Chapter 3: Good Fortune
"Oh, look how these two boys are protecting their sister! Don't worry, Auntie is just giving her a hug!"
The woman managed to pick up Song Baozhu after all. Song Baozhu didn't cry or make a fuss in her arms; she simply let out a yawn and fell fast asleep peacefully.
The milky scent of a small infant lingered at the tip of her nose. Looking at Song Baozhu, this woman’s desperate desire to give birth to a son wavered slightly; it seemed that having a daughter like this wouldn't be bad either, she looked like a little fairy descended to earth.
Wang Guifang was very proud that her daughter was so sincerely liked by so many people.
Don't think she didn't know, before seeing Baozhu, these people didn't think much of baby girls.
See?
Her daughter had that kind of charm; as long as they saw her, few could help but like her.
Unless they weren't a normal person.
And someone Wang Guifang considered not normal actually showed up.
Zheng Ying from the Song family’s first branch and Ma Xianglan from the third branch entered the courtyard.
Logically speaking, these two were Wang Guifang’s sisters-in-law. Having lived under the same roof in the past, they should have developed some sort of affection for one another.
But as it happened, Wang Guifang’s relationship with both of them was not very good.
Ma Xianglan went without saying; she was a huge gossip with a calculating mind.
Before the family assets were divided, she often got into fights with Wang Guifang. She had married into the family late, yet she insisted on trying to suppress the two older sisters-in-law, using underhanded tactics at every turn.
With Wang Guifang’s firecracker temper, how could she tolerate that?
For a time, their relationship was as incompatible as fire and water.
It was only after she realized that Wang Guifang was indeed someone she couldn't afford to provoke that she finally behaved herself a little.
Unlike Ma Xianglan, Zheng Ying was an extremely honest and dutiful person.
Unlike Wang Guifang, who gave birth to several sons in a row as soon as she married in, Zheng Ying had given birth to four daughters.
Because of this, she felt she couldn't hold her head up in the Song family.
The Song family matriarch, Wu Ya, was a very strict old woman. When Wang Guifang first married in and saw Zheng Ying’s trembling appearance in front of the old lady, she thought the mother-in-law was mistreating the daughter-in-law and tried to help her everywhere.
Only later did she realize that Zheng Ying was naturally timid; even when no one was doing anything to her, she acted frightened out of her wits.
That would have been fine, everyone has a different personality.
What she truly looked down on Zheng Ying for was her neglect of her own four daughters.
Even Old Mrs. Song, who had such an eccentric temper, hadn't said much, yet Zheng Ying believed all her suffering stemmed from these four daughters.
If these four daughters were sons, she wouldn't be so disliked by her mother-in-law, nor would her relationship with Song Decai be so poor.
Seeing how Zheng Ying treated her own biological daughters, Wang Guifang coldly drew a line between them.
Since the family division, she hadn't had much contact with her, preferring to deal with the gossiping Ma Xianglan over communicating with Zheng Ying.
Unexpectedly, Zheng Ying, who usually didn't go out much, actually came to attend the Three-Day Bath ceremony this time.
A guest is a guest; no matter how much Wang Guifang was annoyed by these two sisters-in-law, she still greeted them with a smile and invited them to sit.
Today was her Baozhu’s big day, and she couldn't let irrelevant people ruin the atmosphere.
After Ma Xianglan sat down, she stared at Song Baozhu for a while and secretly curled her lip: She is quite cute, alright, but so what?
She and Wang Guifang were irreconcilable; no matter how cute this niece was, don't expect her to cherish the child.
However, she didn't say anything. Seeing the peanuts placed on the table, she grabbed a large handful and casually stuffed them into Song Zhihe's pants pocket, whispering to him, "Go on, give half of those peanuts to your sister. If you dare to eat them all by yourself, I'll beat you to death."
Song Zhihe gave an "oh" in response and walked off with a pocket full of peanuts.
Wang Guifang, who was busy attending to the guests, saw this and her brow twitched.
Peanuts were good things; the production team didn't plant many, and the total amount distributed to each family wasn't much.
Everyone in Xiangfu Village knew that when a host offered peanuts to guests, those with any social awareness would only take one or two to satisfy a craving; no one would be like Ma Xianglan, grabbing more than half the bowl for herself.
Ma Xianglan felt Wang Guifang's death stare and shifted her body guiltily, yet her rear end stayed firmly planted in her seat, she still wanted to drink the corn porridge.
She didn't believe Wang Guifang would start a fight with her today.
Wang Guifang did indeed endure it; no one was going to ruin her precious Baozhu’s big day.
Everyone was chatting and laughing, making for a very lively scene.
But naturally, there had to be someone who went out of their way to seek out Wang Guifang’s displeasure.
Zheng Ying hadn't spoken since she sat down, and since the villagers knew she was honest and introverted, they didn't think much of it.
When someone asked Wang Guifang for her youngest daughter's name, Song Zhizhong, who had been staring at Song Baozhu the whole time, shouted loudly, "Baozhu! My sister's name is Song Baozhu."
What a beautiful name; his sister was just like her name, his precious treasure.
