Chapter 24: Thick-skinned and easy to eat

He Wanqing, who had been jogging home, didn’t notice that someone was staring at her straight as she passed the village entrance. That gaze followed her all the way back to the village before it was withdrawn. “Grandma, Big Aunt, Second Aunt, Third Aunt, is there anything to eat? I’m so hungry!” She was really hungry, yesterday she couldn’t feel hungry at all, and this morning when she woke up, her stomach was full. But since she ate the noodles this morning, she felt the hunger she hadn’t felt in years come back. Listening to her stomach rumbling and the saliva of hunger secreting in her mouth, she felt like she could eat a whole cow right now.

 “There is, we’re waiting for you, go inside and you can eat.” Grandma He, who was packing dishes in the kitchen, said with a smile. “Wanqing, go wash your hands quickly.” Third Aunt, holding a rice bowl, said with a smile. “Hurry up, look how hungry you are.” Seeing her standing there not moving, He Jiadong pushed her, holding the dish and walked away. “I’m coming, right away.” He Wanqing, who had come back to her senses, finished speaking and rushed to the water tank, she didn’t even fetch new water, she just splashed the clean water in the basin a few times, washed her hands, and rushed into the house. At this time, the main room of Uncle He’s house was crowded with people. Sitting on the kang eating were Grandpa He and Grandma He, and Uncle He and his three brothers, plus their three wives. At the small table on the other side were He Yuan and the other children, while the older ones were eating at the big table by the door. Thankfully, the food was all the same.

“Let’s eat!” Seeing that everyone was present, Grandpa He picked up his chopsticks and took a bite with Grandma He. “Okay.” He Wanqing and He Yuan, who had been hungry for a long time, nodded happily. The He brothers on the kang, after Grandpa He finished speaking, the three brothers started to eat and chat. They talked about the progress of the spring planting and the Xu family’s matter. Grandma He, while eating, didn’t forget to tell Xu Mei and Second Sister-in-law Wu Xia to go to the Xu family to demand money after they finished eating.

And when they came back, they should go to Grandpa He’s house again and tell them about the matter of returning the money. She also told them the reason why they had to demand the money, because there were two weddings, and they didn’t have any money, they were in urgent need, so she asked Grandpa He to return the money quickly.

 As soon as Grandma He finished speaking, everyone in the room looked at Grandpa He, and when they saw that he didn’t object, Xu Mei and Wu Xia nodded in agreement.

Liu Dongmei, the third sister-in-law of Second Uncle He’s family, saw that the two granddaughters-in-law of the eldest family had things to do, and she and her sister-in-law were free, so she mumbled unhappily: “Grandma, you can’t be partial, why do you let the eldest sister-in-law and the second sister-in-law go to demand money, why don’t you let me and the fifth sister-in-law go?” She felt that demanding money was a good job for her and the fifth sister-in-law, after all, they were known in the village as being petty. Xu Mei wouldn’t work, she worked in the commune and cared about her face, she couldn’t do many things.

 Of course, Wu Xia was better, but her face wasn’t as thick as hers! As soon as Liu Dongmei finished speaking, Grandma He instantly didn’t want to see her, her face was too thick, she couldn’t afford to lose face. Then she thought about the Xu family, she looked at her two granddaughters-in-law, then at her, and finally added her in. She said a few words praising her, making Liu Dongmei almost wag her tail. He Wanqing, who had been eating the whole time and hadn’t spoken, looked at her third sister-in-law after Grandma He finished speaking.

 Thinking about how in her previous life, her family was left with only her, and when she was bullied by the Xu family, she saw it once, and it was she who stood up for her regardless of her reputation. Of course, it didn’t end well for her, but she was still grateful to her. So after the opening up, when she went to Shan City to do business, she would send them money every year, and the Xu family, including He Cao, didn’t know about it. Besides telling Uncle He and the others that she was doing well, it was also her way of repaying them.

 Although it was a bit late! Soon, a bowl of rice went down, followed by a second bowl, and only after she had another bowl of vegetable soup did she put down her bowl. She rubbed her five-point full stomach and looked at the remaining lunch in the basin. She thought, forget it, there’s still half a month, the spring planting will be completely finished, and they will go back to eating separately again, and then she will definitely be able to eat her fill.

Out of sight, out of mind. She got up and walked to the yard, rubbing her protesting stomach that wasn’t full, while looking at Uncle He’s yard. Their yards were all the same, no matter what, the size, the location, the front and back yards, including the chicken coop and the dog kennel. As for why it was like this, it was still Grandpa He who said that since they had divided their families, they should all be the same, so that no one would feel that one family had more and another family had less, causing resentment. Of course, except for the family that raised them, which had a little more, everything else was the same. Because of this, their family was the one with the fewest problems in the village after the division. Especially during the busy farming season, they all ate together, and only ate separately during the slack farming season.

However, during the winter, they seemed to eat together often, because it was easier. “Little sister, Grandma is calling you.” While she was teasing Big Yellow, Zhou Xiao, who was pregnant, called her from behind. “I’m coming, Fifth sister-in-law.” She glanced at her unborn nephew in her belly and walked into the house. “Grandma, you called me?” “Yeah, come sit here.” She patted the seat next to her, asking her to sit down. He Wanqing sat down with a plop, looking at her grandma’s guilty expression, she felt a little uncomfortable. She had never hated Grandma He and the others for the Xu family’s marriage, because in the end, it was she who decided to marry, it had nothing to do with Grandpa He, who had arranged the marriage. Although she didn’t like Xu Weijun at the time, she got married simply because they said that men should marry when they are old enough and women should marry when they are old enough.

But they also gave her the chance to refuse, it was she who insisted on getting married, she didn’t blame anyone. If anyone was to blame, it was He Cao and Xu Weijun who were too cunning and wanted to eat her family’s fortune. “Wanqing, the Xu family’s marriage is off, Grandma and your maternal grandma thought about it, you should marry a soldier in the future, so that people won’t gossip about you. So your maternal grandpa and I discussed it, after this matter is settled, we will ask your dad to find you someone in the army, just someone under him, so you won’t meet the wrong person.” “Grandma, I’m not in a hurry.”

 She just wanted to change the fate of her family, she would talk about the rest later. Besides, she was also afraid of meeting the wrong person again, there might not be another chance to start over. “No, we can’t let others gossip about you, don’t worry about this, your maternal grandpa and I will personally oversee it, it’s definitely more reliable than your grandpa.” Grandpa He, who was called unreliable, moved his mouth, wanting to argue, but in the end, he found that he had no argument, so he could only accept it.

“Grandma, can I not marry?” She looked at them with a confused and cautious look, trying to probe them. She thought about the things she saw when she was a soul, she envied them, but she also knew it was difficult. “Wanqing, that won’t do, if you don’t get married, wouldn’t that make the Xu family even more smug? They will definitely say that you are reluctant to let go of Xu Weijun, so you won’t get married, would you like to see that scene?” Seeing the confusion in her eyes, Grandma He felt sorry for her, but she couldn’t agree.

Because they couldn’t stay with her for a lifetime, and she couldn’t stay at her parents’ house for a lifetime. After all, having a mother is a home, but when she’s gone, even if your brothers and sisters-in-law are close, they’re just relatives!