EHCR 13

Chapter 13: Getting the Bride Price Silver Back

"Song Dachuan, what are you even talking about?"

An explosive roar echoed out as Sun Xiuhe marched back with Song Yaozu in tow, arriving right in time to catch Song Dachuan's remark about it being "a waste of food."

"What do you mean by wasting food? Were all the meals I cooked in the past fed straight to the dogs?"

Faced with Sun Xiuhe's fiery temper, Song Dachuan's brief backbone instantly went limp. Mumbling under his breath, he caved, "It's just that the dishes Zhaodi cooked genuinely tasted good, so I let it slip out..."

Well, there went the classic attempt to dodge the blame.

Sure enough, the very next second, Sun Xiuhe locked her sights straight onto Song Zhaodi.

Placing her hands on her hips and glaring fiercely at Zhaodi, she barked, "You little money pit, tell me—how much oil did you squander these past two days while I was out?"

Then she turned back to Song Dachuan. "The only reason her cooking tastes good is because she's recklessly generous with the oil! This isn't running a household, this is completely bankrupting the family!"

Song Dachuan didn't dare talk back, but Song Yaodong couldn't stand it any longer and started to stand up, only for Song Zhaodi to firmly press him back down.

She blinked reassuringly at her worried parents to let them know not to panic, then turned her gaze to Sun Xiuhe. "If we're talking about bankrupting the family, I don't even hold a candle to a ten-thousandth of you, Grandma."

"No matter how much oil I used, it was bought with money earned by my eldest uncle. It didn't cost you a single copper coin."

Hearing this, Zhao Lanzhi looked slightly surprised—the money for the oil came from selling water celery, and her eldest brother hadn't given them any cash.

Having no idea what actually happened, Song Yaodong genuinely believed the mother and daughter had gone out to borrow money. A heavy knot formed in his chest, filled with guilt and mortification.

Song Zhaodi kept right on firing.

"On the other hand, Grandma, where did the pork, the coarse grain, and that big rooster you bought the day before yesterday end up?"

As soon as those words dropped, Song Dachuan—whose head had been drooping in defeat while being scolded—instantly snapped his head up and glared suspiciously at Sun Xiuhe.

Without missing a beat, Sun Xiuhe dragged Song Yaozu forward to use as a shield and started spinning excuses. "You're twisting my words in the ugliest way possible. Yaozu got upset by her and went off to his eldest uncle's place, so how could I go looking for him empty-handed?"

"So you just completely disregarded Grandpa's and our lives, and carried all the food and provisions away?" Song Zhaodi pressed her further. "Besides, Little Uncle stomped off because of his own temper; it had nothing to do with me."

The moment that incident was brought up, the mere memory made Song Yaozu’s blood boil. If his mother hadn't been so stingy, he wouldn't have been humiliated in front of his friends.

Thinking of this, Song Yaozu—who had been fully prepared to back up Sun Xiuhe—shot a resentful glare at his own mother and stormed off back to his room.

Catching that look of pure grievance and resentment from her precious son, Sun Xiuhe's fierce momentum deflated by half. "There's still that half a fish left in the house..."

"Is half a fish supposed to feed five people for two days?" Song Zhaodi countered sharply.

Sun Xiuhe opened her mouth, wanting to say something, but catching sight of Song Dachuan's pitch-black expression, she hastily changed the subject. "If you don't have food to eat, why don't you go buy it yourselves?"

"All the money is kept with you, where are we supposed to get cash to buy anything? If we hadn't borrowed money from my eldest uncle, we would have starved to death ages ago!"

Hearing that, Song Dachuan grew furious as well. He didn't mind having his daughter-in-law's family pitch in for his son's medical bills, but as the head of the household, his pride could never stomach relying entirely on his daughter-in-law's maiden family for daily food and survival.

Pointing an accusatory finger at Sun Xiuhe, he barked in anger, "Hand over some cash for Zhaodi, and from now on, kitchen duties belong to her."

He certainly didn't want the neighbors pointing fingers behind his back, calling him a freeloading parasite who ate soft rice.

Sun Xiuhe was entirely unwilling, but seeing that Song Dachuan was genuinely raging, she had no choice but to unhappily dig a few copper coins out from her room and toss them at Song Zhaodi as a bare minimum settlement.

That afternoon, Song Dachuan led the others out to toil in the fields. When Song Zhaodi said she wanted to go back into the mountains to forage for more wild greens, Song Dachuan gave his permission.

This time, Song Zhaodi headed back to the exact same mountain where she had found the mushrooms previously. She wanted to harvest more wild fungi, take them to the morning market to sell for cash, and buy a couple more days of medicine for her father.

Because the foot of the mountain and the lower slopes had already been picked clean last time, Song Zhaodi had to hike all the way up toward the peak.

Just as she was nearing the summit, a stray beam of sunlight filtered through a gap in the tree canopy, striking something dazzlingly bright in the distance. Squinting against the glare, she saw a palm-sized fungus-like object.

