Su Xiaoqi slumped onto the ground, her gaze warning Shen Xiaomei not to help her up.
She lowered her head, her eyes sweeping over the onlookers.
Then, she dabbed her eyes delicately, her tears seemingly genuine, and struggled to stand on her own.
Her frail frame, like a supple willow, combined with her tear-filled, vacant eyes, presented a picture of delicate weakness.
Seeing her about to speak, everyone involuntarily quieted down.
Su Xiaoqi did not disappoint them, her first words delivering a bombshell.
"Good people of the village, my eldest aunt is displeased with me using my dowry money to purchase buckwheat. She is now using filial piety to pressure me, and I can only reluctantly comply. I implore you all to return the buckwheat to the village head's home and refund my money. Thank you for your trouble..."
"What was that?"
"Are you kidding me?"
"What kind of shady deal is this?"
"It's not like that. Money exchanged hands, goods were delivered, it was a done deal. You can't just go back on it. Unreliable, very unreliable."
"Hey, didn't you hear clearly? It's not Mrs. Shen's own idea to return the goods. It's this wretched woman causing trouble."
"Exactly, exactly, it's all her fault."
"I've had enough of her, always shouting and complaining. What good is that?"
...
Soon, everyone understood Su Xiaoqi's words and found a target for their frustration. They all turned their collective anger towards Madam Qian. Even with Madam Qian's sharp tongue, she was no match for twenty or thirty shouting mouths. Her ears were assailed by their "greetings," and her face contorted with unbearable rage. She was furious, her eyes blazing with malice as she glared at Su Xiaoqi. But Su Xiaoqi sat on the steps, watching her with a provocative glint in her eyes.
"You, you, you vile woman, may you die a horrible death..." Madam Qian shrieked, pushing through the crowd. "I can't take it anymore!"
With Madam Qian driven away, someone immediately remembered what had just happened and turned to Su Xiaoqi with a fawning look. They asked if the buckwheat was still being returned.
Su Xiaoqi said leisurely, "As long as my eldest aunt does not interfere, and does not use filial piety or familial ties to pressure us, then I will certainly not return them."
Hearing this, everyone understood. Damn it, it really was Madam Qian, that shrew, causing trouble. Thus, they went chasing after her to the Zhao family, hurling insults.
The Shen family's courtyard suddenly fell silent.
Su Xiaoqi pulled Shen Xiaomei, Shen Erdan, and Zhao Xiaozhu, who was hiding behind a pillar with a complex expression, closer. She patted Zhao Xiaozhu's hand.
"I'm sorry, Sister Xiaoqi," Zhao Xiaozhu apologized suddenly.
Su Xiaoqi raised an eyebrow. "It has nothing to do with you. Don't take everything upon yourself."
Zhao Xiaozhu still couldn't let it go. How could it not be her fault? That was her own mother. Although she disdained her for ruining her purity and had unilaterally disowned her, she couldn't completely harden her heart and deny her own mother. Therefore, she subconsciously blamed Madam Qian's actions on herself.
Seeing that Zhao Xiaozhu was not relieved but seemed even more distressed, Su Xiaoqi had to distract her by comforting her, "Your mother cannot harm me." No matter how loud Madam Qian's voice was, or how shrewish she was, how could she withstand an entire village ganging up on her?
"Pfft..." Shen Erdan, being young, thought about how his eldest aunt, who always bullied him, was now being scolded like a nobody. He couldn't help but let out a snicker. Shen Xiaomei quickly hugged him, looking at Zhao Xiaozhu with some embarrassment. Although she also found it immensely satisfying to see her eldest aunt being chased and insulted like that, she was old enough to know better and couldn't be so undignified, struggling to suppress her laughter.
"You can laugh if you want to," Zhao Xiaozhu said, covering her face as she left. She felt a pang of mixed emotions. On one hand, Madam Qian was her mother, and out of filial duty, she shouldn't mock her. But heavens knew, her mother was truly too detestable. Seeing her suffer setbacks and humiliation, it was understandable that others would be happy. Even she herself felt Madam Qian deserved it. Sigh... Zhao Xiaozhu couldn't believe she would think that way. This was considered extreme unfilial conduct in her over a decade of upbringing.
