Mrs. Mei's Survival Diary - Chapter 6

Chapter 6 – A Guest 

After they finished their dinner, Rong Yinshuang washed the dishes first and then wiped her two children with a wet cloth and helped them wear the new shorts she bought for them.

Although the material of the clothes couldn’t compare to the clothes they wore at the mansion, it was just okay.

Da’er once complained to her about how the grandson of the porter, Uncle Zhang, could be shirtless, bare-chested, and running around in small trousers while he couldn’t, and he was envious of the grandson of Uncle Zhang. Big families always had to pay attention to a façade, so even children from a large family had to wear rigorous and fashionable clothing even in hot midsummer. So this year, Da’er’s wish came true. Fortunately, there were no mosquitoes, snakes, insects, rats, or ants in this yard.

After her sons’ work was finished, Rong Yinshuang cleaned the kitchen again, scrubbed herself well, changed her clothes, and started to wash the used clothes. Because it was a full moon, the yard was not dark, so she didn’t need to worry. She had made a rack with bamboo before, so she put washed clothes on it to dry. After she freshened up, she called her two children, who were playing, to go inside.

The children had adapted to the new environment quickly, and they didn’t mind that this place wasn’t as gorgeous as their former home. Although they were children, they also understood that they had been driven out of their former home and that this was their house from now on. Da’er would never forget how he was beaten, and even Mo’er couldn’t remember what had happened exactly. He would also want to be with his mother.

She allowed the two kids to play inside while she read the book that Wu Daozi left because they claimed they weren’t yet sleepy.

 As she began to read the book, she felt that the things written by Wu Daozi were too fascinating. After reading more than ten pages in a row, Rong Yinshuang came back to her senses and saw that her two children, who had been playing a while ago, were sleeping soundly on the bed.

She kept the book aside and went and covered the children with a thin cloth. As she was not sleepy, she took the lamp to the country yard and started reading the book again. She then saw that there was a spell called the Vajra Vol Demonic Charm, saying that it could protect people from the attacks of demons and monsters. The drawing of the spell didn’t seem very difficult, and she could use it after practising. She was determined to learn to protect her children.

There was a muffled sound suddenly in the silent night, startling Rong Yinshuang. And also, there seemed to be a very faint ripple of golden light above this Taoist temple, and she felt strange in her heart, so she held the oil lamp and went to the door. After taking a deep breath, she opened the gate of the Taoist temple and unexpectedly saw a blue and white face.

Frightened, Rong Yinshuang hurriedly took two steps back and fixed her eyes on the old woman she saw in the morning.

“Old lady? What other wishes do you have?”

The old woman (the ghost) looked up at her, shook her head, and said, “No. I don’t have any other wishes. The old man has found the money, and I can go with peace of mind.“

Rong Yinshuang nodded, understanding the feelings of this dead old woman. “Please come in and talk,” she said, inviting the dead old woman inside.

The ghostly old woman failed to accept Rong Yinshuang’s generosity. She shook her head and said, “I can’t enter this place of yours. I came to you to ask you to help me find a way to transcendence; I missed the soul-transferring period because of my obsession, and now if there is no person with high magic power to cross me, I will only be left to be a lone soul and wild ghost, and when the time comes, my soul will be scattered and destroyed.”

[T/L: According to Taoism, the idea that a person will pass away and then reincarnate in another person depending on their past lives is known as “life after death.”]

Rong Yinshuang looked at her, pondered for a while, and then silently turned around, entered the house, took the mahogany wood sword, and walked out the door.

“I don’t have that much power, but this sword is dedicated to surpassing the revenant; you… don’t you really have no other wishes? Are you willing to leave your husband?”

 [TL: Revenant: a person who returns as a spirit after death.]

The old woman smiled slightly. “In this world, persistence may not be good. My fate with him in this world is over, and I will no longer linger.”

Rong Yinshuang raised her sword, sighed faintly, didn’t say anything more, closed her eyes, and swung it in the air. And after a moment, she heard the sound of something clanging on the ground. Rong Yinshuang knew that the ceremony was over. She slowly opened her eyes.

