Chapter 109

Chapter 109

Wang Qinghe carried the two children to the bed and then took down the kettle from the stove to make brown sugar water for his wife and the kids.

It was cold outside, so after he returned and unloaded the grain, he lit the stove.

Thinking about how Bai Xiuxiu had to risk falling into the water to catch those who might want to harm her, Wang Qinghe found Old Fifth's wife and her sister-in-law from her natal family particularly annoying.

If they didn't exist, why would Xiuxiu have to face such dangers?

If he were more capable, Xiuxiu wouldn't have to do this either.

"Xiuxiu, drink the brown sugar water and warm up on the bed. When it's time for dinner, we'll go to the main house." Wang Qinghe cleared the ash from where he had placed the grain while showing concern for his wife.

"Alright, let's cook some rice tonight. Given the miserliness of the main house, I doubt they'll prepare anything good unless they kick us out of the Wang family. We'll eat there first and then come back for our own meal.

We still have the preserved rabbit meat and the jerky we made a few days ago; let's steam them." Bai Xiuxiu climbed onto the bed with her enamel mug, thinking about dinner.

Everyone prioritizes their own meals after dividing the food. She didn't care what the main house did; her family couldn't go hungry.

"Okay, I'll listen to you." Wang Qinghe didn't mind what they ate, but he enjoyed having just their family of four together.

Like other families, they could be happy and harmonious.

Compared to the harmony in Bai Xiuxiu's home, the main house was far from peaceful.

Wang Shoucheng looked at the five hundred and twenty yuan in his hand with a grim face. Even if he added the money his wife had, it still wouldn't reach six hundred!

This was the money earned by his sons, and they all knew how much there was.

Plus, after the commotion caused by the eldest son's wife, everyone knew they had over a thousand yuan in savings.

How could they fill this gap?

This year was a good harvest; what would happen in the next few years when there might not be one?

The two old folks couldn't come up with any more money.

"What should we do now?" Zhao Guifen looked at the family's money and was so worried she felt like pulling her hair out.

If the sons found out the money was gone, they would likely divide even the five hundred among themselves!

"What can we do? We'll try to appease them. Apart from the eldest, no one else should be allowed to separate. If they all split off, we'll starve." Wang Shoucheng thought about that distressing future and felt suffocated.

"Appease them? Which of our daughters-in-law isn't pushy? I bet once the eldest makes a fuss, the others will follow!"

Zhao Guifen had no good impressions of her daughters-in-law, including Old Fifth's wife, who brought them benefits.

"Get Old Fifth's wife to start the black market trade quickly so we can share the profits, and the family won't want to leave. Control your temper and stop causing trouble with Old Fifth's wife. If you cause trouble again, I won't hesitate to send you back to your natal family!"

Wang Shoucheng intimidated her with a cold face, though he wouldn't actually do it.

Although his wife usually listened to him, if he really sent her away, she would likely kill him.

Zhao Guifen was surprised by his harsh words and stopped her scheming.

She disliked these daughters-in-law. Before they married in, her sons were all aligned with her. Now, they sided with their wives. So, she couldn't stand any of them.

Except for the eldest's family—she couldn't stand them either!

They weren't her own children, so she couldn't feel close to them.

Every meal the eldest's family had meant less for others.

They should work but not eat!

Fortunately, they'd soon be gone.

"Mom, it's time to make dinner. What are we having tonight?" Liu Xiaoe came out from the adjacent room and knocked on the old couple's door.

Hearing the second daughter-in-law's voice, Zhao Guifen wanted to explode: "Eat, eat, eat! All you know is eating! A useless person who earns three work points a day wants to eat what? Eat what you usually do, just like yesterday!"

Liu Xiaoe's hopes vanished instantly.

Her eyes turned red.

Who didn't eat something special at this time?

Besides, her mother-in-law didn't earn three work points either.

And everyone earned three work points, right?

Even her husband...

Why call her useless?

Inside, Wang Shoucheng glanced at his wife: "Are we still eating the usual?"

"What else? Once the eldest's family splits off, we can eat whatever we want. For now, stick to the usual. Besides, look at how much grain we got back. If we use it up now, what will we do in the spring?

Our village has work almost every day except winter and the hottest days of summer.

Will we beg for food then?"

Zhao Guifen felt justified. It was indeed the case!

Privately, she wasn't stingy with the second and fifth sons. The third and fourth sons had their own money; if they starved despite having money, it was their fault!

Anyway, she absolutely couldn’t let her family take advantage of Big Sister’s family anymore.

Wang Shoucheng couldn’t refute this. Although they couldn’t have white rice, it wasn’t entirely unacceptable.

At least he had his own small stash of food in private.

“Then let’s add a few sweet potatoes. We can’t leave them with nothing to eat. Third and Fourth do earn more work points after all…”

Wang Shoucheng offered.

Zhao Guifen thought for a moment: “Second Daughter-in-Law, go get a few of the newly distributed sweet potatoes. One for each adult and half for each child. Also, give them each a bran pancake. The vegetable dish will still be cabbage soup.”

Outside, Liu Xiaoe felt her stomach ache just hearing about these things.

How could they eat this stuff every day?

There was so much grain distributed today; couldn’t they have something better?

“Attention villagers of Xiahe Village, everyone please listen. This is Captain Chen Zhuangshi. I have an announcement for the village.”

The loudspeaker crackled to life.

Inside, Bai Xiuxiu, who was snacking, quickly cracked open the window.

“Regarding the incident where Wang Shoucheng’s Old Fifth, Zhou Jiaojiao, bullied the widow Xia in the mountains, she will now read her self-criticism.”

Soon, the voice changed to Zhou Jiaojiao’s.

Sitting in the broadcasting room at the brigade headquarters, Zhou Jiaojiao looked even worse than when she ate bran and vegetables at home.

She had imagined countless ways to become known, but never in a million years did she think it would be like this!

“I am Zhou Jiaojiao, Old Fifth of Wang Shoucheng’s family, and wife of Wang Qingqi. Regarding the incident in the mountains where I had a verbal argument…”

“What argument? Explain clearly, and also explain why,” the brigade captain corrected her impatiently.

Why couldn’t she admit her mistake properly at this time?

Embarrassed, Zhou Jiaojiao started over: “Regarding the incident in the mountains where I claimed that all the goji berries seen by Widow Xia belonged to me.”