back and asked them to have a meal at home. Perhaps Sun Mei had asked too many questions, and his younger brother, Zhao Yu, accidentally revealed something.
"We can't eat the food from Second Aunt's family."
However, as he spoke, his voice became softer and softer.