Chapter Seven Fright

  Ban Jin laid out the things in her lunchbox.

  "Daughter, have some food." She said happily.

  Jiang Nang glanced over.

  "It's better to have good food in small amounts than a lot of bad food." She said, picking up one of the pancakes.

  Ban Jin busily broke off a small piece for her, revealing the dates inside.

  "Ah, this is much better than the pancakes at the Taoist temple." She said with a smile.

  "It's not delicious." Jingniang shook her head and stopped eating after just one small bite.

  Since the daughter-in-law recovered, although she didn't eat much, she was particularly picky. The money they earned, except for traveling expenses, more than half of it was spent on food, and I don't know how she came up with those exquisite dishes.

  For example, the cold noodles that my wife wants to eat are made with the juice of the Qinghuai leaf and flour to make noodles, and then stir-fried with lard and pork. A bowl of noodles doesn't use much material, but it takes a lot of effort, equivalent to what others would put into making a whole pot.

  Fortunately, the daughter-in-law didn't eat much, sometimes just a few pastries for a day were enough, otherwise they might not have made it home yet.

  Jiangniang looked at the food box and pointed with her hand.

  "Just fry this and tear up this steamed bun, then cook it in the soup for a bit, that's enough." she said.

  Ban Jin was used to doing these things and responded with a high-pitched voice, carrying them out happily.

  "Squat down, squat down." Cheng Liu Niang turned left and right, thinking of something and pointing at Xiaoyazi said.

  The little girl was timid and uneasy.

  "Girl, let's go back, madam will be looking for you." she said.

  Cheng Liu Niang scolded her loudly.

  "Keep your voice down! Don't scare the fool!" she whispered sternly.

  The little girl almost cried out loud.

  "Girl, don't look, fools will fight." She said in a trembling voice.

  For teenagers, fools are a very frightening existence.

  "This is at my home, what are you afraid of? Quick, squat down, I'll climb up and take a look at the fool." said Cheng Liu Niang, waving her hand to hurry up the servant girl to crouch down.

  Xiao Yatou reluctantly lay down with tears, Cheng Liu Niang leaned against the wall and stepped on Xiao Yatou's body, holding onto the windowsill, looking out the window.

  The sound of footsteps startled Cheng Liu's mother into a crouch, and the little girl swayed back and forth, almost falling over.

  "Daughter, the pancake is done, you eat this first, I'll cook the millet porridge."

  Cheng Liu Niang cautiously poked her head out and saw a young maid in a blue cotton skirt running past, accompanied by the aroma of toasted fragrance.

  "What smells so good?" she muttered to herself, tiptoeing to the window and peeking behind the bamboo curtain, where two figures sat facing each other.

  "Daughter, I'm going to get some soup..."

  "Girl, try this and see if it's okay?"

  The little girl in the house came and went, her clear and crisp voice echoing, but there was no response except for her own voice.

  "That fool can't speak." Cheng Liu Niang turned her head and whispered to Xiao Ya Tou, with a hint of excitement at having discovered some news.

  The little girl was trembling all over and couldn't kneel still, both fearful and in pain.

  "Daughter, let's hurry up..." she said in a trembling voice.

  "Don't move around, I haven't seen what she looks like yet, how long her snot is, or if her eyes and mouth are crooked." said Cheng Liu Niang, as she turned her head again.

  A pair of big eyes stared at her.

  Qiu Liu's daughter let out a sharp cry and fell to the ground with a thud.

  Xiao Yaotou didn't know what happened, and was so scared that she also started shouting. Seeing Cheng Liu's wife fall to the ground, she was even more frightened and shouted three times in a row, then desperately pulled up Cheng Liu's wife and ran away.

  Jiang Yao watched as the two people rolled and crawled away in a gust of wind.

  "Who's that?" asked Ban Jin, walking over with a look of surprise and concern.

  Jiangniang's expression was wooden.

  She muttered a few words, and when she heard the sizzling sound of oil smoke on the stove, she exclaimed "Ah!" and quickly turned around and ran away.

  "I don't know who it is." Jian Niang finally spoke out.

  After she finished speaking, she also felt somewhat stifled.

  It's been turned over in his mind several times before he says it out loud.

  You seven apertures and a monkey's mouth, I'll teach you to turn into a wooden mouth in your next life, choke to death.

