Chapter 3: Even the Old Matriarch Was Targeted for Extortion

The family’s first attempt to mend fences ended in failure.

Ning Fang had no choice but to carry the basket of wild greens back home.

When Lian Rong Yang saw her return, she knew Old Madam Fang had refused to take them.

“A block of ice does not freeze overnight,” said Ci Nian Fang. “Let’s take it slowly. There’s no rushing this.”

The original owner’s family of three had tried to cheat money out of the old house again and again, each time pretending to have repented. Yet the moment they got their hands on cash, their true nature showed through. After so many cries of wolf, the old house had long since stopped believing them.

“I just tidied up the house and counted everything,” said Ci Nian Fang, taking out a large string of coins. “We have just over a pound of white flour and seventy-eight cash. This is all we own. One tael of silver is about two hundred of our yuan.”

Ning Fang did the math. One tael of silver was one thousand cash, and seventy-eight cash was worth fifteen yuan and sixty cents. They were so poor they could not even afford takeout.

“Money can wait until after we’ve eaten,” said Lian Rong Yang, too hungry to think about it any longer. “Old Fang, make a fire for me. We’ll cook first. Ning Ning, go see whose house you can buy a few eggs from.”

Ci Nian Fang put the string of coins into Ning Fang’s hands and went off to help his wife.

Ning Fang was used to it. Her parents had a good relationship and handled every chore as a pair. Sometimes she felt like she was just an accident.

She took the money and went back to the Fang family’s old house.

Old Madam Fang, still shelling peanuts, saw Ning Fang return and felt her blood pressure shoot up. She reached for the broom, ready to drive her out.

Before the old lady could explode, Ning Fang spoke first. “Grandma, I came to buy a few eggs. I’ll pay.”

She lifted the string of copper coins in her hand.

“I’m hungry, but no one else would sell to me. Please, Grandma, do me a kindness and sell me a few,” Ning Fang said pitifully, rubbing her stomach. “I nearly died once. I know I was wrong. I won’t do those disgraceful things again.”

Old Madam Fang sneered. “If your words could be trusted even once, you wouldn’t have nearly died.”

That stung. And it really was not her fault.

Ning Fang simply untied the coin string, took out ten coppers, and ran over to press them into Old Madam Fang’s hand with both palms together. “Please, Grandma!”

The original Ning Fang had a lovely face, but she had been taught to be such a shameless wretch by her parents that she was detestable. Now, seeing her so meek and obedient, even Old Madam Fang, who had sworn never to trust that eldest branch of the family again, felt her heart soften.

Well, even if they were trying to cheat her again, they were still her own children. Was she really supposed to watch them starve to death?

“Come inside with me,” said Old Madam Fang, getting up and walking into the house.

Ning Fang reached for a handful of peanuts.

Old Madam Fang was just about to scold her, but when she saw that Ning Fang only took two, she swallowed the words back.

Heavens above. If this grandchild had spotted food in the past, she would have stuffed the basket to the brim no matter what. Why was she being so obedient this time, taking only two?

Ning Fang had deliberately taken them in front of Old Madam Fang.

Changing an ingrained impression was not something that happened in a day. It had to be done slowly, so she started with little things, letting Old Madam Fang gradually believe that she truly had changed.

Old Madam Fang brought out the basket where they kept the eggs.

“I only want five,” Ning Fang said, holding up five fingers. “Two coppers each, exactly right.”

Old Madam Fang counted out five, and though she was still angry at the eldest branch’s shamelessness, she could not help but feel sorry for the child and added two more.

Ning Fang put the extra two back into the basket and smiled at her. “Five is enough, Grandma.”

Old Madam Fang instinctively looked out the window. Had the sun risen in the west today?

Ning Fang put the five eggs into the basket lined with dry straw and scampered out. “Grandma, I’m going now.”

Old Madam Fang hurried after her, afraid Ning Fang would help herself to her peanut seeds again. But Ning Fang did not even glance at them.

Old Madam Fang frowned. Had the near-drowning really made her sensible at last?

When Old Fang came home that evening, Old Madam Fang told him what had happened. “Do you think the eldest family really came back from the brink of death with a changed heart?”

Old Fang snorted. “A dog may change its way of eating filth, but the eldest family will never change. Keep your money bag tight and don’t let them cheat you again. Just look at the things they’ve done all these years.”

“But what if?”

“There is no what if!”

Old Fang knew the temperament of his eldest son’s family too well. He would never believe for a moment that they had changed.

Naturally, Ning Fang’s family knew nothing of what the old house was thinking.

Lian Rong Yang took out the last bit of oil from the jar and fried a shepherd’s-purse and egg pancake, then stir-fried some water celery. But with no salt, even with her excellent cooking, the flavor fell short.

Still, under their present circumstances, they had no right to be picky. Filling their stomachs was what mattered.

Just as they were about to eat, someone next door suddenly let out a heart-rending wail. “You heartless man, leaving us, mother and child, behind like this—how are we supposed to live?”