Good Fortune Arrives at the Door of a Rural Doctor's Daughter

  Forced Lian Qing to fetch firewood and burn the pit in the middle of the night, Fu Qiu Lian slept a bit more comfortably, but the next morning, she was startled awake by the scolding voice from outside, like a woman being scolded on the street. She perked up her ears and listened for two sentences, then burrowed her body into the quilt, her eyebrows and eyes curved, although not very human-like, but much better than before when she was cold as ice.

  It's so cold today, why don't you burn some charcoal?

  Don't mention anything about not having enough firewood to her, before calculating these things with her, why didn't you first calculate her dowry? It's necessary to know that on the second day after she married into the Lian family, this dowry was taken away by Li Shi with a smile, under the pretext of "helping to keep it safe". As for the inventory, it seems to be in Lian Qing's hands, but whether it exists or not, how many things are left, who knows?

  The original host was spoiled by her family and didn't know how to behave properly, having lost her mother at a young age and being raised by two old men. As a result, she had a careless personality and wouldn't bother with household chores or managing property, finding them all very troublesome. Thus, Li was able to swindle away her dowry with just a few words, including the ten acres of good land near this village!

  Before she married into the family, the whole Lian family had only ten mu of land.

  These two years, she has been using her dowry and eating the crops from the land that came with her marriage. But how did the whole family treat her? She smiled, shook her head, and let herself not dwell on past grievances. The life before was not hers to live, but the days ahead were hers to live. In her heart, she whispered: Fú Qiūlián, I can leave in peace now. I will take good care of your father and brother, treating them as if they were my own flesh and blood.

  "Who stole my firewood, that damned lazy good-for-nothing, not even afraid of being punished by heaven! Heaven have mercy, my firewood! How could our good home invite such a thief? What kind of days are we going to have from now on? Old Li's family, old Zhang's family, old Wang's family, all come out quickly and tell me who stole my firewood!" Outside, Mrs. Li was yelling at the top of her lungs, her curses echoing into the house, making Qing's face turn red with rage, wishing she could find a hole to crawl into!

  He's a scholar, and a handsome one at that. Yet he sneaks out in the middle of the night to steal firewood. Now he's on the verge of being ridiculed by others. His mood can't be good. Sticking her head out from under the covers, Fū Qiūlián glanced at Lián Qīng and chuckled, "Lián Qīng sir, it seems your book has been turned upside down..."

  “……” Fu Qiu Lian smiled slightly, making Lian Qing's face even redder. He took a deep breath and calmed down, looking at Fu Qiu Lian, "You're awake now, Mother is outside, get up, no matter what, this is our fault, we shouldn't have said anything and just brought the firewood to burn in the middle of the night——we, we should go apologize to Mother."

  "I'm not going, you go yourself." Fu Qiulian rolled her eyes directly, although she was disdainful of the previous Fu Qiulian's temperament, but this time she really had a bit of gratitude for her - compared to the previous Fu Qiulian who dared to point at her nose and scold Li Shi, this time she hid in the quilt and didn't see her as anything.

  Li was still scolding, and Fu Qiulian turned over, deciding to sleep for a while. She heard footsteps by her ear, followed by the sound of opening doors, probably Lian Qing going to find Li, Fu Qiulian shrugged, what did it have to do with her, anyway she absolutely wouldn't go.

  She slept till noon, and slowly got up, wrapping herself into a bundle. There was no one in the house, and she didn't know where Lian Qing had gone. When she pushed open the door, a gust of cold wind blew over, stinging her face, the chill piercing to the bone, freezing her so that she shivered, and only after stumbling out of the house did she discover that Lian Qing was actually sweeping snow.

  Qian's wife, the second sister-in-law, had sharp eyes and couldn't help but say sarcastically as soon as she saw her come out, "Oh, younger sister finally got out of bed. Previously, your third brother said you weren't feeling well, what's going on? Are you better now?" It's just a bit of meat in the belly, she's had several herself and didn't make such a fuss!

  "Thank you, Second Aunt, for your concern. If it hurts again later, I'll let you know." Fu Qiulian smiled with a curved eyebrow and gave Qian Shi a gentle smile, then turned to Lian Qing who was walking over with a tense face, "Husband, you went out without saying a word, I thought you were up to something. It turns out you were shoveling snow, are you tired? Remember to rest for a while."

  "This, is this something you're telling yourself? Qing Zhang opened his mouth, and it took him a while to come back to his senses. "You, what are you doing coming out here? Hurry up and go back inside, your body is weak and you fear the cold. There's me and brother and sister-in-law here, no need for so many people."

  "Since you're here, then help out, Third Aunt. Can you bring us some water? I'm so thirsty." The speaker was Lian Tian'er, the 14-year-old daughter of Lian and Li, who had been confined to her chambers, her eyes flashing as she gazed at Fu Qiu with a hint of disdain in her eyes. "Third Aunt slept for so long, helping us bring some water should be manageable, right?"

  "Okay, I'll go to the kitchen." She would also be living in this house later on, and it was something she could tolerate. It wasn't like serving a few cups of water was a big deal, but just as she lifted her foot, Qing's voice rang out, "You don't have to go, the snow in front of the kitchen hasn't been shoveled yet, the ground is slippery, if you slip and fall it won't be good. I'll go instead."

  Lian Qing walked away, and Fu Qiu Lian looked at Lian Tian Er's extremely angry face with great satisfaction, even humming a tune. "What are you so pleased about? Third Brother isn't being affectionate towards you, he's being affectionate towards my unborn nephew."

  "I know, but haven't you heard of a saying? 'A mother's status is elevated by her son.' I'm delighted!"

  Lian Tian'er was so angry that she panted heavily, stomped her feet twice and turned around, "Mother, look at her..."

  "What are you yelling about, yell your soul out, I'm not dead yet!" Mrs. Li's voice came from inside the house, wearing a grey squirrel fur coat, and Fow Autumn Lotus frowned as soon as she saw it - this was her dowry!

  "Mother, you look great in this dress." Lian Tian'er immediately forgot the unpleasantness from earlier and started tugging on Li's arm, "Mother, I don't care, I want a dress like this too, I also want to wear a big fur coat..." Next to them, Lian Fei had already rushed over, using force to push Lian Tian'er away, his voice loud and arrogant, "Mine, everything is mine, mother's things are all mine, none of you can have any. If anyone dares to fight with me for it, I'll chop off your heads."

  Lian Tian'er pulled him away and stomped her foot, "I want it, mother, you have to make it for me first."

  "Alright, alright, you all have." Mrs. Li smiled and nodded at Lian's forehead, smiling, "Who else can be ashamed of when you two are around?" Her eyes glanced at the three daughters-in-law beside her, pausing slightly on Fu Qiu Lian before ignoring them as if they were transparent. She raised her voice a few notches, "Elder and Second Elder's families, I'll go back to my room to cut some fabric later. You all take a look at what you need, just speak up, I have enough fabric here, don't worry." Yet she deliberately left out the very person who was supposed to receive the fabric, Fu Qiu Lian herself!

  As Li was about to leave, Fu Qiulian's eyes rolled and she slowly opened her mouth. "The clothes on your body are not bad in my opinion, otherwise, my father wouldn't have specifically bought this dress from the big city for me. Now that you're wearing it well and like it, I'll give it to you as a gift, consider it our filial piety." Wearing her clothes and thinking of taking her things to pretend to be a good person? The words had barely fallen when she turned around and thought about kicking herself? No way!

  Digression

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