In the Zhao family’s main hall, Zhao Daqing, Zhao Yongqiang, and the others were eating dinner.

Zhao Yongwen had also returned home tonight with Sun Meiping.

Using the half a jin of pork belly Zhao Yongwen brought home, Li Cuihong made a stew with cabbage and pork, along with a big pot of potatoes—essentially a hotchpotch stew.

In this era of the Min Dynasty, potatoes were already in existence and had gradually become a staple food.

The main table was already full, and for the first time, Zhao Xiaojun had to sit at the small table.

With tears in her eyes, she nibbled on a cornbread bun while pitifully gazing at those seated at the main table.

At the main table, Zhao Yongqiang, Zhao Qingshui, and Li Cuihong devoured their food, soaking their cornbread in the cabbage and pork broth without sparing a glance at Zhao Xiaojun.

Only Zhao’s mother and Sun Meiping noticed Zhao Xiaojun’s dejected expression, but both chose to ignore it.

Sun Meiping frowned at the selfish and rude behavior of the eldest branch of the family but didn’t say anything.

She simply put down her chopsticks.

“Meiping, you’re not eating?” Li Cuihong spotted her and quickly snatched the leftover cornbread from Sun Meiping’s bowl. “Hehe, I’ll help you finish it. I don’t mind,” she mumbled, her mouth stuffed with food.

Sun Meiping neither agreed nor objected.

She didn’t even spare Li Cuihong a glance and moved to sit at the small table.

Zhao Xiaojun quickly said, “Third Aunt, you’re done? I’ll sit up there.”

Before Sun Meiping could respond, Zhao Xiaojun had already climbed into her seat at the main table, devouring food with the same gusto as Li Cuihong.

Zhao’s mother frowned and glanced at Zhao Daqing beside her, but he simply stared at his food in silence and said nothing, chewing his cornbread with deliberate ignorance.

Zhao’s mother sighed inwardly and closed her mouth.

Ever since the second son passed away, the eldest branch had grown increasingly unruly, and the old man no longer had control over them.

When Zhao Yongqiang finished his two cornbread buns, he wiped his mouth with his hand, satisfied.

“Guess who I saw today at the West Academy in Nanzhou County?”

Still chewing, Li Cuihong replied without looking up, “Who could you possibly see? It’s not like any of the villagers can afford to send their kids to private schools. Even if they could, it’d be a waste of money. None of them could compare to our Qingyun.”

She looked up proudly at her son, who straightened his back involuntarily.

Only Li Cuihong could say such shameless things so naturally.

Zhao Yongwen bowed his head, too embarrassed to respond to his older brother and sister-in-law.

Even Zhao Daqing, while nodding in agreement with Li Cuihong’s words, fished out his pipe and asked, “So who did you see?”

Zhao Yongqiang pointed toward the eastern wing and curled his lips, “It was the second daughter-in-law, Qian Chunhua. She brought Qingsong and tried to enroll him in the academy.”

Li Cuihong almost choked on her food. “What?! She wants to send that runt Qingsong to school? What a waste of money!”

Just saying this pained her—as if it was her own money being squandered. “Dad, you’ve got to do something about Qian Chunhua!”

Before Zhao Daqing could respond, Sun Meiping couldn’t help but snort with laughter.

Even Zhao Yongwen felt ashamed.

This eldest branch was truly shameless.

Did they even understand what severing family ties meant?

Since ties had been cut, how could they still meddle in another household’s affairs?

Surprisingly, this time Zhao Daqing didn’t side with Zhao Yongqiang and Li Cuihong.

In his eyes, they were all Zhao family descendants. “If the second daughter-in-law wants to send Qingsong to school, let her. Learning to read is never a bad thing.”

Zhao Yongqiang hadn’t expected his father not to object and grew anxious. “No, Dad, the second household has no income. That 200 taels of silver was our family’s life savings. We can’t let her squander it.”

Sun Meiping had seen enough.

She couldn’t hold back anymore. “How is that 200 taels your family’s life savings? It was compensation for raising Qingyun all those years and for abusing Qingsong.

Since the silver is in Second Sister-in-law’s hands, it belongs to her. How she spends it is her business. Eldest Brother, Sister-in-law, don’t forget—Second Sister-in-law already severed ties with you.”

Sun Meiping’s words left Zhao Daqing stunned.

He didn’t expect his third daughter-in-law to publicly side with Qian Chunhua.

Though he also disapproved of the eldest son’s behavior, he had never outright voiced his opinion for the sake of family harmony.

But the most shocked of all was Zhao Yongqiang.

He had thought everyone in the family would agree with him.

He never imagined his sister-in-law would be the first to speak up.

“Wait, Third Sister-in-law, you don’t understand. We’ve watched Qingsong grow up. We know he’s not cut out for studying…”

Zhao Yongqiang tried every argument he could think of, but failed to sway Zhao Daqing or Zhao Yongwen.

At least those two still had a shred of dignity.

“Yongwen, did you come home tonight for something in particular?” Zhao Daqing, unwilling to hear more nonsense from his eldest son, changed the subject.

Zhao Yongqiang and Li Cuihong exchanged a defeated look and both fell silent.

Remembering his purpose, Zhao Yongwen spoke up, “Dad, Mom, Eldest Brother, the world outside isn’t doing well—natural disasters everywhere. Today in the county, even the wealthy families are starting to stockpile grain and firewood. We should prepare early.”

The moment he said this, Li Cuihong shrieked, “We just spent 200 taels! Where would we get extra money to stockpile anything?”

Zhao Yongqiang picked at his teeth with his chopsticks and scoffed, “See? Those rich people are just paranoid. Nothing’s going to happen.”

The ignorance and rudeness of the eldest couple made Sun Meiping despair.

How did she end up related to such fools?

If disaster truly struck and they had no reserves, would they come begging from her own family?

Zhao Daqing, at least, had lived long enough to be cautious. “Yongwen, what exactly is going on outside?”

“There was a locust plague in Ganzhou this summer. Bandits are rampant in Bingzhou. And here in Yongning Prefecture, we haven’t had a drop of rain since the summer solstice.”

Everything Zhao Yongwen said was secondhand from his classmates, and in truth, the real situation was far worse.

Zhao Daqing nodded.

If that was the case, then it wasn’t too alarming yet.

Yongning’s situation was still stable, and he leaned toward believing the wealthy were just overreacting.

“Alright, Yongwen. I understand. I’ll think it over,” he said, beginning to brush the matter aside.

Zhao Yongwen grew anxious. “No, Dad—grain shops in the county are already sold out. The shopkeeper said prices will rise starting tomorrow.”

Zhao Yongqiang sneered, “That’s just because of people like you—overreacting and panic-buying. Of course the grain sold out. Wait a few days, and when everyone sees nothing’s wrong, grain prices will go back to normal. Besides, we’ve got this year’s harvest. We’ll be fine for a whole year.”

Zhao Yongqiang’s view won Zhao Daqing’s approval.

Even if they didn’t stock up, the family’s stored grain would be enough to keep them from starving for a year.

Seeing that he couldn’t convince them, Zhao Yongwen shook his head in frustration and fell silent.

Throughout the entire conversation, no one asked Zhao’s mother for her opinion—and she kept quiet, not voicing a single thought of her own.