Chapter 38: Venting Frustration (Part 3)

It’s all because of what Zhao Xiulan said that instigated Zhao Weiguo, otherwise Zhao Weiguo wouldn’t have agreed to her demands.

Ma Yumei noticed that ever since Zhao Xiulan fell into the water last time, she had changed completely.

Before, Zhao Xiulan wouldn’t dare to say a word in front of her, but now not only was her tongue sharp, but she also had much more courage. In front of Zhao Weiguo, she even learned how to complain, which made Zhao Weiguo’s heart lean towards the two sisters.

This couldn’t continue. If this situation persisted, how could she and Lijuan live well in this family in the future?

If Zhao Weiguo favoured these two brats, the days of her and her daughter would definitely be worse off.

However, Zhao Xiulan was happy because of Zhao Weiguo’s current favouritism towards the two sisters. The memories of the original owner made Zhao Xiulan feel that Zhao Weiguo was detestable, but now she realised that Zhao Weiguo was not completely unreasonable.

It’s just that he’s easily influenced; whoever whispers in his ear the loudest will be favoured.

In the past, Zhao Xiulan quietly endured everything, but she couldn’t compare to Ma Yumei and her daughter in terms of means and abilities, so it was normal for her to suffer so much injustice.

Now, Zhao Xiulan could pretend to be pitiful and speak logically, and Zhao Weiguo’s heart naturally began to lean towards her. As long as she guided him more in the future, she wasn’t afraid that Zhao Weiguo would be too clueless.

This time, Ma Yumei and her daughter ate a loss, which made Zhao Xiulan very happy.

Seeing that it was getting late, Zhao Xiulan took the initiative to pick up the work and said, “Dad, I’ll cook sorghum noodles for you!”

It’s not that Zhao Xiulan was eager to work, but she wanted to show herself more in front of Zhao Weiguo. To contrast Li Lijuan’s laziness.

Of course, more importantly, she didn’t trust Li Lijuan to cook the noodles. What if Li Lijuan stole some? She wouldn’t worry about it if she did it herself.

Zhao Weiguo nodded, and when he saw Zhao Xiulan’s figure entering the kitchen to work, he felt even more emotional.

Then he looked at Li Lijuan, who hadn’t done any work yet, and couldn’t help but say, “Lijuan, you should learn more from Xiulan. There’s no such thing as work that isn’t tiring. Who hasn’t endured hardship?

“Other people can endure hardships, why are you more delicate than others?

“I don’t expect you to be like Xiulan, but shouldn’t you do more work than Xiu Zhu?”

As a stepfather, Zhao Weiguo originally didn’t want to discipline Li Lijuan too much to avoid being accused of mistreating her by Ma Yumei.

But these past few days, he couldn’t help but say a few words because Li Lijuan’s behaviour was too much.

After being scolded by Zhao Weiguo, Li Lijuan entered the house angrily as if sulking.

It’s all because of that wretched Zhao Xiulan!

Not only did she have to work, but now she was also being criticised at home.

But Zhao Xiulan didn’t care about Li Lijuan’s anger, instead, she snorted, “Some people have the ability, so they shouldn’t come out of the house later, and don’t eat dinner!”

After speaking, Zhao Xiulan continued to work, and Zhao Xiu Zhu helped in the kitchen.

Zhao Xiulan was responsible for kneading the dough and boiling the noodles, while Zhao Xiu Zhu was responsible for making the fire.

Although she was only six years old, children from poor families grew up quickly. Zhao Xiu Zhu could do almost everything.

Zhao Xiulan kneaded the sorghum dough and rolled it into noodles, cooking enough for her family.

Two catties of sorghum noodles, using one catty at a time, cooked a pot of noodles, enough for one person to have more than two taels of noodles! Totally enough to eat! [1 catty = 16 taels = 600 grams; 1 tael = 37.5 grams]

There were also some vegetables grown on the family’s plot of land, not many, all taken care of by Zhao Weiguo usually.

(End of Chapter 38)