CHAPTER 24: CHAPTER 24: MAKING A FUSS

Wen Wan didn’t bother to explain that she wasn’t worried about having a good life only if he passed the exam. Sometimes, actions speak louder than words.

What’s more, they’re a married couple. With time, he’ll naturally understand her temperament.

Song Wei raised his hand and rubbed the top of her head, "Are you tired?"

I am.

Wen Wan nodded.

Song Wei blew out the lamp. He didn’t bother her that night, just pulled her into his arms and held her.

Wen Wan lay on his arm and soon fell asleep.

——

Compared to the tranquility in Song Wei and his wife’s room, Second Lang’s wife in the next courtyard was fuming from head to toe, tossing and turning, unable to sleep. Finally, she got up and lit the oil lamp.

Song Erlang was already kept awake by her noise, and now he was even more restless with the lamp on. He opened his eyes to see his wife sitting cross-legged on the kang, her face turning blue. He turned to her, "What’s wrong with you now?"

Second Lang’s wife thought about what happened during the day and felt uneasy, gritting her teeth, she said, "I saw Yuanbao come back early, so I boiled seven or eight eggs and brought him home to eat. I thought, maybe if he thinks he can eat eggs every day, he’d be willing to stay at our house. Who knew that little brat ate all the eggs, didn’t say a word of thanks, wiped his mouth, and left. It pissed me off so much I couldn’t sleep."

Song Erlang was speechless. "Weren’t you just feeding the fox voluntarily? Yuanbao is already eight years old. He should know better. How could he not see you were trying to coax him? Now that the eggs are gone, who can you blame?"

"Who can I blame? Who else but your mother for being biased, only thinking about the third branch and not us? If it weren’t for her, I wouldn’t need to worry like this."

Song Erlang had a headache and pressed his throbbing temples, "I’ve told you a hundred times. It’s not easy for Third Son to raise Yuanbao these years. It’s not wrong for mother to care for him a bit more. Yet you keep nagging about it all day. What are you stirring up?"

Second Lang’s wife exploded, "It’s because our elder brother and sister-in-law were cursed. Who would raise Yuanbao if not Third Son? And he should use his own money to raise him to do right by elder brother and sister-in-law. Dad and mom shouldn’t be giving him money."

Saying this, Second Lang’s wife punched the kang. "I just don’t get it. Mom, who checks the almanac even when going out, doesn’t believe Third Son has bad energy? She insists on living with the third branch, making it seem like we’re unfilial, and people gossip about us behind our backs."

"Aren’t you just unfilial?" Song Erlang muttered. "We’ve been split from the family for years, and I haven’t seen you visit them often."

"What did you say?" Second Lang’s wife raised her voice.

Song Erlang looked at her. "I mean, Yuanbao is mom and dad’s only grandson. If they don’t live with him, would they want to live with our three girls?"

"Song Erlang, are you indirectly insulting me for not having a son?"

"How dare I?"

Second Lang’s wife’s nostrils flared with anger. "Fine, you go and tell mom tomorrow to get a Taoist priest to cast out that bad energy on him. I’ll give the Song family a son next year!"

"Calm down," Song Erlang waved his hand. "After all this fuss, just go to sleep. We still have to get up and work in the fields tomorrow morning!"

Having three daughters in a row, he had long stopped hoping for a son.

Second Lang’s wife didn’t have the same temperament as her husband. Even if she couldn’t get the share of the family money from the elder brother and sister-in-law, she was going to make a fuss and not let the next courtyard live too comfortably.