"What exactly do you want?" Xia Chenshi gritted her teeth in anger.

"I need to recuperate here. Give me five hundred for medicine, and also kill two chickens to make up for it." Shi Zhenxiang had a rogue-like look on her face. "Now I'm tired and need to rest. When I wake up, I want to see money and chickens."

After saying that, Shi Zhenxiang limped to a random room and lay down on the bed.

Seeing Shi Zhenxiang like this, Xia Chenshi wished she could do what Xia Chunmei did and stab her to death with scissors, but she didn't dare.

"What do we do now?" Xia Chenshi asked Xia Changjiang.

Xia Changjiang was seething with anger: "You ask me? I should ask who I shouldn't have...shouldn't have gone to her in the first place."

"It's too late to talk about this now. If we don't give in to her, she'll refuse to leave and tell everyone. Then Xiumei and Fan Baowen's relationship will fall through, and we'll be gossiped about by the clan. What will we do then?"

Xia Chenshi now truly wishes she could kill both Xia Chunmei and Shi Zhenxiang.

One is hindering her daughter's future, and the other actually turns around and blackmails her. Those two despicable people deserve to die!

Xia Chen cursed and swore in her heart, completely unaware that she had done anything wrong.

...

After much deliberation, Xia Chenshi and Xia Changjiang finally decided to give the money to Shi Zhenxiang.

However, this money cannot be given away for nothing.

"Aunt." Xia Chenshi entered the room alone and approached Shi Zhenxiang, who was resting with her eyes closed.

"What's wrong? Is dinner ready? Have you killed the chicken?"

"Aunt, don't be anxious." Xia Chenshi stopped the excited Shi Zhenxiang. "I'll give you five hundred coins and catch you two chickens, but you have to help me teach Xia Chunmei a lesson."

“That won’t do.” Shi Zhenxiang shook her head and refused without even thinking. “That girl is too ruthless and too difficult to deal with.”

"With so many people in your family, are you afraid of just one person?"

Shi Zhenxiang looked at Xia Chenshi thoughtfully: "You've been targeting her at every turn. Could it be that, as Xia Chunmei said, you're harming her for the sake of the Fan family's marriage?"

"What are you thinking? I just think this girl is too ruthless. She actually dared to use a knife. Living in the same place as someone like that feels too dangerous. Aunt, are you really just going to let this go like this? You took that knife wound for nothing, and all that blood was shed for nothing?"

"Anyway, I won't provoke her. Just give me the money now, or I'll go around telling everyone that you made me do it, and we'll see if you can stay in the village any longer."

Xia Chen was so angry that she vomited blood.

No matter what Shi Zhenxiang said, she couldn't be persuaded; she was determined to get money from her.

"If you don't give me the money, I'll scream!" With that, Shi Zhenxiang shouted, "Help! Help! Help!"

"Don't shout, don't shout, here you go, here you go!" Xia Chenshi reluctantly took out half a tael of silver and gave it to her.

"Now that you've taken the money, you can leave, right?"

“Where are you going? This little money is only enough to cover medical expenses. I’m injured and have lost a lot of blood. You need to at least feed and nourish me to make up for the blood loss before I can go back.”

Xia Chen was so angry she almost fell backward: "Go find whoever hurt you!"

“I won’t go. I’ll find you. Otherwise, I’ll go outside and tell you that you made me harm Xia Chunmei because of the Fan family’s marriage.”

Seeing how readily Xia Chenshi had given her the money, Shi Zhenxiang was certainly not about to let go of this cash cow so easily.

She's completely under Xia Chenshi's thumb now!

“Actually, it’s not impossible for me to leave,” Shi Zhenxiang said. “Give me another hundred coins for lost wages, and use twenty eggs to catch two chickens to help me replenish my blood. Also, have someone carry me back to Fanjiagou. I’m injured and can’t walk. If I walk, my wound will reopen, and this amount of medical expenses won’t be enough.”

"Half a tael of silver is already enough, and you still think it's not enough?" Xia Chenshi was so angry that she almost died on the spot.

At this moment, the person she hates the most is definitely Shi Zhenxiang; Xia Chunmei has to take a backseat!

"I'm not going back if you don't give it to me! I want to eat chicken, meat, and eggs. If you don't give it to me, don't blame me for not keeping my mouth shut."

Threatening himself, and threatening himself too! That old geezer!

Xia Chenshi took a deep breath and replied, "Okay, I promise you, but only this once. If you dare to blackmail me again next time, don't blame me for being impolite!"

"Don't worry, this won't happen again," Shi Zhenxiang assured her repeatedly.

Xia Chenshi, heartbroken, counted out another hundred coins for Shi Zhenxiang, and also caught two roosters and counted out twenty eggs for her.

Xia Chenshi's son was not home, and neither she nor Xia Changjiang wanted to take Shi Zhenxiang back. In the end, they had the honest and simple Zeng Shi carry Shi Zhenxiang back on her back.

With chickens, eggs, and money, plus free labor to carry her back, Shi Zhenxiang was overjoyed.

At this moment, Shi Zhenxiang felt that her injuries were worth it, absolutely worth it.

Xia Chunmei is a good person; she pointed out a clear path to wealth for me.

Xia Chunmei was unaware that she had been given the "good guy" card. When she brought Xia Dongmei back, she happened to see Zeng Shi carrying Shi Zhenxiang away.

Seeing the chicken and eggs in Shi Zhenxiang's hand, Xia Chunmei knew that Shi Zhenxiang had successfully extorted money from her.

Extortion is a common tactic; once it starts, it's likely to continue, and the perpetrators' appetite will only grow.

She was really looking forward to seeing how the two families would sabotage each other next.

