Fortunate Life of the Rural Beauty

Chapter 77: Chapter 76 Persuasion Chapter 77: Chapter 76 Persuasion Chen Ye was displeased when he heard Mrs. Hu wanted to demand a parrot from the second family, he said, “It’s their property and their children love it. Why should it belong to yours?”

He continued saying that the relationship between him and his brothers was already quite good, and they always remember the favors they owe him. The third family even helped them build a big house. The second family has just started to live a decent life, yet they regularly offer food and drink, as well as many pieces of satin to his family. He urged her not to be so greedy. Wanting everything will sour the brotherhood among them…

As Chen Ye and Mrs. Hu were talking, Chen Agu came in and advised, “Mother, please listen to some advice. It’s not right to keep asking for things from my uncles. Dad and I work day and night without mistreating you and my sisters. Our family is now considered wealthy in the village. Please, have some respect for us. And pay attention to Aju, she needs to be well-behaved.”

Chen Agu, who was normally reserved and reticent, unusually said a lot this time.

Chen Ming spoke up, “Agu is right, you should discipline Aju. She is about to be married, but she is still so naive.”

Mrs. Hu thought about this and suppressed what she had originally wanted to say.

After the Mid-Autumn Festival, as long as Luo Mei and her brother Luo Kaicheng weren’t visiting, Chen Dabao would be busy gathering firewood. He went twice a day, once in the morning and once in the afternoon, in order to store more firewood for his grandfather to use after they went to the capital city next month. Sometimes, Chen Afu would join him when he had finished his work.

After the 20th, although many cornstalks had been brought back to the yard, they were not dry yet. They would have to wait a few days before they could be used as firewood.

If the siblings Luo Mei and Luo Kaicheng came to visit, Dabao would play with them, and Chen Afu would prepare different kinds of food.

That night, the first rain of autumn came. It drizzled all night.

The next day, Chen Dabao, having finished writing his characters by late morning and seeing that Ms. Luo Kaicheng hadn’t come to play, took Zhui Feng to pick up Shitou and Si Xizi from the village on their own initiative to go and collect firewood. The families of Shitou and Si Xizi didn’t require them to collect firewood, but they enjoyed playing in the woods with Dabao.

Chen Afu advised, “The ground is still a bit damp, why not go tomorrow?”

Dabao shook his head and said, “No, I need to gather more firewood for grandfather.”

There was nothing Chen Afu could do except to go along with him. Qi Qi and Hui Hui want to go play too, Chen Afu instructed, “You guys can fly around in the sky or go play in the forest on the mountain, but please keep a good distance from people so you don’t get caught.”

Upon hearing this, Qi Qi and Hui Hui spread their wings and flew high into the sky.

Chen Afu then took the clothes she had made for Yang Qian to the room in the old courtyard. As she worked, she chatted with Chen Ming and Mrs. Wang.

At this time, Mrs. Hu arrived. She didn’t call from the door, but entered directly after opening the fence door.

Mrs. Wang had no choice but to welcome her into the east room.

Chen Afu had already placed the satin for making the clothes into the cabinet. She was extremely frustrated. It felt like committing a crime to make clothes with the satin from home.

Mrs. Hu was exceptionally cheerful today. After chatting for a while, she asked, “Where are your two birds?”

Mrs. Wang replied, “They went out to play.”

Mrs. Hu smiled and said, “I proposed my second brother and sisters a way to make money. You guys will be well-off in the future. My fifth brother told me that he has a friend in the county town who particularly admires talking parrots. He asked my fifth brother to help him collect some. He is willing to pay five taels of silver per parrot. That is ten taels for two birds. The money is equivalent to what your family earns in more than a year. How about it? Shall I have my fifth brother help you sell those birds? We rural folks value a full meal and warm clothes above all. We don’t have the money to keep pets like the rich.”

Chen Afu and her parents silently cursed her. Did she think they were fools? Qi Qi and Hui Hui can speak lots of words and they even recognize the way home. Such smart parrots are likely to be the most expensive birds in the bird market. Each bird could sell for hundreds of taels of silver at least.

By now, their affection for these two birds was very deep. No matter how difficult their situation, they would never sell them, not to mention that they were not lacking money. Dabao couldn’t bear to sell them even when Tang Garden offered a high price initially.

Chen Ming refused plainly, “Thank you for your kindness. We appreciate your thinking about us. However, these two parrots are now like our family members. We won’t sell them no matter how much money is offered.”

Mrs. Wang added, “We dare not sell them. Manager Luo told my son Dabao that his young lord likes these birds and Dabao has to bring them to play with the young lord whenever Luo siblings visit Tang Garden.”

Mrs. Hu’s face fell, and she said, “You’ve managed to curry favor with Manager Luo, but there’s no need to bring him up in every minor matter, right? My fourth sister’s husband is a bailiff at the Yamen. Last year, he even accompanied the county magistrate to dine at Luo’s house. We don’t go around bragging about it. Even if you have a good relationship with Luo, have you ever been invited to dine at Luo’s house? Can you compare to the relationship between my fourth sister and him? Why do their young lords have to play with these birds? I’ve heard that wealthy families have many birds, hanging all over their courtyards. The Tang’s family is so wealthy. I don’t believe their young lord would be interested in these two common birds from your home. My fifth brother was just trying to help, yet you turn it into an interrogation.”

She genuinely believed that the lord of Tang Garden wouldn’t be interested in these two birds. Also, she had no idea that selling these parrots would fetch a fortune, otherwise she wouldn’t have appeared so calm. Hu Laowu told her that he could sell each of these parrots for twenty-five taels of silver in the county town. He would keep the twenty taels and give the remaining thirty taels to Mrs. Hu. She had planned to keep twenty taels for herself and give the other ten to Chen Ming. She thought that was a good deal. However, she hadn’t expected them to refuse to sell.

Chen Ming said slowly, “We are not ungrateful, nor do we need Hu Laowu’s kind help. These two birds are like our family members and we won’t sell them no matter the price.”

Seeing that Mrs. Hu was about to say something, Chen Afu laughed and said, “Auntie, my grandmother told us that if you come to our house behind my great-uncle’s back and upset my father again, causing him to fall ill, we should tell her and she will set the rules for you. If you go too far, she will also tell my great-uncle about how you cried and asked my third uncle for a house.”

Mrs. Hu’s heart sank. How did the grandmother and the second family know about that? It seemed that the third family were not as simple as she had thought. She regretfully had been praising him all along…

Furious, she stared at Chen Ming and questioned sternly, “Second uncle, when our families were undivided, your sister-in-law cared for you diligently. You don’t remember her affection, yet you let your daughter treat your auntie this way?”

Chen Ming sneered, “My dear sister-in-law, I do remember my brother’s kindness and I remember the affection you showed me. When our families hadn’t separated, you took such ‘good care’ of me. If it weren’t for your virtuous behavior during those years, some things I wouldn’t have taken to heart, just like my third brother.”

The words “good care” were heavily emphasized.

Mrs. Hu then remembered how she had scolded Chen Ming before the division of the family. All these years, she had been frequently talking about how well she had treated her younger brother-in-law. Over time, she even deceived herself into believing that she was always as virtuous as she claimed.