Chapter 6: Easy as Pie

“If we can’t get married this year, we’ll get married next year,” Liu Damu, the eldest son of the Liu family, mumbled sullenly.

Li Xiaohua threw the wooden basin in her hand to the ground with a “bang.” “Liu Damu, let me tell you, the money should be paid by Liu Sanmu’s family. I don’t care how they get the money, but they must make up the forty yuan. My son must marry his wife this year!”

“What’s all the shouting about? Aren’t you ashamed enough?” Old Man Liu roared.

“Ashamed of what? It’s not like our child went out and killed someone,” Li Xiaohua retorted, her eyes wide with defiance.

“You… you…” Old Man Liu clutched his chest, his face pale, so angry he could barely speak.

“Old man…” Liu Laotai exclaimed.

“Dad…” Liu Damu and Liu Sanmu cried out.

The Liu family was thrown into chaos by Old Man Liu’s collapse.

The Wen family, however, walked home with their heads held high, like victorious soldiers.

“Brother Hu, come over for dinner after work tonight…”

“Xiaoming, you guys come too, don’t forget…”

Along the way, Wen Dafu thanked his cousins and nephews for their help, while enthusiastically inviting the relatives who had helped today to dinner at his home.

Before the Wens reached home, Tian Xiaochao rushed to meet them. “Dad, Mom, how did it go?” she asked, her eyes scanning the four of them, fearing that someone in her family might be injured.

“My wife, when we make a move, it’s easy as pie,” Wen Jianguo said proudly, his head held high, then excitedly recounted the whole incident from beginning to end.

After listening, Tian Xiaochao turned to look at Wen Wan with shining eyes: Her sister-in-law was amazing; she had predicted the Liu family’s reaction yesterday.

“Sister-in-law, don’t look at me like that, it’s creepy,” Wen Wan said with a sweet smile.

Tian Xiaochao’s heart melted; her mind was filled with the image of her sister-in-law’s soft and sweet smile. Even she wanted to cherish her, Chen Jianbing should feel the same way, too.

Cui Yulan saw her daughter-in-law hesitate for a moment and decisively took the money out of her pocket.

“Xiaowan, this money is compensation from the Liu family. Take it.”

Wen Wan subconsciously shook her head. “Mom, you’ve already paid for the medical expenses. Please keep it.”

From the original owner’s memories, she knew that the Wen family’s income and expenses were barely balanced, and they sometimes even went hungry. Luckily, Wen Dafu had been forced by his grandmother to learn carpentry when he was young, and he would go out to work for others during the slack farming season, which allowed Wen Wan to attend high school.

After Wen Jianguo failed to get into high school, he also came back to help with the farm work and learn carpentry. It could be said that the original owner was able to graduate from high school thanks to the hard-earned money of her family.

In the entire village, besides the original owner, only the village head and the accountant’s families had one or two children in high school. Other families couldn’t afford to send their children to high school even if they passed the entrance exam.

“Little sister, take it,” Wen Jianguo immediately urged.

“Little sister, you should keep this,” Tian Xiaochao echoed.

“You suffered a lot this time, your face is so pale. Keep the money to buy some delicious food to nourish yourself,” Cui Yulan said, ignoring everything else, and forcefully stuffed the money into Wen Wan’s hand before turning and pulling Wen Dafu away.

This was the money her daughter almost lost her life for, and she had to give it all to her daughter.

At the door, she didn’t forget to instruct, “Xiaochao, eight or nine people will be coming for dinner tonight, prepare more food.”

Wen Wan looked down at the money in her hand, her eyes slightly moist. Her heart felt warm; it was so good to have such a family!

“Xiaowan, go to bed and rest. I’ll call you when it’s time for dinner,” Tian Xiaochao took Wen Wan’s hand and led her into the room.

To be honest, she wasn’t unmoved by the money, but she also knew that Wen’s parents were the decision-makers in the family, and she, as a daughter-in-law, shouldn’t say anything. Besides, her mother-in-law was a very good mother-in-law. After she and Jianguo got married, her mother-in-law split Jianguo’s earnings 50/50, and she herself had saved more than twenty yuan.

Wen Wan returned to her room, closed the door, quickly entered the space, took out the iron box, and put the forty yuan and the more than ten yuan she had saved together.

She glanced at the seeds in the space and nodded. Not bad, they were sprouting quite quickly.

Oh, there were bugs! This space was really just like the game settings.

Wen Wan rolled up her sleeves and efficiently began to pick bugs, fertilize, and water the radish seedlings.

After more than an hour of busy work, she finally straightened up.

Goodness, she hadn’t done farm work for a long time, she was really exhausted. She still had to work hard to earn gold coins to upgrade and strive to move from basic agriculture to mechanized agriculture as soon as possible.

Busy time always passed quickly.

After experiencing so much last night, after finishing her work in the space, Wen Wan lay in bed and had a good rest.

She glanced at the sky and estimated the time.

“Knock knock knock…” Tian Xiaochao knocked on the door, deliberately lowering her voice, “Xiaowan, Xiaowan, wake up for lunch.”

Wen Wan heard the knock and turned over after a few seconds. “Sister-in-law, I’ll get up right away,” she said, quickly getting dressed.

As soon as Wen Wan opened the door, she smelled the spicy aroma in the air, and her mouth watered uncontrollably.

“Xiaowan, come and sit,” Tian Xiaochao looked up and patted the stool at the kitchen entrance.

Wen Wan nodded with a smile and sat down. “Sister-in-law, your spicy chicken offal smells so delicious.”

From the original owner’s memories, she knew that Tian Xiaochao cooked better than Wen’s mother, but she didn’t expect it to be so tempting.

“Don’t just talk, try it with your chopsticks,” Tian Xiaochao said happily, handing her a miscellaneous grain bun.

Remembering her mother-in-law’s instructions not to give her sister-in-law anything that might get stuck in her throat, Tian Xiaochao felt guilty and regretted that she had been busy butchering chickens and making steamed buns in the morning and forgotten to cook rice.

Wen Wan immediately understood and reached out to take the bun, changing the subject. “Sister-in-law, what dishes are you planning to make tonight? Is there anything I can help with?”

She, a perfectly healthy adult, could certainly eat buns that pregnant women could eat. How could she be so embarrassed to ask for special treatment when there was nothing wrong with her health?

“I was thinking of making chicken neck and claw stew with lotus root, braised radish with cured meat, potato and chicken stew, spinach with vermicelli… and finally a plate of stir-fried peanuts,” Tian Xiaochao said in one breath, taking a sip of pickled vegetable soup.

Tian Xiaochao was basically the main cook for the Wen family’s guests, with the others helping out.