Second Brother Lu Erge did the laundry, but Brother Lu Dage went out to hang it up, pretending to be busy.

He thought his small actions went unnoticed, but actually, everyone in the family was aware.

No one bothered to mention it.

During dinner, Fang Dihua had a long face and looked unhappy.

Brother Lu Dage didn’t dare to be cheeky; he ate quietly and quickly dragged Second Brother Lu Erge out to… look for cicada larvae.

It was cooler outside, and searching for cicada larvae meant they could have a bit of meat.

His son was like a guard in the morning, not letting him sneak any food.

Second Sister-in-Law Lu Er went back to the room feeling embarrassed, as if she had fully taken on the original owner’s Lin Shu persona.

Lin Shu separated the water that had been drying in the large basin during the day, letting the three children bathe themselves, while she went inside to deal with mosquitoes.

After dealing with the mosquitoes and the children were clean, Fang Dihua helped them change into pajamas and get ready for bed.

That night, since the stove in the outdoor kitchen wasn’t lit, the kang (bed) was cool and not warm at all.

Lin Shu lay between Xu Xiaoyu and Tiantian, slowly fanning them with a palm fan.

Fang Dihua and Old Lu sat in the courtyard on a large mat made of corn husks, cooling off together.

Fang Dihua scolded her little daughter a few times, and Old Lu handed her a small teapot with chrysanthemum and goji berry tea, using a large fan to shoo away mosquitoes.

Fang Dihua said, “I went to the Xu family today to get some food. They left the children at our place without a word of thanks, and still wouldn’t give us any food?”

Old Lu replied, “So you brought back a big scoop of cornmeal? Well done!”

Fang Dihua sniffled, “Sigh, what did we do wrong raising our daughter?”

Father Lu fanned her, “Children and grandchildren have their own fortunes. Don’t worry too much about them. Didn’t we raise our children the same way? With so many kids, if we worried about each one, we’d never keep up.”

Fang Dihua said, “True.”

Even so, her voice carried a tinge of sadness.

Today, after work, she went to the back village, ostensibly to get some food but actually to check on her daughter.

She happened to see Lu Hehuan there… grinding flour.

Fang Dihua was fuming.

When they were at the Lu family’s, she never had to grind flour.

Her delicate daughter, who had been cherished and raised with care, studied until she was sixteen or seventeen and only occasionally cooked or did her own laundry.

To make things easier for her, her father even went to the commune to get her a job, and now she was replacing him with a man.

Previously, she worked at the commune, and Xu Shihua was at the village school.

In the evening, she came back…

When she arrived late, she didn’t have to do much housework; at least chores like fetching water and grinding flour were left to Xu Shihua, while her mother-in-law did the cooking, feeding the pigs, and taking care of the kids.

Now, she was the one doing all these tasks—fetching water, grinding flour, and feeding the pigs.

She was told, “My mother-in-law says her back hurts and she can’t fetch water. Xu Shihua comes home late from work, so if I don’t grind the flour, who will?”

Wasn’t it the case that when you weren’t married to him, his family didn’t have to fetch water or grind flour?

And then there’s Xu’s old woman, who always pretends to be frail and kind.

She acts terrified if you raise your voice, and while she says yes, yes, yes, she does nothing.

Fang Dihua asked her, “Why don’t you let the men do tasks like grinding flour?”

Xu’s mother replied, “Oh, sister-in-law, look around. Who doesn’t have the wife grinding the flour? Your family’s wife also cooks, grinds flour, and feeds the pigs, right?”

Fang Dihua couldn’t help but snap back, “So before Hehuan got married, didn’t your son have to fetch water or grind flour?”

Xu’s mother said, “Oh, well, I can’t help it. My back hurts, and he’s being filial. It’s fine if the child is filial, right?”

Lu Hehuan, the daughter-in-law, said, “Mom, I’m young, so I should grind the flour. My mother-in-law is older and has health issues, and she also cooks and takes care of the kids. Xu Shihua works hard too, so I don’t mind.”

Great, she says that, and Fang Dihua still doesn’t feel any sympathy.

Fang Dihua said bluntly, “You leave your daughter to your sister-in-law. Now she’s taking care of three kids and is overwhelmed.”

