Splendid Twins

The night was dark and the entire Sijia Village fell into silence.

Occasionally, the barking of dogs could be heard from the neighboring village. After Liu Niang packed up the things that Si Yao brought back, she lay down. Looking at her daughter who had never suffered, tears flowed unconsciously.

"Why are you crying?"

Si Yao lay on the side and spoke softly. It was her first time sleeping on a bed made of straw. It was a little prickly, but she could bear it.

"Mother feels sorry for you. Our family is short of food and clothing. You can't get used to it!"

Si Yao didn't care. What kind of hard times had she not gone through in her past?

Suddenly thinking of something, he asked softly:

"How did Si Wan know..."

Liu Niang sniffed and said hoarsely:

"You mean why did she go to Shangjing? This is all my fault. When I was pregnant with you, I couldn't sleep day and night. Your father heard from people that there was a temple in Shangjing that was very effective, so we went to the temple while your grandmother was back home. We wanted to worship and then go home, but it rained heavily and we were delayed. I suddenly went into labor at night, and your father was a man and couldn't be relied on. When he was about to seek help, a rich woman knocked on our room and said she would help me give birth. I was in so much pain at the time that I had no idea what she wanted to do. When I woke up again, Wanwan had fallen asleep next to me. I don't know what your father said to that person, but he just told me to take good care of her.

Over the years I treated her as my own daughter and never said a harsh word to her. I thought if I took good care of other people's daughters, my daughter would be taken care of well too. Until a few days ago when she got pregnant, I hid some soft fabrics for her to use, and she saw the jade pendant. I told her about these things when I saw she was older, and that's how things happened today."

Si Yao had an indescribable feeling in her heart. She had been without parents since she was a child, and her master had always been strict with her. Seeing Liu Niang wiping her tears with her rough hands, she suddenly asked:

"Now that she's living a good life, do you resent it?"

"No." Liu Niang blurted out, looking at her superior Yao's bright eyes, she felt sad and spoke slowly:

"She was originally a girl from a wealthy family. She grew up with us all these years without knowing anything. A woman's life is hard. She relies on her parents at home and her husband's family when she goes out. Your father and I work hard in the fields and can't have a full meal all year round. Now that she is old, if she doesn't choose a good husband, she will have to suffer for the rest of her life. Now that she has returned to a wealthy family, she can finally have enough to eat. It's just that Yaoyao has been wronged. She enjoyed happiness in the first half of her life, but she will have to suffer in the second half. But Dad and Mom will do their best to give you the best. Our family together is better than anything else."

"That's not necessarily true. I'll enjoy small blessings in the first half of my life, and I'll enjoy great blessings in the second half!"

Si Yao was joking on purpose, but she had already made up her mind. She had to build a house for this family, and she didn't want to sleep in a house that was drafty on all sides!

"Well, our Yaoyao deserves to enjoy her life."

"Mom, tell me more about our family. Are there any monsters or ghosts?"

Si Yao let down her guard and completely treated Liu Niang as her own mother. She pressed closer to Liu Niang. Liu Niang was stiff and dared not move. After a while, she reached out and hugged her sweet and soft daughter.

"Monsters, demons, ghosts?"

"It's just a disgusting person!"

Liu Niang thought of Si Po and lowered her voice to whisper to Si Yao that Si Lao Er and his two brothers in the thatched hut were not asleep. After hearing what Liu Niang and Si Yao said, the two brothers looked at Si Lao Er together. Four eyes in the dim room were staring at him, and their scalp tingled for a moment!

Thinking that he was the head of the family, he stared at him with wide eyes:

"What are you looking at? Go to sleep!"

After saying that, he turned around and pretended to be asleep, but in his heart he thought of the thrilling incident on the rainy night. After that rich woman helped Liu Niang cut the umbilical cord, she held the scissors against the baby's soft neck. She said that one of her children had a bad fate, and she wanted to swap the two children. He didn't agree at first, but when he saw Si Yao crying so hard that her voice split, he softened his heart. Both sides were girls, so he would raise them.

