General, Your Wife Is Requesting Your Return Home For Farming Chapter 5

After placing the sweet potato cakes into the steamer, Su Xiaoxiao headed toward the river behind the village, carrying a basin filled with laundry.

The flowing water served several surrounding villages, acting as the primary spot for locals to wash their rice and clothes. Although it was just dawn, a crowd had already gathered at the riverbank.

When the villagers spotted Fatty Su approaching with her wooden basin, they reacted as if they had seen a ghost! This notoriously lazy woman had actually risen early to do chores? They wondered if their eyes were deceiving them or if the sun had decided to rise from the west today.

Then a darker thought struck them: Fatty Su must be here to extort someone!

Terror filled their eyes. Before Su Xiaoxiao could even get close, they grabbed their buckets and fled the scene in a panic.

Su Xiaoxiao could only shrug helplessly before finding a spot to squat by the water’s edge. In this ancient era, there was no industrial pollution; the water was crystal clear and the air she inhaled felt incredibly crisp.

She pulled the garments out, spreading them across a flat boulder. She scrubbed them with soap and used a wooden stick to beat the suds out, rinsing and repeating the cycle. By the time the basin was finished, she was covered in a light layer of sweat.

As Su Xiaoxiao headed back with the heavy basin, she happened to cross paths with Little Wu, the eldest daughter-in-law of Liu Shan, who was just arriving at the river. When Little Wu saw her, she began to shake with such fright that the wooden stick in her basin tumbled out, landing right at Su Xiaoxiao’s feet.

Paralyzed by fear, Little Wu wanted to retrieve her tool but lacked the courage to move. Su Xiaoxiao shifted her basin to one hand and leaned over to pick up the stick.

Little Wu squeezed her eyes shut in anticipation of a blow!

Clunk.

The expected strike never landed. Little Wu opened her eyes fearfully to find the stick back in her basin. She turned around, staring in disbelief as Fatty Su walked away without uttering a single word.

“She... she just left?”

... .

Back at the Su household, the three little ones had woken up. Su Ergou and Su Cheng were both the type to sleep late into the morning, while Wei Ting remained unconscious due to his severe illness. With no one there to dress them, the three children climbed out of bed and wandered around barefoot.

They explored the house, but none of the adults could be roused. Just then, the sound of children’s voices drifted over from the neighbor’s house, and the triplets followed the noise curiously.

The Liu family lived next door. While the eldest daughter-in-law was at the river, the second daughter-in-law, Madam He, was busy with her son, Niu Dan. At seven years old, Niu Dan was the prized only grandson of the Liu family.

“Mother! Put my clothes on!” he demanded.

“Alright, alright, just wait a second. Let your father finish his medicine first,” Madam He replied. Her husband had recently sprained his back digging for lotus roots, and the doctor had ordered herbal medicine to help his circulation.

The three little children stood on their tiptoes, peeking over the windowsill to watch the family scene with wide eyes. Niu Dan noticed the three small intruders and, knowing they were the Su family's new "burdens," he looked at them with contempt.

He stuck his tongue out mockingly. “Lue! I’ll beat you guys to death!”

“Get down from there!” Madam He swatted her son’s backside and pushed him onto the bed so she could dress him.

“Mother, I want sugar eggs!” Niu Dan whined.

“Of course! I’ll make them for you!” Madam He agreed instantly. Since she was the only one in the family to produce a son, everyone spoiled him. She would have given him two eggs if he’d asked.

Niu Dan sat there eating his sweet egg, smugly watching the three little ones. When Su Xiaoxiao returned home with her laundry, she found the triplets staring longingly at Niu Dan’s snack. They were barefoot and dressed in nothing but thin rags.

Su Xiaoxiao frowned and set her basin down. Upon seeing Fatty Su, Niu Dan’s arrogance evaporated, and he turned tail and ran. Su Xiaoxiao ushered the three children back inside, making sure they were properly dressed and had shoes on their feet.

She noticed they were even thinner than she had first realized. Looking at Wei Ting and the quality of their clothes, they didn't seem like they came from a family that couldn't afford food. Why were they so scrawny?

“Are you hungry?” she inquired.

The three little ones nodded in unison.

“I’ll get you some food.” Su Xiaoxiao walked into the kitchen, followed closely by the children who kept their eyes glued to the egg basket.

“Do you want these?” she asked.

Again, they nodded. Su Xiaoxiao cracked three eggs and prepared them with sugar, giving one to each child. The stove house was warm from the fire, so she pulled up a small stool and let them sit there to enjoy their meal.

Next, she went to Wei Ting’s room to wake him. “It’s time for your medicine.”

Wei Ting opened his eyes groggily. Su Xiaoxiao propped him up and administered his anti-inflammatory and blood-pressure medications. He had no appetite for food and quickly drifted back into sleep.

The three children watched all of this from the doorway. They compared it to what they had seen next door earlier that morning. That woman had fed Father Niu medicine, dressed Niu Dan, and made him sugar eggs. Niu Dan had called her "Mother."

... .

Su Xiaoxiao woke Su Ergou and instructed him to stay home to watch the children and the patient. She needed to head into town. Although Su Cheng had gone the day before, he was a man who lacked any sense of financial planning. After robbing that money, his first instinct wasn't to buy staples like rice or flour, but to buy snacks for his daughter.

Most of the loot had been blown on treats, leaving them with less than two hundred copper coins. With the end of the year approaching and prices climbing, supporting a household of four—plus herself—on such a small amount was a daunting task. She needed a plan to make some money.

As she walked and pondered, a sharp voice suddenly called out from ahead.

“Fatty Su!”

“Oh?” Su Xiaoxiao looked up. “He Tongsheng?”

He Tongsheng, whose real name was He Jian, was the third son of the He family. Ergou had mentioned he fled to town after the engagement was broken yesterday, yet here he was at the entrance of the market. He was accompanied by two other young men who looked like fellow scholars.

He Tongsheng marched over, his face twisted in disgust. “Fatty Su, enough! Stop stalking me!”

Su Xiaoxiao’s brow furrowed. “You actually think I’m here because of you?”

“Aren’t you?” He Tongsheng sneered.

“Actually, you're right.” Su Xiaoxiao nodded and held out her hand.

He Tongsheng recoiled as if she were a venomous snake. “What do you think you’re doing?”

Su Xiaoxiao gave a chilly smile. “The betrothal gift. Surely you didn't think you could cancel the wedding but keep the money?”

“You!”

“What? I’m warning you, don't try to play games with me. Even at a brothel, you have to pay after a few touches. I never married you, and we certainly didn't consummate anything. Don't even dream of keeping a single copper coin!”

He Tongsheng was livid! This fat woman had the audacity to compare him to a common prostitute!

The problem was, he had already spent some of that money.

Su Xiaoxiao continued calmly, “If you don't pay it back, we can settle this at the government office.”

He Tongsheng gritted his teeth. “Aren’t you afraid of the humiliation of dragging this to the officials?”

“What is 'face' worth? Can I eat it?” Su Xiaoxiao countered. “Besides, you’re the one who should be embarrassed. You took the gift and agreed to the match.”

He Tongsheng’s face flushed red. “I was tricked by that matchmaker!”

Su Xiaoxiao’s gaze turned cold. “For someone who has spent years reading the books of sages, you claim to be fooled by a simple village matchmaker? Only an absolute idiot would fall for that! I think you should quit your studies and go back to farming. The amount of water in your brain is probably enough to irrigate two acres of land!”