She saw copper plates scattered on the ground, and she silently picked them up one by one.

………………………………….

The next morning, Rong Yinshuang took the two children to the old man’s wonton stall. He recognised her at a glance and said so with a smile. “Today I invite the mother and children to eat wonton free of charge. Go and sit until I bring the food.”

Rong Yinshuang asked the two kids to sit down first while she stood by the wonton stall and questioned the elderly man, “Did you find the money that the old woman left behind?”

“Yes,” the old man said while he was making the food. “The money was hidden exactly in the place you said. That old woman… I really don’t know what she thinks of hiding in such a place.”

Rong Yinshuang smiled slightly. “If she didn’t hide it well, wouldn’t she be able to save money?”

The old man’s gaze still did not leave the pot, and he sighed deeply. “Yes. Who knew that the old woman, who was usually reluctant to buy even a decent pair of shoes, could save so much money? Ha…ha… That’s one hundred and twenty taels. When she was alive, she didn’t buy good dresses and didn’t eat a good bite. Why did she leave all the money like that?”

Rong Yinshuang noticed the elderly man’s face had a few teardrops on it, and she did not talk to him anymore to bother him; instead, she silently turned around and sat down. This way, the old man would not feel ashamed.

The old man was motionless as a log, yet the wontons were still rolling in the pot, and everyone felt at ease thanks to the cool morning breeze.

Breathing in the wind, Rong Yinshuang observed this cloud. ‘Who can predict whether the person they love may suddenly leave and never return? she thought while recalling her past memories with her late husband.

Rong Yinshuang wanted to go to the street after breakfast to see if there was anything she could do there. However, when she asked at several stores, they all turned her away because of the two kids she was carrying.

She held Mo’er and Da’er in one hand and went to the market to buy some vegetables to eat today because she was desperate and had no other way to change people’s opinions. While passing by a stall selling sugar gourds, Mo’er pointed at it and ate her fingers. Rong Yinshuang was amused by his cute behaviour and decided to buy two sugar gourds to put in the vegetable basket for them to eat at home.

Although the two children were very hungry, they were also very obedient, and they endured until they reached the Taoist temple.

“Mother, eat,” Mo’er asked, showing a cute smile.

Rong Yinshuang pointed to the Taoist temple not far away and said, “Go in and eat, okay?”

After saying this, however, she suddenly spotted a luxurious double-horse carriage parked in front of the Taoist Temple, and the tassel pendant in the shape of a plum blossom on the cornice at the four corners looked so familiar. She realised that it was the carriage of the Mei family.

‘When my husband died, they didn’t hesitate to throw out the widow and the orphans from the mansion. They couldn’t wait to plunder the family property. And now I have settled in such a place, and still they can’t leave us alone. They actually come to the door to make trouble.’ Looking down at the two children, Rong Yinshuang handed them two sugar gourds and asked them to wait outside the door while she took a deep breath and walked into the Taoist temple.

There was a row of maids standing in the courtyard of the Taoist temple. After Rong Yinshuang walked in, a maid went to report, and after a while, a woman came out of the carriage. She was about the same age as Rong Yinshuang, also in her early twenties. She was wearing gold all over her body, making her a bit old-fashioned.

That was the second master, Mei Yuangui’s rightful wife, Zhao Qian. When Rong Yinshuang was living in the Mei Mansion, Zhao Qian always acted very humbly in front of her, and Rong Yinshuang had also always been very good to Zhao Qian. When her late husband brought something good from outside, she didn’t forget to send a copy to the second room. So she didn’t expect that Zhao Qian was actually a snake under a fake skin.

Zhao Qian walked in, first looked at Rong Yinshuang from up to down, and then hung a contemptuous smile on the corner of her lips. “It is said that people rely on clothes; Buddha relies on gold; and the sister-in-law used to be so bright and beautiful, but now she is coarse and linen; it is really distressing to watch.”

Rong Yinshuang looked at her with a cold face and asked in a cold tone, “What are you doing here?”

End of chapter 6

Have a nice day!

[Chapter update schedule: every Tuesday, Thursday, and Saturday]