Chapter 4

No matter how filthy the silver was, it was still silver. Zhou Chunxiu took another cloth bag, picked up the silver, washed it twice, and put it away again. Yang Wan watched her eldest sister-in-law carrying the river snails away to wash them and immediately stopped her. "Eldest Sister-in-law, these are dirty. Why don't we just stop eating them?" Wu Fen replied patiently: "Little sister picked them herself. I'll make sure to wash them thoroughly. Once I'm done, they won't be dirty anymore." Zhou Chunxiu also chimed in. "How can we leave the river snails uneaten after going through the trouble of collecting them? I suppose your habit of being overly particular about cleanliness isn't going to change. We'll have to trouble your eldest sister-in-law again." Only then did Yang Wan understand. The source of the silver was suspicious, so it was better for the family to be cautious. Although Yang Wan felt disgusted just thinking about it and couldn't even finish her breakfast, the rest of the Yang family finally breathed a sigh of relief. Yang Wan poured the white porridge from her own bowl into Hutou's. "Mother, from now on, I'll eat the same food as everyone else. There's no need for Sister-in-law to prepare separate meals for me." Everyone else ate porridge made with beans and coarse grains, while only she and Hutou were given white rice porridge. How could she possibly enjoy it without feeling guilty? Zhou Chunxiu looked at Yang Wan and saw that she was being sincere. She felt that her daughter had truly become more sensible, so she nodded. "The doctor said you need time to recover, so keep eating it for a few more days. Let's give you half a month to recuperate. But now that our family has a little more money, we'll buy extra grain today and store it. Everyone won't have to eat only coarse grains anymore." Her eldest sister-in-law still saved an egg for her. Although Yang Wan secretly gave it to Hutou again, this time she sincerely thanked her kind-hearted sister-in-law. This startled Wu Fen quite badly. In her eyes, marrying into the Yang family had been like falling into a nest of happiness. Although her younger sister-in-law had always been cold and disliked her, she was still just a child. At most, she would say a few unpleasant things that weren't particularly hurtful. Back in her maiden home, Wu Fen had never had enough to eat or wear. Her stepmother and biological father had never shown her a kind expression. Every day, she was either being beaten or scolded. After marrying into the Yang family, she found that her parents-in-law were kind, her husband was considerate, and although the family wasn't particularly wealthy, they could at least afford to eat their fill every day. Besides, she was the one at fault for not bringing a dowry when she married into the family. It was only natural that her younger sister-in-law disliked her. She had been observing Yang Wan's changes over the past few days. Deep down, she felt that perhaps this incident hadn't been entirely a bad thing after all. Now that they finally had enough silver to avoid military service, even her steps felt lighter. She became even more attentive toward Yang Wan. Seeing that there weren't many river snails in the basin, she went back to the river and collected another large basinful. She thought Yang Wan had no appetite and wanted to prepare something delicious for her. Meanwhile, after breakfast, Yang Wan was summoned into her parents' room. She felt somewhat uneasy, unsure how to explain everything in a way that would sound convincing. Through the crack in the door, she saw her eldest brother standing guard outside. It was clear just how much the family cared about the original owner. Before she could even think of an explanation, Yang Daye dropped a question that left her completely stunned. "Wanya, did you find that money at Butcher Wu's house or at the village chief's?" Yang Wan widened her eyes and stared at her father, who was usually a man of few words but had a rather intimidating presence. Of course, after searching through the original owner's memories, Yang Wan knew that Yinxiang was the wife of Butcher Wu, while the man called Brother Sheng was the village chief's youngest son, Yang Sheng. He was also a member of the Yang clan, sharing the same ancestral lineage. Yang Daye even had to address the village chief as his Second Uncle. Zhou Chunxiu looked at her daughter with an amused smile. "Your father guessed it correctly, didn't he? How many secrets do you think you can keep? You can't fool your father!" Yang Daye gave a quiet snort. "How many families in our village could possibly save up that much silver?" Even the Yang family had only managed to accumulate their savings because he went into the mountains during the farming off-season to hunt wild game and earn some extra money. Yang Wan looked at him with admiration. "Father, you're amazing!" Only then did she explain everything she had witnessed involving Yinxiang and Yang Sheng, including their secret affair. Upon hearing this, Zhou Chunxiu gave her a hard pinch. "You foolish girl! How could you be so reckless? What if they had discovered you and