Chapter 40: Lu Lan’s Rise

Feng Mian said, “Don’t go out for lunch, just eat here. I specially saved some delicious food for you, including crab meat you like.”

“Okay.”

At noon, Feng Mian invited Lu Lan and her family of three over to eat. There were quite a few leftovers from yesterday.

In the countryside, it was impossible to throw away leftover food from a feast. There was no fuss—food was reheated again and again until it was all eaten up.

Actually, most of the dishes on the table yesterday had been eaten already. What they ate at lunch today was the food Feng Mian had specifically saved from yesterday.

To properly entertain Feng Xiaojing, she had even specially prepared a king crab.

Of course, to prevent them from noticing, the crab shell was removed, leaving only the meat.

Eating from that big plate of white meat, Lu Lan curiously asked, “What kind of meat is this? It’s my first time eating it.”

Feng Mian said, “It’s crab meat.”

“Crab?” Feng Feng exclaimed, “You can eat crab? It actually tastes quite good.”

Lu Lan said, “Next time you catch crabs, don’t give them to the ducks in the village; bring them here for us to eat.”

“Alright.”

Feng Xiaojing took a few bites quietly and said softly, “Mianmian, you cook well. A few days ago, I caught a crab by the river to cook, but it was so fishy.”

Feng Mian just smiled and said nothing.

Gu Yuelin looked at her thoughtfully.

When did she go catch crabs? How come he didn’t know?

In the afternoon, Feng Mian and Gu Yuelin tidied up the house and also took out the farming tools, sharpening what needed sharpening.

Work had to start tomorrow.

They had to prepare for spring plowing; the hardened soil needed to be dug up in advance.

Gu Yuelin took a hoe and went to Feng Mian’s small private plot of land. He had to dig up their plot that afternoon.

The village of Dao Tou mainly grew grain. Their little private plot also had to grow grain.

Feng Mian took a hoe and dug soil on both sides of the yard. Planting chili peppers, garlic sprouts, and green onions was not a bad idea.

Don’t say, “Why not plant flowers in the yard?” In this era, if you had land and didn’t plant grain but planted flowers instead, you’d be considered strange by the villagers.

To put it bluntly, even if the family had an unusable broken pot, they’d fill it with soil and plant some garlic cloves.

In the middle of the afternoon, Feng Rongrong from next door came running over crying.

Feng Mian put down her work and stood in the yard watching the neighbors.

Feng Feng and Lu Lan came out from the house.

Lu Lan took off her apron, bent down, and asked, “Rongrong, what happened? Did someone bully you?”

Feng Rongrong said, “Second brother wanted my candy, but I refused. He told grandma, and grandma came with a stick to beat me, demanding I give her all my candy.”

This was exactly what Lu Lan expected. She snorted and looked at Feng Feng. “What do you have to say for yourself?”

Feng Feng was stuck for words. Under Lu Lan’s pressing, he stammered and asked Feng Rongrong, “How many pieces of candy do you have?”

Feng Rongrong shook her head; she didn’t want to tell him she had a lot.

Feng Feng said, “How about Rongrong gives Second Brother one piece?”

Rongrong still shook her head. “No, Second Brother never gives me candy when he eats it.”

Lu Lan angrily pinched his arm. “Have you forgotten at New Year’s, your mom bought half a pound of candy and gave some to your nephews in front of Rongrong? Rongrong wanted a piece, but she refused and even called Rongrong a money-losing thing. If you had any backbone, you’d stay away from that family, okay?”

No sooner had she finished speaking than they heard Lu Lan’s mother-in-law, Old Lady Qian, shouting.

“You little jinx, what are you saying? How dare you stir up trouble to separate him from his brothers? I’ll beat you to death!”

She came forward and tried to grab Lu Lan’s hair.

Lu Lan was also determined — she was ready to fight for her daughter.

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This time, she wasn’t afraid of her and directly fought back. The two were quickly pinned to the ground.

It was the first time Feng Feng saw his wife dare to strike back at his mother. For a moment, he was stunned and didn’t know how to intervene.

When he snapped out of it, he anxiously paced around them, shouting, “Stop fighting, stop fighting…”

Gu Yuelin came back carrying a hoe and, along with Feng Mian, watched the fight next door in shock.

“Quick, shout for Fourth Grandpa!” Feng Mian pushed Gu Yuelin.

She also dropped her tools and ran over to them.

Feng Rongrong was crying on the side. Worried they might hurt the child in the fight, she quickly pulled the child away.

Lu Lan gave her a grateful look.

As long as her daughter was safe, she was willing to risk everything to fight that old hag.

Lu Lan was much lighter than Old Lady Qian; if she was determined, Qian wouldn’t get the upper hand.

Seeing Old Lady Qian losing ground, she angrily scolded Feng Feng, “Erwa, are you dead or what? You just watch this shrew beat your mom and don’t help?”

Feng Feng suddenly realized what was going on and tried to pull Lu Lan away.

When he grabbed Lu Lan, she got slapped, and she instantly broke down.

“Feng Feng, you’re something else! I’m going all out with you guys. Either you die today, or I do. Ah…ya ya…”

At that moment, Lu Lan’s hair was messy, and she looked like a female ghost.

She picked up a big broom lying on the ground, stepped on the broomstick with her foot, and yanked the handle out.

Then she wildly swung the broomstick at Feng Feng and Old Lady Qian.

She shouted that killing one wouldn’t be a loss, killing two would be a gain, and if she ended up killing them, she’d just jump into the river to pay with her life.

Anyway, she wouldn’t be at a loss.

There’s a saying: the soft fear the hard, the hard fear the fierce, and the fierce fear those who don’t fear death.

She had been married here for ten years, and her daughter was already eight.

In those ten years, she had endured countless grievances. Now, all those grievances surged up in her heart and turned into the strength to fight back.

Her fierce stance made it seem like she really was going to beat Feng Feng and Old Lady Qian to death.

“Hey, Feng Feng, Erwa, stop her quickly! I think your wife has gone crazy.”

Feng Feng protected his mother but didn’t dare fight back against his wife, so he was getting beaten badly.

The two of them ran, one in front and one behind, while Lu Lan chased after them like a madwoman.

Such a big commotion naturally caught the attention of the villagers.

People began running over to see what was happening.

Many who feared missing out on the drama started running as well.

The path along the field ridge was narrow. Someone running fast slipped and fell straight into the winter paddy field.

“Hey! Why are you all crowding like this? You even pushed me into the paddy field. What rotten luck!”

Feng Feng’s eldest brother’s family also came. Seeing Lu Lan acting like a shrew chasing and hitting his mother, Feng Oldest immediately grabbed a stick and charged up.

“The world’s turned upside down! I want to see how tough your wife is, daring to hit her mother-in-law.”

Feng Oldest was not like Feng Feng. Feng Feng was protecting his mother and holding back from hitting Lu Lan, not retaliating.

If Feng Oldest had a stick and charged, Lu Lan definitely wouldn’t be able to fight back—she’d only be on the receiving end.

Seeing this, Feng Mian got nervous and quickened Feng Xiaomian’s pace.

Just as it looked like a fight was about to break out, Feng Feng suddenly turned and blocked his eldest brother.

Without Feng Feng blocking him, Lu Lan would have gone after Old Lady Qian.

The villagers watching the fight couldn’t bear it anymore. Worried the old lady would get seriously hurt, they hurried over to stop the fight.