EHCR 6

The Encyclopedic Harvest: Cultivating Riches in Lean Years

Chapter 6: Seeking Justice for Zhaodi

The moment Song Zhaodi finished speaking, she didn't give anyone a chance to react and swiftly distributed the fish meat.

Instead of caring about the fish in her bowl, Zhao Lanzhi grabbed Zhaodi’s hands and asked with heartbreaking distress, "How did you end up falling into the river?"

Song Yaodong’s face was equally filled with worry.

Right now was prime time for snatching meat, hardly the moment for storytelling. Waving her hand, Song Zhaodi said, "Let's talk after we finish eating."

Sun Xiuhe was fuming with pure rage. She wanted to tear into Song Zhaodi, but she couldn't snap at her too openly without destroying her own facade of fairness. Left with no choice, she glared furiously at Song Dachuan.

Song Dachuan was also displeased with Song Zhaodi. In his mind, daughters were bound to marry into other families eventually, making them far less valuable than the male heirs meant to carry on the family lineage.

"Zhaodi, you..."

"Grandpa, the fish I caught today was huge, and I purposely saved half of it specifically for Little Uncle. Rest assured."

She did save it, but whether her precious golden-boy uncle would actually get to eat any of it was entirely up in the air.

This single sentence instantly choked back Song Dachuan’s reprimand.

As a grown man and an elder, he couldn't possibly throw away his dignity to fight his juniors over food—especially food that had been sprayed with snot and saliva.

Furious though he was, maintaining his grand air meant he couldn't throw a fit right then. He picked up a chopstick of shepherd's purse and shot a fierce glare at Sun Xiuhe.

As if saying: Look at the mess your pettiness caused.

Noticing his grim expression, Zhao Lanzhi hurriedly ladled a bowl of the river-fresh porridge for him. "Father, we've been eating it for a while now and we're completely fine. Please, eat and set your mind at ease."

Half-doubting, Song Dachuan took a sip. "Mhm." A light sparked in his eyes, and he immediately pulled the bowl closer, happily slurping away with loud slurp-slurp noises.

Sun Xiuhe wanted to stay petty out of spite, but she didn't want her own stomach to suffer either. Seeing that the rest of them genuinely showed no signs of poisoning, she picked up her bowl and hurried to dish herself some river-fresh porridge, only to peer into the pot and find not a single grain of rice left.

Infuriated, she could only viciously chew on her old shepherd's purse, too proud to swallow her pride and eat the water celery.

In the end, Song Zhaodi’s family of four ate their fill, Song Dachuan managed a half-stomach, while Sun Xiuhe was left with nothing but an unsatisfying fish tail and a belly full of coarse shepherd's purse.

A burning heartburn.

Sun Xiuhe had eaten this entire meal fueled purely by anger.

The moment she watched Song Zhaodi’s group finish up and disperse to do chores, she scurried straight over to poison Song Dachuan’s ear.

"Master, did you see that? That eldest girl of ours is getting more rebellious and unmanageable by the day."

Song Dachuan was busy rolling a tobacco leaf and muttered indifferently, "The eldest girl has always been obedient and sensible. She must have just been terribly frightened today."

A full belly makes one soft-spoken.

With the lingering fragrance of the river porridge still fresh on his palate, Song Dachuan smacked his lips and added, "Besides, the food the eldest girl cooks tastes better than yours; that porridge really was something."

Sun Xiuhe felt like she was about to spit fire. She snatched the tobacco leaf right out of Song Dachuan’s hand and spat out, "You're stuffed, but I'm still starving! Is this how your Song family bullies an old woman?"

"How on earth did I end up marrying such a useless pauper? If it were anyone else, they'd have run off long ago. My life is truly bitter!"

Just as Song Zhaodi finished washing the dishes and stepped out of the kitchen, she happened to catch the tail end of Sun Xiuhe’s wailing banshee routine.

This was a terrible sign. Song Dachuan was weak-willed and completely defenseless against Sun Xiuhe’s signature trinity of weeping, making a scene, and threatening self-harm.

Whenever Sun Xiuhe turned on the waterworks, Song Dachuan invariably caved and took her side, and the ones who always took the beating were Song Zhaodi and her parents.

Mulling this over, Song Zhaodi quickly wiped her hands dry and went to find her parents.

Inside the room, Zhao Lanzhi was busy decocting herbal medicine while Song Yaodong let out a heavy sigh.

"Pour two more bowls of water."

Zhao Lanzhi paused mid-pour, disapprovingly saying, "The physician explicitly said to decoct three bowls of water down to one. If you add too much water, the medicinal efficacy will be ruined."

Song Yaodong cast a glance at his leg, which was immobilized between wooden splints, and waved his hand dismissively. "Let it be ruined, then. A hundred days for broken bones and muscles; I have to rest during this entire recovery period and can't do any physical labor."

