Chapter 3

Zhou’s mother’s expression changed. “What’s there to be embarrassed about? Just think of this place as your home. Do you need to return things to me at home?”

Qiao Yu didn’t reply.

She firmly believed that there was no such thing as strangers being nice to each other for no reason in this world, and the relationship between the two was the most confusing mother-in-law and daughter-in-law relationship in China for thousands of years.

Zhou Ze’an’s hidden illness must be very serious!

Qiao Yu was a little distracted.

How serious is it? If you never fell in love or got married in your previous life, would you have to continue to be a widow if you marry a man in this life?

Is Zhou Ze’an so good-looking but useless?

Alas, Qiao Yu sighed and chose to accept his fate for the time being. After all, he saved his life.

“Okay, you decide.”

She would leave her things behind when she left anyway.

Mother Zhou took the bag of grain and happily fried it with the shells, then ground it into dark brown powder, packed it up and sent it to Qiao Yu.

A pound of rice, fried and ground into powder, weighs about seven ounces.

Zhou’s mother ground it several times and sieved it. Even if it was ground with the shell on, the powder was still very fine. Except that the color looked darker, it was actually not much different from fine grains and was very suitable for children to eat.

Qiao Yu remembered it in his heart, thanked him, and put it in the black box in the space.

After Zhou’s mother left, and after learning that the Zhou family had not done anything to Dawei and Xiaoyong, he left the two children in the house and went to the back mountain to see if he could get anything.

The Zhou family built a large blue brick and tile house with very good conditions, especially the room where the three of them, mother and two of them, lived. It was Zhou Ze’an’s room, with good lighting and fresh air.

Anyway, the room she slept in was the best room in the original owner’s memory.

Such treatment… When she thought about Zhou Ze’an’s failure, she became depressed again.

The back hill is bare, and all the vegetation that could be harvested has been harvested by the members.

She went deep into the mountains without fear of death.

The consequence of placing living things in the copy space = the cute little animals will be gagged on the spot.

When she thought that her life would not be in danger, and that the cute wild boar, the docile wolf, and even the naughty little snake could all be hers, she couldn’t help herself…

“Gurgle, gurgle.”

The empty city plan sounded from her abdomen put a halt to all her fantasies.

Forget about the big wild boar, the big wild wolf and the little snake, she didn’t even see a single rabbit hair!

However, no one picked the wild vegetables in the deep mountains. The members were afraid that they would not be able to pick them even if they had the hands. So, every time she walked a short distance, she squatted down and started to pick the wild vegetables. If it were not for the continuous drought, the wild vegetables in the deep mountains would grow more densely.

All the wild vegetables I picked were put into the backpack.

After walking deep into the mountains for an hour, we didn’t see any cute little animals and had to return disappointed.

The backpack was weighed down with hay. After entering Zhou’s yard, she put the backpack into the kitchen and lifted the hay off it.

Zhou’s mother had gone somewhere. Zhou’s wife was making a fire to cook. Seeing the basket full of wilted wild vegetables, she said in disbelief, “You, you ran off to the mountains?”

Qiao Yu grinned, “There are a lot of wild vegetables in the mountains that no one is picking. I went there at the right time.”

Mrs. Zhou thought about it and said nothing more. After all, there were so many dishes that she could eat a few bites.

Qiao Yu: “Sister-in-law, please make half of these into wild vegetable dumplings for the children and I to eat on the train, and the other half as a side dish for everyone today.”

“Yeah, okay.” She agreed, and then whispered, “Don’t go to the mountains in the future. It’s dangerous. If something happens to you, what will Dawei and Xiaoyong do?”

“Okay, I’ll listen to my sister-in-law.” Although she said that, she still had to go tomorrow.

When it was time to eat, Zhou’s mother saw the fresh wild vegetables on the table, her face darkened several shades, and when she was serving the food, she gave Qiao Yu half an extra spoonful.

Qiao Yu gave the half spoon to Dawei and Xiaoyong, “This is enough for Mom. You are growing up, so eat more.”

Actually?

