Old Man Lu remained indifferent.

No matter how deep the feelings, after so many years of Lu Shaocai’s foolishness, they had been worn down.

That scoundrel burned paper money, and if any of the ashes touched his mother’s grave, he would retrieve it, afraid that even a speck of it would benefit her.

Why bother with him?

Let him howl.

By the time winter came, everyone had harvested the cabbages from the vegetable garden and stored them in the empty house.

The cellar was full of sweet potatoes, so there was no room for cabbages.

Fang Dihua put them in the south room.

During the free time in autumn, Fang Dihua and Lu Erge had also built two more straw sheds.

With thick layers of dry straw all around, they were perfect for storing cabbages.

In the past, Lin Shu had thought from watching TV that people in that era only ate cabbages or potatoes in winter, which seemed pitiful.

But after coming to this era, she realized that only city people could afford to eat cabbages, and many rural people had very few cabbages to eat.

Most families planted grain in their own plots, and vegetables were mostly grown in the yard or around the house, by the fields, or along the riverbanks.

Lin Shu’s family was fortunate enough to have the conditions to store over two thousand pounds of cabbages, while most families could only manage a few cabbages, eating them maybe once every five days.

Some families barely had cabbages at all throughout the winter, living on sweet potato porridge, boiled sweet potatoes, and occasionally some pickled vegetables.

Items like homemade sauce, pickled Chinese toon, or salted duck eggs were out of the question.

The entire society was poor, and while Lin Shu felt sympathy, she had to make sure her own family was well-fed.

In the fall, she had dried many beans—long beans, knife beans, oil beans, and flat beans—as well as eggplant, winter melon, and bottle gourd.

She also harvested a lot of large pumpkins, pickled a large jar of pickles, mustard greens, and another jar of salted duck eggs and salted chicken eggs. She made pickled daikon radishes, pickled cucumbers, and more.

With such a large vegetable garden, Lin Shu was determined that her family wouldn’t run out of vegetables.

The days of only having pickled vegetables were long gone.

Now, with the harvested cabbages, Lin Shu, Fang Dihua, and Lu Da made spicy kimchi.

With so many cabbages, they made four jars of kimchi but it wasn’t enough, so they bought three new jars to fill.

In addition, she used the northeastern method to pickle two large barrels of sour cabbage.

Making sour cabbage not only tasted good but also kept well, lasting until March of the following year.

The chili powder for the spicy kimchi was ground by Fang Dihua using a garlic grinder, and the shrimp paste was brought back one night by Lu Shaotang.

These days, Lu Shaotang had returned home twice at night, never coming back during the day.

Lin Shu didn’t dare to ask what he was busy with during the day, fearing he wouldn’t have any time, and he ended up stealing blankets from Panpan at night.

Even though winter meant no field work, the members of the commune still had their own busy tasks.

When the autumn harvest ended, the production team organized everyone to cut a lot of brambles, red hemp, and prepared many sorghum stalks.

After winter set in, those with some skill would go to the production team office to weave baskets, baskets, make hemp ropes, and weave mats.

In addition to meeting their own production team’s needs, they could also sell these items at the market or exchange them for other goods.

Fang Dihua and Second Brother Lu Erge, being strong, went to the team to weave baskets and other items.

They worked quickly and easily, and the items were both sturdy and attractive.

Second Brother Lu Erge also learned to weave mats, so every winter, he continued to make mats at the production team to earn work points.

Now Lin Shu was much freer.

In winter, with shorter days, everyone switched to eating only two meals a day to conserve food.

The pigs hadn’t been sold yet, so usually, Sister-in-law Lu Da and Fang Dihua helped to feed them and cleaned up.

Lin Shu only needed to prepare two meals a day.

Recently, she was busy making new clothes for her two children for the New Year, knitting gloves, and making new shoes.

For the New Year, she planned to let her two clean and pretty kids go out with their tall and handsome dad.

Lin Shu realized that she no longer felt any fear or resistance when thinking about Lu Shaotang.

Instead, she found herself quite fond of thinking about him.

Although he was strong, he didn’t use brute force and never acted roughly toward her, which didn’t make her feel uncomfortable.

He was very capable but never boasted. When he looked at her, his gaze was steady and calm, not scrutinizing, which made her feel very refreshed.

He had never shown any intention of teaching her or testing her.

Instead, he would ask others for advice on what he didn’t know.

“Mom, Mom, are you thinking about Dad so intently?”

Pan Pan was leaning on the sewing machine, tiptoeing to peek at her.

Lin Shu’s face flushed. She quickly denied, “No, I’m not. Where’s Tian Tian?”

Pan Pan replied, “My aunt has arrived. I’ve called you several times.”

