While having breakfast, Shen Xuezhu told her two children,

“Today is your grandfather’s birthday. I’ll take you to celebrate it with him.”

The two children nodded.

Today’s breakfast was quite hearty.

A bowl of stir-fried cured meat with chili peppers and a bowl of fried eggs.

Lu Xiaoli picked up a piece of cured meat and started eating.

It was just as delicious as the pig intestines from last night.

Although it looked a bit dark.

“Mother, the cured meat is so tasty! I like it.”

Shen Xuezhu also picked up a piece of cured meat and ate it.

The texture was nice, not dry at all.

It was also easy to cut when she made it.

…

On this trip back to her parents’ home, Shen Xuezhu brought over ten eggs and two pieces of cured meat.

When she arrived at the Shen family’s house, she handed these over to Shen Dayou.

“Father, these good dishes are what I brought from home.”

Shen Dayou’s eyes lit up when he saw so many eggs.

Usually, when the chickens laid eggs, most of them were given to his two sons, and he only got to eat one or two pieces.

Now that Shen Xuezhu had brought so many eggs, he could eat more.

However, he pretended not to recognize the somewhat dark cured meat.

“Second girl, what is this you brought me? Why is it so dark?”

“Can this be eaten?”

Shen Xuezhu almost wanted to say, “No, it can’t.”

“What kind of question is that, Father? I’ve already eaten it. Don’t worry, it won’t poison anyone!”

Shen Dayou shook his head. “I think you shouldn’t make cured meat anymore. You’ve always been a little slow, no wonder the cured meat turned out so dark! And you call it a good dish!”

“Next time, just bring me the pork itself. It’s simpler and less trouble.”

Was this Shen Dayou’s harsh tongue at work? Such discouraging words!

Shen Xuezhu said irritably, “Stop calling people stupid all the time. If you keep saying that, anyone would be called stupid!”

“Don’t worry, I won’t bring you any more cured meat. I won’t bring anything back with me, so you won’t have anything to complain about.”

Shen Dayou’s temper flared. “How dare you speak to your father like this! I’m your father, I raised you, and I can’t even scold you a bit?”

“When did you become so petty? Today’s my birthday, and you’re speaking like this, trying to anger me?”

“You’re both from the same parents, yet you’re so different from your sister. Look at your sister—when has she ever made me angry?”

Shen Xuezhu’s face darkened. “It’s you who started with harsh words. It’s just a bit of dark cured meat. Why make such a fuss over it? If you dislike it, you can just throw it away and not eat it.”

At this moment, Shen Qingye came in with her youngest son, just in time to hear Shen Dayou speaking about Shen Xuezhu.

She felt a bit of schadenfreude.

“I couldn’t teach you a lesson yesterday, but now you’re back home, and your father will teach you.”

“Father, now little sister has quite a temper. Why are you still speaking to her like that?”

Seeing Shen Qingye enter, Shen Dayou immediately softened his expression.

He also felt that Shen Xuezhu’s temper had become much fiercer since returning.

“Second girl, you’ve really got some nerve!”

“Why are you making such a fuss over it? If you don’t like the dark cured meat, you can throw it away. Is this how you talk to your father?”

“I tell you the cured meat is dark, you just need to accept it. I also tell you not to bring it next time, and you should just accept that too.”

“Now you’re arguing with me and making the house all messy.”

Shen Xuezhu furrowed her brows. “If you want me to endure it all, I can’t do it.”