"That's a good name; it sounds like she’s destined for good fortune as soon as you hear it."
Since everyone likes to say nice things at a celebration, the courtyard was instantly filled with sounds of agreement.
However, some people just have to ruin the atmosphere. Zheng Ying’s weak voice could be heard saying, "Second younger sister-in-law, isn't this name a bit too much? She's just a girl; how can she suppress such a grand and wealthy name? A girl's fortune is thin; she won't be able to bear it."
Wang Guifang’s jubilant smile vanished instantly. She carefully handed Song Baozhu to her third son, Song Zhixi, who was beside her: "Take your sister to the bed. Be careful."
She didn't even need to say it; Song Zhixi’s whole body was tense.
Usually a man of large strides, he now moved like a timid young bride, terrified that a single slip would jar Song Baozhu.
The fourth brother, Song Zhibei, and the fifth, Song Zhizhong, watched with immense envy.
The two of them crowded around Song Zhixi’s left and right: "Brother, let me hold her, let me hold Little Sister."
Song Zhixi turned a deaf ear to them, focusing entirely on Song Baozhu in his arms.
Only after the three brothers had carried Song Baozhu into the house did Wang Guifang look toward Zheng Ying.
Zheng Ying was frightened by the look in Wang Guifang's eyes. She stood up, fumbling awkwardly, "What... what's wrong?"
She didn't think she was wrong; a little slip of a girl not only had a Three-Day Bath ceremony held for her but was also given such a grand name, wasn't she afraid of scaring away the fortune of the second brother's family?
She felt very wronged; she clearly thought she was looking out for the third brother’s family, yet Wang Guifang was looking at her like that.
"She is my daughter; I’ll give her whatever name I want. She is the apple of my eye. I’ll put it plainly: our Baozhu’s fortune is immense. There are only names not good enough for her, never a name she can't handle. Sister-in-law, if you have nothing else to do, you should head back first. I still have guests to entertain here."
Zheng Ying’s face instantly flushed a deep crimson; having her own sister-in-law issue an order to leave in front of so many people, what face did she have left?
She wanted to defend herself with a few words, but having always been clumsy with speech, she merely stammered for a moment and ultimately couldn't say anything.
Covering her face, she ran away.
Ma Xianglan was delighted to watch the drama. Seeing Zheng Ying’s pathetic state as she fled, she let out a snicker.
She didn't like her formidable second sister-in-law, Wang Guifang, but she equally looked down on her perpetually submissive first sister-in-law.
This brainless woman, she knew perfectly well how much Wang Guifang treasured this daughter, yet she just had to poke her right where it hurt.
Wasn't she just looking for trouble?
Ma Xianglan kept her rear end firmly planted, 'crunch-crunching' her way through half a handful of peanuts and drinking a bowl of corn porridge before finally heading back, feeling quite satisfied.
On the other side, Zheng Ying returned home with her face covered.
In the courtyard, Song Hongye and Song Hongcao were washing clothes. One was nine years old and the other seven; seeing their mother come in, they didn't even greet her, keeping their heads down as they continued to pound the laundry.
The Song family had divided the household shortly after the three sons got married.
The eldest son lived in the old house, and Old Mr. Song and Old Mrs. Song lived in the main rooms of that same house.
Old Mrs. Song was sewing shoe soles under the eaves. Seeing Zheng Ying come in with her head bowed and looking as if she were dying of shame, she asked, "What happened? Weren't you going to the second brother’s house for the 'Three-Day Bath'? Why are you back so soon?"
Old Mrs. Song had always had an eccentric temper and wasn't close to any of her sons or daughters-in-law.
She spoke in a harsh, blunt tone, making the question sound like an interrogation.
Zheng Ying trembled in fear, but not daring to lie, she honestly recounted the whole incident to the old lady.
She had originally thought that out of the three daughters-in-law, the old lady looked down on her most because she had given birth to four daughters in a row and couldn't carry on the lineage for the Song family's first branch.
She felt her words would surely strike a chord with the old lady.
Who would have thought that after the old lady finished listening, she would say with a cold face: "Didn't you bring this on yourself?"
Zheng Ying was dumbfounded, not understanding why the old lady would say such a thing.
She then thought that the old lady was doing this on purpose, because she had given birth to daughters, the old lady looked down on her and hated her, so no matter what she said or did, she could never please her.
Zheng Ying began to tremble again, wanting to cry but not daring to, looking as if she had suffered a monumental injustice.
Seeing her like this, the old lady turned her back to her, following the principle of "out of sight, out of mind."
Zheng Ying felt even more crushed seeing this and entered her room with a heart like dead ashes.
The more she thought about it, the more wronged she felt, and she sat on the bed wiping away tears.
Song Hongye and Song Hongcao finished washing the clothes and came into the room to tidy up.
They heard Zheng Ying muttering to herself, "What did I say wrong? A little slip of a girl should be raised 'cheaply' to begin with. Just you wait; if they don't listen to me, her fortune will be too thin to hold out, and that girl definitely won't live more than a few years."
Song Baozhu, the one she believed wouldn't live more than a few years, grew up safe and sound all the way to the age of five.
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