Chapter 16 Zhao’s Conflict with the Qian Family Deepens!

Old Qian realized that if he didn’t smooth things over soon, something serious might actually happen.

So he compromised: “I’ll add another five yuan each month for the family to improve our meals. The conditions at home are what they are—it makes no sense to eat cornbread every single day. Five yuan should be enough for us to eat white flour for ten days.”

Though he handed out money,

on the surface it looked like he was giving in to Zhao’s mother.

But at the same time,

Old Qian had his own conditions, a half-veiled threat: “This money I give is only for improving meals. Five yuan should cover ten days of white flour, not a day less.”

Ten days of white flour?

Was he serious?

With a household of more than a dozen people, even eating only white flour wouldn’t last a week.

Wasn’t this just forcing her to pay out of her own pocket?

In the past,

Zhao had endured it because her three children were still young.

If things really fell apart, it would’ve been hard to find another man willing to raise three stepchildren.

But things were different now.

The children had grown up, and she truly didn’t want to endure anymore.

Old Qian had his calculations, but so did Zhao.

He thought she and her children could squeeze out maybe a few dozen yuan a year.

But in truth, through shrewdness and thrift, Zhao could net over a hundred yuan a year from the Qian household.

Yet she felt no gratitude for this.

Because it wasn’t money given by Old Qian—it was scraped together by her own calculations, her patience, and above all, her hard labor.

Ever since she married into this house,

whether sick or menstruating, she still had to work in the fields,

all while cooking and managing the household of the entire Qian family.

Zhao didn’t even know how she had survived those years!

But now things had changed.

Her children were grown, and she refused to keep swallowing her anger.

If not for her constant scheming,

the Qian family would have consumed her and her children to the bone by now.

Zhao wasn’t satisfied with just the extra five yuan:

“I’ve endured everything silently, which is why you’ve kept pushing me down. But some things need to be made clear now.”

“Since I married into Qian Village, I’ve earned at least eight work points a day, sometimes ten. The grain I received was enough for me and my daughter, even with leftovers. My eldest son earns ten work points daily, and when my youngest is on break, he can earn six or seven…”

This was something the Qian family couldn’t deny.

Because Zhao’s family truly were hardworking.

Even the laziest, Zhao Qianqian, was skilled in cooking and needlework.

Meanwhile, the Qian children, spoiled by easier lives, couldn’t endure hardship and earned far fewer work points.

Zhao continued:

“So these past ten years, it wasn’t us living off the Qian family’s grain—it was your Qian family living off ours. But since you’ve started nitpicking over everything, I’ll make things clear. From now on, the grain we earn—either you pay for it, or we’ll only hand over half.”

When she finished,

the Qian family sat stunned.

So all these years, they had been the ones freeloading off Zhao and her children?

But before they could fully absorb it,

the scheming Qian Ertian spoke again: “Don’t say we’ve taken advantage of you. You only got those work points because you married into Qian Village. Try earning that much in another village.”

That wasn’t entirely wrong.

In Qian Village, one work point was worth as much as two in Zhao Village.

But Zhao shot back without hesitation:

“So if your family and your village weren’t wealthy, why would I—a woman ten years younger than your father—have married in? Why would I slave away cooking, washing, and working like a beast of burden for you?”

At this, Old Qian’s face darkened.

She was despising his age now?

It was his years of negligence and Zhao’s humble behavior that had made him think their family life was so harmonious.

But recently, Zhao’s sharp tongue and open defiance against his children had shown signs of real conflict.

Had he gone too far?

The whole region praised Zhao as a good stepmother.

And truthfully, Old Qian had been satisfied with her these past ten years.

After all, it was just food.

If she wanted to keep some, so be it.

He wanted to keep things peaceful—no more trouble.

But Zhao really was thinking about leaving this family.

And yet—

though she wanted out, she couldn’t let go of the ten-plus yuan she got every month from the Qian household.

Sometimes, even Zhao herself felt disgusted with this.

“Enough, let’s end this here. Ertian, if you want this family to stay harmonious, stop stirring up trouble.” Old Qian scolded angrily. “Because of you, not only do I have to spend an extra five yuan, now half the grain is being withheld too.”

Half of Zhao’s family’s grain would no longer go to the household.

Which meant that even with the extra five yuan, their food would still be worse than before.

After all, several people in the Qian household didn’t earn any work points at all.

Grain looked cheap, but feeding so many mouths added up to a huge expense every month.

On the other side,

since Old Qian had compromised, Zhao didn’t push further.

After all, it was Ertian who had picked the fight.

And she came out winning.

Not only had she secured an extra five yuan a month, but she also got to keep half of the grain her family earned.

As expected—

if you wanted a good life, you couldn’t be too soft!

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The Food Factory.

Today was Zhao Qianqian’s first official day of work. She went with Zhao Tiao.

Since he would be filling in for her eventually, he came along to learn the ropes.

In this era, job substitution was truly convenient.

At noon, they ate together in the canteen.

Meals were subsidized with meal tickets.

Though three yuan of tickets a month only averaged out to one mao per day,

the food was incredibly cheap.

One mao could buy two large mixed-flour steamed buns, and two mao could get a hearty portion of pork and cabbage stew with vermicelli.

Since Zhao Qianqian started mid-month, she only received two yuan worth of meal tickets.

At lunch, she treated her cousin Zhao Tiao.

She bought a pork and cabbage stew with vermicelli and four steamed buns.

Zhao Tiao’s eyes nearly popped out.

Such good food—at his home, they only saw it during New Year’s.

Helping Zhao Qianqian with her job really was a fortune!

Though Zhao Qianqian didn’t go home at noon,

she had arranged lunch for Zeng Cheng as well.

There was leftover bone soup from last night, plus the rice she had steamed before leaving.

All Zeng Cheng had to do was heat it up.

One had to admit—

this food factory job really was easy.

By the end of just one morning,

Zhao Qianqian and her cousin Zhao Tiao had already learned everything.