Early the next morning.

When Song Yinhua got up, she saw a bowl of cooked porridge, a plate of steaming lobster, and a small bowl of pickled vegetables on the table.

After preparing breakfast, her mother, Qiao Guilan, went to work in the fields.

When Song Yinhua saw her mother, with an old towel over her head, hunching over and weeding in their field, she asked her to come back and have breakfast before going to the field. Qiao Guilan refused, saying she wanted to finish the work quickly.

She took off her shoes and got out of bed to work with them.

When the mother and daughter work together, the work is done faster.

Tang Suxiang walked back and forth on the ridge of the field several times, and finally strolled over to the edge of Song Yinhua's field and greeted Qiao Guilan.

"Weeding the rice paddies!"

"Yes, our family's more than ten acres of land are overgrown with weeds. If we don't weed them soon, it will affect the grain yield," Qiao Guilan replied politely while working.

She knew perfectly well that her sister-in-law wanted her to help with chores at her house.

But my own daughter would definitely not agree.

Last night, her house was burgled. As the mother, she hid inside and didn't dare to go out, relying on her two young daughters to deal with the bad guys. Luckily, nothing happened. What would have happened if something had gone wrong?

She already felt somewhat ashamed in front of her daughter, and decided not to upset her daughter again today.

"My field has a lot of weeds too, could you help me clear them? Otherwise, it will affect my grain yield this year," Tang Suxiang said half-jokingly. "Your field has honeysuckle, and it's such a small plot of land, you don't need two people!"

Qiao Guihua glanced at her daughter, feeling conflicted. She wanted to agree but was afraid of upsetting her.

Tang Suxiang urged, "My family doesn't have much land, it won't take long to finish, help my family first."

Song Yinhua threw away the weeds she had just pulled and asked Tang Suxiang, "So how much did you pay my mother for her work?"

“We’re all relatives, talking about money makes us feel distant. It’s just that your sixth cousin is going back today, and I have to see her off and help my wife take care of her granddaughter. I really couldn’t get away, so I came to ask your mother for help!”

"Who has nothing better to do than work for you every day? Either you pay me wages and I'll work for you, or you can make your own daughter and wife do the work in the fields!"

“The sun is so strong, if you work all day, you’ll get tanned to the bone. My daughter has never experienced this kind of hardship! My wife has to work every day, she doesn’t have time! My wife’s salary is quite high, and my son told me they plan to open their own shop next year.”

Tang Suxiang couldn't bear to see her daughter suffer, nor could she bear to see her daughter-in-law take leave to come home and work.

She kept rambling on and on, boasting about how well her daughters had married, how high their wives' salaries were, and how capable her sons were.

"Your wife earns such a high salary, and your son is so capable, yet you can't bear to pay someone to come back and do the work? All you ever do is try to take advantage of others!"

Tang Suxiang's face darkened. "Are you obsessed with money? All you think about all day is money, money, money! I only came to ask your mother for help because I respect your family. If your mother doesn't want to, I won't force her!"

Tang Suxiang made a move to leave, but when she saw that Qiao Guilan did not chase after her to stop her or apologize as she usually did, she became even angrier and turned away.

"Yinhua, you should go back too. The weeds in this field are almost all cleared. I can finish it by myself in no time. Go home and feed the chickens and pigs, tidy up the vegetable garden, water the vegetables, and cook dinner. I'll be going back soon."

Song Yinhua didn't think much of it. She went home to tend the vegetable garden, feed the chickens and pigs, and got busy with lunch.

The old hen at home has become skin and bones, lying on its nest for half a day without moving an inch.

Several chickens were also digging in the dirt with their claws, looking for food.

Song Yinhua remembered the plump wild pigeons she kept in her space, so she took a water bucket from home and went into her space to fetch a bucket of spiritual spring water.

I poured some spring water into the chicken's water bowl.

Several chickens that were digging in the dirt for food ran over and started drinking water.

Song Yinhua kept some of the spring water for cooking rice, and poured the rest into two large buckets of river water to water the vegetable garden.

She was busy running around when Wang Naiyun, who was standing at the courtyard gate, looked at her happily, her face beaming with joy.

The more efficiently Song Yinhua worked, the happier she became.

Song Caixing was carrying the crayfish she had just caught from the pond home when she saw an old lady standing at the gate of her yard, looking happily into the yard.

She recognized the old woman; she was Han Zhiyuan's mother, whom the matchmaker Wang had brought to meet her older sister a few days ago.

"Fourth Miss is back!" Wang Naiyun greeted Cai Xing politely before leaving.

"Big sister, I just saw the mother of the guy you went on a blind date with last time." Song Caixing put down her fishing rod and lobster. "She was standing outside my gate, looking in and laughing. She was so happy."

"Never mind her." Song Yinhua took the basin and poured in the lobsters that Cai Xing had just caught. "She caught quite a few today too."

"Many people in the village go to the river and pond to fish for crayfish, but in a few days they may not be able to catch any crayfish."

The two sisters chatted casually.

Song Caixing went inside to get scissors, and Song Yinhua took the opportunity to send the lobsters she had just caught into her spatial dimension, from which she quickly scooped out a bunch of lobsters.

"Big sister, scissors!" Song Caixing took out two pairs of scissors and handed one to Song Yinhua. Just as they were about to start processing the lobster, she suddenly exclaimed, "Oh dear!" "Why does this lobster seem to have gotten bigger?"

"Really? It was like this as soon as you brought it back." Song Yinhua looked at her fourth sister, a cold sweat breaking out on her forehead, truly afraid that her fourth sister would notice something.

“Then it must have been this big when I caught it.” Song Caixing didn’t think much of it and squatted down to work with Song Yinhua to process the lobster with scissors.

After preparing the lobsters, one of them started a fire while the other stir-fried them.

When Qiao Guilan returned, she could smell the aroma of food from afar.

"What's cooking today? It smells so good!"

"Big sister made spicy crayfish!" Song Caixing reached out and grabbed one, peeled off the shell and put it in her mouth. Suddenly her eyes lit up. "It smells so good! Mom, you have to try it. I've never eaten such delicious crayfish before."

"You're so hungry for a little crayfish?" Qiao Guilan said with a laugh, then washed her hands and helped bring the food to the table.

Qiao Guilan casually peeled a shrimp, put it in her mouth, and then froze, exclaiming, "It smells so good!"

As she ate, she asked Song Yinhua, "How was this lobster prepared? It's so delicious!"

"Based on the usual practice, it's probably because you're too hungry that you find today's lobster particularly delicious."

Qiao Guilan nodded, "Mom was busy in the fields all morning, she was really tired and hungry, and her back hurts so much she can't stand up straight."

"I'll go work in the fields this afternoon, Mom, you can rest at home."

“No need!” Qiao Guilan immediately refused. “The weeds in the field have been mostly cleared. I’ll just finish up this afternoon. You all have your own things to do… Oh, by the way, Yinhua, this afternoon go to the back mountain to pick some purslane for me and dry it. When your dad and Baogen come back, I’ll buy some pork to make steamed buns for you.”

"Mom, Dad and my second brother have been gone for several days. When are they coming back?" Song Caixing asked.

Song Yinhua remembered that in her past life, her father and younger brother Song Baogen would return the next night.

They sent Qiu Xue to university in the provincial capital, but their money was stolen on their way back. So the two of them walked all the way back and eventually met a fellow villager, who gave them a ride home in the middle of the night.