Just as she got home, Xia Mingshi arrived with Xia Ping, bringing Xia Chunmei a bunch of green beans and six eggs. Xia Mingshi said, "Chunmei, thank you so much for today. This is a small token of my appreciation."

"Grandma, I'll accept the green beans, but I don't need the eggs; I have some at home."

“Take it if I give it to you. If it weren’t for you, these two kids wouldn’t have been able to catch such a big fish today. If it weren’t for you, your little brother Fengshou would probably be in danger.”

Those who drown are all good swimmers. If Xia Chunmei hadn't acted decisively and pulled the person up with her fishing rod, who knows what would have happened?

Xia Ping: "Chunmei, just keep it. Anyway, it's all Xia Baofu's family's compensation."

Xia Baofu was wrong to steal the fish first, and then he caused Xia Fengshou to fall into the river. So many people were watching, it wouldn't be right not to do something.

When Xia Mingshi arrived with her grandchildren, Xia Changjiang and Chen Sanhua had no choice but to honestly compensate them.

"Chunmei, shall we go fishing again this afternoon?" Xia Ping had tasted the sweetness of fishing and wished she could go fishing 24 hours a day.

"I'm not going this afternoon. By the way, have you eaten your fish? If not, do you want to sell it? If the Wang family is having a whole fish feast, the fish from yesterday won't be enough."

"you mean……"

"You can weigh it first, then put it together with mine, and sell them to him together later."

"Five catties of fish can sell for several tens of coins. I'll go get them right now."

"I'll go back and get it." As soon as Xia Mingshi finished speaking, Xia Ping ran back to get the fish.

This fish weighs exactly five pounds. If the Wang family doesn't change their plans, they'll come looking for me this afternoon or tomorrow morning. Then I can ask them if they still want the fish.

They were so satisfied with the dishes yesterday, and Wang Dagui loves fish, so Xia Chunmei felt that the Wang family was unlikely to change their minds. Moreover, if they were planning to have thirty tables, they would usually need to prepare enough food for one or two extra tables, so there definitely wouldn't be enough fish.

"Dongmei, take an egg and exchange it for a piece of tofu."

A piece of tofu costs two coins. If you don't want to pay, you can give an egg in exchange for one piece of tofu. One piece of tofu is about eight ounces.

Xia Qiumei and Xia Yaomei started a fire to cook porridge and steam egg custard, while Xia Chunmei cleaned the fish and prepared a whole crucian carp and tofu soup.

Actually, these small crucian carp would taste even better if they were deep-fried and then stir-fried with chili peppers, ginger, and wild scallions. However, given our family's circumstances, we haven't reached the point where we're overly concerned with how delicious the food is. We just traded them for two pounds of oil, so we need to use them sparingly.

Xia Chunmei is a cautious person. Even though she now has a cheat code, she doesn't dare to take advantage of it and act recklessly.

This family is so poor, and there are so many things they need to buy.

What if the cheat system disappears one day?

So, to enjoy life, you need to build a stronger foundation first.

The steamed egg custard was cooked quickly, and Xia Dongmei fed Xia Yaomei first.

Xia Yaomei is relatively easy to take care of. There's no need to coax her to eat or chase after her to feed her. She must have been very hungry, because she has a great appetite and finished a serving of steamed egg custard in no time.

Soon, the crucian carp and tofu soup was ready, and it smelled delicious.

The younger sisters were drooling with envy.

Xia Chunmei ladled a bowl of fish soup into a chapped bowl and let it cool. Since crucian carp has many bones and Yaomei is still young, Xia Chunmei didn't dare to give her fish. She added two pieces of tofu to the soup.

"Dongmei, don't feed her the fish soup yet. You've been busy all morning. You eat first. Little sister just ate steamed egg custard, so don't worry about her for now."

Chunmei was saving this bowl of fish soup and tofu to feed Yaomei at noon. Children need to be fed several times a day, and since there was no milk at home, she would heat up the fish soup and tofu and feed it to her.

Xia Qiumei had already served herself a large bowl and started eating.

"Qiu Mei, try not to make any noise while you eat. This is your own home, no one is going to take it from you. Don't eat like a starving ghost, it'll make you a laughingstock if you go outside," Xia Chunmei said.

"Sis, you're so nagging. It's just eating; everyone makes noise while eating."

"But no one eats as extravagantly as you! You're a girl, and we're not some high-class family, so we don't need to be very elegant, but you can't be so unconcerned about your image, especially not smacking your lips. You need to be more mindful."

"Ugh, I know, you're such a busybody." Xia Qiumei said impatiently.

She said she understood, but Xia Qiumei didn't change anything.

If you don't correct your behavior when you're young, you'll find it even harder to change when you grow up.

"If you keep doing this, I won't take you with me when I go to the Wang family for a banquet, so as not to embarrass myself."

"Big sister, you're going to the Wang family to host a banquet?" Xia Qiumei and Xia Dongmei were very surprised and looked at Xia Chunmei with astonishment.

"It's the Wang family, the landlords of Xiaowang Village. I sold the fish to them yesterday. I cooked a few dishes for them yesterday, and they were very satisfied. The day after tomorrow is their birthday, and they want me to cook for their banquet."

"Really?! Big sister, you're so amazing! There will definitely be lots of delicious food then!" Xia Dongmei was very excited and envious.

"Sister, I'll listen to you, I'll listen to everything you say! Take me there!" This time, Xia Qiumei didn't dare to show any displeasure. For children from poor families, the days they looked forward to most, besides the New Year, were going to banquets.

"That depends on your performance."

In order to go to the Wang family's house, Xia Qiumei was really serious this time. She slowed down her eating speed and deliberately controlled her voice.