The woman gave him a jade pendant and ten taels of silver. When he returned home, his mother was getting angry in the yard. He was afraid that his mother would think he was a girl and wanted to torture her, so he secretly gave her the ten taels of silver, and lied that a fortune teller on the road said that Wanwan had a good fate. With the ten taels of silver, he thought that his mother, who had tortured people for half her life, was still good to Wanwan!

Now that his beloved daughter is back, he can finally have a good sleep. Well, he will take these two brats to work in the fields tomorrow, and he has to find a way to get some bird eggs for his daughter.

Si Qing closed his eyes and dozed off, no one knew what he was thinking.

After hearing this, Si Yang tossed and turned angrily. No wonder he had been ordered around like an old dog all these years, and Si Wan just sat there watching like a young lady!

When he was a child, he thought his sister was very cute and he was willing to take her out to play. But after a few times, his friends didn't want to play with him anymore, and soon he was taken to work in the fields.

Once when he was cutting wood in the mountains, he met Ergou. He couldn't help but ask him. Ergou told him with contempt:

Your sister said that you looked down on playing with us and even called my sister ugly!

How could he possibly say such a thing?

When he ran to argue with Si Wan, she just cried and hid behind her grandmother. As a result, he was beaten. His grandmother hit him with a stick, his mother slapped him, and his father also scolded him while working in the fields!

This is not the worst. The most hateful thing is that he wet the bed for a period of time, and his grandmother would beat him whenever he wet the bed. One day he was so scared of being beaten that he did not close his eyes for the whole night. He stayed up until dawn and went to the fields. When he came back he was beaten again. He shouted loudly that he was innocent, and his grandmother beat him severely with a stick. His parents were not at home, and he really didn’t understand why he was beaten for telling the truth!

After his grandmother threw the stick, he ran to the bed and was dumbfounded when he saw the bed. The originally dry mattress was wet in a large area. How was that possible?

He clearly hadn't slept all night, but he was still doing it when he left in the morning!

Si Wan came in, and she said like a devil:

"Brother, it must be hard to feel a beating, right? If you just listen to me, I will let grandma not beat you!"

At that moment, he really hated Si Wan!

How could such a disgusting person be his sister!

He didn't tell anyone about this, but from that day on, he and Si Wan had no more words to talk to each other!

He didn't know that she had stolen money to go to Beijing. It was only when his grandmother drove their family out that he realized that she was not his biological sister. At that moment, he was very happy, as if he had been freed from a heavy burden!

Today's sister, well, she's pretty and strong, but I don't know if she'll be a good sister in the future...

Si Qing was disturbed and felt uneasy. He pursed his lips and said:

"Calm down!"

"Brother, you didn't fall asleep either?"

"Fell asleep."

Si Yang: “…”

After a while, the hut became completely quiet.

After listening to what Liu Niang said, Si Yao yawned softly:

"Mom, go to sleep. I will go to the fields with you tomorrow."

"While you are asleep, your father, your brother and I are in the field. Yaoyao, you must remember to protect yourself at all times..."

Si Yao waited for a while, only to hear Liu Niang's slightly snoring sound. This kind and simple woman was probably very tired, and she fell asleep before she finished speaking.

Si Yao suddenly lost her sleepiness. The old lady of the Si family was a typical ignorant rural woman, she would cry, make a fuss, and even threaten to hang herself, throwing a tantrum and rolling on the ground pulling her hair. She was a person who would only respond to soft words and not to hard ones. She would be strong when facing a strong person, and she would be right when facing a weak person. She was not afraid!

However, he had more thoughts about the Duke Zhenguo's Mansion. How could a mere old woman like Wang be so bold as to replace the legitimate daughter by herself!

I'm afraid there is an unknown conspiracy behind this...

Things like this that use children as a tool are only for fame, profit, and men!

Forget it. Now that she and the real daughter have returned to their respective places, no matter how many things happen, they can't bother her. She should think about how to get a house as soon as possible. The weather will be cold after autumn, and she doesn't want to suffer the cold alone!