"Xiaozhu..." Shen Xiaomei realized their actions had caused Zhao Xiaozhu some distress and quickly let go of Shen Erdan to follow her.
"Xiaomei, you come back. Didn't you promise Jinniang you'd learn to make cakes? Hurry back to the kitchen and get busy. I'll go check on her."
In the room, Zhao Xiaozhu was crying heartbrokenly on her bed. Su Xiaoqi stood outside, listening for a while. When she seemed to have processed her emotions, Su Xiaoqi knocked and entered.
Zhao Xiaozhu wiped her tears and opened the door. She wasn't surprised to see Su Xiaoqi enter. In her heart, Sister Xiaoqi was such an understanding person. As long as she was there, she always took everyone's feelings into account.
"Are you feeling any better?" Su Xiaoqi stepped forward to examine Zhao Xiaozhu. Her eyes were red and swollen, like a rabbit's. Zhao Xiaozhu nodded, saying she was fine now, better than ever. She shouldn't cry and worry everyone.
Su Xiaoqi, however, said, "Some say women are made of water. When they are happy, they are gentle like water. When they are unhappy, their tears flow like water. There's nothing wrong with that, you don't need to be ashamed." Su Xiaoqi clearly understood Zhao Xiaozhu's thoughts at the moment. Knowing that her only hang-up was the biological mother-daughter relationship with Madam Qian, she analyzed it from a psychological perspective. Crying was just a normal way for women to vent their emotions. Crying was also a woman's privilege; cry if you want to, don't cry if you don't. As for Madam Qian's affairs, she shouldn't worry too much. As the old saying goes, a mother's love elicits a child's filial piety. If the mother lacks love, why should the child be filial? Moreover, Madam Qian had once wanted to take Zhao Xiaozhu's life.
"There is a destined connection between mothers and daughters. Perhaps when she forced you to die, your mother-daughter bond had already reached its end." Su Xiaoqi also told Zhao Xiaozhu that, of course, as a child's duty, if Madam Qian's future conduct became more reliable, it wouldn't be too late for her to be filial. "Doing nothing now won't change anything." With that, Su Xiaoqi turned and left.
In the kitchen, Shen Xiaomei had already finished making the cake. Her arm was sore from whisking eggs. But as she ate the soft, sweet cake, her face was full of surprise. She never knew that eggs and flour, with a few other ingredients, could be made into such a delicious pastry. Su Xiaoqi ate the golden cake and gave Shen Xiaomei a thumbs-up. She wasn't boasting; even in her modern life, her cakes weren't always successful. Shen Xiaomei truly had a talent.
Seeing Su Xiaoqi's look, Shen Xiaomei knew she had succeeded. She quickly cut three pieces and had Shen Erdan take them to Old Madam Yu, Madam Zhao, and Zhao Xiaozhu.
"Wait, this cake is too sweet. Your mother shouldn't eat it. I'll teach you to make some buckwheat pancakes later. Try to make more coarse grains for your mother-in-law in the future." Staple foods like flour and rice also contained high sugar content. But coarse grains did not. In her modern life, Su Xiaoqi knew people with high blood sugar who feared diabetes and didn't even eat rice for dinner.
Shen Xiaomei readily agreed, then seemed to recall something. "Oh, right, eldest sister-in-law, Aunt Chen asked me to ask you if you sent a little beggar to her shop to get some rice?"
"Ah..." Su Xiaoqi, who had been focused on her buckwheat, didn't react immediately. She went over Shen Xiaomei's words in her mind before nodding. "Yes, that's right. Why, did they go a few times?"
"Only once. Jinniang packed two liters of rice for him," Shen Xiaomei replied truthfully. "Jinniang was afraid she'd made a mistake, so she had Brother Jia'an follow the beggar to the Chenghuang Temple in the east of the city. Brother Jia'an said they were so pitiful; a little sister was sick and had a bad cough..." Shen Xiaomei was simply kind-hearted. Su Xiaoqi's heart tightened.