Chapter 40: Resentment

Zhulan had never seen the autumn harvest. What she saw in her time, was mostly on the news where mechanized farming was done that was fast and labor-saving. So she was very curious to see the harvest of ancient times in person.

The memory of many small things in the body was blurred, but fortunately, the characters and major events were clearly remembered.

Zhulan asked Zhou Shuren, “Would you like to go take a look?”

Zhou Shuren didn’t intend to go, he wasn’t curious at all, there was farmland near the orphanage, he had seen it. But he swallowed the words on seeing Zhulan’s bright eyes, and put down the book in his hand, “Okay.”

Zhulan took out the food for lunch and gave it to Li shi and also gave her some money to buy tofu and meat, and then went to the field with Zhou Shuren.

Zhoujia Village was located in the north, the leaves were turning yellow, and the scenery of the mountains was particularly beautiful. The only people who can appreciate it were the two of them. The people in the village were all nervous about the autumn harvest!

The Zhou family’s land was very easy to find. The six adult men were very efficient. Two acres of rice had already been harvested. The pheasant likes to eat rice the most. When the rice seedlings were cut down, many pheasants were startled.

Zhulan has never eaten pheasants, “It would be good to catch a few. There are so many pheasants.”

The wild pheasant must be good!

Zhou Shuren had experience in trapping birds, “Want to eat?”

“Of course, I have thought about it. In our times, everything we eat is not that tasty, but now that we have come to these ancient times, we crave everything we see and even dream of meat.”

Zhulan dreamed of gnawing on pig trotters several times. When she woke up in the morning, her drool was all over the pillow. Later, she had Zhao Shi make a pillowcase so that Zhou Shuren wouldn’t find out.

Zhou Shuren, “There are a lot of pheasants in this place. I’ll come over in the afternoon and make some traps to see if I can catch them.”

“Do you still have this skill?”

“Covering a pigeon but practicing on sparrows.”(1)

Zhulan believed in Zhou Shuren’s craftsmanship and had already thought about how to make a pheasant. She swept the rice fields and saw Wang Ru and her sisters. Only then did Zhulan remember that the Wang family’s land and Zhou’s family were next to each other! Their fate was strangely intertwined!!

The three girls were laboriously cutting the rice seedlings. Wang Ru had never worked and didn’t cut much for a long time. From time to time, she looked sideways at Fourth Wang with hatred in her eyes. This was because she hated Fourth Wang, and the plot was too deviant. In the original plot of Fourth Wang’s family loved each other and were harmonious.

Now the Zhou family does not involve Wang Zhang shi’s attention, Wang Zhang shi only stares at Fourth Wang’s family, and Fourth Wang was forced to retaliate back fiercely. Even before the child is born, this is how things are. If they have a boy, Wang Ru and her siblings will have no inheritance rights and will only have the option to be sold.”

Zhulan muttered, “No wonder!”

Zhou Shuren’s ears were sharp, “No wonder what?”

Zhulan pulled Zhou Shuren back as they walked and whispered, “In the original text, I already suspected that Sun shi did not have a natural miscarriage and lost the child. When I first arrived, I had this guess. Now, I am almost certain that Wang Ru intentionally caused the miscarriage. She was afraid that if Fourth Wang had a son, she would lose control, so she took extreme measures.”

Zhou Shuren paused and looked back at Wang Ru, who was deeply resentful, “There’s some trouble with the Wang family tonight.”

Zhulan was stunned, “You mean something will happen to Sun shi?”

Zhou Shuren, “Fourth Wang cares only about his wife and the unborn child, and both of them don’t care about the lives of their daughters. Wang Ru can’t bear it anymore.”

Zhulan shuddered. As someone who grew up under the Red Flag (2), she couldn’t imagine hurting someone to that extent. Wang Ru’s actions challenged her perception of what was possible. ‘She’s really ruthless,’ she thought. ‘She will stop at nothing to achieve her goals. Even an unborn life is a life.”

Zhou Shuren patted Zhulan’s shoulder, “You have me.”

Zhulan was confused, “Do you want to save the child?”

She held back the rest of her words. Even if she couldn’t bear it, what could she do? If Fourth Wang and his wife treated their children equally, the child would have been able to be born safely. It was their fault for not valuing their daughter as a human being. If they didn’t change, this child would not be able to be born. Except for Wang Zhang shi who couldn’t bear to see the Fourth Wang room not have an incense (3), the other rooms wouldn’t mind if the child wasn’t born.

Zhou Shuren noticed Zhulan’s change and felt happy. He knew that it wasn’t a matter of having a good heart, but rather having an evil one that was truly frightening. He squeezed Zhulan’s hand and said, “We can’t help with this matter. The root of the problem lies with Fourth Wang and his wife. They are responsible for a large part of it.”

1. This is a Chinese idiom that means to aim high and practice on something more attainable first before achieving the ultimate goal.2. It means she grew up in modern communist China3. In ancient times, only male children could carry on the family name and offer incense i.e. pray for the ancestors. Hence if Fourth Wang doesn’t have a son, his line will be broken and there will be no one to carry his name.