“Mother, I’m back!”

Zhao Dashan’s voice was like a lifesaver.

Cheng Wanwan quickly called him to the backyard.

She stuffed the lifeless rabbit into her eldest son’s arms. “Fourth caught a rabbit. You skin it first.”

Zhao Dashan picked up a few dry grasses, twisted them into a rope, and hung the rabbit by its neck. Then, he started skinning it from the mouth downward…

Cheng Wanwan couldn’t bear to watch the bloody scene and turned away to prepare other food.

With six people in the family, one rabbit alone wouldn’t be enough.

Rabbit stew with potatoes would be perfect, but potatoes didn’t seem to exist in this era.

She wasn’t even sure what vegetables were growing in the garden.

“Sidan!”

She called out.

Little Zhao Sidan, still hiccupping from crying, walked over, his face covered in tear stains.

He wiped his face with his little hands, making it even dirtier.

Cheng Wanwan scooped a little clean water to wash his face and sighed. “Zhang Dagang and his gang won’t come to steal the rabbit again. Why are you still crying?”

Zhao Sidan sniffled, holding back his tears. “I won’t cry anymore…”

After all, the rabbit was already dead.

No amount of crying would bring it back.

“Here are five copper coins. Go to the old house and trade for some vegetables.” Cheng Wanwan took some coins from her pouch and placed them in his hand. “Try to bring back a radish. Rabbit stew with radish is delicious. Want to eat it?”

Zhao Sidan imagined the taste, and his mouth immediately started watering.

He quickly swallowed.

The rabbit was his good friend. He was determined to resist eating rabbit meat.

Holding the five coins, he headed toward the old Zhao family house.

The Zhao family’s old house stood in the center of the village.

The three Zhao brothers had built a large home with five square-shaped rooms under a big pagoda tree.

There were vegetable gardens in the front and back. In this drought season, only the Zhao family had enough people to take turns fetching water, keeping their gardens alive.

Zhao Sidan pushed open the courtyard door and walked in, shouting, “Grandma!”

It wasn’t mealtime, so only Zhao Granny and the third daughter-in-law were home.

Zhao Granny was drying wild vegetables in the yard.

The harvest had been poor, so she had to dry and store as much as possible while there was still plenty in the mountains.

Otherwise, with over ten mouths to feed, they’d soon be left with nothing but the northwest wind.

“Sidan, what are you doing here?”

“My mother sent me to get a radish,” Zhao Sidan said.

Hearing this, the third daughter-in-law’s face darkened.

Back then, the eldest sister-in-law had left with twenty taels of silver and over ten acres of land, signing an agreement that their family had nothing more to do with the Zhao household.

And now, she had the audacity to send her son over to ask for food? How could anyone be so shameless?

Zhao Granny’s expression also turned ugly. “Your mother is so lazy! Everyone planted radishes in the spring, except her! She just lounges around gossiping all day. Now, everyone has at least some stored food, but your family is still digging up wild greens! There’s fern on the mountain, yet she insists on making a joke of herself!”

Cursing and grumbling, Zhao Granny went to the garden and yanked out a radish.

Due to the lack of water, the radish was small.

She pulled out two more and stuffed them into Zhao Sidan’s arms.

The third daughter-in-law’s heart bled.

The eldest sister-in-law had been so unreasonable, yet the mother-in-law still favored her family!

Just because she could give birth to sons?

Thinking of this, her mouth turned bitter.

She had only given birth to two daughters, making her a disgrace to the Zhao family.

In the whole Dahe Village, she couldn’t hold her head high.

No matter how biased the mother-in-law was, she couldn’t complain—after all, she wasn’t as capable as the eldest sister-in-law.

Zhao Sidan held the dirt-covered radishes in his arms and fumbled in his sleeve, finally pulling out five copper coins. “Thank you, Grandma.”

Zhao Granny was stunned. “Where did you get those coins?”

Zhao Sidan’s voice was clear. “Mother said to buy the radishes.”

Zhao Granny thought she had misheard.

That shameless woman?

Last year, during the locust plague, she had thrown a tantrum at the old house’s door, forcing them to give her twenty pounds of millet and buckwheat flour without paying a single coin.

Just last night, worried that she’d come causing trouble again, Zhao Granny had secretly sent over three pounds of millet.

“Grandma, I’ll go now.”

Zhao Sidan turned to leave but was called back.

Zhao Granny wasn’t someone who liked taking advantage.

A single copper coin could buy three pounds of radishes, and she had only given three small ones—not enough.

Plus, she had a feeling the eldest sister-in-law was up to something.

She returned four copper coins to him.

But Zhao Sidan refused to take them. “If Mother finds out I didn’t pay, she’ll beat me to death.”

Zhao Granny knew that the eldest daughter-in-law often hit the kids.

She sighed, then went to the yard, plucked a handful of long beans, and even fetched an egg from the chicken coop. “Alright, now get going. You’re an eyesore!”

Zhao Sidan’s eyes widened at the sight of the egg.

In the past, all the eggs had gone into his mother’s stomach.

He would secretly pick up the shells and lick them for the lingering taste.

He would lick and lick…

Now that his mother had changed, would she let him have a small bite of this egg?

Zhao Sidan carried his treasures home.

Seeing all the extra food, Cheng Wanwan quickly took them. “Your grandma gave you all this?”

“Grandma said she can’t let you suffer a loss.” Zhao Sidan grinned, pulling out the round egg from his pocket. “Mother, an egg!”

In this era, eggs were a luxury.

Villagers saved them to trade for oil and salt at the market.

Cheng Wanwan searched her memories and felt her face darken.

Half a month ago, when they still had chickens, all the eggs had gone into the original owner’s stomach.

There were pregnant women and children in the house, yet the original owner had eaten every single egg without guilt…

“Mother…” Zhao Sidan hesitated. “Can I have a small bite of the egg? Just a tiny one…?”

He wasn’t being greedy—he just wanted to know what an egg tasted like.

“Of course.” Cheng Wanwan nodded. “Go play. I’ll call you when it’s ready.”

Wu Huiniang was busy cutting the rabbit.

She couldn’t shake the feeling that the rabbit had grown bigger.

When they caught it in the mountains, it was small.

Now, skinned, it seemed to weigh at least five or six pounds.

She carefully placed the meat on the stove and asked, “Mother, how do we cook this?”

Cheng Wanwan only knew how to make fried rice. But that didn’t mean she couldn’t eat—her theoretical knowledge was solid.

However, they had no seasonings. Not even salt.

The rabbit was fatty enough to render oil. Salt could be bought from the system’s store, and she could secretly add a bit to the old salt jar.

She quickly purchased some cinnamon, star anise, and bay leaves, casually placing them on the stove.

Standing aside, she instructed, “Render the fat first, then fry these leaves to release their aroma… I just found them in the mountains. They smell great, so they should make the dish delicious. Don’t ask too much—just follow my instructions.”

Wu Huiniang dared not question her.

Before long, the kitchen filled with the rich scent of stewing meat…