Lin Shu hurriedly stood up and followed Pan Pan outside, where she saw Elder Sister Lu Dajie returning on a bicycle.

Lu Shaotang’s siblings were all good-looking and tall, and Elder Sister Lu Dajie was no exception.

She had fair skin, a tall and slender figure, and was quite plump, which was considered well-to-do for that era.

On the front of her bicycle, there was a five-pound oil can, and on the back, a bag of flour.

Elder Sister Lu was untieing the rope, “Shaotang’s wife, hurry up and help me.”

Lin Shu went to help, saying, “Elder Sister, you brought so much flour back. I’ll get you some food stamps.”

She wasn’t sure if there were enough food stamps at home, as she had spent quite a bit at Sister Lin Xia’s place before.

Elder Sister Lu, her father-in-law, and brother-in-law all worked at the commune’s grain management office.

Her father-in-law was the head of the grain management office.

The deputy head of the oil station was married to the accountant, and Lu Dajie worked as the warehouse manager.

In the past, Fang Dihua often used grain tickets to ask her for help in exchanging some flour and oil.

Lu Dajie said, “What grain tickets? These are from me. I’ll bring them back for you.”

She explained, “Since the new grain is coming in, the warehouse has cleared out a lot of the old grain. This can’t be put into the account, so the grain station distributes it to the staff. My father-in-law asked me to bring it back because Tiantian and Panpan are still young and need some softer and finer grains.”

The two children immediately thanked her, “Thank you, Auntie! A few days ago, the team even praised you at the meeting.”

Lu Dajie was surprised, “Praised me?”

Lin Shu explained, “For delivering the public grain and cotton, we owe it to you and your husband. Our team had a lighter load.”

Delivering public grain every year, whether it’s wheat, corn, or cotton, is like going to war.

Lu Dajie’s father-in-law was the deputy head of the grain station.

Although his position wasn’t high, he was quite influential, and the team leaders had to flatter him.

After all, when it came time to deliver the public grain, the grain station had the final say. If their instruments showed that the grain wasn’t enough, they’d have to haul it back to dry and come again.

If they didn’t want to haul it back, they had to dry it on the spot outside the grain station.

It was quite a hassle.

Having a familiar face meant the measurement staff wouldn’t deliberately make things difficult.

Since Lu Dajie’s father-in-law and husband were involved, the Lu family’s side had never been harassed.

Of course, the team leader also had to maintain his dignity.

Each time, they had to make sure the public grain was thoroughly dried before delivery.

If they didn’t, he wouldn’t handle it.

That would be embarrassing.

Lu Dajie looked at Lin Shu, thinking that her mother and sister-in-law hadn’t lied to her.

The third sister-in-law had indeed changed a lot.

Now she looked generous and cheerful, not like before when she always seemed unhappy with her brows furrowed.

She had heard about Lin Shu’s achievements—being praised for her contributions, learning to drive a tractor, appearing in photo shoots, and working as the team’s accountant.

She seemed as capable as a character from a movie.

Curious about Lin Shu’s changes, Lu Dajie had wanted to come back and chat properly, but she was too busy with the autumn harvest.

She came back briefly for the Mid-Autumn Festival but left quickly to cook for her family, as her father-in-law was very particular about family reunions during holidays.

Today, she had specifically come to talk to Lin Shu.

Sitting down in the house, Lu Dajie took out five yuan and handed it to Lin Shu, smiling, “Shaotang’s wife, I’ll give you five yuan every month from now on. You can use it as you like.”

Lin Shu was puzzled.

While it was normal to give money for the elders during holidays, why was she getting money every month…?

Something seemed off.

She smiled and asked, “Dajie, what’s the meaning of this?”

Elder Sister Lu Dajie’s eyes turned red, and she started to wipe away tears.

“Shaotang’s wife, you’ve suffered. Oh, Shao Tang…”

Lin Shu was puzzled, “Elder Sister, don’t you know?”

Elder Sister Lu Dajie asked, “What?”

Lin Shu replied, “The children’s father is back, Shaotang is alive”

Elder Sister Lu Dajie’s eyes widened in surprise. “What? My third brother is back? Where is he?”

Tian Tian and Pan Pan immediately started talking for their mother, their little mouths chattering away.

“Grandma has been giving out candy all over the street. Didn’t you know, Auntie?”

Elder Sister Lu Dajie frowned, “I didn’t know. No one came to tell me.”

Lin Shu explained, “Elder Sister, don’t worry. Mom was supposed to tell you, but with the team’s meetings and the distribution of bonuses, and Big Brother Dage going to help with the accounting and election, she got so busy she forgot.”

Elder Sister Lu wasn’t angry but let out a big sigh of relief.

Fortunately… she almost made a fool of herself.