  Suddenly, a sentence flashed through her mind, and Jiang Nang only felt a severe heartache, the pain spreading from the bones, her ears buzzing, and she couldn't stand still. She stretched out her hand to grab the windowsill, but it was too late when the thought flashed by.

  Ban Jin arrived with a food box in hand, looking pleased. Suddenly, there was a loud thud, and when they looked over, Cheng Jiaoniang had already fallen to the ground.

  This shrill cry was accompanied by the sound of a food box falling to the ground, and finally attracted the attention of the maid at the front door.

  Madam Cheng arrived when the doctor was leaving, and the servant woman was talking.

  "It's nothing else, just got a fright, rest for a while and it'll be fine." she said.

  Madam Cheng's face was sallow and yellow, and in just one night and half a day, the dark circles under her eyes could no longer be concealed.

  "What happened at home?" she said weakly, half-explaining and half-asking Mrs. Cheng.

  "It's because they've changed places," said Mrs. Cheng. "That kind of child is like a few months old, doesn't understand anything."

  Madam Cheng forced a smile.

  "Eldest sister is right," she said, raising an eyebrow as she looked at the servant girl. "Don't think I don't know, one by one going to the young mistress's place like they're out for a stroll, if anyone else does this again, I'll drive them out and sell them, let them go to the streets and look their fill."

  The women lowered their heads and dared not speak, knowing that this was not about going to see the fool, but rather a matter of gossiping together.

  At once they all knelt down and apologized in unison, saying "we dare not". Madame Cheng II dismissed them.

  "It's hard on you." said Madame Cheng, looking at her.

  Madam Cheng burst into tears all of a sudden. She didn't know why she was crying either, she just felt like it. Her heart felt wronged and stifled.

  "Qī niáng is just learning the rules, Xī gēr is still young, and my second brother is preparing to take office. All three of our daughters are married off, leaving only Liù niáng behind. With your elder brother taking care of things at home and outside, I can rest easy, so let me take this foolish child with me for now." Madame Chéng said after some thought.

  Madam Cheng II rose and made her obeisance.

  "How can I trouble Sister-in-law, this is what I should do." She choked with sobs.

  "It's settled, one family can't have two different sayings." Madame Cheng said, patting her hand, "Anyway, they're just living in the courtyard, I'll let an old servant take care of them, and there's no need to worry about anything else. You just focus on teaching the children at home well, so that your second brother can go to his post with peace of mind. Our Cheng family is relying on him to make a living outside."

  It would be hypocritical to decline at this time, so Mrs. Cheng II graciously and sincerely thanked him, which temporarily alleviated some of her worries.

  The maids outside gathered together again.

  "Quickly, what does she look like?" Several people surrounded the fortunate maids who had heard the scream and entered to attend to Chang Yaoniang, curiously asking.

  "She looks just like the first madam, as if they were cast in the same mold." A maid exclaimed with a few words of surprise.

  Mrs. Zhou was a good-looking woman, and several old servants in the house still remembered her clearly.

  "It's a pity, can't even walk on the road, and can fall down while standing still." The woman shook her head and sighed, "Dazed and confused, doesn't know whether he's awake or not, looks like he's lost his soul. And the food I brought in, he hasn't eaten it either, don't know if he can eat on his own."

  The women on this side sighed, and the girls in the family gathered together on that side.

  "Your eyes are so big..." said Cheng Liu'niang, gesturing with her hand on her face.

  The sisters sitting there all showed a look of surprise and fear.

  "And still no eyeballs!" Cheng Liu's wife added fiercely, staring at everyone with a sudden glare.

  The girls couldn't help but burst out laughing and held each other's hands on the tatami mat.

  "How scary! How scary!" everyone said. "Sixth Sister, don't go see it again, I heard the fool will even hit people!"

  Cheng Liu Niang had a few small proud looks on her face.

  "I'm not afraid, I have an older brother. If she hits me, I'll get my brother to hit her." She said with her hands on her hips.

  The second house only has one son, who is Xige, lying in bed and drinking milk. The first house has three sons, with brothers to take care of each other, which is something that girls envy. There are some differences between biological brothers and cousin brothers.

  The sound of wooden clogs echoed loudly, and Cheng Qiuniang entered the house without even taking off her wooden clogs, walking straight in and leaving clear footprints on the floral bird fish patterned mat that Cheng Liuniang loved most.

  "Sixth Sister, that fool is now your sister." Cheng Qiniang said loudly, shaking her small fan and wearing a silk gauze, standing tall and slender.