With so many people watching, Wang Yongshun naturally couldn’t pull any tricks, and the accountant brought by Tian Youfu was strict and impartial. Item by item, things were tallied up, and both sides were finally even.
Wang Yongshun was fuming inside, but he couldn’t help holding onto a shred of hope. Wang Ying got so many things—could she really keep them all? Once everyone left, those things would still end up being his sooner or later. Just the food in the kitchen—the grain and the cured meat—could Wang Ying eat it all by herself?
But before Wang Yongshun could even react, Wang Ying directly took the food out…
Wang Yongshun felt like his heart was bleeding, yet he still had to pretend to be magnanimous: “San Ya is right. It’s been a hard day for everyone, and we’ve delayed you all—this is only fair.”
The people around had an incredibly good impression of Wang Ying now. This girl, she was sentimental and righteous!
Someone even rushed home to bring over some potatoes and sweet potatoes to contribute. The cured meat Wang Ying brought out was a solid four to five jin (about 2–2.5 kg). It wasn’t quite enough to feed everyone, but if each household added some radish or potatoes, it would do.
Some nosy folks were whispering, thinking Wang Ying was too generous for her own good.
Who just gives out food for free like that? In the countryside, it’s not easy to save up any provisions.
That cured meat—cut a little each day, and it could last through winter!
And that lard—if used sparingly, it could feed a whole family for half a year.
In times like this, didn’t everyone live frugally and scrape by?
But Wang Ying didn’t think that way.
First, Wang Ying was very clear about her own cooking skills—her skills were like setting off fireworks in the kitchen. At best, she could steam an egg or make boiled vegetables. Anything more was out of the question. She couldn’t even cook rice properly in an electric cooker—always half-raw—so this kind of wood-fired stove was basically a nightmare for her.
So that piece of cured meat at home? She couldn’t cook it anyway.
Besides, Wang Ying knew her uncle’s family wouldn’t just stand by and watch her enjoy good food and comfort.
Not to mention, there was still her cousin lying in the room, God knows what she was thinking.
Wang Ying figured that with just that piece of meat and some lard sitting there, she could already imagine the greedy eyes and scheming minds of her aunt and cousin.
Plus, although things went smoothly this time, there was one downside: she’d basically revealed all her family’s possessions to the entire production team.
Who could guarantee there wasn’t at least one or two bad apples among them?
It’s not just about being afraid of thieves—what’s worse is being watched by thieves. So, better to be the good guy and let everyone eat the stuff clean.
Wang Ying, face full of righteous conviction, insisted it was her way of saying thanks.
Tian Youfu was helpless. He couldn’t help but think: is this girl a bit slow in the head? But it also served as a reminder—his wife would need to visit more often to make sure that once they left, Wang Yongshun’s family wouldn’t start cheating her again.
And he wasn’t the only one with that thought. Uncle Tian and Tian Dashu were both silently making up their minds. Uncle Tian was thinking he’d have his son, Erzhu, come by to visit Wang Ying more often. Tian Dashu, on the other hand, thought he’d hold back for now, but if it happened again, he’d definitely report it to the commune authorities.
The large stove was fired up, and the cured meat was prepared. Since there were many people, they sliced it thin. Corn flour mixed with white flour was used to make sliced noodles. When the noodles were cooked, lard was added directly to the pot, making the soup oily and fragrant.
The children from each household ran home to grab bowls, hugging them as they came back to eat noodles and drink soup—with a few slices of cured meat on top. It smelled like Chinese New Year.
As Wang Ying ate the cured meat noodles, she pondered her current situation.
Life was certainly difficult now, but at least the place she was in wasn’t too bad.
For one, it was nestled by the mountains and rivers—not like the northwest where even getting water was hard. Because it was close to the mountains, the production team not only worked the fields but also had its own mountain forest for growing fruit trees. These orchards were also a source of income for the team. Thanks to this, life in Production Team 7 wasn’t too bad—it wasn’t easy to eat well, but at least no one went hungry often.
The mountain at their backs was practically a treasure trove. During the difficult years earlier, the outer edges of the mountain had been foraged clean by the people. But after just a few years, it had recovered again, proving how good the ecological environment was.
Wang Ying considered her own abilities. She had medical skills. Before the apocalypse came, she had been a surgeon. And because her elders were traditional Chinese medicine doctors, she had also learned some TCM. She understood acupuncture, massage, and how to prescribe herbal remedies—at least a bit of everything.
Later, the apocalypse came. It started with various natural disasters, forcing her to become a jack of all trades. Surgery, obstetrics, pediatrics—anything that could save lives, she studied and practiced. In the process, she actually gained a lot of hands-on experience.
It’s not an exaggeration to say that she’s now capable of handling most common illnesses without any problem.
Wang Ying slurped the noodles in her bowl. The aroma of the cured meat wasn’t overpowering—instead, it was the lard-infused noodle soup that was more enticing. But once she chewed on the cured meat, it had a pleasant chewiness that made it more and more flavorful with every bite.
The noodles weren’t made from pure white flour; they had more cornmeal in them. The slight sweetness of the cornmeal made her feel incredibly satisfied. She took another sip of the noodle soup and felt full and content.
That meal made Wang Ying beam with joy, while the entire Wang Yongshun family sat inside the house seething with hatred and frustration.
The women who cooked and served the food didn’t even bother to look at Wang Yongshun’s family. Wang Yongshun had no choice but to stay cooped up in the house. Li Chunjuan still had the rag stuffed in her mouth and was crying her eyes out, wanting to throw a fit, but a slap from Wang Yongshun silenced her.
