Struggle in Ancient Times

Liao Tingyu felt a little helpless with his money; it was moving around but never add much. He suddenly thought of a gambling house; must be nice to go there and come out as a billionaire.
But a scholar valued reputation as their lives. There was no way he could go there.
Liao Tingyu was worrying about his money problem, he almost felt like his hair would turn grey at once.

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Unlike their youngest son, the Liao family made a lot of money from selling bean curd. Mother Deng counted the copper coins and smiled happily, she felt like everything was beautiful.
“This is the money we make in a day. My youngest son is very smart, he came up with a good idea and made so much money. You should learn from your little brother, look at how amazing he is. You must learn to use your brain in the future.” Mother Deng stroked her money and scolded Liao Shi as usual.

“Old man, should we send money for youngest son? Living in the town is very expensive, he must need a lot of money.” Mother Deng didn’t bother with Liao Shi anymore, she was worried about her youngest son.
Although, Liao Tingyu didn’t need to pay for tuition anymore. But the food and other things must need money.
Liao Ming didn’t think his youngest was short of money, but he thought it was not bad so he could ask Liao Tingyu later in the town.

Liao Shi was a little unhappy, his face wasn’t very good since he came back and he only smiled a little while counting the money. He was clearly in a bad mood but his mother didn’t even realize it. Liao Shi thought wildly and looked at his parents.
When his little brother came back, father and mother always running around him and busy asking things. But what about him? he was their own son too but no one paid attention to him nor cared about him.
The money today was their hard work but it was all in the Mother Deng’s hands. Although, the recipe was from his little brother but it was him who worked hard to make this bean curd. And all these years, it was also him who helped to give little brother money each month.

But his parents were still worried about their youngest son who lived a good life in the dormitory. They didn’t care about their daughter-in-law who was eight months pregnant. When they went to sell things, he secretly took his wife to see a doctor; the doctor said it was a good pregnancy but the body was very weak and needed to be raised. It would be dangerous for Wen Xiuer to give birth with her weak body.
His wife was so frightened and cried in his arms when they went home. But his mother only scolded her as squeamish.
“Mother, father, I think little brother isn’t short of money, he is a teacher in the town. Xiuer is about to give birth, look at her so thin. It’s almost skin and bones, why don’t you buy good meat and food for her. She is also pregnant with your grandchild.” Liao Shi said with a shy face after suppressing his dissatisfaction.

Wen Xiuer lowered her head beside her husband, she wanted to stop him from making trouble but it was actually for her own good. She touched her round belly slowly.
Mother Deng’s happy mood suddenly dropped, she scolded him, “What are you talking about? Do I ever starve you? Didn’t I let her to eat when it was time to eat? It was her who couldn’t eat and gain weight. Now you are blaming me for treating you bad!”
“Mother, that’s not what I mean. Xiuer is weak and about to give birth, I just want to buy some good things to supplement her body.” Liao Shi replied.

“You are still living well in our home. Didn’t I let her live a good life here? Whose daughter-in-law didn’t do housework when they are pregnant? She isn’t a rich family daughter. You didn’t know; when I was pregnant with you, I still did a lot of housework, I even washed clothes in the winter!” mother Deng looked at Wen Xiuer with a bad face.
“I didn’t even ask her to do heavy work. Just let her cook, clean and feed the chicken. Which daughter-in-law is as blessed as she is? Tell me! She isn’t a young lady and you still want me to serve her.” Mother Deng said angrily.
Liao Shi knew that mother Deng was much more kind that other people family. His wife’s life was indeed a bit nicer here, so he couldn’t say anything. His lips were trembling but there were no sounds came out.
Mother Deng thought he was still dissatisfied and couldn’t bear it, “I asked you to find a good wife but you end up marrying this prodigal woman. You think you are so precious since pregnant, how many years have you been married? It was only now you have a baby. It’s really shameful, in the ox cart you kept leaning on your husband. Do you think you are a young lady? Your body and bones are so fragile and couldn’t stand the ride?”

Wen Xiuer turned pale and her eyes was red when she heard this. Her own family was really poor and there wasn’t enough food to eat. But once she got married into Liao family, she could eat enough and had meat on the celebration days.
The only time she ate so much meat was when her husband learned to make a trap. Even with her weak body, she still wanted to have a child but it wasn’t easy for her stomach to move. Every time she looked at the people who got married on the same day as her, they already had their babies but she didn’t. She was very sad at that time.
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At night, Wen Xiuer hugged the quilt and cried silently. Liao Shi looked at the window with no emotion on his face, no one knew what he was thinking.