The thin wooden door creaked open, and a group of people rushed in.

Shen Qing glanced around, and the ones crowding at the front were all her sons.

Wiping tears and crying was her eldest son, Jiang Xiangdong: “Mother, you’re finally eating! I’ve been so worried these past two days that you haven’t eaten!”

Shen Qing could only scoff inwardly: You’re asking about her eating, when she was just about to abandon your own daughter!

Whose life is easy when they have to start from throwing away babies?

Throwing away two infants could save a few mouthfuls of food!

What is this pig-headed child thinking?

“Mother only comes once, but wives can be remarried, children can be born again, remarried? Where would I find one?”

Huo Bing was a child bride; she was sold to the Jiang family at the age of ten.

Although there was no cost for the marriage, in their area, it cost about seven or eight taels of silver to marry a wife.

The family only had a few taels of silver, and with five sons, how could their mother afford to give him money for a wife?

Without a wife, who would give him children?

Shen Qing looked towards her eldest son’s side, where her third son Jiang Xiangnan, with his fresh, youthful face full of worry, and her fourth son Jiang Xiangbei, who was pursing his lips, appeared in her mind as she remembered the dreadful scene she saw in her dreams about this whole family.

In the summer, torrential rains broke down the riverbanks, and the water flooded in.

Walls fell, houses collapsed.

Everywhere, people were suffering, fleeing from disasters, and their family was no exception.

On the escape route, they were forced to endure hunger, cold, and all kinds of dangers.

With no money, no food, and no protection, the remaining family members were scattered, with some dying in the chaos.

Not a single person survived well.

After seeing over ten people tragically die, Shen Qing regretted that none of her descendants had her strength.

If it were her, she would have shown that evil old woman what it meant to meet evil with evil…

Now, she didn’t need to tell anyone that, because she was the evil person!

Damn it, the evil old person who had cursed her in her dreams turned out to be herself!

And to be honest, she was not really an old person, only cruel.

After all, even though she had grandchildren, she was only thirty-seven years old!

Thirty-seven, in Huaguo, that’s still considered young, even among those who don’t have kids yet — like her.

She hadn’t expected to come here only to have a whole bunch of children, and even grandchildren. Suddenly, Shen Qing thought that perhaps her illness didn’t seem too bad?

Anyway, since she was already here, it was time to get back to living and make the best of it.

“Mother, please, drink some porridge, it’s been kept warm in the pot, it’s thick.” Huo Bing, her daughter-in-law, carefully and kindly handed over a clay bowl.

Watching Shen Qing take the bowl, the whole room of people stared at her, unable to resist swallowing their saliva.

It was the farming off-season, so there were only two meals a day.

Normally, breakfast and lunch would be eaten between 9 and 11 AM, but since mother hadn’t responded or opened the door, they had been calling out to her from outside, waiting until now, well past noon, and they were starving.

Shen Qing was indeed hungry too.

Her hands trembled as she took the bowl, and her gaze first landed on her daughter-in-law Huo Bing, before she couldn’t help but sigh.

This girl had truly had a hard life.

Sold as a child bride at the age of ten, she woke up earlier than a rooster and slept later than a dog, eating the worst food and doing the hardest work.

Luckily, she was strong enough to survive and grow up healthy.

She looked strong and heroic on the outside, but inside, she had a rare perseverance.

Her mother-in-law forced her to abandon her own daughter, her husband was foolishly filial, and despite knowing the road ahead led to death, she still left with her two children.

Yes, this time, not only were two granddaughters abandoned, but Huo Bing had gone too.

Even in Huaguo, a woman who had just given birth and was carrying a sick child and a baby under a month old was living a life too bitter to describe, let alone in this backward place with no prospects.

Indeed, as it turned out, they faced hunger, cold, and hardship as they traveled.

The eldest daughter died from illness, followed by the youngest daughter.

Huo Bing, once strong and resilient, became weak after childbirth and failed to recover.

After losing both children, she lost her will to live, and holding on to two tiny graves, she soon passed away as well.

Alas! The suffering was unimaginable.

While feeling sorry for her, Shen Qing struggled to swallow the yellowish, gloppy porridge.

As she gulped it down, tears nearly followed.

It tasted bland, and worse, it hurt her throat!

Her throat ached badly, but it shouldn’t have been like this.

She was familiar with eating corn, especially cornmeal, which often had this yellowish appearance.

But the porridge in front of her was coarser and rougher than what she was used to.

The texture was vastly different from the one she had in Huaguo!

She swallowed the glop with difficulty, then her eyes curiously scanned the bowl.

Inside, she saw not just yellow grains, but also white-brown strips. Could this be corn cobs?

The inner white part of the corn? But wasn’t this something used to start fires?

Could they really eat it in ancient times?

“Mother, why aren’t you eating? Big sister-in-law, don’t you know how to make something your mother likes, like an egg custard?” Jiang Xiangnan raised an eyebrow and scolded.

Jiang Shui snorted from behind but remained silent, knowing it wasn’t his concern.

Jiang Xiangdong rubbed his hands, glancing between his mother and wife, looking anxious but unsure of what to say.

Shen Qing heard her third son’s criticism of her daughter-in-law, and despite her rumbling stomach, she coolly asked, “Since you know your mother loves egg custard, why didn’t you make it yourself?”

He, her biological son, didn’t make it but ordered others around instead, acting like filial duty was outsourced.

It was pointless to rush forward; in the end, it was Huo Bing who brought them the filling porridge.

Jiang Xiangnan, looking incredulous, stared at Shen Qing, then said aloud, “Mother, how could I make egg custard? Besides, I’m a son, so of course, kitchen work is for women.”

At home, wasn’t it always his eldest sister-in-law who did all the work?

Since she came to the family, everyone had been used to making her do everything!

“If you don’t know, then learn. You’re a man, but can’t even learn what women do?” Shen Qing wasn’t his real mother, so she wouldn’t pamper him.

Even if she were his real mother, she wouldn’t spoil or cater to him like the original owner did.

Such indulgence would only harm them further, especially when faced with disasters and difficulties, leaving the sons as useless as young masters from wealthy families, unable to stand up and support the family.

Poor families had their own way of educating children.

Spoiling and indulging them would only hurt both them and themselves.