Chapter 857: Scumbag Brother and Deadbeat Dad, Get Lost (3)

Chapter 857: Chapter 857: Scumbag Brother and Deadbeat Dad, Get Lost (3)

Peach Blossom Village.

In front of an old, shabby house sat a young girl in worn-out clothes, yet the handkerchief in her hands was tenderly colored to perfection. Her fingers were somewhat rough, but her needle flew in and out of the cloth; a beautiful flower was gradually appearing on the handkerchief.

Qiann Yan’s Divine Soul was strong, she learned things extremely quickly, and having fused with the original host’s Talent, after just three days here she had already thoroughly mastered the original host’s skills and even formed her own insights.

Embroidery—this was actually her first time.

At first it was a bit dull, but the more she did the more she felt a sense of accomplishment. It was different from painting, yet the finished work was very interesting. From the girl’s memories she knew there was a great deal of knowledge in embroidery, with all sorts of techniques emerging one after another, many of which were not passed down to outsiders.

The most famous among them was double-sided embroidery. The original host didn’t know how to do it; according to her, that kind of technique belonged to the sort that was never taught outside, ordinary people simply had no way to learn it.

"Yan’er, don’t embroider for too long, it’ll hurt your eyes." A woman walked out from the kitchen, this was the original host’s mother, Mrs. Zhang. "You must take care of your eyes, don’t go blind at such a young age. If that happens there’ll be no one to look after you."

"All right, Mother." Qiann Yan put away the handkerchief and stopped embroidering.

"Come to the kitchen and help me tend the fire." Mrs. Zhang said, and she even glanced out toward the yard gate. "Hurry."

Qiann Yan followed her into the kitchen and crouched by the stove, taking up firewood. Mrs. Zhang suddenly leaned in close. Qiann Yan had long since noticed something was off with Mrs. Zhang, so she wasn’t startled.

Mrs. Zhang handed her two tiny bird eggs.

"Quick, eat them." Mrs. Zhang lovingly patted Qiann Yan’s head. "Don’t let your father find out. I picked these bird eggs while I was gathering kindling, they don’t count as belonging to the household. I’ve saved two for your sister-in-law as well."

Qiann Yan pinched the two little bird eggs, truly only the size of a thumbtip. "Mother, did you eat any?"

Mrs. Zhang smiled, her face full of contentment. "I did, now hurry and eat."

Qiann Yan didn’t say much more to her. With a light squeeze, the shells of the two bird eggs cracked; she tossed the shells into the fire, then swiftly stuffed one egg into Mrs. Zhang’s mouth and ate the other herself.

Mrs. Zhang was a bit torn between laughter and tears, yet she couldn’t help but reach out to stroke her head. "You little girl... I haven’t doted on you for nothing."

Before long, the sister-in-law Xu Yunniang, who had gone out to do the laundry, returned and was likewise called into the kitchen by Mrs. Zhang to help.

After receiving two bird eggs, she did just as Qiann Yan had done, quickly stuffing one into Mrs. Zhang’s mouth, earning both of them a scolding from Mrs. Zhang, though the smile on her face wouldn’t go away.

In this household, there was no conflict between mother-in-law and daughter-in-law.

In terms of status, the three of them were the lowest ranked in the family, which instead made them all the more compassionate toward one another.

Soon, the head of the household, Meng Chongxi, came back. Meng Chongxi could recognize two characters; when he was young he had passed the exams to become a child student, but he failed time and again when sitting for the Scholar examination, and with the family in hardship and unable to support his studies, he had no choice but to give up.

Nowadays, whenever there were weddings or funerals, he would be invited over to help with the writing.

In these times, having two people in the village who could write already counted as pretty good; most people couldn’t read at all. So in this village, Meng Chongxi’s standing was fairly decent.

His income was not bad either. If not for the fact that the family was still supporting a scholar in his studies, the household might be able to afford to eat meat once every three to five days.

These days, studying cost far too much money.

Failing to become a Scholar was the lifelong regret of Meng Chongxi; he had pinned that hope onto the original host’s elder brother, Meng Wengan, hoping that Meng Wengan would make something of himself. ℯ

The family had just sat down at the table and hadn’t yet started eating when hurried footsteps sounded from outside.

Qiann Yan thought to herself, that scumbag brother who sold his little sister has come back.