Suddenly, Tong Yu Er did not know whether to laugh or cry. Her mother was thinking too far ahead. Besides, Miao Chu He had promised to stay with her for the rest of his life. She trusted his words and she knew that he would never abandon her, but this was not something she could tell her mother.
“Don’t just smile at me, I’m being serious here!” Mistress Tong grew anxious seeing her response.
Tong Yu Er nodded with a sigh, and mumbled, “Alright, Mother. I’ll keep that in mind.”
“Good, you better not forget this and quickly give birth to another child! You must take advantage of your youth. Besides, you have a lot of free time on hand too!” Mistress Tong persisted.
“Mother…” Tong Yu Er blushed.
“Foolish girl! You’re a mother now! What’s there to be embarrassed about?” Mistress Tong chuckled at her daughter’s reaction.
It gave Tong Yu Er a sudden realization, and she too laughed along. Then, she said with a slight hint of coquettishness as she was deeply moved, “Even when I become a grandmother, I’m still your daughter!”
“Exactly! No matter how old you get, you’re still my little girl!” Mistress Tong was also moved by their exchange as she sighed.
Tong Yu Er did not wish to chat about having children anymore, so she asked, “By the way, all the villages have been busy with fixing the water canal and reservoir recently. How about our family? We weren’t left out from this project, right?”
Mistress Tong nodded, “With the county magistrate giving orders and the fact that this will bring good to everyone, the Tong Family had to keep up with our reputation. How can we be left out from this? Hmm, yes. The weather has been quite different compared to previous years. No one can neglect this anymore. So, what about your side? How is it going?”
Tong Yu Er was relieved to hear that and she smiled, “Our family has been busy with this too. You’re right about that. The weather this year seems different from before! I was quite worried that Father would be stubborn and refuse to listen to the county magistrate. In that case, I don’t have to worry anymore.”
Mistress Tong could not help feeling touched to know that she would think of their family whenever something came up. She laughed, “Your father may be as stubborn as a mule, but he thinks rationally. There’s no need for you to worry! Gosh, you should just enjoy your life! Perhaps in the future, you might have a chance to reconcile with him. Anyway, you’re still our daughter. We can’t simply break ties and live our lives indifferently! That would be unacceptable!”
“What ties? She’s already not part of this family for a long time!” Just as Mistress Tong finished her sentence, the door slammed open from the outside and there stood an angry Master Tong, scaring the two of them out of their wits.
“Master…” Mistress Tong suddenly panicked.
Tong Yu Er hastily took Jin Er from her mother’s arms and forced a smile to greet, “Father…”
“I am not your father!” Master Tong scoffed coldly before turning to face Mistress Tong, “I thought you went to pray. How did you end up here?”
No words came out from Mistress Tong’s mouth. Of course, she felt guilty, especially when she was caught red-handed by her husband.
“I asked her to meet me. Father, there’s no need to blame my mother. The fault is mine!” Tong Yu Er quickly explained.
“Hmph!” Master Tong scoffed, “The affairs of the Tong Family has nothing to do with you, so you better watch yourself and don’t get involved, Mistress Juren!”
“Father!” Tong Yu Er sobbed, feeling a sharp pang of pain in her chest.
“Shut up! I am not your father! The Tong Family does not have a daughter as capable as you!” Master Tong’s expression was cold and blank, void of any emotions or empathy.
“Father-in-law!” Miao Chu He actually never left them. He left them only for the convenience of her wife and mother-in-law to speak in private. He was just at the hall outside having tea and snacks, but when he saw his father-in-law rushed in with anger, he followed him. Just as he stepped in, he overhead his father-in-law scolding his wife.
He was heartbroken and ashamed of himself when he heard his wife sobbing sadly. He stepped up and said, “Father-in-law, it’s my fault today—”
“You shut your mouth!” Master Tong snapped, “It’s not only today’s situation! It’s also your fault that the Tong Family ended up like this today! I’ll tell you something, so what if you’re a Juren or even a Zhuang Yuan? Pfft! The Tong Family won’t cherish you! I will never approve of this marriage even after I die! You just mind your own family’s business and leave the Tong Family out of it! We can’t afford to lose our reputation because of you!”
Tong Yu Er’s face paled, and tears streamed down her cheeks.
Seeing his mother weeping, Jin Er blinked his dark big eyes and watched his grandfather coldly. His lips twitched and he turned around, wailing loudly into his mother’s embrace.
Tong Yu Er felt worse when her son started crying. She hugged him tightly and they both dissolved into a crying mess.
“How, how could you do this? How could you?! Even if you don’t want our daughter, I want her! If you don’t love her, I’ll still love her! You’re so, so—” Tears welled up in Mistress Tong’s eyes as she watched her daughter and grandson sobbing. She said shakily, “Fine! Do whatever you want! You just want to keep up with your reputation! I swear, one day, you will regret this! I will say this today to you: If you don’t approve of our daughter and son-in-law, I approve of them! I will stay in contact with them after this and you don’t have a say in this!”
