The chicken was huge, and there were lots of mushrooms. We stewed it all in one pot, and divided half of it for dinner. There was also a huge bowl, as big as a washbasin.

They didn't prepare as many dishes as usual, only asking Gao Guojing to add a side dish of stir-fried pork belly and green vegetables, and that was it for lunch.

The soup was rich and delicious, and the tender mushrooms were irresistible to everyone.

Duolu kept stuffing mushrooms into his mouth, and even managed to squeeze in a moment to make a bold statement: "Delicious! This afternoon we'll go pick mushrooms and catch pheasants again. We'll bring back lots of mushrooms and catch lots of pheasants."

While eating mushrooms, Gao Guojing affirmed, "Okay, Uncle Guojing will take you up the mountain this afternoon."

Duo Shou's mouth was stuffed full of mushrooms. The fresh and tender texture was so delicious that he didn't even eat much of the chicken in the pot, focusing only on the mushrooms.

Duo Shou: "Uncle Guo Jing, I want to go too."

Duofu also loved the delicious mushrooms and reminded him, "Uncle Guojing, let's bring a few more bags over this afternoon."

Seeing that her older brothers were all going, Duoxi, who was always following along, forgot that she had been looking for a while that morning and was so tired that she was lying in Yu Rujia's arms and wouldn't get down. She chimed in, "Go, go, go."

We picked a lot of mushrooms in the afternoon, but this time we didn't catch any pheasants, which was a bit of a disappointment for the little ones.

When Gao Shujing returned, he saw the ground covered with mushrooms: "Have the mushrooms grown this much already?"

Gao Guojing said with lingering interest, "There are still so many places we haven't been to. I'm afraid we'll pick too many and not be able to finish them all."

Gao Shujing: "If you can't finish them, you can make mushroom sauce, which can be stored for a long time. You can take some back for your parents to try."

Gao Guojing hadn't expected to receive any guidance on this floor. He was so engrossed in picking mushrooms that he wished he could run up the mountain and run around for hours right now. Unfortunately, it was already dark, so he would have to go up the mountain to pick mushrooms tomorrow.

On the evening of the eighth day of the Lunar New Year, Li Xiaoyuan and her daughter slunk home, avoiding everyone.

At first, the mother and daughter thought that Zheng Daxiong just wanted to scare them, so even though their sister-in-law and brother-in-law made all sorts of veiled insults, they remained unmoved and stayed at the Li family's house, waiting for Zheng Daxiong to come and beg them to go back.

After staying for a few days, they found that Zheng Daxiong still showed no sign of coming to pick them up. Once a daughter is married, she becomes an outsider. In times of food shortage, not many people are willing to support someone who eats for free.

In particular, Li Xiaoyuan's parents have passed away, and her brothers have long since started their own families.

The bitterness she suffered from stirring up trouble between her mother-in-law and daughter-in-law back home was now showing, and even though several families took turns eating, she was still extremely disliked.

Zheng Lanlan was pampered since childhood. She had her own room at home and didn't have to do any chores. Even after moving to Li Xiaoyuan's parents' home, she still didn't do any work.

This angered Li Xiaoyuan's sisters-in-law and brothers-in-law, who then worked together to drive the mother and daughter back.

When Zheng Daxiong saw the mother and daughter, he wasn't surprised by their situation at all: "Lanlan will be going to work as soon as she gets back. Are you prepared for that?"

Li Xiaoyuan: "I'll take Lanlan to work tomorrow."

Zheng Lanlan looked betrayed and said, "Mom, what are you saying? If I go to work and ruin my face and hands, how will I ever marry Officer Gao?"

Zheng Daxiong said with a dark face, "If you want to stay at home, you have to go to work. Also, you are not allowed to go to see Cadre Gao. If I find out, I will kick you out of the house."

Li Xiaoyuan pulled Zheng Lanlan, who still wanted to be defiant, back: "Da Xiong, Lanlan and I will listen to you."

After staying at her parents' home for a few days, she realized that if they didn't follow Zheng Daxiong's arrangements, they would have nowhere to go.

Pulling Zheng Lanlan back into the house, Li Xiaoyuan comforted her as she was throwing a tantrum: "Lanlan, your dad is angry right now. Let's listen to him for now. You can go to work tomorrow. Just find a place to sit down when you get there. Mom will take care of the work."

Zheng Lanlan said aggrievedly, "But Dad won't let me go see Cadre Gao. Mom, I want to marry Cadre Gao."

Li Xiaoyuan: "Just do as we said before with Officer Gao. Find an opportunity to have physical intimacy with him. Even if he doesn't want to marry you, he'll have to marry you once this comes to light."

"After you get married, you can say a few sweet words. Couples quarrel in bed and make up before they get out of bed. Everything will be fine soon."

Hearing that she wouldn't have to work and that Gao Shujing would still be hers, Zheng Lanlan stopped making a fuss.

Even when her sisters-in-law stopped indulging her, she endured it, thinking that everything would be alright as long as she married Gao Shujing.

On the ninth day of the Lunar New Year, Zheng Lanlan was woken up early by Li Xiaoyuan. Feeling angry, she went to work after being comforted by Li Xiaoyuan.

As long as Captain Huang is under his watchful eye, even if her work is just for show, he will only have the squad leader supervise her so that no one can go and cause trouble for Gao Shujing.

After work in the afternoon, Huang Guihua came over again to talk about Zheng Lanlan: "Rujia, she's back. Your clerk Gao needs to be careful. Old Zheng's wife isn't someone who gives up easily. Don't let her take advantage of you."

Yu Rujia: "I understand. When Shujing comes back later, I'll tell him thank you, Sister Guihua."

“These past few days, Guojing has been taking the kids up the mountain a lot and they’ve picked a lot of mushrooms. We couldn’t finish them all, so we made mushroom sauce. It tastes pretty good. Take a bottle back and try it.”

Huang Guihua: "You city people really know how to eat. I'll take advantage of you today and be a city person for once." Mushrooms are very common in the countryside, so she didn't refuse.

Yu Rujia: "I've been living in Shangfen Brigade for more than half a year now, and I will continue to live in Shangfen Brigade. I am a member of our brigade and have nothing to do with city people."

Huang Guihua: "Look at my mouth, I just don't know how to speak. Yes, our Rujia girl will be one of our Shangfen Brigade members from now on."

After seeing them off, Yu Rujia thought about the things in her space and felt it was time to take some out for the Xia family to use.

At the very least, the techniques we taught in the world of Ace can be given to them to practice.

When we first arrived here, the Xia family was in dire straits, and it was not a good time to make any changes, lest someone discover something amiss.

Arriving at the Shangfen Brigade, she needed time to adapt to the new environment, so she didn't take it out.

They've been at the Shangfen Brigade for over half a year now, and they've adapted to their new environment. They can now take out the two martial arts manuals and give them to the Xia family.

After dinner, Gao Guojing was asked to take the children over to clean up. Yu Rujia told Gao Shujing that Zheng Lanlan had returned to Shangfen Brigade.

Gao Shujing's eyebrows twitched: "I'll be traveling for the next six months and won't have much time to keep an eye on things at home. Guojing is leaving in a few days, and there will be no one to look after Duofu and the others."

“They are still young and don’t have the ability to distinguish right from wrong. If Zheng Lanlan’s family sets their sights on Duofu and the others, we will be unable to defend against it.”

"You can't guard against thieves forever. Since she's trying to take advantage of a loophole, I'll give her one. It would be best to get rid of her before Guojing leaves."