Ning Shu stayed inside, frying sweet potato crisps.

Sweet potato crisps needed constant attention; otherwise, they would burn.

The bustling chatter from outside drifted into the kitchen, and she recognized some familiar voices.

“Wow, so many people…” until she heard Erbao’s voice.

“Third Uncle …”

“Dad, are we collecting shrimp? Is it like collecting chestnuts?” Yibao asked curiously.

“Yes, your mother said to sun-dry the shrimp meat for preservation, so that we can use it to supplement your bodies when there’s no meat to eat in the future,” Lin Guodong explained to the children.

Yibao was very touched. “Mom is so kind.”

“Mom is the best,” Erbao chimed in.

Even the people who came to exchange shrimp couldn’t help but comment, “Ning Zhiqing really knows how to plan. Shrimp meat is also meat, so it should be able to supplement the body.”

“It’s just that there’s too little meat; it’s not even as big as a fingertip.”

“Even mosquitoes have meat.”

“Guodong, we’re done exchanging at our house. I’m leaving first.”

“I’m done too.”

As the group of children watched everyone exchange shrimp and leave, they started chattering again.

Erbao’s voice was the loudest: “Hey, Haicai, let’s go see the comic books. They’re so fun!”

“Before dinner, stop playing and wash your hands. Come and help peel the shrimp,” Lin Guodong commanded with a raised eyebrow.

With around 30 jin of shrimp from this round of exchanges, plus another seven or eight jin from their own catch, Lin Guodong didn’t know when he’d finish peeling all the shells by himself.

It was perfect timing that this group of kids showed up, and Lin Guodong effortlessly put them to work.

Despite the eight brats at the old house being quite fierce in their fights yesterday, they were relatively lively kids.

However, in front of Third Uncle, they were quite meek.

Mainly because Lin Guodong wasn’t usually at home, and they hadn’t interacted much with him.

Moreover, during their upbringing, their elders always spoke highly of Third Uncle’s achievements, so they both respected and feared him.

Now, when Lin Guodong mentioned peeling shrimp shells, none of them dared to say a word.

“Uncle Three, let’s go wash our hands first,” Lin Qingmei, as the eldest sister, immediately took action with her brothers. “You wait outside; I’ll go fetch water from the well.”

Yibao and Erbao even lined up Sanbao obediently.

Meanwhile, Ning Shu had finished frying the sweet potato crisps inside and started cooking the dishes.

But she had already finished cooking the roasted bamboo shoots, sautéed wax gourd with preserved meat, and shredded potato.

Seeing that the children hadn’t come in yet, she was a bit surprised.

When she was about to finish stir-frying the spinach, Lin Guodong came in with a large bowl. “The shrimp meat has been peeled.”

“I was just about to come and get it,” Ning Shu said.

The shrimp and egg stir-fry was quick.

The pan was already hot, and it wouldn’t take more than five minutes to stir-fry.

The main thing was to cook the shrimp. So, after the shrimp was cooked, the lunch was ready.

The dining table had already been moved outside, so she carried out the cooked dishes.

But when she reached the doorway, Ning Shu was stunned to see a row of children squatting in their yard, with Lin Guodong leading them, all peeling shrimp shells.

Ning Shu was truly amazed; Lin Guodong’s efficiency was incredible.

“Everyone, you’ve worked hard. Come and have dinner,” she called out.

“Coming!” Erbao responded first.

After peeling the shrimp in his hand, he skipped over to the dining table and glanced at the three dishes already served.

Then, he ran into the kitchen and asked, “Mom, what are we having for lunch?”

“You’ll find out when I bring it out later. You first take Sanbao’s stool outside. Be careful not to fall,” Ning Shu replied.

“Okay.” Erbao carefully carried the stool outside.

“Aunt Three, let me help,” Lin Qingmei came in with Lin Qinglan, Lin Qingju, and Lin Qingzhu.

Lin Qinglan, Lin Qingju, and Lin Qingzhu were not as outgoing as Lin Qingmei; their personalities were more introverted, probably because of their mother, Zhang Qinfang.

Zhang Qinfang wasn’t as gentle with her daughters as Qian Aifen was, often scolding them harshly.

So, the personalities of the three sisters seemed more reserved.

The Lin family’s genes were good, although the four sisters didn’t look alike, each of them was considered decent-looking.

“Third Aunt…” Lin Qinglan, Lin Qingju, and Lin Qingzhu also called out.

Ning Shu smiled and replied, “You don’t need to help. But we don’t have enough chairs at home, we need to go to the old house to get some. Could you go and bring some? We need about seven or eight.”

Lin Qingmei said, “Then we’ll go. Each of us will carry two.”

Ning Shu said, “Alright, come back as soon as possible for dinner.”

Lin Qingmei and the others replied, “Okay.”

The four siblings returned to the old house. The old house was also preparing for dinner.

When they saw them coming, Zhang Qinfang asked, “Why are you here?” She thought, Could it be that they were driven back? Did the third daughter-in-law only invite the boys for dinner? It’s possible, who would want so many people to have a free meal?

“We came back to move chairs. Third Aunt’s house doesn’t have enough chairs,” Lin Qingmei said.

Lin’s mother said, “Yes, yes, Third Aunt’s house has fewer chairs, so we need to move some over.”

Taking the opportunity, Zhang Qinfang asked her daughter, “Qinglan, what did your Third Aunt make? Is the food good?”

Lin Qinglan thought for a moment and listed what she saw on the outdoor dining table, “There’s stir-fried wax gourd with preserved meat, stir-fried spinach, and a dish of scrambled eggs. I didn’t see anything else.”

