Tian Tian was reading a picture book to Pan Pan, while Lin Shu took out the original owner’s cotton jacket.

The jacket had been washed and dismantled earlier but wasn’t sewn yet, so now she was filling it with new cotton.

With the new cotton provided by Zhao Meifeng, Lin Shu made the jacket nice and thick. The winter here could get as cold as -14 or -15 degrees Celsius, and she didn’t want to be cold.

She used talcum powder to mark white lines on the fabric of the jacket. By sewing along these lines, she ensured that the stitching would be straight.

Before finishing, it was getting late, so she rolled up the jacket and went to cook dinner.

Today, Fang Dihua, Sister-in-law Lu Da, and Second Sister-in-law Er came back first. .When Sister-in-law Lu Da saw that the water tank was empty, she rushed to fill it up, fearing that Mother-in-law might send Elder Brother Lu to do it later.

After a while, Second Brother Lu and Elder Brother Lu came back together.

Second Brother Lu carried a huge load of firewood on his back.

When they reached the house, he split the wood, giving a bundle to Elder Brother Lu.

Fang Dihua wanted to prevent Elder Brother Lu from being lazy, so she had him go cut grass or collect firewood.

Elder Brother Lu, who disliked these chores, always asked Second Brother Lu to do more and share some with him.

Second Brother Lu was very efficient with his work and seemed to never tire.

Even tasks like plowing the fields were easy for him.

But it was just sharing firewood. Second Brother Lu was used to helping Elder Brother Lu from a young age.

As usual, Elder Brother Lu complained as soon as he walked in, “Ah, carrying firewood in the dark is tough. I almost twisted my ankle.”

Fang Dihua rolled her eyes. Did she have to praise him for pretending to be exhausted?

She knew well about her elder son’s tricks. When they were young, he would trick Second Brother Lu into doing his chores while he rested in the shade.

She hoped he’d marry a strict wife to manage him, but it seemed he tricked even his wife.

Second Brother Lu, who didn’t mind being fooled, was of no concern to her.

Sister-in-law Lu Da was very concerned and quickly went to help Elder Brother Lu.

She fetched water, helped him wash his hands, change into clean clothes, and washed and hung up the dirty clothes.

Second Brother Lu, however, not only washed his own clothes but also those of his wife and children.

He worked tirelessly like a draft horse.

When Second Sister-in-law came home, she first went to tidy herself up.

Passing by the west room, she saw the cotton and fabric on the kang (a traditional heated bed).

She was shocked. Did the mother-in-law get this for Lin Shu?

Mother-in-law was getting more and more biased. Why was this only for Lin Shu and not for her?

Money was hard to come by these days, and fabric tickets were even harder to get!

Each adult received one length of fabric per year, just enough for one set of clothes.

Usually, this was saved for someone getting married in the family, and if more was needed, they had to find additional resources.

If someone in the family isn’t married yet, the fabric ration tickets are usually used to make new clothes for the family members in turn.

In previous years, with the old clothes sent by Lu Shaotang from the army, Lin Shu, the children, and even Fang Dihua and Old Man Lu benefited.

Lin Shu also had two sisters in the city who sent old clothes, so the family’s fabric ration tickets were more sufficient.

Second Sister-in-law Lu not only kept her own ration tickets but also used those of Lin Shu and her parents-in-law.

After receiving the fabric ration tickets, she would give most of them to her own family, keeping only a small portion for herself.

She often asked Lin Shu for old clothes to dismantle for fabric.

She didn’t consider others’ needs; she just saw the new fabric and cotton in Lin Shu’s room and naturally assumed that Fang Dihua had given all of this year’s ration tickets to Lin Shu.

“Too biased, too unfair!” She was so jealous that her eyes turned red.

She walked up to Lin Shu and asked harshly, “Third Sister-in-law, did you go to the supply and marketing cooperative to get fabric this afternoon?”

Lin Shu replied, “I was at home all afternoon, tending to the vegetable plot and steaming cornbread. How could I have time to go to the cooperative?”

Second Sister-in-law Lu raised her voice, deliberately letting Fang Dihua hear, “Then why do you have so much fabric in your room? Are my shoes ready?”

She usually smiled when she talked, but now she couldn’t, as her jealousy took over.

Fang Dihua heard this and said displeasedly, “That fabric was returned by your eldest sister-in-law from the east side.”

When Lin Shu got married, the dowry given by Fang Dihua and her own family was quite generous.

After all, Granny Lin added to her dowry, and her two elder sisters also gave her fabric.

At that time, she brought several pieces of fabric, each enough to make a garment.

Of course, most of that fabric was coaxed away from her, with Zhao Meifeng, Second Sister-in-law Lu, and her maternal aunt each getting a share.

Seeing her mother-in-law protect Lin Shu actively, Second Sister-in-law Lu became even more jealous and angry, forcing a smile, “Ha, who knows if that’s true?”

Lin Shu didn’t tolerate her, “Second Sister-in-law, since Eldest Sister-in-law from the East side has returned the fabric, should you return what you owe me too? You borrowed fabric before, saying it was for your brother’s wedding…”

“Oh, come on, Third Sister-in-law, we’re all family. Why be so calculative? No wonder people say you’re stingy.”

She quickly changed the subject and never mentioned the fabric in Lin Shu’s room again.

