Chapter 161

The entire village worked together, and after a hard day’s labor, the dike reached only half a person’s height.

Digging holes, filling bags, transporting, stacking walls, and driving stakes—all of these were exhausting tasks.

It was even tougher and more tiring than farm work.

Sun Jinhua dragged her weary body back home.

She saw the cold, dark porridge and was filled with resentment and anger!

Her mother-in-law stayed at home, sheltered from the wind and rain, only needing to cook two meals, and yet she was unwilling!

Fan’s mother glanced sideways at Sun Jinhua, and since her throat had become hoarse, she rarely spoke, only making sounds through her nose.

Fan Qian and Fan Dazhu, along with two others, also returned home exhausted.

Seeing the cold, lump-like porridge, the five of them frowned in displeasure.

“Mother, we worked outside in the rain all day, came back soaking wet, and there’s not even any hot porridge?” Fan Qian complained.

For as long as he could remember, it was always cold, dark porridge and black bread, following his mother around, never finishing the endless supply of black porridge!

Eating the black porridge was bad enough, but now it was cold!

Over the years, Fan’s mother had become accustomed to a pampered life. Though the family was struggling, she never suffered. Since her two daughters-in-law came into the family, she didn’t have to do laundry or cook. Even her foot bath was prepared first by her daughters-in-law, then by her granddaughters.

Today, being asked to cook was a huge shock to her both physically and mentally.

Her face darkened, and she pointed at Sun Jinhua, signaling to her son: “Let her heat it up!”

On any other day, Fan’s three sons wouldn’t offend their grandmother for their mother. But today, after working in the rain all day, they knew how tiring it was.

After coming back, they didn’t want to move, let alone their mother.

“Grandma, it’s just heating up some food. You go and do it,” Fan Sizhu grumbled.

Fan Sanzhu thought the same, “We’ve worked all day and just want to eat something hot when we get back.

There’s no ginger soup or anything, and not even hot porridge?!”

Fan Erzhu sneered, thinking that his grandmother really saw herself as an empress dowager, only wanting to enjoy life without considering the current situation!

Fan Dazhu kept his head down and said nothing.

His grandmother had always been like this, only caring about herself, not considering anyone else’s hardships.

However, he didn’t think it was worth offending his grandmother for his mother. He let his three younger brothers take the lead.

Fan Qian looked at his mother, his drooping eyes full of resentment.

After finally finishing the work and coming home, they couldn’t even have peace!

The noisy argument continued, with no quiet in sight!

He looked at Sun Jinhua and scolded softly, “Go! Heat the porridge, and make a big pot of ginger soup to ward off the cold.

If anyone in our family falls sick now, it will be a disaster.”

Fan’s mother raised her chin triumphantly.

Sun Jinhua’s eyes widened in disbelief as she looked at Fan Qian.

It was one thing for him to usually defend his mother since she was his biological mother, after all, and he had to consider filial piety and the family’s property. But today, she had done the same work and was just as tired, and yet her husband still wanted her to cook?

She stiffened her neck and said, “I won’t go!

If Mother doesn’t cook, then we all go hungry!”

Why could her brother-in-law defend Hu Shuiqing, even preferring to split the family rather than favor his mother, while her own husband couldn’t?

Why didn’t her brother-in-law and Hu Shuiqing have to dig and carry mud, but her whole family did, including herself?

Why could Hu Shuiqing live a happy, separate life without her mother-in-law, while she had to live under the same roof with hers every day?

Sun Jinhua’s eyes shot a vicious glare at her mother-in-law.

She really wanted to kick this old woman out…

Fan’s mother felt a chill from the glare and quickly leaned towards her eldest son, crying hoarsely to complain.

Fan Dazhu, thinking of the family property, quickly went to comfort his grandmother.

But his comforting only made Fan’s mother cry harder.

The house immediately descended into chaos.

Meanwhile, Fan Damu and a few others also returned home, and as soon as they entered, their own mother rushed up to complain.

“Your aunt doesn’t want us to use firewood, so we can’t even heat up the porridge.

She’s too lazy to heat it up herself, and now she’s causing trouble, so we can’t even have a hot meal. How heartless!”

Fan Damu spat.

The whole family glared angrily at the old woman causing a scene in the main room.

Other men gradually returned home too.

Although there were only three brick houses in the village, many families had earned some silver last year by helping build Fan Qian and Shuiqing’s house, and by selling rice obtained from trading mushrooms and lily seeds. They used the money to build their own mud-brick houses.

Even in the heavy rain, their homes didn’t leak.

Not having leaks made life much more comfortable without them even realizing it.

They had also exchanged some of the rice for black flour and coarse salt, stocking up and feeling better than they had expected.

They couldn’t imagine what it would have been like without Fan Jin and Shuiqing’s family last year, who had allowed them to earn money and build houses, as well as trade for rice. How would they survive these heavy rains otherwise…

When Fan Qian and Fan Damu’s families insisted on Fan Jin’s family coming to build the dike, no one else responded.

They weren’t fools. They knew who provided food!

Drinking steaming ginger soup and taking hot baths, they felt even more grateful to Fan Jin’s family.

The three Li brothers also returned home.

First, they gulped down the ginger soup, then took the clothes handed to them and went for a hot bath.

Their large family had been chopping wood and cutting thatch since winter, and they had even burned some charcoal.

It wasn’t as good as what Jinniu and Yinniu produced, but it was enough for their own use.

Now, they were burning the thatch, wood, and charcoal without holding back. They had enough to last three to five months, so there was no need to conserve.

After their baths, they were surprised to see the food on the table.

“There’s meat too?”

They had eaten meat last night and at lunch, but there was more for dinner?

Wang Guifen smiled brightly, “Shuiqing’s sister-in-law gave us a lot. You wouldn’t believe how full that earthenware pot was!

It was packed with meat, with even the gaps filled with broth.”

The meat broth mixed with the vegetables made them taste even better.

The three brothers grinned.

After a day of hard work, there was nothing better than a hot bath and a meal with meat.

They all thought the same thing: dealing with Fan Jin’s family meant having meat to eat!

And Shuiqing’s sister-in-law was generous, always providing plenty of meat~

The Shuiqing family also had meat today.

They soaked soybeans last night, ground them this morning, and had soy milk and fried dough sticks for breakfast, along with sweet tofu pudding.

For lunch, they had rice with vegetables and tofu stewed in pork fat;

For dinner, they made a large pot of tofu and fish head stew with various vegetables, served with cornbread.

Pure white bread had a delicate texture, but adding cornmeal gave it a fragrant aroma and richer texture, which the family preferred.

Nibbling on crispy, fragrant cornbread and drinking fish soup, Shuiqing looked at the absent-minded Bai Ziqian and asked, “What’s wrong?”

This child usually ate like a little pig, gobbling down food with enthusiasm.

Today, however, he was acting unusually distracted.