An Jiuyue’s sons are very obedient. Although they are still very young, they often help out with many chores at home. How could she bear to sell them?
An Jiuyue had been living on the mountain alone with her two children and had difficulties making ends meet.
Hence, she would try to help her as much as she could. As long as she had food in her home, she would ensure that An Jiuyue and her children would not go hungry.
An Jiuyue was speechless.
“Aunt Ju, since you brought this up, I wanted to talk to you about it too.”
“Tell me.”
Aunt Ju assumed that An Jiuyue had wanted to sell her children because she was facing too many hardships. She intended to persuade her to rethink her decision after hearing her out and offer her help.
“A few days ago, Aunt Wang came up to the mountain to look for me. She tried to convince me to sell Rong’er to a big family in town and told me about all the benefits I could get.
“I was unwilling, of course! Zheng’er and Rong’er are my biological sons. How can I sell my sons? Life may be difficult for us, but we’re not on the verge of starvation.
So I rejected her on the spot.”
An Jiuyue recounted the incident to Aunt Ju and tried to make herself sound more pitiful, hoping that the Junior Officer would deal with the detestable old woman.
“But Aunt Wang is so persistent and won’t give up until she gets what she wants. She came again yesterday, threatening to bring that family in town to snatch Rong’er from me if I continue to refuse. She’s bent on selling Rong’er.
“Look, I’ve got this wound on my forehead because she pushed me while we were fighting over Rong’er.”
She pointed at the wound on her forehead.
“I think Auntie Wang was afraid after I fainted from my injuries yesterday so she didn’t snatch Rong’er away then. I thought that she wouldn’t come again.
“But she came to my house again today with her two sons. I was really scared, so I scared them off with a chopper.
“Aunt Ju, can you help me tell Uncle about this? I may be a weak woman, but as long as I can sustain myself, I will never let my two children go hungry.”
That’s right. I have to pretend to be weak when there’s a need to pretend to be weak. I have to win the villagers over and drown that horrid Aunt Wang and her family with our spits!
“That woman is too cruel! She should sell her grandchildren instead!” Aunt Ju was livid, her body shook with anger as she cursed.
She had found it strange that An Jiuyue, who lived on the mountain, would tell people in the village that she wanted to sell her children, instead of selling them in town directly.
It turned out Old Wang was spreading rumors in the village to ruin An Jiuyue’s reputation because she had failed to snatch Rong’er away.
“Jiuyue, don’t worry. When Uncle comes back, I’ll definitely tell him about this. I’ll make sure Old Wang and her family suffer!”
“Thank you, Aunt Ju.”
An Jiuyue thanked her and left the village quickly, heading home.
…
Bored at home, the two children were washing some wild vegetables in the kitchen.
They had braved the rain yesterday to pick these vegetables with their mother. There were traces of dirt and grime on the vegetables, so they had to wash them.
However, they did not use the water in the vat.