beaten you to death? Do you think you'd still be standing here safe and sound?" Yang Daye also nodded solemnly. "Yang Sheng isn't involved in any respectable business in the county town. People in the village have seen him carrying large bundles in and out of pawnshops. Whatever he's doing, it might be the kind of business that could cost him his head." "And that Butcher Wu? He's already beaten two of his wives to death. Do you think he's a kind man?" Yang Wan felt a chill run down her spine. She suddenly remembered that the navigation arrow had been yellow. Could that have meant there was a certain degree of danger? Green meant there was no danger, while red must mean a much higher level of risk! "So you're saying you dreamed that someone told you there was silver hidden there, and you just followed the directions in a daze?" Yang Wan quickly nodded. "Wanya hasn't even stepped outside the house these past two days. How could she possibly know about their disgraceful affair?" "Dear, do you think it could be..." Zhou Chunxiu's expression became somewhat mysterious. Yang Daye pondered for a moment before speaking. "Later, I'll have Second Brother make a trip to invite Daoist Xu over to take a look at Wanya." A Taoist priest? Don't tell me they're going to think I'm a demon and try to capture me! Yang Wan felt a little nervous. Seeing her expression, Zhou Chunxiu smiled. "What are you afraid of? The physician couldn't even wake you up back then. It was Daoist Xu who gave you some talisman water, and you woke up on your own just half a day later!" Yang Wan had no real memory of this. She only remembered choking on water and waking up in the Yang family home. "Originally, we were supposed to thank Daoist Xu after you recovered, but these past two days have been so hectic that we haven't had the chance." Yang Daye nodded. "That's only right. Then we won't go to town today. Besides, there's no water in the fields again. I'll take Yong and the others to irrigate the crops first." Remembering that the river was now barely more than a shallow stream, Yang Wan quickly spoke up. "Yes, you should hurry! The river is almost completely dry!" Yang Daye immediately furrowed his brows. "This is precisely the time when the grain is filling out. What are we supposed to do without water? It's been more than half a month since the last rainfall." Yang Wan suddenly had a bad feeling. Don't tell me they're going to suffer a drought too? Am I really this unlucky? Before long, she saw other villagers carrying water to their fields to irrigate their crops. Meanwhile, trouble also began brewing between Butcher Wu's household and the village chief's family. After all the men in the family went out to work, Yang Wan stayed with Wu Fen near the entrance, helping her prepare the river snails. Originally, collecting river snails had only been an excuse for Yang Wan. But Wu Fen had gone back to the river and gathered another large basinful. She scrubbed and washed them repeatedly, boiled them for quite some time, and finally began picking the meat out of their shells. Yang Wan felt embarrassed just standing around watching, so she took a thin bamboo skewer and joined Hutou in helping extract the snail meat. The meat was incredibly small. Even with two adults and one child working for quite a while, they barely managed to collect any. No wonder everyone disliked preparing them. Just as they were busy working, Liu Cuihua showed up uninvited. "Come in and sit down, Aunt Cuihua!" Wu Fen greeted her politely, as always. However, Liu Cuihua barely acknowledged her after sitting down. Instead, she moved closer to Yang Wan and asked: "You saw it this morning too, didn't you? I clearly saw you coming down from the other side of the river. Did you witness what happened over there?" As she spoke, her eyes sparkled with barely concealed excitement. Yang Wan naturally denied everything. "I don't know what Fourth Aunt is talking about. The ground on the opposite bank is higher, so I went over there to see whether there was still water in our fields. I wanted to tell Father and the others if they needed to irrigate them." She had just thought of that excuse, and fortunately, it worked perfectly. "I don't believe that! I heard everything while I was washing clothes. How could you possibly know nothing about it?" Liu Cuihua casually grabbed a handful of river snails, then immediately tossed them back with a look of disgust. Wu Fen didn't know what Liu Cuihua was referring to, but she still spoke up in Yang Wan's defense. "If Wanya says she doesn't know, then she doesn't know. Fourth Aunt, why don't you go ask someone else?" Liu Cuihua wasn't offended at all. "It's actually better that you don't know! Let me tell you, something terrible has happened at the village chief's house!" She then described, in an extremely exaggerated tone, how Butcher Wu had dragged his wife to the village chief's home and forced her to identify her lover. Yang Wan could only think about the silver. If she had arrived even a little later, Butcher Wu might have forced the woman to reveal where it was hidden. But had Yinxiang and Yang Sheng revealed anything about the silver?