Chapter 32: Life is Not Easy
However, in accordance with Han Qiao's request, apart from writing the letter of divorce, Sun Yiming also wrote a guarantee that he would not disturb Han Qiao and her daughters from now on, and that the members of the Sun family could not use any excuse or reason to ask the four of them to do anything for the Sun family.
He also wrote a document stating that he and the Sun family no longer had any relation of kinship with the three daughters.
That cut off all possible paths of retreat.
He had written the letter of divorce and the letter of guarantee in duplicate. As long as he took it to the Sun family and let the Sun family's patriarch and elders see it, this matter would be considered a success.
The two of them signed the documents
Sun Yiming's handwriting was regular and pleasing to the eye. Han Qiao's handwriting was crooked and unsightly.
Thus the matter of the divorce was settled.
Sun Yiming left in a hurry. He was afraid that he would be beaten up if he stayed any longer.
When he left, he realized that not a single person from the Han family saw him out. Neither Han Qiao, nor his three daughters.
He understood completely.
As a father and husband, he had failed miserably.
After getting into the carriage, he said tiredly, "Let's go."
Heng Yi wanted to go into the mountains to hunt. When Han Qiao invited him to have breakfast, he didn't refuse.
"..."
However, he stole a few glances at the beaming Han Qiao.
"?"
Was getting a divorce really that happy?
On second thought, it was indeed something worth being happy about.
After eating breakfast, Heng Yi bade them farewell and left. But Han Qiao called out to him.
"Heng Yi."
Heng Yi's heart began to race.
Beneath his calm and collected face, no one knew what kind of emotions could be lurking.
"Huh?"
"Can you bring the three of us with you when you go hunting in the mountains?"
"..."
Heng Yi looked at Han Qiao and the two girls behind her.
"Or, perhaps you could give us some pointers on where we can hunt pheasants or collect wild fruits."
"I won't be able to, unfortunately," Heng Yi said coldly. He turned to leave.
He didn't feel like doing so would be right. After thinking for a moment, he said coldly, "I can sell you a few pheasants for 10 cash each."
Han Qiao was ecstatic when she heard that.
For the record, it cost fifty coins to buy a home-raised chicken.
"Okay."
After agreeing, Han Qiao felt that this wasn't fair to him.
Buying a chicken from him for that cheap more or less amounted to bullying him.
However, Heng Yi had already walked a ways away, not giving her a chance to speak at all.
"..."
Han Qiao pursed her lips.
She turned around and returned to the courtyard. There Sun Xiu and Sun Yi were helping to sweep the floor.
A few of the younger ones went to the backyard to feed the chickens.
In the Han family, there were no lazy people.
Han Qiao had the children do that work while she went off to help with some other work.
However, as soon as she did, she was chased away by her uncle.
"The men here have everything taken care of. Go on home."
Han Qiao didn't dare to talk back to her elders.
Moreover, that day there were a few more cousins who had come out to help. For that she was especially touched.
All this help and support from her family…
Still, she felt a little guilty. After all, she was both Han Qiao and not Han Qiao.
When she got back home, Han Qiao summoned Sun Xiu and Sun Yi. She was planning to go to the back mountain.
"Auntie, I'll go with you." Han Yuanyuan grabbed a scythe.
She was raising three pigs at home, so she needed a lot of grass to feed them.
Although she was doted on, she still had to do housework, such as gather grass for the pigs.
"Sure."
Sun Ke stayed at home to play with her little cousin, Xiao Hu.
The children went crazy as soon as they locked up the courtyard.
In July, morning is the coolest time of the day. As the sun came out, it would gradually get hotter.
After entering the mountain, Han Qiao's first task was to find mushrooms. Then, she would dig up some herbs, pick up some naturally dried wood, and dig up some dry pine needles that could be used to start a fire.
"Mother, can this mushroom be eaten?" Sun Xiu asked, holding a red mushroom.
Han Qiao took a look. "If the mushroom is too beautiful, it means that it's poisonous. It's not edible. Throw it away."
"Okay."
By the time it was noon, they had already gathered a massive amount of stuff.
She gathered a backpack's worth of mushrooms, dug up three clusters of orchids along with a few piles of dry pine needles, two baskets of dried hay, a small bag of ground eggplants, and even a stalk of black nightshade.
