Chapter 69: Requesting
Editor: Atlas Studios
Mu Yangling took out a cabbage from the cellar. “Let’s eat noodles with stewed cabbage tonight.”
Xiuhong and Xiulan clapped and cheered. Bowen sniffed and said, “Do put more noodles and less vegetables.”
Mu Yangling tapped his nose and said, “Dream on. We don’t have so much noodles at home.”
Little Bowen pouted and said, “Since you don’t like noodles, why don’t you give me your portion and I’ll give you my cabbage?”
“Thanks but no thanks. There’s no shortage of cabbage at home.”
Seeing Little Bowen pout, Xiuhong hurriedly offered, “Cousin, I’ll give you my portion.”
“Xiuhong, don’t indulge him. We need to eat a nutritionally-balanced diet, so we can’t just feed him noodles. We should let him eat more vegetables and meat.”
Little Bowen pointed out indignantly, “But you and Father don’t like to eat vegetables and always eat just meat. You and Father are disobedient, too.”
“…” Mu Yangling forced herself to say, “Who said I don’t like vegetables? Eating more vegetables will make me prettier. I eat vegetables every day.”
Snorting, Little Bowen pointed out mercilessly, “You only eat one serving of vegetables for every half a plate of meat. Whenever Mother tells you to eat more vegetables, you would say that vegetables wouldn’t give you enough strength, and that you’d turn into a rabbit if you actually eat more greens.”
Mu Yangling played dumb. “Did I say that?”
Little Bowen nodded vigorously. “Yes.”
Xiuhong and Xiulan covered their mouths and laughed. Mu Yangling knew that if she continued, she would be exposed even more, so she stuck out her tongue and changed the topic. “Let’s go. I’ll bring you out to play.”
Mu Yangling brought them to look for Liu Lang and the others. Due to the freezing weather, all the children stayed at home to warm up by the braziers. The Liu family was the same.
The entire family was sitting in the central room. Madam Liu-Zhao and Madam Liu-Zhang were doing needlework at the side while the children were playing with ropes on the brick bed. When Eldest Great-aunt Liu saw Mu Yangling and the children, she quickly waved her hand. “Ah Ling, you’re here. Come in quickly. Ah Lang, Ah Rong, your cousins are here to play with you.”
She then went to hold Xiuhong and Xiulan’s hands. Seeing the frostbite and yellowish medicine applied on their hands, she said sympathetically, “Poor child, why are you so cold? I have some ointment here. I’ll let you bring some back to apply at home.”
Liu Rong also slid down the brick bed and ran over to hold Xiuhong’s hand. “Cousin, let’s get on the brick bed quickly. The floor is cold.”
Seeing her cousin’s enthusiasm for the sisters, Liu Yun snorted in disdain and picked out her things from the pile to put away. She looked at them warily in case they stole them.
No one noticed her thoughts. Little Bowen had already thrown off his shoes and climbed into the brick bed, and Mu Yangling was busy taking care of him.
However, Madam Liu-Zhang saw that the sisters were wearing cotton clothes that were neither new nor old. While she went forward to support them, she touched them. She could tell that the cotton wool was soft and good material.
How could the two children of the Ma family afford cotton clothes when they couldn’t even afford to feed themselves?
Moreover, these were not new. When they arrived that day, she had seen from afar that their clothes were filled with patches. If they had such fine cotton clothes, why didn’t they wear them when they were traveling on the mountain path?
It was even more impossible to say that it was new. Who would buy cotton clothes that were neither new nor old?
It was most likely Mu Yangling’s old clothes, right?
Madam Liu-Zhang felt a little uncomfortable. They were all her relatives, and their family was from the same village. In addition, Mu Bowen came here every few days to play. In terms of closeness, their family should be closer to the Mu family, right?
Moreover, this was her grandmother’s maternal family, and that was just her great-aunt’s family. In terms of blood ties, they were clearly much closer.
And not only did Madam Shu not instill sense into her insensible daughter, she merely knew how to indulge her.
