Chapter 18 Stealing Food

Shen Hongmei immediately exploded.

"Mother! Fourth son is taking the college entrance exam, and Zhixia is a girl. How can you bear to let them go to a place like that?"

Zhang Xiuying shot her a glare: "Aren't you a girl? I see you're having a great time! Since you think it's dangerous, then don't go again!"

Her voice hardened, and she made the decision directly: "Starting tomorrow, my daughter and Xuejun will handle the shopping!"

After saying that, she pointed at the eldest couple and said, "Don't think I'm blind! You embezzled money and then went out to eat! Neither of you are allowed to touch a single piece of meat tonight! If anyone dares to touch it, we'll settle all the old scores we've accumulated over the years!"

“Mother…” Liu Xiangyang’s face turned pale. He never dreamed that all these little actions were being done right under his mother’s nose.

Shen Hongmei was still unconvinced, but her mother-in-law had already said so much, so she dared not say another word.

To avoid actually pulling out the ledgers and making her return all the money she had secretly taken before.

She took most of it back to her parents' home.

She panicked completely and turned to Liu Shouren, who had been silent in the corner: "Father! You're really willing to let Third Sister go to the black market?"

Liu Shouren then put down his farm tools, sighed deeply, and spoke: "We usually turn a blind eye to your small gains. But this money is compensation from the Lu family to your third sister! She handed it over to the public, but you pocketed it and then came back to give us attitude. Is that reasonable?"

"From now on, do as your mother says!"

These words were like a heavy hammer blow, completely shattering Shen Hongmei's hopes.

Once the head of the household has spoken, there is no possibility of changing his mind!

She was so angry that she grabbed her son, slammed the door, and went back to her room.

Liu Xiangyang's face turned bright red with embarrassment, wishing he could disappear into the ground: "Mom, I...I'll go do the work!"

"Stop!" Zhang Xiuying stopped him, pointed at the chicken, and looked at Liu Zhixia. "Your father is right, the money is yours, and this chicken is yours too. Tell me, what do you want to do with it? Anyway, neither of them will get a single bite!"

Liu Zhixia thought about her spiritual spring space and wondered if she could try raising this chicken.

"Mom, give me this chicken. I'll hide it and tell everyone it's being raised in the mountains. What if it still lays eggs? If not, I'll secretly kill it and make soup. Things are tense lately, and stewed chicken smells too strong."

Zhang Xiuying immediately nodded: "Okay! You handle it! If we get caught, forget about the chicken, just run!"

"OK!"

Liu Zhixia took the chicken and neatly hid it in the woodshed, waiting for nightfall before sending it into her own space.

This unpleasantness made the whole courtyard feel lifeless.

As soon as Shen Yi and Xu Zhigang stepped in, they sensed that something was wrong.

Xu Zhigang seemed not to notice, and strode forward, cheerfully exclaiming, "Aunt Zhang, look what good things we've brought!"

His shout immediately broke the tense atmosphere. Zhang Xiuying's eyes lit up when she saw the fish in Shen Yi's hand: "Oh! Where did this fish come from?"

Xu Zhigang pointed at Shen Yi and laughed: "I brought him meat, and he felt embarrassed to come empty-handed, so he went to the supply and marketing cooperative to buy a fish!"

Zhang Xiuying quickly declined, saying, "Comrade Shen, this is too kind! You've given us meat and now you're adding fish on top of that, we can't accept it!"

Shen Yi handed the fish over directly, his tone leaving no room for refusal: "Auntie, I bought this for you to eat, please accept it."

Seeing this, Xu Zhigang immediately chimed in, "Auntie, we're leaving tomorrow, so please let Comrade Liu show off his skills one more time! You can't get such good food in the army!"

He winked at Shen Yi, who immediately nodded, "Yes."

Having said that, Zhang Xiuying gritted her teeth and said, "Fine! I'll have my daughter make it for you!"