Han Qiao's initial estimate was that the withered grass, when cleaned and dried in the sun, would sell for more than ten coins, and that the ground eggplant would sell for at most four or five coins. The nightshade might be higher, but she wasn't sure.
It was good to be able to sell it for some money.
She knew that no matter what time it was, the road to success was a long one. Being down-to-earth was the best thing to do.
Moreover, she had to be even more cautious with her three children.
Sun Yiming, that idiot, had given her five taels of silver, which more or less solved her most urgent problem.
She hadn't even been completely sure about what the Suns were planning, so how did Sun Yiming suddenly figure it out?
"Mom, look, there's a crab." Sun Yi pointed at the stream.
Han Qiao took a look and found that, indeed, there was a crab.
She put down the basket, took off her cloth shoes, rolled up her pants, and went to catch the crab.
She was fast and steady, and caught the crab in an instant.
"Wow..."
The three little girls looked at her and were immediately delighted.
"Let's go home now. In the afternoon we'll come catch more crabs."
"Alright."
Han Qiao thought that if she was lucky, she could catch more crabs in the afternoon and cook them for dinner.
They returned home. Han Yuan didn't say much when she saw that they had gathered summer grass, eggplant, and black nightshade.
She quietly helped to fetch water for Han Qiao to wash the summer grass and put it on the drying mat.
While washing, Han Qiao picked out all the weeds and dried leaves.
The older and younger children all came over to help.
Because they still had to work that afternoon, they cooked coarse grain porridge and wotou for lunch. Although the family had land, they couldn't just eat all the grain.
After taxes were paid, they would have to sell some for money.
So they planted a lot of sorghum and corn.
After eating corn and sorghum wotou, you would already be hungry again. Basically, this was what every family ate for lunch. When the sweet potatoes came out, they would eat the sweet potatoes. They would keep the corn and sorghum and eat them the next year.
In order to make a living, the farmers would always plan ahead and store away the grain that could be stored. They could not keep it for too long, so they ate it quickly.
"Do you plan to get some herbs to sell in the future?" Asked Han Yuan.
Han Qiao nodded. "Yes. I'll get some herbs from the mountains and raise some chickens and ducks."
"That's good, too." Han Yuan nodded.
She then asked Han Qiao, "Are you going to get married again?"
"..."
Han Qiao was stunned.
After thinking carefully, she said, "If I meet a suitable man, whom the children don't object to, I'll marry again."
However, even if she married again, she wouldn't lead a confused life like she had before.
She wouldn't let anyone bully her.
"Then, when someone comes to our house to inquire, I won't reject them. If that happens, let's have a look at him. Perhaps he could be suitable."
Han Qiao didn't want to overdo it.
"Well, I want to make sure he is financially stable and able to earn money to support the family. I'm not going to support him with the money I earn."
"Of course." Han Yuan smiled.
The most important point was that the family didn't need so many people. The fewer the mouths to feed, the better. More people only meant more disputes.
Han Qiao was very good looking. It wouldn't be particularly difficult for her to find another husband.
But this time, she had to keep her eyes open and choose a reliable one.
During the meal, Han Qiao said that she was taking the children out to catch crabs in the afternoon. The children instantly became excited.
Even Dayong and Dahu wanted to stop working and go with them to catch crabs and fish.
Back in Ninghe Town, Sun Yiming first went to the Sun clan leader's house and told him about his divorce with Han Qiao.
The Sun clan leader looked at him and was silent for a long time. Finally, he had a few words to say, "I once thought that you would have a bright future. I never imagined one day you would ruin yourself like this."
"Although Han Qiao didn't come from a prominent background, after marrying you, she was filial to their parents-in-law, took care of the household chores and raised their children. Her treatment of you was beyond reproach. You were exceptionally blessed."
"You are not the first child of our Sun family, and you will not be the last. However, you are the first to bring shame to our family."
"Beating your wife, drinking too much…all sorts of depravity..."
The Sun clan leader waved his hand. "You can go. Go, get out of here."
Out of sight, out of mind.
He was too lazy to say anything.
When Sun Yiming returned to the carriage, he felt guilty and blamed himself. He swore that he would make a name for himself.
This chapt𝓮r is updat𝒆d by (f)reew𝒆b(n)ovel.com