In the past, if she said this, Lin Shu would be angry all night, thinking, “You took my things and called me stingy? How infuriating!”

But now, Lin Shu wasn’t angry at all. Why let others have their way by getting angry?

No worries, she would make Second Sister-in-law understand that debts must be repaid and also let her know what it means to sulk.

At dinner, Lin Shu deliberately put on those new fabric shoes, even tiptoeing in front of Second Sister-in-law Lu.

To save on lamp oil, the family ate dinner in the courtyard. The breeze, which had blown through the garden, was still quite cool.

The children weren’t hungry; they had already eaten earlier and were now out catching cicada larvae.

Pan Pan and Tian Tian had spent the whole day at home. In the evening, Lin Shu let them play outside with their older brothers.

Lu Ping and his brother were happy to take Pan Pan and Tian Tian out.

They wouldn’t go far and would make sure the children didn’t get hurt, so Lin Shu felt quite at ease.

Lin Shu made a simple dinner: pickled Chinese toon sprouts with eggs, miso-stewed eggplants, cold cucumber salad, and pumpkin strips.

Other vegetables weren’t ready yet, so they had to make do with what they had.

Despite the simplicity, everyone was very pleased and had a hearty appetite.

For them, this was a great meal.

Elder Brother Lu praised Lin Shu’s cooking, saying, “Mmm, this is delicious! The miso eggplant is really authentic, even better than what our mother used to make.”

He complimented Lin Shu’s skills while openly mocking Sister-in-law Lu Da, “What you cook is just pig food! Every time, you nearly ruin our appetite. It’s a good thing you’re with me; anyone else would probably beat you up for this. Lucky for you, I don’t mind!”

His tone was full of disdain.

Sister-in-law Lu Da kept agreeing, “Yes, yes, you’re right. You’re so good to me.”

Even though she didn’t have much of an appetite, seeing her husband enjoy the meal, she quickly served the eggplant from the enamel bowl to him.

Then she told Lin Shu, “Sister-in-law, make more of this tomorrow.”

Lin Shu replied, “Sister-in-law, our eggplants aren’t fully grown yet. These were given to us by Aunt Qiu.”

In this season, eggplants weren’t fully grown and wouldn’t be ready for another ten days.

These three were still tender, probably just for a taste.

Fang Dihua said, “Elder Brother’s family, don’t guard the food!”

Sister-in-law Lu Da responded, “Mother, I’m not guarding the food. The kids’ father doesn’t have any particular favorite food, but he does like eggplant. Lin Shu’s cooking suits his taste, so let him enjoy it.”

She felt sorry for Elder Brother Lu Dage. After all, he used to be a young master, living in a grand house and eating big buns with meat, unlike now.

If she hadn’t personally arranged a wife for him, Fang Dihua would have been really upset.

Initially, she thought that with his smooth talk and laziness, a strong, capable wife would keep him in line.

She hoped that even when she could no longer manage him, the wife would handle him well.

But she didn’t expect that this capable and hardworking wife would end up taking care of him even better than a gentle and dutiful wife!

Fang Dihua felt she had misjudged the situation, and her head began to ache again.

These eggplants were meant to comfort the third daughter-in-law, to let her eat something fresh and feel better, and not be affected by the hurtful words of outsiders.

Never mind, just two bites of eggplant. Once her own vegetable garden grows, there will be more than enough vegetables every day.

Second Sister-in-law Lu’s attention, however, was on Lin Shu’s… feet.

With all the new fabric and cotton on the bed, she didn’t get a single piece.

Those beautiful new shoes should have been hers, but her mother-in-law was biased towards Lin Shu, and she couldn’t just take them back.

“Your husband is gone, who are you wearing them for? Who are you trying to attract?”

Song Chunfang was right, she just wanted to attract men!

After dinner, when Lin Shu went to wash the dishes, Fang Dihua stopped her, “You go hang the mosquito net and smoke out the mosquitoes.”

The two kids had tender skin and got noticeable welts from mosquito bites, especially Pan pan, who seemed to attract mosquitoes with his sweet blood.

Seeing the bites always made her heart ache.

Lin Shu got up to go inside but was stopped by Second Sister-in-law Lu in the main room.

Second Sister-in-law Lu deliberately called out, “Eldest Sister-in-law, don’t you think the third daughter-in-law’s needlework has gotten better and better? Don’t you want her to make you a new pair of shoes to wear back to your parents’ house?”

She couldn’t swallow the fact that her shoes were being worn by Lin Shu.

If she had the physical strength of her mother-in-law or eldest sister-in-law, she would have snatched them by now.

Lin Shu knew her bad intentions very well.

She just wanted the shoes but didn’t dare to take them by force, so she tried to stir up trouble between her and the eldest sister-in-law.

If Lin Shu refused to make shoes for the eldest sister-in-law, she would be unhappy. If she agreed, it would take a lot of effort, and she wouldn’t be pleased either.

How could Lin Shu let Second Sister-in-law Lu Er have her way?

Making shoes for the eldest sister-in-law wasn’t just doing needlework, it was mutual help.

Lin Shu smiled sweetly at Second Sister-in-law Lu, “Second Sister-in-law, sorry, you can’t wear the first pair of shoes, but it’s okay, you can look at me wearing them every day to satisfy your eyes.”

Second sister-in-law Lu Er: “….”