"Why did she faint? What did the doctor say?" Old Yu had seen his second daughter-in-law taking care of his younger granddaughter without rest.
"Grandmother didn't let us call for a doctor. She said my mother will be fine after sleeping!" Yu Xiaocao found the perfect opportunity to tattle.
"Nonsense! When we finish eating, go ask Doctor You to come and check on Second Daughter-in-law. Don't let a minor illness turn into a major illness." Old Yu frowned as he forced himself to finish the bean paste soup and wiped his mouth.
Madam Zhang reluctantly muttered, "We'll have to spend money if we seek a doctor! Our third son needs to partic.i.p.ate in the district examination soon. He'll need to travel to the prefectural city for the examination! If we waste all our money on Yu Hai's family and can't gather enough money for travel expenses, then he would definitely be resentful towards you…"
Old Yu frowned, slammed his chopsticks on the table, and said, "Our family isn't as poor as you're making us out to be! Every year, Yu Hai earns more than a dozen taels [1] from just hunting, let alone his earnings from fis.h.i.+ng daily! Our third son has been studying for so many years, but he hasn't even pa.s.sed the county-level examination. I reckon he should stop studying. He should just save some money to buy a few acres of land to farm on."
With the Yu Family's circ.u.mstances, if they weren't funding for their third son's studies for more than a decade, they could live more comfortably. Even if they freely ate white rice and wheat flour on a daily basis, they would still have more than enough to eat. However, the payments for a private tutor and the cost of living in town were enough to wear down a middle-cla.s.s farming family.
"What? Old Man! The fortune teller had said that someone in our family is fated to become a government official! I'm still counting on our third son to earn me a t.i.tle of 'n.o.ble madam'! Even if I must give up everything, I'll still fund his studies!" Although Madam Zhang was slightly afraid of her husband, she decided to fight to the end for her son's future and her own glory.
Old Yu glared at his wife, but didn't continue on the topic. He threw the bowl in his hand and spoke in a m.u.f.fled voice, "I'll go tidy our three acres of farmland! By the way, Xiaolian, go cook a bowl of noodles for your mother and add two fried eggs in it. She must have been exhausted from these past few days!"
"Alright! Thank you, Grandfather!" Yu Xiaocao rushed to answer in a loud voice and had a bright smile on her face.
"Xiaolian! Xiaolian, you wretch! Why are you still dawdling in the room? Can't you see that it's about to rain? Hurry up and go retrieve the clothes that are being dried!" Every day, Yu Xiaocao was woken up by her grandmother's shrill scolding.
Madam Liu, who was used to being oppressed by her mother-in-law, wanted to get up out of habit. However, Yu Hai stopped her, "You should rest some more! I'll go take a look!"
It was unsuitable to sail out to the sea because it was too windy today. Thus, Yu Hai was able to idle at home on this rare occasion.
After changing his clothes, he came in again and spoke to his sons, "Today is the second day of June and the tide is receding right now. I just went out to check. It's cloudy and the wind is blowing in the southwest direction. More marine goods could be found when the tide recedes quickly. Thus, it's the best weather to go gather food by the sea! Let's go! Father will take you guys to search for some oysters, crabs, fish, and shrimp. If we're lucky, we might even find abalone!"