She thought that she could replicate a boiled egg tomorrow and continue to put it in the black box so that it would lay eggs every day. She could secretly add some meat to her diet every day… Well, she felt bad about it.

It is not advisable to eat alone.

At worst, we can just give more of these throat-nosed coarse grains to the children!

Zhou’s eldest uncle and his wife felt a little ashamed. In this famine year, when food was scarce, they had never thought of allocating food to the children. If they had less food, they would not be able to work in the fields. Even though one of them was an accountant in the team and the other was a teacher, they still had to work in the fields during the busy farming season.

There have been cases where adults gave meals to children, and they almost died because they ran out of breath while working in the fields. No matter what the adults said, they dared not do it.

Compared with my new sister-in-law, they seem… a little selfish when it comes to their children?

Zhou’s mother looked relieved.

Qiao Yu is so good to his stepson. If he really joins the army, he will be better at living than the previous one.

All she hoped for was a daughter-in-law who was warm and caring and could treat her youngest son well.

The Zhou family’s conditions are there, who wouldn’t want to climb up the social ladder? But her youngest son has been cold since he was a child and is like this to everyone. The one in front of him spread it everywhere in the military camp…

If that ignorant little girl really married and joined the army, let alone all the gossip, even her three stepsons would make her die of anxiety.

Qiao Yu is still a good choice. You can tell at first glance that he is a person who can live a peaceful life.

After dinner, Zhou’s mother pulled her into the house, took out a key from her underwear, opened the lock on the bedside table, and took out an iron box.

The pockets on the underwear are to prevent money from being stolen or lost. This is how the original owner hid his money.

When the iron box was opened, she

I saw a lot of tickets and money.

She was a little dizzy.

“I won’t give you this money for now. When you join the army and get your marriage report, I’ll send you half of it. These are the wages and allowances that the youngest brother has sent back over the years. I saved them all for him. When he married the first one, I gave him one thousand…”

Um?

Qiao Yu’s mind was a little confused, “Wait, Mom, Zhou Ze’an is also remarried?”

“You don’t know?” Zhou’s mother was stunned for a moment, but she didn’t hide it and said, “The previous one wasn’t a good one. He got into trouble after one month of marriage and divorced within three months. He also spread the word in the army that my youngest son was incompetent…”

Oh, is this to give her a vaccination?

Qiao Yu thought that both she and Zhou Ze’an were remarried? Well, that’s fair.

The complicated feeling in his heart was calmed down again by the vaccination given by Zhou’s mother.

I continued to listen absentmindedly.

Zhou’s mother cursed a few times at first, then seemed to notice that she hadn’t really married yet, so she restrained herself a little and said, “Don’t believe what people say outside, my youngest child is in good health.”

I see. This is to ask her to help cover up.

Qiao Yu shyly replied, “I believe him, mother.”

Zhou’s mother said with relief: “You call me mother; how can I not express my gratitude? Mother has high hopes for you and my youngest son, so I send you this money as your dowry.”

Qiao Yu understood immediately.

Hush money.

“Yes, mother, I understand.”

“You are still the best, Ayu.” Zhou’s mother sighed again.

After chatting for a few words, Zhou’s mother reminded her not to go to the back mountain before letting her go.

As soon as I got back to the house, Mrs. Zhou brought the wild vegetable dumplings she had made. “I put a lot of salt in these because I was afraid, they would go bad. When you make the rice powder, pour the vegetable dumplings in and mix them together. The taste will definitely be better than just making rice powder.”

“Oh, okay, I understand. Thank you, sister-in-law.”

Mrs. Zhou looked at Qiao Yu’s smiling face and was stunned for a long time before returning to the house.

Tossing and turning in bed unable to fall asleep, Zhou Dasao bumped Zhou Zeguo’s shoulder and said, “I think the new sister-in-law is prettier than the previous one, but she has suffered from the famine and is skinny, with bulging eyes, which makes her look scary. Mother also said that the new sister-in-law knows how to live… If she really goes to join the army and gets her skin back, she won’t be as naughty as the previous sister-in-law, right? She even dared to go to the mountains to pick wild vegetables…

Tell me, was that just a show for us when you gave your two stepchildren some food at the table? “