Madam Liu-Zhang’s expression turned ugly after touching Xiuhong’s clothes. As she wasn’t a scheming person, it immediately revealed on her face. Sensitive by nature, Xiuhong immediately detected Madam Liu-Zhang’s disgust, and her heart skipped a beat. She retracted her hand and smoothed her clothes, then turned around and pulled her sister over, smiling at Madam Liu-Zhang. “Hello, Second Aunt.”
Madam Liu-Zhang smiled stiffly. Looking at the cotton clothes on the sisters, she couldn’t help but ask, “Xiuhong, where did you buy these cotton clothes? Since the weather is so cold these days, I want to buy a set each for your cousins, too.”
The smile on Xiuhong’s face widened as she replied, “We didn’t buy this. Cousin Ah Ling gave it to us. She merely wore it for a season before outgrowing it.”
When Madam Liu-Zhang heard this, she took the opportunity to turn around and say to Mu Yangling, “Ah Ling, do you have any more old clothes? If yes, do give a set to your cousins. Otherwise, they won’t be able to go out for the entire winter.”
Mu Yangling was stunned. If she helped Liu Yun and her siblings, she’d have to give some to Liu Rong and Liu Lun, too. Then, there were Second great-uncle’s children. How could she possibly have so many old clothes?
Moreover, she had handed all her old clothes to Madam Ma-Liu and asked her to alter them into something Xiuhong and Xiulan could wear.
Xiuhong was also startled. She merely wanted to show off her relationship with Cousin Ah Ling and make this aunt jealous. She didn’t expect her to be so thick-skinned to directly ask for something.
She felt that she had caused trouble and couldn’t let her cousin face it alone, so she rushed in front of Mu Yangling and said, “Aunt, don’t my cousins have any clothes to wear? Why don’t I go back and bring a few over? Cousin Ah Ling’s clothes have only been worn for a season. Ah Ling’s mother originally wanted to alter two pieces of clothing to make them bigger before letting Cousin wear it. When she saw that me and my sister didn’t have any clothes to wear, she altered them for us. Since my cousins don’t have any, I’ll go back and tell Aunt and Grandma to alter two pieces for them.”
After saying that, she lowered her head and said shyly, “I just don’t know if it’s enough…”
When Eldest Great-aunt Liu heard that Madam Liu-Zhang was actually asking a child for clothes, her face instantly turned cold. She glared at her and pulled Xiuhong over. “Good child, don’t listen to your aunt. Come and warm yourself by the fire with Great-aunt.”
“Those clothes are as thin as summer clothes. Why can’t I ask for two pieces when the family can’t afford to make new ones?” Madam Liu-Zhang muttered, but her voice was so loud that everyone in the room could hear her.
Eldest Great-aunt Liu glared at her angrily. Madam Liu-Zhao quickly went forward and tugged at her sister-in-law, then smiled apologetically at Eldest Great-aunt Liu and said, “Mother, Sister-in-law must be still sleepy. I’ll bring her out to wake her up.” With that, she dragged Madam Liu-Zhang out.
Mu Yangling pulled the Xiuhong sisters over and sat beside the brazier, pretending not to have heard Madam Liu-Zhang’s words.
After Madam Liu-Zhao pulled Madam Liu-Zhang out, she scolded, “Those clothes belong to Ah Ling. She can give it to whoever she wants. It’s not like you don’t know that our family doesn’t want to owe the Mu family too much. Why did you still ask for it? You should be glad Father-in-law wasn’t in the room. If he heard those words, you’d be in for it.”
Madam Liu-Zhang said indignantly, “We already owe her in any case. Besides, we’re her great-uncle’s family. The Ma family is just her great-aunt’s family. Why is she treating their family more intimately than our family?”
Madam Liu-Zhang had married over early, so she knew the reason. However, it wasn’t appropriate for her to comment on the matters of the older generation, so she only replied vaguely, “We’re all related by blood. How can there be any difference in closeness?”