The next day before dawn, Big Brother Lu Dage took Second Brother Lu Erge to worship their ancestors.

Second Brother Lu Erge was still puzzled as to why he was up before the chickens.

Big Brother Lu Dage sat on the grave of their grandparents, enjoying the cool autumn morning breeze, and drank a bit of wine with Second Brother Lu Erge.

Second Brother Lu Erge: “…”

Big Brother Lu Dage was quite pleased with himself: “This is what I call drinking with permission, hehe.”

Second Brother Lu Erge: “…”

He cleaned the grass off the graves of their grandparents and third brother, and burned a few pieces of paper.

It seemed he understood why their parents and the third brother’s wife were so happy.

Sister-in-law Lu Er was always self-centered and took it for granted that everyone was deliberately happy to exclude her, so she became even more unhappy.

She had been sobbing half the night because she hadn’t been given any pig liver at dinner, which Fang Dihua had purposely withheld from her.

Now that it was still hot, Lin Shu was worried that the pig liver might spoil, so she had cooked all two pounds of it for dinner, planning to slice it and serve it with garlic paste to the two old ladies.

Since both old ladies loved their children, they wouldn’t eat alone and would definitely share with the family.

Lin Shu also made radish stew with salted meat and bean paste stew with eggplant, so Big Brother Lu Dage and Second Brother Lu Erge had two slices each, and Second Sister-in-law Lu Er didn’t get any!

Even though Second Brother Lu Erge had given her his share, she was still unhappy.

Was it just about two slices of pig liver?

No, it was about the mother-in-law deliberately ignoring and excluding her!

She was so angry she wanted to overturn the table, but reason made her hold back.

At night, she felt more and more wronged and distressed, crying half the night while her husband slept soundly as if nothing was happening.

After thinking about it all night, she came to a conspiracy theory conclusion—this was all Lin Shu’s scheme.

She must have confused her mother-in-law at the municipal hospital and now was inciting her in-laws to force her to proactively ask for a separation!

Yes, that’s it!

She knew very well that if she lost her temper, she would face open dislike from her in-laws and might even be asked to separate.

Her husband definitely didn’t want a separation; he couldn’t bear to be away from his parents and elder brother.

To be honest, Second Sister-in-law Lu Er didn’t want a separation either.

She didn’t want to be in charge of everything herself.

No, no, no, Second Sister-in-law Lu Er definitely didn’t want that.

If they separated, she would have to cook her own meals, and her cooking wouldn’t be as good as Lin Shu’s.

That was secondary; the key issue was that after a separation, she would have to pay for the elderly’s living expenses and wouldn’t benefit from the money earned by the third brother.

She would also lose out on the benefits from her in-laws.

Her mother-in-law earned more work points and money than she did, and her father-in-law, being a barefoot doctor, earned more too.

If the family were to split, life at home would become as tough as in any other household, full of hardships.

She didn’t want that at all.

She didn’t want a separation; she just wanted her in-laws to see Lin Shu’s true colors, to be dissatisfied with Lin Shu, and ideally, to marry her off.

She shot Lin Shu, who was preparing dinner, a sharp glance, but smiled and flattered Fang Dihua, apologizing with a low bow, “Mother, I was wrong. I won’t do that again.”

Fang Dihua was busy digging up old, unfruitful plants to replace them with new ones and loosening the soil and catching pests around the sunflowers for Lin Shu.

Sister-in-law Lu Er, who had caught a glimpse of Lin Shu not causing trouble for her, said decisively, “Mother, I was blinded by greed the other day and ate four fried eggs. I was too greedy, and I won’t do it again.”

Admitting one’s mistakes and apologizing for them is such a difficult thing.

Some people, in the face of a small mistake, make even greater ones, refusing to admit fault or apologize, eventually causing big problems.

Sister-in-law Lu Er couldn’t bring herself to apologize to Lin Shu, but she could bend and stretch with her mother-in-law, and it wasn’t difficult to do so.

Seeing her sincerity in admitting her mistake, Fang Dihua said, “If we split the family, you can eat and do whatever you want; I won’t interfere. As long as we haven’t split, everything in this house, except for the extra wages sent back by the third son, belongs to everyone. If you want to eat something, just make it, but everyone should eat together. No one can eat alone.”

Sister-in-law Lu Er repeatedly agreed, but in her heart she thought: Why don’t you mention how much Lin Shu eats on the sly?

Hmph, trying to force me to initiate the split?

No way!

I’m sticking with you!

Seeing her expression, Fang Dihua knew she was displeased but said nothing more, telling her to go work with the second son in the private plot before breakfast.

Old Man Lu personally went to find Xu Laonian to make a wooden photo frame.

Yesterday, Lin Shu brought back some photos, including ones of Wei Ling interviewing Lin Shu and Fang Dihua, ones of Lin Shu and Lu Da, single photos, couple photos, and pictures with the children.

Fang Dihua said she wanted to put these in a separate frame, to hang in the third son’s wife’s room, so when the third son returned, he could see them at a glance.

Neighbor Auntie Li came over to visit Lin’s mother and casually gossiped with Fang Dihua, “Second Sister, let me tell you something interesting. Widow Sun has found a bald man, and guess what?”

Fang Dihua asked, “What? Is he made of iron?”

Auntie Li laughed heartily, “Second Sister, you’re joking! The bald man also brought along two sworn brothers. They’re staying at Widow Sun’s house together at night.”

