Old Chen wore a sour expression, sitting on a small stool at the side. Her mouth rattled incessantly as she chastised Mrs. Bai, without any specific reason, just endlessly finding faults and scolding.
Qin Shuangshuang watched her mother, who was the target of Old Chen's anger, her heart filled with compassion. She noticed a large pot on the stove boiling hot water, meant for everyone to wash with, clean, but usually not available for Qin Shuangshuang and Mrs. Bai.
After Qin Shuangshuang grew older and could gather firewood from the mountains herself, Old Chen reluctantly allowed her and Mrs. Bai to use hot water to wash, for fear that Qin Shuangshuang, who had the strength of a half-grown man, might go on strike.
Qin Shuangshuang picked up a gourd ladle, scooped some water from the pot, and poured it into Mrs. Bai's basin where she was washing vegetables. The icy water immediately warmed up!
Mrs. Bai looked at her daughter with reddened eyes. Although she knew her daughter would undoubtedly be scolded by Old Chen, she felt warmhearted and thought all grievances were worth it for such a considerate daughter.
Sure enough, just as Qin Shuangshuang poured the hot water into Mrs. Bai's basin, Old Chen erupted in anger, shouting, "You worthless, money-wasting wretch! Doesn't it take firewood to boil hot water, you spendthrift?"
Qin Shuangshuang's small face remained calm as she snorted coldly, "All the firewood at home is gathered by me from the mountains. If grandma makes mom use cold water again, I won't have the strength to carry firewood back! Let grandma and grandpa go gather firewood themselves!"
The Chen Family was so infuriated by Qin Shuangshuang's backtalk that she almost fell backward, and she was about to raise her voice even louder to continue scolding!
But before she could open her mouth, Qin Shuangshuang retorted again, "Grandma needn't accuse me of being unfilial and heartless. There's no family in this world that makes a five-year-old granddaughter do an adult's work gathering firewood from the mountains. No matter how it's told, grandma is in the wrong. If grandma scolds me again, I'll go cry to the village about her mistreating me, and we'll see who the villagers believe."
Old Chen was so angry that she was gasping for breath, her finger trembling as she pointed at Qin Shuangshuang, unable to speak because Qin Shuangshuang was right. If she went crying to the village, people really wouldn't believe Old Chen's words.
In private, Qin Shuangshuang was excellent at talking back to Old Chen, making her furious every time, but in front of the villagers, she was particularly good at putting on a show, being eloquent and articulate.
Moreover, with her inherent strength, if any woman in the village was doing physical labor and came across Qin Shuangshuang, she would help out spontaneously. Even when facing Old Chen outside, she would neither hit back nor curse, maintaining a facade of extreme filial piety!
Qin Shuangshuang's reputation in the village was excellent. There wasn't anyone who didn't say that Qin Shuangshuang was a better granddaughter than a grandson, born strong and sensible, helping her family with work. As a small child, she could help gather firewood in the mountains, as good as half an adult laborer!
In comparison, Old Chen, who was often seen by the villagers as a harsh and often abusive grandmother towards her sensible granddaughter, had a reputation best not even mentioned.
A few days ago, the village chief, unable to bear it, even came to the home to warn Old Chen not to prefer boys over girls and to stop bullying her daughter-in-law and granddaughter every day! Old Chen was infuriated and embarrassed by this, even falling slightly ill, thus gaining a reputation for being stubborn and narrow-minded!
Besides, Qin Shuangshuang was truly capable. The family no longer lacked firewood because of her, and she didn't truly mind the bit of firewood used to heat the water. She just had a habit of tormenting Mrs. Bai!
Being rebuffed by Qin Shuangshuang, Old Chen was afraid she might actually quit working, so she had to suppress her anger and continued sitting on the side, cursing. Qin Shuangshuang ignored her as long as Old Chen didn't start hitting Mrs. Bai, then Qin Shuangshuang treated her as if she were air.
Quickly and efficiently, she helped Mrs. Bai wash vegetables, stoke the fire, and cook a large pot of coarse porridge. Because they needed to work in the morning, they had to eat something solid to have strength. The mother and daughter also used the washed wild vegetables to steam a large pot of coarse vegetable buns! Picking a few salted vegetables to slice as well, the breakfast was ready.
In this life, despite having enormous strength, Qin Shuangshuang's appetite was correspondingly large, biggest of a punch-sized vegetable bun in one meal, eating four of them while also drinking a large bowl of coarse porridge.
Every time Qin Shuangshuang ate, Old Chen was unhappy, especially today after Qin Shuangshuang had talked back to Old Chen. During the meal, Old Chen deliberately gave Qin Shuangshuang just two vegetable buns and then took the food away.
Mrs. Bai was immediately anxious upon seeing this. She knew how large her daughter's appetite was, these two vegetable buns were big and enough for her for two meals, but for her daughter, they were just half full.
Mrs. Bai, who usually never dared to speak loudly, suddenly found courage for her daughter and said to Old Chen, whom she usually feared, "Mom, please give Second Daughter a couple more vegetable buns, her appetite is large, eating just two buns won't fill her up!"
At Mrs. Bai's words, Old Chen's face instantly fell, and with a bang, she slammed the food bowl onto the table, cursing, "Eat, eat, eat! How much food is there at home to feed her like this! Born a wasteful eater, does she want the whole family to starve just to feed her alone?"
Mrs. Bai was frightened by Old Chen's outburst but still held onto her fear, timidly arguing, "Second Daughter is very capable. She can earn her own food!"
"Second Sister-in-law's words are strange, indeed. Second Daughter has a good amount of strength, but you say she can earn her own food? I haven't seen Second Daughter bring back even a single copper coin. Everyone says Second Sister-in-law is honest and never lies, but now this seems to be telling a fib with your eyes wide open, isn't it?"
Little Chen, who always sided with her aunt, immediately joined in to mock Mrs. Bai upon seeing Old Chen's escalation. Mrs. Bai was clumsy-tongued and no match for Old Chen and Little Chen, stammering under their ridicule and unable to speak.
Qin Shuangshuang frowned; originally, she hadn't intended to say anything. After all, she had places to find food and didn't need to make an uproar over a meal, stirring things up would only annoy her! But these two had the audacity to bully her mother! Qin Shuangshuang couldn't tolerate it!
With a slap of her chopsticks on the table, Qin Shuangshuang looked at Little Chen with a smirk that didn't reach her eyes, "Aunt, since you put it that way, this family's food, being a wasteful eater born as I am, I really feel embarrassed to continue eating.
How about this, from now on, not only will I stop eating at home, but my mother too won't eat at home. But in the future, all the firewood, wild fruits, mushrooms, and occasionally caught wild animals I gather from the mountains won't be brought home and will all be sent to town by the village chief to sell in exchange for money.
In any case, the village tradition says daughters-in-law can't have private savings, but if a girl can save money, it all belongs to her, so I'll save this money to support both my mother and me. Doing it this way, the family isn't losing out, and it saves on food for two people, how good is that!"