Xu’s mother immediately said, “Hehuan, look at you, causing trouble for your sister-in-law. You should bring them back to me. Even if I’m exhausted, I’ll still take care of the grandkids.”

Lu Hehuan said, “Mom, my sister-in-law can manage two kids or three kids. It’s no problem.”

Fang Dihua said, “You send over ten carrots, and the kids end up drinking air? Is that my own family? Does your brother and sister-in-law have no objections?”

Xu’s mother immediately replied, “Oh, families with many children always have conflicts. It’s often about being petty and calculating, not generous enough.”

Fang Dihua was furious!

If it weren’t for her daughter, why would she deal with Xu’s mother, who was so sarcastic?

You’d want to give her a piece of your mind, but Xu’s mother looked so weak and frail that you wouldn’t need to lift a finger—just the force of raising your hand might send her flying.

Such people don’t fear pain or hardship at all.

One reason Fang Dihua had opposed her daughter marrying Xu Shihua was Xu’s mother.

This woman looked friendly and meek, speaking in a soft voice and appearing weak.

She always looked like she was on the brink of starvation, yet she worked tirelessly.

No matter when you saw her, she was always busy, never resting for a moment.

For example, when Fang Dihua went to her house to talk about her daughter, the entire morning, she was scrubbing a rag in a black basin with just a little dirty water, scrubbing away tirelessly.

Not only that, but when you spoke to her, she barely listened and just kept talking about her own troubles.

She would ramble on about how hard her childhood was, how difficult her marriage was, how many children she lost before finally having this one surviving son, and how terrible her health was.

She’d also recount how, during the great famine ten years ago, she went without food for three days to feed her children, living on melons and vegetables, and how she was so hungry that her eyes turned green and her body was weak.

To this day, she would still talk about how she couldn’t afford to eat or wear anything nice because she was saving everything for her children.

She gave Fang Dihua the impression that for a mother to eat her fill and not be hungry was a great sin, deserving of divine punishment.

She also gave the impression that if her hands stopped moving and she didn’t do something, they would be chopped off.

No matter what she did, even if it was just dealing with that rag all day, she had to be doing something.

Fang Dihua felt that dealing with such a woman as a relative would drive her mad and firmly opposed it.

However, her daughter insisted on marrying and claimed she was pregnant with Xu Shihua’s child, and despite the lack of a formal betrothal gift, she went to the Xu family as a bride.

Even if it was her own daughter, Fang Dihua thought to herself that she must be really foolish.

For the sake of her daughter and the Lu family’s reputation, she had to prepare a dowry and make it look like a proper marriage between the two families.

At least Xu Shihua had some skills; he wasn’t completely unworthy of her daughter, so the marriage didn’t become a laughingstock.

While Fang Dihua was angry with Mother Xu, her daughter Lu Hehuan tried to smooth things over.

Lu Hehuan said, “Mother, why don’t you send some grain over? Just a little, since Xiaoyou doesn’t eat much, she can be full with just a couple of bites.”

Seeing her usually lively daughter now being so submissive in front of her mother-in-law, Fang Dihua was infuriated.

How could this wretched Xu Shihua be from the back village?

If he were farther away, she wouldn’t have to see him and wouldn’t be bothered.

But why was Xu’s family not providing enough food?

Her daughter, who used to be plump before marriage, was now so thin that her sharp chin was visible.

If things continued like this, would she end up as thin as Xu Shihua’s deceased wife or the current Mother Xu?

So thin that she looked like paper, blown away by the wind? Just Floating?

Originally, Fang Dihua didn’t want any food supplies.

Even though she was upset, she only intended to get a few stalks of grain or some corn kernels.

But now that things were like this, she insisted on getting cornmeal.

“You like to work like a mule, so just keep pushing,” she thought.

She scooped a large ladle of cornmeal.

Mother Xu was still gasping in distress, repeatedly exclaiming, “The mother-in-law’s hands are so big, she scooped a whole ladle at once, really capable. But don’t scoop too full; if the wind blows it away, it would be wasted. It’s not easy to get food at home, really not easy. My old lady usually scrimps and saves, never had a full meal…”

Fang Dihua ignored her.

Just because you never had a full meal doesn’t mean you starved to death, does it?

She carried the ladle home and could still vaguely hear Mother Xu complaining about Lu Hehuan, lamenting the loss of that ladle of cornmeal.