She gave a look as if to say, “Think about it, carefully.”

Widow Sun had also heard from Song Chunfang that the original owner was talked about badly, but she hadn’t joined in the criticism, so she wasn’t present when Fang Dihua exploded and hit people.

Widow Sun is 31 years old this year. Her husband died in the winter of the year before last.

Her eldest son is 12 years old, her daughter is 10, and her youngest son is 6.

Her husband was the second son in his family, but his brothers had long since separated and lived independently.

With her husband gone, it’s only a matter of time before she remarries or brings in a man to support her.

Otherwise, with her children still young and even with the team subsidies, she wouldn’t be able to raise them on her own.

According to Aunt Li, it’s fine to live together without formal marriage as long as it’s not improper, especially if there are two sworn brothers involved, which sounds a bit unsavory.

Fang Dihua, who isn’t a gossip lover, didn’t bother much about it.

She just noted that someone new had arrived in the village, primarily to understand where they were from, their character, and their family’s background, to avoid potential troublemakers.

After all, a village is a community, and an unfamiliar person with poor character could become a potential threat to the village.

Of course, this doesn’t mean that everyone should interfere in others’ marriages.

Proper matchmaking, dating, and marriage are all about living together, and no one would interfere.

Even within the same village, not everyone has a good relationship; some people have conflicts and don’t interact.

However, it’s essential to understand the background of village members. If someone has unreliable character, it’s best to avoid them and keep a respectful distance.

Anyway, the Lu family’s children shouldn’t mix with people who steal, gamble, or have other bad habits; otherwise, Fang Dihua would break their legs.

Aunt Li was gossiping with Fang Dihua about Lu Shaocai and Zhao Meifeng’s recent activities.

Lu Shaocai was still as showy as ever, acting important because he was counting work points for the autumn harvest.

Zhao Meifeng was energetically searching for a match for her daughter, insisting on good grain, high salary, and a good status.

It was said that she had made several trips to the county and even the city.

The other day, she brought a man home for a visit, and yesterday she took her daughter to the county again.

It was unclear how things went with the matchmaker visits.

Fang Dihua was clear in her mind that Zhao Meifeng’s flurry of activity likely had half an eye on benefiting from Lin Shu.

However, it seemed that Zhao Meifeng still had some sense and wasn’t using the guise of finding a second marriage partner for Lin Shu but was instead looking for a match for her daughter.

If she dared to tarnish Lin Shu’s reputation in any way, Fang Dihua would go over and slap her.

The third daughter-in-law now had her wits about her.

Zhao Meifeng and Lu Shaocai working together weren’t a match for her, so as long as her daughter-in-law wouldn’t suffer, Fang Dihua wouldn’t interfere too much.

After breakfast,

Everyone went to work.

The autumn harvest had begun.

Cotton, sorghum, millet, soybeans, corn, peanuts, and sweet potatoes needed to be harvested by the end of August or early September.

Then, in September, winter wheat would be sown, and only after that could they take a breather.

It is said that “three autumns can’t match one summer’s busyness,” and “three summers can’t compare to one autumn’s growth.”

This is because autumn spans from July to September, a full three months, which is long but not as frantic as summer with its constant pressure.

The Lu family village team also began to call on the young and able to sign up for patrols, taking turns to guard the crops.

Whenever the crops were ready for harvest, the lawless would start stealing. Without someone watching, a large area could be stolen in a single night.

In the early 1960s, those years were truly poor and difficult.

People couldn’t get enough to eat, and villagers stole grain just to feed themselves.

Now, in 1971, although the food isn’t plentiful, sweet potatoes and corn can still provide a somewhat filling meal, so people aren’t starving.

Thus, those who steal grain, apart from a few who are just trying to get by, often do so to trade for other goods.

Theft was a means to an end, with various motives, including some stealing public grain to use as dowries to marry off daughters.

Some believed that if public property wasn’t stolen, it would be a waste, thinking that others would steal anyway, and if they didn’t, they would be at a disadvantage.

Lu Dage (Oldest Brother) and Lu Erge (Second Brother) were required to sign up for patrols as a duty, with every family having to contribute at least two laborers.

If grain was stolen, the share for everyone would decrease, so there was a proactive attitude towards patrolling.

Of course, there were also cases of those guarding crops stealing themselves.

Generally, the team leader knew the character of each person, so they would be reasonably matched—Lu Erge, being honest and upright, would lead a few slightly shifty ones.

Except for Lu Dage, he could handle everyone else.

As for Lu Dage, he had to be the team leader, with two honest and two less honest members under him.

The team operated on a joint liability system; whoever patrolled a section and let something be stolen would have their work points deducted, with the team leader facing double deductions.

If Lu Dage was penalized, he would definitely face punishment from his parents, no matter how old he was.

Fang Dihua would surely beat him up.

If you don’t slack off, how could anyone steal the grain?

As Fang Dihua and others went to work, Lin’s mother stayed at home to help Lin Shu with chores.

In a farming household, there is no idle time.

There are always endless tasks: washing, sewing, making hemp ropes, shelling corn, grinding, and so on.

With her mother and children around, Lin Shu felt especially at ease.

While she was busy at home, Zhao Meifeng called from the door.

Lin Shu asked, “Sister Mei, is there something wrong?”

Zhao Meifeng walked in with a middle-aged man, holding a stack of cloth.

She said with a smile, “Sister Lin, your skills are good. Help me make a piece of clothing.”