Over on Wang Ying’s side, after finishing the meal, she started to think about what she could do next. She was already eighteen and no longer in school. The work points and subsidies the brigade provided would only last until next year. In other words, her current assets were only the furniture and house, plus the few dozen yuan she had just wrestled from Li Chunjuan.
That amount of money was enough to support her until the wheat harvest later this year, when the brigade would distribute food.
Wang Ying sighed. What now? After all she’d gone through to end up in a place like this, she wasn’t willing to go hungry no matter what. But working in the fields wasn’t her strength.
In the end, she’d have to go back to her old trade.
But before that, Wang Ying looked at her own thin and frail frame. She had to recover first. With the original owner’s physique, if she went around claiming to be a doctor, no one would believe her.
That evening, after sending everyone off, Wang Ying heated up some water for a bath. After bathing, she rushed into her clean, cozy bed. The feeling of contentment was indescribable.
The new quilt Li Chunjuan had made was very thick, clearly filled with good cotton. Wang Ying closed the door and fell asleep feeling completely satisfied.
While she slept soundly, the neighboring room where Li Chunjuan and Wang Yongshun were had no peace that night.
As soon as the gag was removed, Li Chunjuan tried to rush out, her hair disheveled like a bird’s nest.
Wang Yongshun stopped her, his eyes full of fury. “What are you trying to do again?”
Li Chunjuan’s voice was hoarse from crying all day and being gagged so long: “I’m going to find that little wretch! I’ll tear her apart!”
Her things! Her belongings! The household she’d built up for Yaozong!
Today she had to watch helplessly while that little wretch put on a show, crying and acting so pitiful. She wanted to rip her face off!
The window, the water tank, and the enamel basin at home had clearly been broken by Wang Ying, yet it seemed like everyone had forgotten that. They all rushed to side with her instead.
Li Chunjuan, feeling utterly wronged, clung to Wang Yongshun, crying and complaining.
Wang Yongshun frowned deeply. Wang Ying broke their things? Even he had trouble believing it.
“You’re telling the truth? Wang Ying broke them? Not you?”
Li Chunjuan grew more aggrieved. Why would she break their own stuff? In her eyes, all of it belonged to her and Yaozong! Why would she destroy her own property?
As Li Chunjuan tearfully and angrily recounted everything, Wang Yongshun’s shock grew.
Once he gathered his thoughts, he blocked her from rushing out even more firmly. “Don’t ever bring this up again.”
Even if she did, what difference would it make? Wang Ying had carefully timed the destruction. Except for the unconscious Wang Lingling, no one else at home had seen who did it.
Li Chunjuan had already gotten herself into trouble by beating someone. If she brought this up now, no one would believe her. People would just think she was dishonest and slandering Wang Ying.
“From now on, treat San Ya properly,” he warned, though he was still simmering with anger.
He always knew Li Chunjuan was dumb. He used to be annoyed by it—why wasn’t she more like Yongfu’s wife, who was always gentle, literate, and even skilled in medicine?
But after Yongfu and his wife met misfortune, he changed his mind.
There were benefits to having a dumb wife. When she charged ahead on his command, he could stay behind and pick up the spoils.
Just like with Wang Ying—if Li Chunjuan hadn’t beaten her so badly this time, Wang Ying would still be under their thumb.
Wang Yongshun warned her: “From now on, be nice to San Ya. Don’t act like before.”
Li Chunjuan protested, “Why? That little wretch doesn’t deserve it!”
Wang Yongshun’s head throbbed. He broke it down for her: “She’s eighteen now. How long before she gets married? If you offend her now, what about those two rooms of hers? Don’t be stupid. Be nice to her. Even if it’s just for show. Once she gets married, all that stuff will be ours again.”
Li Chunjuan was still unhappy. She wanted Wang Ying’s house, her money, and she wanted her to go back to serving them like before.
Wang Yongshun’s eyes turned cold. “What’s the point of saying that now?”
If it weren’t for how badly Li Chunjuan had treated her, all that stuff could have still been theirs. Now? Maybe the house and furniture were still possible. As for getting Wang Ying to serve them again…
Even he wouldn’t dare!
But Wang Yongshun still had a fire burning in his chest, stuck there and refusing to go down.
“Later, keep an eye out and start looking for marriage prospects for San Ya. Her parents are gone. For big decisions like this, it’s up to us now. Don’t just focus on the present—think ahead.”
Wang Yongshun resented Wang Ying deeply. That girl was deliberately making things hard for them.
Sure, he and his brother had divided the family years ago.
But his brother was gone, wasn’t he? Even though there’d been no death notice, it had been years since he went off to war. Odds were high that he wasn’t coming back.
Back when Wang Yingniang was still around, he had openly and implicitly mentioned it several times.
That house should belong to the Wang family. Wang Ying was just a girl—she had no share in continuing the family line! So why should the house his brother left behind go to Wang Ying?
That was a house made of blue bricks!
Wang Yongshun didn’t think of himself as a heartless man taking advantage of his brother’s family. On the contrary, he believed deep down that Wang Ying and her mother were the ones who were being unreasonable.
If they were truly sensible, they would’ve clearly stated early on that the house should go to him. Then, out of brotherly affection, he might have shown them some kindness.
Wang Yongshun let out a heavy breath at Li Chunjua.
“Keep an eye on Sanya too. With her temper… she needs to marry someone who will dote on her, preferably someone whose family is a bit complicated.”
Once she’s married and busy with her husband’s household matters all day, she won’t have the time to stir up trouble at home.
(T/N: Whole family is rotten)
I am just a novice translator and Chinese is not my native language. I try my best to translate the chapters as accurate as possible.
If there are any mistakes then kindly comment and remind me. Your support means a lot.
