Chapter 10 We Are Poor

The young madam's stern gaze bore into Mrs. Li like a knife, "Mrs. Li, are you aware of your crime?"

Mrs. Li, terrified, knelt before the young madam, her body trembling. As a mere nobody in the presence of a madam from a wealthy family, she was filled with both inferiority and fear.

"Young madam, Mrs. Li doesn't understand what crime the young madam is referring to?"

The young madam, faced with Mrs. Li's act of playing dumb or perhaps genuine confusion, became even more annoyed and said, "Mrs. Li, don't think that I don't know what you've done in the Young Master's room. How dare you engage in private work there and even use a needle on the Young Master? What punishment do you think you deserve?"

"I realize my mistake," Mrs. Li admitted, knowing that she was under someone else's roof and had no choice but to bow her head; accepting money for servitude was inherently degrading, and her status as a housekeeper, combined with her impoverished background, couldn't afford to offend the madam of a wealthy family.

The young madam was initially so furious that she wanted to have Mrs. Li beaten but then considered Mrs. Li's usefulness, and given her own pregnancy, she couldn't rashly punish anyone.

"Hmph, considering this is your first offense, I will give you a warning. If there's a next time, you will face the family's discipline."

"Yes, young madam, Mrs. Li won't dare to do it again," Mrs. Li said, kowtowing on the ground.

"Get up! You must be more attentive to the Young Master from now on and must not repeat the same mistake," the young madam said and then waved Mrs. Li and the maid away with a gesture.

"Yes"

Mrs. Li's heart trembled as she stood up and walked out with unsteady steps, high and low. Having previously heard about the strict rules of a wealthy family, experiencing them firsthand left her sweating all over.

"Mrs. Li, how lucky you are, the young madam didn't punish you," the maid said with contempt as she watched Mrs. Li walk away with her head down.

"Indeed, the young madam is merciful."

Mrs. Li suspected that it might have been this person who had reported her wrongdoing but dared not express any objections to her. The people in the mansion were loyal to their masters and served as their eyes, especially those around such a young Young Master; the masters paid them even greater attention.

"Hmph," the maid pursed her lips, but she didn't dare to offend Mrs. Li too harshly. If Mrs. Li were to seek revenge after gaining some backbone, it would backfire on her.

After that day, Mrs. Li no longer dared to do private work in front of the Young Master's bed; she would instead wait until the Young Master had fallen into a deep sleep at night before she worked under the oil lamp, making shoes, clothes, handkerchiefs, and socks for the dolls.

******

Mrs. Li went to work as a wet nurse for a wealthy family and her previous chores fell upon Daya, Er Ya, and Sanya. The eldest of these children was eight years old and the youngest just over three, trying their hands at adult tasks, especially Daya, who took over the mother's task of cutting grass on the hill and carrying it back.

An eight-year-old's strength is limited; she carried two bundles of grass weighing over 30 pounds each, resting after walking for a bit.

Her younger sisters had collected firewood, and with small arms, they walked and rested alongside her.

As the weather grew hotter, the sweat-soaked clothes clung to the children's bodies. Even when they fell, they would grit their teeth, get up, and continue working.

"Daya, you're so diligent. Do you want Brother to help you?" Gou Dan, leading a group of rowdy boys, was also out gathering firewood, climbing trees to raid bird nests, and enjoying their boisterous fun.

"Hmph, bad egg who beat my mother, I won't deal with you," Daya remembered the time Gou Dan and others had thrown stones.

"Haha, you hold a grudge. Seeing how pretty you are, I wanted to help. Just call me brother, and I'll help you," Gou Dan said. His sloppy appearance and clothes starkly contrasted with Daya's clean face and sweat-soaked clothes. He thought of their playacting at adult games like 'house' and mimicked the saucy demeanor of theatrical scoundrels flirting with girls.

"Go away, go away, you're filthy," Daya, facing Gou Dan who was a year older and extremely mischievous, still snotty-nosed and grubby compared to even her newborn sister, waved him away with disgust.

"Hmph, my mother said, even when I grow up, I wouldn't marry you. Wouldn't want someone like your mother, who gives birth to girls but no boys," Gou Dan declared with what he thought was a dashing gesture, leading his troop of boys away.

"Hahaha," laughed the boys, their mocking laughter lingering in the air.

Daya jumped on the spot in frustration, then picked up the kindling again and headed home with her two younger sisters.

"These lazybones, only doing such a little work and then coming back, is this bit of kindling going to be enough for our family's use for one day? What if it rains, do they expect us to snap the kindling in half?"

Mrs. Lai's eyes blazed with anger, for Mrs. Li had always washed the entire family's clothes, and she washed them very cleanly.

Ever since Mrs. Li went to the county, Mrs. Lai would get up in the morning and knock on Da Y's door, telling her to wash clothes and cook.

Da Y, with her slow movements, could cook breakfast but wouldn't be able to wash the clothes; by the time the sun was high in the sky, she couldn't get any other chores done.

Mrs. Lai had no choice but to delegate the task of washing clothes to her two daughters, keeping the cooking for herself, while the outdoor farm work, grass cutting, and pigweed gathering were left to Daya and her two sisters.

Mrs. Lai, cooking three meals a day, felt both hot and tired working in such a warm place as the kitchen, and now she couldn't go to her elder daughter's place to help with the children and was complained about by her.

Concerning the two youngest children at home, Mrs. Lai couldn't be bothered to check on them, and simply ignored them.

Hongji, out of desperation, could only let the two little ones stay in the room, entering every hour or two to check on them.

He was very relieved to find that his two young daughters were very sensible and did not cry or fuss.

Tang Shiqi had foreseen that, after her mother left, she would have no milk to drink and would only have water.

As expected, she had rice soup three times a day, so watery that she no longer needed to urinate, which left her small heart in pain from hunger.

She could only steal sips of the spiritual spring water from the space when no one was paying attention, and when her elder sister was asleep.

Being just over a month old, she couldn't enter the space yet and could only use her will to draw out the spring water.

She had previously wanted to help her three elder sisters by sharing some spiritual spring water with them so their frail and exhausted bodies could be nourished.

But unfortunately, she couldn't crawl, couldn't move, and couldn't give them the water from the space to drink.

Lying in bed at night, Hongji, now playing the role of both father and mother, finally understood his wife's difficulties.

"Ah ah ah ah"

Sometimes in the middle of the night, the youngest child would cry, and he, wanting to stay in bed a while longer, would say groggily, "Wife, the baby's awake."

His only reply was the deep slumber of the other children, and it was in the midst of his youngest daughter's louder cries that he remembered his wife wasn't home.

Tang Shiqi didn't want to wail in the middle of the night and hoped her father and sisters could sleep well.

Helplessly, her body couldn't withstand the hunger from only having eaten rice soup, which made her easily feel both hunger and the urge to urinate.

A small body with a mature soul truly didn't want to wet the bed.

She could endure the hunger, but she couldn't fight her physiological reactions.

"Oh oh oh"

Hongji took on the role of his wife, soothing his youngest daughter and picking her up...

"Sigh, my little girl, we've wronged you, our family is poor, and we have no other milk to give you," he said to himself, guilt-ridden, not believing his little girl could understand.

Tang Shiqi, enduring the hunger, closed her eyes and pretended to sleep, unable to bear watching her father becoming more and more like a mother.