Liu Zhixia had already heard it. She came out of the kitchen, took the fish, and greeted them gracefully, "Please have a seat, both of you! The fish will be ready soon!"

Looking at the table laden with delicious dishes, Xu Zhigang exclaimed in genuine admiration, "Comrade Liu, your cooking skills are absolutely amazing! Whoever marries you will be blessed with good food for the rest of their life, and will gain at least ten pounds!"

Liu Shouren and Zhang Xiuying felt extremely relieved upon hearing this.

Their daughter is just that outstanding! Some people are just blind!

Liu Zhixia quickly served the braised fish.

The group was drinking and chatting, and the meat on the table hadn't been touched much.

Liu Xiangyang kept raising his wine glass, not daring to look at the bowl of braised pork on the table.

Shen Hongmei stared intently, but dared not touch her chopsticks.

Zhang Xiuying kept staring at her intently. Originally, she had wanted to use the excuse of serving meat to the child so that she could taste some herself.

But her mother-in-law kept putting meat on the child's plate, and she couldn't find an opportunity to do so.

At this moment, all she could do was anxiously watch the braised pork in front of her.

Seeing that the guests were about to see through their tug-of-war, Liu Zhixia calmly pushed the braised fish in front of Shen Yi.

"Don't just drink the wine, try it while it's hot."

Shen Yi nodded: "Okay."

Just then, Shen Hongmei's gaze suddenly shifted from the braised pork to Shen Yi.

She glanced at Shen Yi, then at Liu Zhixia, and instantly "understood" something.

No wonder my mother-in-law was so angry today; it turns out I criticized the son-in-law she had chosen to my face!

Shen Hongmei spoke with a forced smile, her voice not loud but clear enough for everyone at the table to hear: "Comrade, where are you from? How many people are in your family? What are your circumstances?"

Everyone at the dinner table was stunned by Shen Hongmei's direct question.

Zhang Xiuying was the first to react, her face instantly turning as long as a horse's: "Is that how you talk to your guests? Don't you have any manners!"

She immediately turned to Shen Yi, suppressing her anger: "Ignore her! My wife is so ill-mannered, you're all laughing at me!"

Xu Zhigang, however, had a look of anticipation on his face, glancing at Shen Yi with a half-smile.

Shen Yi gave him a warning look, and he stuck out his tongue sheepishly, not daring to cause any more trouble.

Liu Shouren immediately broke the awkward atmosphere and changed the subject: "Are you two comrades leaving tomorrow?"

Shen Yi nodded: "Yes. I've bothered everyone for so long, it's time to go back to the unit."

Xu Zhigang chimed in, pointing in the direction of Lu Kai's house: "That's right, even if we leave tomorrow, that kid will definitely come over! Who doesn't love Comrade Liu's cooking?"

Upon hearing this, Liu Zhixia smiled faintly and said, "Then I'll make some pancakes for you to eat on the way tomorrow morning."

Before Shen Yi could refuse, Xu Zhigang beat him to it, grinning from ear to ear: "Then we won't stand on ceremony!"

As soon as dinner was over, Shen Yi and Xu Zhigang sensed that something was wrong at the Liu family’s house and immediately made an excuse to leave.

On his way back, Xu Zhigang was still savoring the memory, rubbing his bloated belly: "What a pity, leaving so soon! I'm afraid I'll never be able to eat Comrade Liu's cooking again."

Shen Yi glanced at him and said coldly, "If you like it so much, why don't you stay and become a live-in son-in-law?"

"Pfft!" Xu Zhigang burst out laughing. "Come on, the Liu family clearly has their eyes on you!"

Shen Yi's face darkened, and his tone became serious: "It's one thing for you to be unreliable normally, but you can't just say things like this. It might make people suspicious."

Xu Zhigang immediately dropped his joking demeanor, patted him on the shoulder, and said seriously, "I know. I understand that, buddy! Otherwise, I would have already been bragging to the Liu family about our young master Shen!"