The orange sunset cast its glow in the courtyard, creating dappled shadows from the trees.

Cheng Wanwan sat in the main seat, her voice calm as she said, “This is the grain I had prepared to honor your maternal grandparents.”

As soon as she spoke, the five people present felt a chill in their hearts.

They had always known that their mother would take the best things from home to the Cheng family, but they never realized it was something as precious as rice.

In all their years, they had never once eaten their fill of plain rice.

The thought that not only did the Cheng family take their food, but also beat their mother, filled the four boys with anger.

“However, after what happened today, I’ve completely given up on your grandparents,” Cheng Wanwan sighed deliberately. “Over the years, I’ve given the Cheng family countless amounts of silver and grain. But now that our family is truly struggling, I went back to ask for what they owed us. Who could have expected that your uncle would smash my head open instead?”

She lowered her head, her long eyelashes hiding the emotions in her eyes, making her look genuinely heartbroken.

The four boys exchanged glances, surprise flickering in their eyes.

It wasn’t the first time their uncle had beaten their mother.

At first, they had wanted to stand up for her, but they ended up getting beaten by her instead.

So when they heard the villagers gossiping about how their mother had returned from the Cheng family covered in blood, they hadn’t thought much of it.

No matter how shameless the Cheng family was, their mother always sided with them.

It was as if the four of them had been picked up from a dung pit.

Cheng Wanwan sighed again. “From now on, all the good things meant for the Cheng family will stay with us. Huiniang, cook this rice.”

Wu Huiniang’s hands trembled. “C-cook it? What for?”

Cheng Wanwan knew why she hesitated.

In Dahe Village, people usually ate two meals a day, but since their family had run out of food, they had been reduced to just one meal.

The boys had just finished drinking a thin porridge made from wild vegetables.

That was supposed to be the only meal for the day—if they wanted to eat again, they had to wait until tomorrow.

As the saying goes, “Growing boys can eat a father into poverty.”

Even a grown woman couldn’t be full on that little porridge, let alone four boys and a pregnant woman.

Since she had now become Cheng Wanwan of Dahe Village, she had a duty to take care of these children properly.

But if she changed too quickly, it would be suspicious.

So she deliberately put on a stern face and said, “I told you to cook it, so cook it. Why are you asking so many questions?”

Wu Huiniang didn’t dare question further.

She took out about a tenth of the rice—barely half a bowl—to cook.

Cheng Wanwan sighed.

Half a bowl of rice wouldn’t even be enough for the youngest, Zhao Sidan.

She got up, picked up the whole bag of rice, and poured it all into the cracked pot. “Cook all of it.”

Wu Huiniang turned pale with shock.

That was at least three or four pounds of rice, enough to trade for ten pounds of millet, which could have fed the whole family for five or six days.

Cooking all of it at once felt like a huge waste, but seeing her mother-in-law’s stern face, she didn’t dare object.

She quickly washed the rice, started the fire, and began cooking.

Zhao Dashan swallowed hard. “Why do I feel like Mother is acting differently?”

Zhao Ergou narrowed his eyes. “Maybe she wants us to eat well before we go demand our money from the Cheng family?”

Zhao Sanniu picked up a hoe. “I’ve wanted to beat up those Cheng bastards for a long time.”

Zhao Sidan licked his lips. “Plain rice must taste really good.”

The fire in the stove burned brightly, filling the room with the rich fragrance of cooking rice.

The pot bubbled as the rice boiled.

Cheng Wanwan had Wu Huiniang scoop out some rice soup, dividing it into six small bowls so everyone could drink some before eating, to prevent their stomachs from getting upset.

The clear, fragrant rice soup had a thin layer of rice oil on top, steaming with warmth.

The four boys stood around the table, hesitant.

In the past, whenever there was food, their mother would eat first and leave them whatever was left.

“What? You don’t like it?” Cheng Wanwan asked deliberately.

Zhao Sidan grabbed a bowl instantly.

His fingers were scalded, but he refused to let go—he was afraid his mother would change her mind.

He quickly took a sip.

The hot rice soup slid down his throat into his stomach—it was the most delicious thing he had ever tasted!

The other three quickly followed, drinking their soup in one gulp despite the heat.

Cheng Wanwan shook her head with a smile.

Seeing that her eldest daughter-in-law was still hesitating, she pretended to scold her. “Do you want me to hand it to you myself?”

Wu Huiniang’s hands trembled slightly.

In this family, her mother-in-law was the highest authority.

Her husband and brothers-in-law came next.

She was at the very bottom.

She always ate the worst food, and if there wasn’t enough, she went hungry.

This was rice soup—something she had only heard was given to newborn babies. Did she really have the right to drink it?

Was it because she was pregnant that her mother-in-law was finally willing to give her food?

Cheng Wanwan didn’t look at Wu Huiniang anymore.

She smelled the fragrant rice and her stomach rumbled.

But as she was serving the rice, she suddenly felt like she had forgotten something.

When six big bowls of plain rice were placed on the table, she finally realized—she had forgotten to cook any side dishes!

No vegetables, no meat—just plain rice.

How were they supposed to eat?

Well, there were no vegetables at home, and the garden was empty too. So they would just eat plain rice!

The five others stared in disbelief.

After running out of food for so long, they were actually about to eat white rice.

Was this a dream?

“Ow!” Zhao Sanniu suddenly yelped. “Ergou, why did you pinch me?”

Zhao Ergou swallowed his saliva. “I wanted to check if I was dreaming. Looks like this is real!”

Cheng Wanwan picked up her chopsticks. “Eat.”

The moment she spoke, the four boys immediately lowered their heads and devoured their food as if they were at war.

Wu Huiniang hesitated. “Mother, I… I’ll just eat half.”

Cheng Wanwan gave her a sharp look. “Saving the other half for the Cheng family?”

Wu Huiniang shook her head immediately. “I’ll eat!”

Her mother-in-law had finally turned against the Cheng family—she couldn’t let her change her mind again.

Cheng Wanwan wasn’t used to eating plain rice, but her body was weak.

Surprisingly, she finished her whole bowl.

At the end, all six bowls were wiped clean—not a single grain of rice remained.

It was as if they didn’t even need to wash the dishes.

After eating, the boys were filled with energy. Zhao Ergou spoke up. “Mother, should we go to the Cheng family now?”

Cheng Wanwan looked puzzled. “Why?”

“To get our money back!” Zhao Sidan gritted his teeth. “Grandmother said Uncle took Father’s pension—twenty taels of silver! We have to get it back!”

“That’s right!” Zhao Dashan stood up. “Uncle also smashed your head today. We need justice!”

Zhao Sanniu rubbed his full stomach. “Now that I’ve eaten, I can fight three of them myself! Let’s go before it gets dark!”

Cheng Wanwan did want to go, but she knew the Cheng family couldn’t possibly afford to pay back twenty taels.

Now wasn’t the time to settle the debt.

She said calmly, “Sit down.”

The four boys exchanged glances.

It was clear—Mother had no intention of letting them fight for the money.

Figures. She had always sided with her brother. Why would she suddenly change?

But after tasting real rice, there was no way they’d let her keep giving food away again.

Zhao Ergou whispered something in Zhao Sanniu’s ear.