“Preposterous! How dare you?” Master Tong was in so much rage that he glared at Miao Chu He and bellowed, “Are you satisfied now? Did everything go as you wished? You broke my perfect family into pieces! You, you— you just wait! I will never forgive you!”
He continued by chiding the old maids, “What are you waiting for? Get the mistress home now! Stop embarrassing us further here!”
No one dared to disobey as they hurriedly dragged Mistress Tong out. Besides, Mistress Tong did not want to tarnish their image by making a fuss. She watched her daughter with tears in her eyes but eventually followed them away.
“Mother! Mother!” Tong Yu Er called out for her again and again, tears streaming down her face.
The atmosphere in the room finally calmed down, and Miao Chu He shut the door before sighing gently, “It’s alright, Yu Er. It’s all my fault that I didn’t sort things out properly. I’ve disappointed you again.”
Tong Yu Er felt even more upset and guilty at his words, shaking her head while she sobbed.
Miao Chu He comforted her, but how could she have listened when she was so distressed? Seeing that her husband was so caring, she felt even worse and her tears fell continuously like pearls falling from a broken necklace.
Miao Chu He did not shy away, he took his son from her arms and forced a smile, “Yu Er, look at him. Your crying is making Jin Er cry too. You should stop crying.”
Tong Yu Er suddenly realized that as she raised her head to see her son crying with flushed cheeks. She could not help feeling bad for him. He wiped his tears and finally, she stopped crying.
“How could my father be so cruel? Am I really his daughter?” Tong Yu Er sighed lightly, getting teary again.
Miao Chu He felt bad as well. “You shouldn’t be too upset over it. Time will fix everything and one day, he will come around with this.”
“There’s no need!” Tong Yu Er shook her head and said without sentimental, “There’s no need for that! If my father is that heartless, why should I keep shamelessly asking for his approval? It serves me right that he would humiliate me and scold me, but he involved you in this—”
Tong Yu Er gazed at her husband guiltily, “To see you involved in this humiliation, I, I truly—”
“What nonsense are you saying?” Miao Chu He laughed, “Don’t think that! Actually, he’s right. If it weren’t for me, your family would never end up like this. I was a poor useless kid who stole your heart, and your father felt bad for you.”
Tong Yu Er felt better to hear that from him. The hurt slowly faded away from her heart, but when she gave it another thought, she felt even more guilty. “But he treated you that way—”
Miao Chu He laughed, “It’s nothing! Your father was merely doing that out of love for you, it was not because he was being cruel. Why wouldn’t I know that? Yu Er, I’ve seen real heartless people and I’ve lived with them before. I’ve heard those cruel words countless times since I was young. I’m not as clueless as you think I am.”
Tong Yu Er could not help choking up a laugh as a warm gentle feeling spread across her heart. She sighed lightly, “Forget it. We won’t contact the Tong Family ever again after this! I’ll be fine as long as I know they’re well. Why should I bother when it would only make everyone upset?” And you would have to suffer too.
Miao Chu He replied, “We’ll leave this discussion until the time comes. You shouldn’t be overthinking this! By the way, there’s nothing much going on in the Miao Family’s village recently, when do you think we should go back to my sister’s place?”
Tong Yu Er’s eyes lit up with a sparkle. Suddenly, happiness appeared on her face as she nodded with a smile, “Anytime of course! We can go back two days later! I do miss Xiao Shu and Xiao Xue!”
The couple looked into each other’s eyes and smiled. They chatted before leaving the inn with their son in their arms.
Two days later, they returned to the Lu Family’s house.
The water canal was about fixed other than some finishing steps.
The water canal that they fixed was not too wide. It was merely half-meter wide, but it was very deep. This was Mr Wu’s design which he specifically instructed them to follow. It would not take up much land, and the soil got looser as they dug deeper.
Since Feng Ye Village was located at a place called the Ying Tan Zui, there was an old water reservoir in the village. The land was, therefore, wedged between two hills, forming a valley. The two hillsides were steep and the valley was a deep ravine. It could store water like a dam but not flood the crops. Thus, the people fixed the reservoir and it was now holding water.
Other than this largest reservoir, there were also three other smaller reservoirs that were built following the shape of the river. They were almost finished with their construction and ready for storing water.
Everyone had done all the necessary preparations and they finally relaxed, letting out a deep sigh of relief.
It was already mid-May. The weather could be seen changing every day, and it had been more than a month without a drop of rain. The river water was also obviously getting lesser. Moreover, every morning when the villagers woke up from their slumber, they were certain that it would be another sunny day.
While they sighed in relief, they were glad that they had done enough work to prepare for Mother Nature. Otherwise, they would be worried sick about their crops.