"With the state our family is in, how could we possibly afford thirty copper coins a day for medicine?"

When they visited the doctor earlier, after paying the consultation fee, the couple's remaining pocket change was only enough for three days' worth of medicine.

Where the money for the next batch would come from was still completely up in the air.

Zhao Lanzhi couldn't bear the thought of her husband suffering without proper medical care. Hesitating for a fraction of a second, she hardened her heart, sealed the lid of the clay medicinal pot tight, and refrained from adding extra water.

"In a couple of days, I'll head back to my maiden home to fetch Yadi, and I can borrow a bit from my brothers then."

"The doctor said when you fell, your head took a heavy blow, leaving pooled blood inside. If the medicine's potency is weakened, your recovery will drag on. Won't that just delay things even further?"

Song Yaodong knew she was right, but having borrowed from his wife’s family endlessly over the years, he genuinely felt like a failure of a man.

He and Zhao Lanzhi had been betrothed since childhood. After his mother passed away, the family fortunes steadily declined.

When Song Dachuan took Sun Xiuhe as his second wife, it swallowed up the majority of the household's remaining savings.

Barely two years later, Sun Xiuhe’s brought-along eldest son, Li Youcai, got married, wiping out almost all the rest.

By the time Song Yaodong reached marriageable age, they couldn't even scrape together a few taels of silver for the bride price, yet Zhao Lanzhi resolutely married into the family anyway.

"It's my fault for being incompetent, making you suffer and drag yourself through the mud with me..."

Song Yaodong was wracked with genuine guilt. Ever since he lost his mother, he had worked himself to the bone.

During peak farming seasons, he headed out to the fields before dawn; during the agricultural lull, he went into town to take on odd labor jobs.

Aside from eating and sleeping, he never stopped working, genuinely believing he could carve out a good life for his wife, only to watch their household grow poorer by the year.

Bending their backs toward the yellow earth, rising earlier than the chickens and sleeping later than the oxen.

Song Yaodong’s industry and diligence were beyond question, but a household can never thrive when it is infested with parasitic bloodsuckers.

Creak~

The moment Song Zhaodi pushed the door open, the couple instantly masked their sorrowful expressions, pasting on reassuring smiles. "Zhaodi, come take a rest. You've been busy all day, must be exhausted right?"

Song Zhaodi shook her head, her fingers instinctively brushing against the money pouch hidden securely at her waist as she walked over.

Seeing the genuine, loving expressions on her parents' faces, the tiny flicker of hesitation remaining in her heart vanished completely.

They were the original body's parents, loving and devoted to their child. Since she had borrowed this body, they were her true family now.

She pulled out the pouch from inside her tunic. "Dad, Mom, don't worry. I still have a hundred and eighty-five copper coins right here."

When the couple heard this, it felt like an absolute dream sequence.

Yet, upon seeing the real, tangible strings of copper coins laid out before them, shock and joy washed over them in equal measure. Learning that the money came from selling wild river turtles, they repeatedly exclaimed that they had struck supreme fortune.

"This means your father's medicine is covered for a few more days."

Song Zhaodi nodded, then added, "There's plenty more wild water celery down by the river. Tomorrow we can go forage a bunch more and take it to the town market to sell for cash."

Hearing this, the dim lights in the couple's eyes blazed to life, as if they could suddenly see a path forward.

Zhao Lanzhi was already growing impatient, rolling up her sleeves to go grab the whetstone. "The two of us will wake up earlier tomorrow morning and catch the morning market."

Song Yaodong smiled warmly and said, "You don't know how to sharpen a blade. Bring the sickles and the whetstone inside the room; I'll handle the sharpening."

Even though their life at home was bitter and impoverished, as long as Song Yaodong was around, he never let Zhao Lanzhi lift a finger for the heavy physical chores.

Before long, Song Yaodong had both sickles gleaming sharp.

With the financial crisis temporarily handled, Song Zhaodi hadn't forgotten about the drama queen screeching next door.

Judging by the looks of it, Song Dachuan would likely come over to cause trouble soon, so she needed to brief her parents in advance.

"Speaking of water, I almost didn't make it back to see you two today," she said.

The excited glow froze instantly on the couple's faces, and they asked in unison, "What on earth happened when you fell into the water during dinner time?"

After listening to Song Zhaodi’s full recounting, a mixture of sheer terror and boiling fury swept through them.

"How could Mother be so cruel?" Amidst her blazing anger, Zhao Lanzhi anxiously pulled Song Zhaodi over to check her from head to toe. "Thank goodness our child has a great destiny..."

Song Yaodong’s expression turned grim as well. Brows locked tightly together, his chest heaved with violent breaths. "I'm going over there to have a word with her! I'm going to get justice for Zhaodi, no matter what!"

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