Su Minghui had only one daughter, so he treated her very well. He had originally betrothed her to someone, and they were supposed to get married this year. However, after the drought, the groom's family was unwilling to feed an extra mouth.
Furthermore, they were not from the same village, and their escape times also differed. Su Minghui could not bear to part with his daughter just like that. The two families discussed and agreed to break off the engagement.
Su Cuiping picked up the baby. Then she leaned down and whispered into Su Muqing's ear, "My mother said the water over there has been prepared. There's a little bit left at the bottom, and she sent me to ask you to come over and wipe yourself."
"Alright, I'll be right there," Su Muqing said as she got up and rolled up the straw mat on the ground. She tied it up and set it aside.
Su Muqing took another small cloth bag, then holding him, followed Su Cuiping to Wang Shi's side.
On the other side of the dilapidated temple, several large bedsheets were set up as privacy screens. Men stood guard a few meters away in each direction, preventing any unmarried rascals from peeking.
When the two walked in, a few people were already wiping themselves.
Su Muqing glanced at the water in their jars. Ugh! Please forgive her disobedient eyes. She didn't see it, didn't see it, didn't see it...
"Girl, over here," Wang Shi called out to them when she saw the two young ladies arrive.
She had already prepared three portions of water. This water was much clearer than what was in the jars earlier. Each portion was probably only a little more than a mouthful.
"Thank you, Auntie," Su Muqing said, thanking her before taking the water and sitting on a nearby stone.
She took off the baby's cloth bag. Then, holding him with one hand, she dipped the cotton cloth into the water with the other.
Starting from his face, then his neck, hands, armpits, groin, body, and bottom... she wiped him from head to toe.
After wiping him, she felt the baby seemed to have gotten several shades lighter. She looked at the water in the jar, and it had already changed color...
Using the dirty water, she also washed his soiled cloth bag. Then she poured the water into the large recycled wooden basin. It would be used later to boil beans to feed the cattle.
"You've wiped him for him, aren't you going to wipe yourself?" Su Cuiping asked Su Muqing after finishing.
"The madam who saved me last night gave me some water, so I'll just use it to wipe Xuan Ge'er."
"Is that so? No wonder I smelled a fragrant scent on your hair just now. You're so lucky to have met a kind madam."
Su Muqing smiled but said nothing. After they had finished cleaning themselves, they walked back towards the dilapidated temple together.
Perhaps feeling refreshed after being cleaned, the baby soon fell into a drowsy sleep again.
On the way, they encountered people from the old house. Su Muqing paid them no mind and had no intention of greeting them. Instead, she held the baby and walked past them.
Su Cuixia, the daughter of the eldest mistress of the Su family, couldn't stand it when she saw Su Muqing dare to ignore them.
They were the same age, but their circumstances were vastly different. Su Muqing had been the most beautiful in the village since childhood. Su Mingyuan also treated her very well, often buying her new clothes and hair ties.
Su Cuixia, however, was different. At home, she had to do all sorts of chores and always yield to her brothers. Over time, she became extremely resentful.
She was just a foundling! If it weren't for her second uncle, who knew where she would have died by now. Why did she have a better life than herself? Therefore, she used to like to bully Su Muqing.
When Su Muqing had supposedly died of illness yesterday, Su Cuixia was quite happy. In the morning, her grandmother also said that once her second uncle died, half of his belongings would be divided among their eldest branch.
Who knew that after just one night, Su Muqing had actually come back to life. Fearing ghosts, she didn't dare to get too close to check. She thought that even if she did come back to life, she would surely be sickly.
But now, seeing Su Muqing, apart from a bit of dust on her face and being a little darker from the sun, where was there any sign of illness? What was even more infuriating was that she didn't know where she got a set of clean and beautiful clothes.
Su Cuixia hated it. Those clothes were one thing. So much food and the ox cart were now gone.
Having taken such great advantage of their family, she now dared to put on such a haughty air! How could she let this go!
"Su Muqing, you don't even greet your grandmother when you see her. Do you have any upbringing at all?"
Su Muqing just glanced back at her and then turned to continue walking forward.
"Hey, I'm talking to you! Why are you walking away? What a wild girl, born of a father but not a mother. You have no manners at all." Su Cuixia thought Su Muqing was scared and chased after her, cursing at her.
The others from the old house did not try to stop her. Instead, they followed behind Su Cuixia, as if waiting for Su Muqing to soften. It would be best if she stepped forward and knelt to greet them, and then handed over Su Mingyuan's possessions.
Su Muqing, who had intended to avoid trouble, could no longer bear it. Since she didn't want to tolerate it anymore, she decided to confront them head-on!
Su Muqing abruptly stopped, sidestepped, and handed the baby to Wang Shi. Then she turned to face Su Cuixia.
Wang Shi was about to speak in defense, but suddenly a child was thrust into her arms. She instinctively reached out to catch him and forgot what she was going to say.
Su Muqing, with her arms crossed and chin slightly raised, looked down at Su Cuixia. "Who are you? Which law states that I must answer you when you question me? Did you get slapped in the face when you went out today? Do you think having a big face means you have dignity?"
"You... I'm talking to you, why are you ignoring me?" Su Cuixia was stunned by the retort and didn't know what to say.
Su Muqing let out a heavy scoff and then fanned her nose with her hand, as if smelling something foul. "Heh! Such big talk! If I didn't know better, I'd think you were a vegetable vendor. Who do you think you are, to be so important?"
"Pfft~"
"Pfft~"
"This girl is really funny when she talks..."
"Yeah! I never knew she could talk so well."
The surrounding people couldn't help but laugh when they heard Su Muqing retorting.
"You... you have no upbringing. You're just a wild girl, no upbringing..."
Su Cuixia, either angered by Su Muqing's words or by the surrounding laughter, didn't know how to respond. She could only incessantly point at Su Muqing with her finger, constantly calling her uneducated.
"How much have you read? How many characters do you know? Do you know how to write the words 'upbringing'? Do you have upbringing? If you have upbringing, why are you inexplicably pointing at others and scolding them? Is that what your parents taught you as upbringing? Then I truly don't covet it!"
Su Muqing retorted calmly, pushing Su Cuixia back step by step. Su Cuixia's tears even began to fall.
"Muqing, little Xia didn't mean it like that. She just thinks you should have greeted Grandma. After all, Second Uncle just died, and you're acting like this... it will lead to gossip." Just as Su Cuixia was defeated, a soft, weak voice came from behind.
Heh! It's this white lotus bitch!
Su Cuiling, she was also the daughter of the eldest master Su, and she was already sixteen this year. She was quite delicate-looking. For the past two years, she had been picky, wanting to marry into a wealthy family. But now that the disaster year had arrived, she couldn't even marry into an ordinary family.
Back in the village, Su Cuixia always liked to bully the original owner and snatch her things. Su Cuiling, on the other hand, would secretly play with the original owner. The original owner had always thought she was a good person.
Later, on one occasion, she overheard how Su Cuiling had instructed Su Cuixia to snatch her handkerchief. Only then did she realize that all along, Su Cuixia's bullying of her was at Su Cuiling's instigation. From then on, Su Muqing kept her distance from her.