“Why ask so much? Whatever the dish, it’s still a gesture from the third daughter-in-law.” Lin’s mother glared at her, “If it were you, you wouldn’t even offer a glass of water to others.”

Lin Qinglan held back her laughter and followed her eldest sister to quickly move the chairs out.

Zhang Qinfang didn’t dare to retort.

Indeed, she thought so.

It was normal for brothers to fight, so why bother inviting guests for dinner?

However, when Ning Shu hosted, she became concerned about the dishes again.

When the four sisters returned with the chairs, everyone was waiting for them.

The dishes on the table were already prepared, and bowls of fish porridge were placed on the table.

“Elder sister, you’re so slow,” Lin Haiwen laughed as he approached, taking the chairs and immediately sitting down.

“Hurry up, I’m starving,” Lin Haiwu was getting impatient.

“Why didn’t you come to move the chairs yourselves?” Lin Qingmei jokingly scolded.

“We’re peeling shrimp shells,” Lin Haiquan replied.

Ning Shu and Lin Guodong’s meals were already served on the low table in the study area, and they were already eating inside.

So the kids outside were very relaxed.

“Where’s Third Aunt and Third Uncle?” Lin Qingmei asked curiously during the meal, not seeing Ning Shu and Lin Guodong.

“They’re eating inside,” Lin Haiwen pointed to the house in the study area.

“My mom said the table was too small, so she let us kids eat by ourselves. They won’t come,” Er Bao said.

“Okay, got it,” looking at the bowl of rice porridge with slices of white fish meat, Lin Qingmei felt her mouth watering.

They rarely had this kind of rice porridge at home.

Usually, it was mixed with sweet potatoes, with more sweet potatoes and less rice.

Only on New Year’s Eve and during busy farming times did they have more rice, but even then, there were sweet potatoes.

She hadn’t expected that Third Aunt’s rice porridge would be pure rice.

Lin Qingmei took a deep breath. It smelled so fragrant, all of it rice fragrance.

Haicai felt so happy. It had been a long time since he had eaten Third Aunt’s cooking, and now he had it again.

He even thought, if Er Bao could fight with others more often, he could help more. Could they keep eating like this?

“Elder sister, Third Aunt’s cooking is really delicious, even better than grandma’s,” Lin Qinglan whispered next to Lin Qingmei.

“Yeah,” Lin Qingmei took a bite of fish and then sipped some porridge.

The kids didn’t eat as quickly as adults, but with 12 kids at the table, they were all eating very seriously.

“Have Fu…” Mother Huifu came back relatively late because her personal pig was behind in the queue.

When she got home and heard that Youfu had come to Er Bao’s house for dinner, she hurried over.

She didn’t know about Fu helping Er Bao fight yesterday.

So, what Mother Youfu saw was a scene of a dozen or so kids eating in the yard.

The dishes were home-cooked, mostly vegetarian except for the shrimp and egg stir-fry, but they all looked especially delicious.

“Why did you come to Er Bao’s house for dinner?” Mother Youfu was both amused and exasperated. “Did you bring your own food?”

Yang Youfu shook his head. “No.”

He didn’t understand why he would bring his own food.

“Auntie, there’s no need for him to bring his own food,” Yi Bao explained like a little adult.

“My mom invited Youfu for dinner. Thank you, Youfu, for helping Er Bao when he fought with Zhuang Xiaopang.”

What?

“When did this happen?” How come she didn’t know? Mother Youfu was astonished.

“Yesterday,” Yang Yufu replied. “Mom, you were making dinner at that time.”

Mother Youfu hadn’t noticed what was happening outside when she was making dinner yesterday, and Youfu hadn’t mentioned it when he got home.

“You, this child… you’re really… not polite.” However, she was pleased that the child was making friends with a large group of kids. “You go ahead and eat. Yi Bao, where’s your mom?”

Yi Bao pointed to the room in the study area. “My mom and dad are eating in there, there wasn’t enough room outside.”

Mother Yufu looked, indeed, there wasn’t enough space.

Originally, she had thought to go and say hello, but considering Ning Shu was still eating, she didn’t go.

“You all enjoy your meal.” She went back first.

The kids ate slowly. Ning Shu and Lin Guodong had finished their meal, but they hadn’t.

So the two of them collected their bowls and chopsticks and started peeling shrimp shells in the yard.

After a while, they were surrounded by kids.

The kids, having finished their meal, didn’t need Lin Guodong to call them; they came to help voluntarily.

Lin Qingmei was even more obedient, helping Lin Qinglan tidy up the table.

“Qingmei, Qinglan, you two leave it, I’ll clean up.” Ning Shu felt embarrassed to let the sisters do the cleaning and quickly took over.

But Lin Qingmei and Lin Qinglan still didn’t idle, they went back to peeling shrimp shells.

However, when Ning Shu came out of the kitchen after washing the dishes, there were more people peeling shrimp shells.

It turned out Lin’s mother and Qian Aifen, who had finished eating, had come over.

Later, Mother Youfu and Meihua also arrived.

So, before slaughtering the pig in the afternoon, with the efforts of about 20 people big and small, all these more than 30 pounds of small white shrimp were completely peeled.

Meanwhile, at the Zhuang family, Xiaopang Mother and Xiaopang Grandmother were quarreling.

It started because Xiaopang Mother asked for money from Xiaoapang Grandmother.

Xiaopang Mother believed that what Ning Shu said was correct: a man could be dispensed with, but money had to be controlled in one’s own hands!