Its colors were a bit too vibrant, and she wasn't sure if it was toxic.

Not holding out much hope, she stepped closer—and the moment she got a clear look, her jaw dropped.

That wasn't any ordinary wild mushroom; it looked an awful lot like Lingzhi (reishi mushroom)! And there were two massive caps of it, both larger than her palm.

Daring not to jump to conclusions, she cautiously looked all around to make sure no venomous snakes, insects, or ants were guarding it, then mustered her courage and crept closer to touch it.

The system text instantly flashed into view: "Perennial Lingzhi mushroom. Features a small stipe, concentric grooves on the cap, kidney-shaped, semi-circular, or nearly round, with a brownish-yellow or reddish-brown surface. A precious medicinal herb renowned for reinforcing the body's foundation and nourishing vitality. Consumption contraindications: unsuitable for individuals with allergies, exogenous wind-evil pathogens, internal injury fevers, etc."

Hahaha, just how much is this going to be worth?!

Beaming with a wide smile, Song Zhaodi swiftly harvested both Lingzhi mushrooms. Not daring to linger in the spot in case she ran into local folklore's legendary poisonous snakes, she immediately switched paths and headed down the mountain via a different route.

Since this alternate side of the mountain hadn't been scavenged yet, she managed to gather plenty more wild mushrooms all the way down, and even dug up some extra shepherd's purse and purslane along the trail.

Realizing it was getting late, she quickened her pace and arrived home just in time to start making dinner.

As soon as she stepped into the courtyard, a newly woken Song Yaozu swept a disdainful, disgusted glance over the contents of her back-basket. Catching sight of the vibrant green wild vegetables, he scoffed.

"What's so great about wild greens? Didn't my mother give you money to buy food?"

A well-fed person never understands the pains of the starving. Did they think she wanted to eat wild greens out of choice?

Song Yaozu lived every day like a pampered young master and genuinely believed his household never had to worry about basic meals or shortages.

Remembering all the grief the original body had suffered because of him, Song Zhaodi didn't bother showing him any pleasant expressions either, firing right back, "Your mother gave five copper coins—is that supposed to buy a catty of pork, or two catty of coarse grain?"

"If we didn't eat wild greens, do you think you'd even be able to play the rich young master over at the private school?"

Hearing that, Song Yaozu threw a fit. Her words made it sound as though their entire family being forced to live on wild greens was somehow his fault.

"What are you spouting nonsense for? You guys love eating wild greens, what does that have to do with me?"

"Besides, my mother said it right: you little money pits are going to marry into other families sooner or later, so there's no need for you to eat anything too good."

Song Zhaodi took a deep, heavy breath, gritted her teeth, and blasted back, "Your mother said this, your mother said that! What about yourself? You're already fifteen years old, and you still spend every waking minute clinging to your mother's apron strings—are you even a man?"

"And another thing, the only reason we're stuck eating wild greens is because of you. All our household silver went toward your school tuition and was squandered on treating your drinking buddies to lavish meals, leaving us starving and freezing! You can't run away from your share of the blame for this."

"If your precious scholarly classmates found out about all this, tell me—would they look down on you, or would they look down on you even more?"

Men who studied ink and books always fancied themselves possessing a shred of literary pride; they naturally held total contempt for parasites who leeched the blood of their own family members like leeches.

Even though Song Yaozu was a good-for-nothing fake rich-kid, he had absorbed enough of that scholar pretense to panic at the thought of his peers discovering the truth and ruining his social standing.

Frowning in irritation, he snapped, "Stop spouting reckless garbage, it's not like that at all!"

Song Zhaodi hit him with the final blow, "My ten taels of bride-price silver went straight toward your tuition fees. Am I lying about that?"

The moment the bride-price silver was mentioned, Song Yaozu felt a pang of guilt. He had heard Sun Xiuhe mention it before and knew Song Zhaodi wasn't making it up.

Still a hot-headed youth incapable of taking a jab to his pride, he pointed angrily at Song Zhaodi just to prove he hadn't taken advantage of anyone.

"So it's just ten taels of silver, big deal! You wait right here, I'll pay you back this instant!"

Storming fiercely into the east room, Song Yaozu rushed right back out a moment later and shoved a money pouch straight into Song Zhaodi's hands.

"Take your ten taels of silver and get out of my face! As for the remaining half-string of cash, go down to the town market tomorrow morning and buy some good wine and fine dishes."

"My friends are coming over, so you better host them properly! Otherwise, see how I deal with you!"

The ten taels of silver hadn't been spent at all?! And she never expected reverse-psychology to work so effortlessly on Song Yaozu!

Cradling the heavy pouch of silver in her hands, Song Zhaodi instantly broke into a radiant, beaming smile. "Don't worry, Little Uncle, I'll make sure they're hosted to absolute perfection!"

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