Chapter 257 - 249: Taking Without Asking Is Stealing

Chapter 257: Chapter 249: Taking Without Asking Is Stealing

Old Mrs. Bai remembered what Liu had said earlier—Bai Zhi had already called people to her fields to harvest the sweet potatoes today.

’This meant that the sweet potatoes Bai Zhi’s family had planted were a bumper crop,’ she thought. ’Anyone who went to the fields would get some sort of reward, while their Bai Family could only watch helplessly.’

’Why should we just watch? That damn girl should think about whose food she ate growing up!’

The old matriarch made up her mind. She said to Dazhu and Erzhu, "You two, go to Zhao Lan’s field tonight and get a bunch of sweet potatoes."

Steamed sweet potatoes with a sprinkle of salt tasted pretty good. Most importantly, they were filling—much better than drinking thin gruel. Besides, their family couldn’t even afford thin gruel right now.

Bai Dazhu had no objections. He’d had his eye on Bai Zhi’s sweet potatoes for a while and was already thinking about when to go get some. The old matriarch’s idea just happened to coincide with his own.

Bai Erzhu, however, was a bit hesitant. "Mother, do we have to go at night? Can’t we go during the day? I heard there are often venomous snakes in those fields. Snakes love to come out at night. If the two of us run into one, wouldn’t we be done for?"

Old Mrs. Bai spat at him. "Look at you, so useless! I’m telling you to go get free food, and you’re scared of this and that. Why don’t you just not go? I’ll have Dazhu take Da Bao instead. And your family can just forget about eating any of it!"

Erzhu saw that the old matriarch was angry and that his wife, Ms. Zhang, also looked displeased. He was about to grit his teeth and agree when Ms. Zhang spoke up. "Taking without asking is stealing. If you want to go, go yourselves. Erzhu isn’t going. Besides, if you really run into a venomous snake or some wild animal, don’t lose your life over a few sweet potatoes."

Liu shrieked, "You said it! When Dazhu brings the sweet potatoes back, don’t you dare eat any!"

Ms. Zhang snorted coldly. "Then we won’t. We don’t care for them anyway." With that, she pulled Erzhu and her two children back to their room.

Back in their room, Erzhu said hurriedly, "You’re such a good wife. You really care about me."

Ms. Zhang shot him a look and said irritably, "I’m not caring about you, I’m caring about myself. A useless husband is still better than no husband at all. If you really got bitten by a snake, do you think your old mother would spend any silver to save your life?"

Erzhu froze. ’She’s right,’ he thought. ’My third brother and my father... didn’t they die because Mother was unwilling to spend silver on a doctor? Two lives lost for nothing. If my third brother were still alive, Zhao Lan wouldn’t have left. That couple was so capable; the Bai Family wouldn’t be suffering like this now, living from one meal to the next. I’m only just now realizing how good Zhao Lan was. Why didn’t I ever think of it before?’

’If I’d known it would come to this, I never would have agreed when Zhao Lan and her daughter wanted to split from the family.’

’But it’s too late for regrets now!’

Erzhu shook his head and let out a long sigh. "Probably not. In Mother’s eyes, she only cares about the eldest’s family. There’s no room for me in her heart!"

Ms. Zhang snorted coldly. "So you’re not a complete idiot after all. There’s no need for you to take such a risk. Besides, haven’t you figured out what kind of person Bai Zhi is? That girl is sharp as a tack. If someone stole her sweet potatoes, do you think she’d just let it slide? I don’t know about others, but if she finds out it was the Bai Family who stole them, she definitely won’t let us off the hook."

Erzhu said, "You’re right. Her relationship with that Lord Meng from the government office seems to be quite good. If we steal her sweet potatoes and she gets some kind of leverage on us, she might actually report us to the government office."