After transmigrating into the body of a widow, I became the richest man in the capital.

Chapter 19 Beating the Gossipy Woman
"Of course! How could that tiger skin not be valuable? It was my husband, Wang Tieniu, who first set a trap in the woods, injuring the tiger's leg, which gave Su Xiaoxiao the opportunity to kill it. Honestly, that young wife of hers is quite unreasonable, you know? When my son and I went to ask for the tiger skin back, she almost beat us to death. She practically kicked us out!"

Grandma Wang said with great reluctance.

"Indeed, this young lady is just lucky."

"You say she's lucky? She's a jinx to her husbands, and you call that lucky? I think she's just had some bad luck lately, like she took the wrong medicine or just had a stroke of good fortune. She's incredibly arrogant; she'll get what's coming to her sooner or later. Let's see how long she can keep up this smugness!"

Su Xiaoxiao was so angry that she coughed a few times. Anyway, the fence wasn't high, so she turned around and looked over the fence at the other side.

It was indeed Granny Wang and a gossipy aunt from the village talking about her.

"Oh, have you two finished eating?"

The two old women realized that Su Xiaoxiao had overheard them talking about her. Slightly embarrassed, the gossipy woman quickly gave an awkward smile: "We've eaten, have you eaten?"

"I haven't eaten yet. But I think you two must have eaten too much for dinner, right? Why are you gossiping here for no reason?"

"Ah, yes, I'm so full..."

The gossipy woman answered with an awkward smile, but Granny Wang could tell that her words were barbed and meant to insult them.

She angrily dragged the gossipy woman away.

Su Xiaoxiao ignored them; it's human nature to be jealous of others' success.

After gathering the firewood, Su Xiaoxiao went inside to start a fire and cook.

"Mom, how come you have so much money to buy so many nice things today?"

Da Bao asked Su Xiaoxiao with great confusion.

While tending the fire, Su Xiaoxiao replied, "That's because Mom sold the tiger skin today and used the money to buy you all these delicious treats."

"I thought this money was..."

Da Bao stopped mid-sentence. Su Xiaoxiao knew what he wanted to say. "You still think I'm going to sell you all to get this money? Da Bao, stop pretending to be so mature, okay? I've told you before, no one in this family can be missing, and I won't sell anyone!"

Da Bao nodded, seemingly understanding but not quite.

"Your responsibility is to take good care of your little sister Xiaobao every day. As for food and drink at home, leave those to your mother. Remember that? Just have fun every day."

After listening, Da Bao suddenly stared at me blankly.

"Mother, you've really changed. You're not the same as you were a few days ago..."

Su Xiaoxiao realized she had said a bit too much, so she quickly said something in a seemingly impatient tone.

"By the way, don't just focus on playing. You also need to help me with some chores from time to time. I see the firewood in the yard is almost gone. Go out and collect some dry branches from the field when you have time, understand?"

"Okay, I understand!"

Da Bao was so frightened that he ran away in a flash.

Su Xiaoxiao realized that she couldn't become too good right away; there had to be some transition, otherwise, she would easily expose herself.

It seems I was too domineering before, and it will be a bit difficult for me to become a good person now.

Tonight, Su Xiaoxiao cut a small piece of pork she bought at the market, and also bought some celery, and made a stir-fried pork with celery.

This time, with salt and other seasonings in hand, the stir-fried dish was indeed very fragrant.

The two children smelled the aroma and ran out from the inner room, clapping their little hands and circling around Su Xiaoxiao.

"It smells so good! Mom, we want to eat!"

Seeing how happy the two little ones were, filled with affection, she really didn't know what to say.

Su Xiaoxiao secretly vowed that she would make sure her children were well-fed and healthy in the future, eating rice and meat every day.

After dinner, the kang (heated brick bed) in the room was warmed up.

She brought the young man a bowl of rice and some vegetables, saying, "Get up and eat something. You haven't eaten all day, have you?"

The young officer looked at the food and rice in his bowl and stared at Su Xiaoxiao in surprise.

This time, Su Xiaoxiao cooked some thin porridge and stir-fried dishes for the man, considering that he was still not in good health and could not eat dry food.

The young officer was quite surprised; he hadn't expected that Su Xiaoxiao's family would be able to provide rice to make porridge for him.

When he interacted with the two children during the day, he actually started to think that the two children were very cute, and slowly began to want to open his heart.

After the two children finished eating, their bellies were round and full as they lay down to sleep, quickly drifting off to sleep.

The night was quiet, and Su Xiaoxiao felt very happy.

In the middle of the night, Xiao Bao was half asleep when he crawled over to Su Xiaoxiao, snuggled into her arms, found a comfortable position, and continued to sleep.

Su Xiaoxiao was charmed by her action and quietly wiped the sweat from her forehead with her hand.

The next morning, when Su Xiaoxiao was dressing them, she discovered that Xiaobao's clothes were all hand-me-downs from Dabao, with patches and holes all over them. If you pulled them even slightly, they would tear open immediately.

Da Bao's clothes were all torn and a bit short, exposing his belly. Su Xiaoxiao was a little annoyed, wondering why she hadn't noticed.

However, seeing that her own tattered clothes were almost the same, she thought that she had to make new clothes for her two children today no matter what.

The fabric was bought, but, well, Su Xiaoxiao sighed. She didn't know how to sew.

When Da Bao saw Su Xiaoxiao sigh, he assumed that Su Xiaoxiao was unhappy again.

He rushed over and asked cautiously, "Mom, did we misbehave and upset you? If you're unhappy, just hit me!"

As he spoke, he stuck out his little bottom towards Su Xiaoxiao.

"Mom, just hit me, don't hit Xiaobao."

Su Xiaoxiao recalled how the original owner used to beat and kick her two children every day, and she felt extremely apologetic. She quickly hugged the older child in one arm and the younger one in the other, pulling them both into her arms and saying, "Don't worry, from now on, no matter what bad things you do, Mommy won't hit you anymore. Mommy's fists will only be used against outsiders. Whoever bullies our family, I'll beat them up!"

Da Bao and Xiao Bao laughed happily in Su Xiaoxiao's arms.

"Of course, our mother is very powerful; she's killed a big tiger!"

Da Bao said with a proud look on his face.

"Mom, why is big brother still sleeping?" Da Bao asked, puzzled.

"He's sick, so we'll allow him to stay in bed a little longer!"

Su Xiaoxiao was somewhat embarrassed when she said this, and she glanced at the young officer's face next to her.

His eyes were still tightly closed; it was unclear whether he was awake or not.

Su Xiaoxiao felt her face getting hot; something embarrassing had happened to her last night.

Last night, after Su Xiaoxiao finished tidying up, it was almost midnight when she came over to prepare for bed.

These past few days, it's almost the fifteenth of the lunar month, and the moon outside is getting rounder and brighter.

By the moonlight, she saw the young man lying on the kang (a heated brick bed). His face was fair, and his eyelashes were long and thick. She remembered how he looked at her when he opened his eyes during the day, with his long, narrow phoenix eyes.

(End of this chapter)