He held onto the bride price money tightly, occasionally going to the city to buy a bottle of wine and visit brothels. Over the years, he had spent almost all of it.

Niu Fuchun looked at his third daughter chopping firewood at the door and felt a surge of anger. His eldest and second daughters were quite beautiful, like Lan Shi when she was young, which is why they married at the age of fourteen.

But his third daughter, Niu Yindi, resembled him more. Not only was she dark-skinned, but her face was also square and round, like a millstone, or like the only old ox in the village.

So much so that when he was fifteen and still hadn't found a husband, he lowered the bride price to two taels of silver.

Nobody wants to be with them.

Thinking of this, Niu Fuchun became angry.

While his youngest daughter went to fetch water, he kicked his third daughter in the waist.

"Your sister went to fetch water, and you didn't even help? You're such a waste of your eyes! You're ugly, and you're lazy too. I'm so unlucky to have raised such a good-for-nothing. Go, hurry up and fetch water for your sister. You're just standing there like an idiot."

Niu Yindi was clearly chopping wood, but he pretended not to see it.

Niu Yindi was in so much pain from being kicked that she could barely get up, but she dared not cry.

Because if she cried, her father would beat her even harder.

"Yes, I know, Father." She gasped in pain, her voice trembling, and the axe in her hand almost chopped at her foot.

"Fuchun, I'm hungry. Do you have any eggs at home? Fry one for me with lard later." After a while, Wang Shufang called out from inside the house. She had already washed her face and bottom with Niu Zhaodi's help, and her stomach was growling with hunger.

Although Niu Fukang did not mistreat her.

The food wasn't much better; basically, whatever they ate, they would give Wang Shufang.

It's been over a month, and I haven't even had a bite of fried dough.

Wang Shufang got dressed and came out.

"Eggs? Our family's eggs are all managed by our eldest sister-in-law. She fills a basket and then takes it to town to sell. Here, I'll have Zhao Di go and ask for some. We happen to have some lard left at home, so you can have it all."

Niu Fuchun spoke softly to Wang Shufang, unlike how fiercely he had scolded his daughter just now.

"Zhaodi, go to your aunt's house and ask for an egg. Just say I want to eat it."

"I understand, Father," Niu Zhaodi said softly.

She put down the basin in her hand and walked towards her uncle's house. The basin still contained the dirty water that Wang Shufang had used to wash her bottom.

It was a mix of yellow and white, with a layer of something floating on top, making it hard to see clearly.

Because she was nearby, Niu Zhaodi returned quickly, holding the eggs in both hands as if afraid of breaking them.

"Lan, fry these eggs in lard, and remember to add plenty of lard." Niu Fuchun changed his address for her from "child's mother" to "Lan."

"Oh, I understand." Lan Shi didn't react much.

She nodded with her head down, then came out of the kitchen, took the eggs from her daughter, and went back into the kitchen.

Fifteen minutes later, Niu Fuchun and Wang Shufang sat at the dining table in the main room.

Two dishes were laid out on the table: mushroom soup and stir-fried loofah with green beans.

Farmers don't use oil when cooking; they just use an oiled cloth to wipe the pan, so there are only a few drops of oil floating on the loofah, which are almost invisible unless you look closely.

Today we ate wild vegetable and brown rice porridge again, but it was a little thicker than yesterday.

Wang Shufang added a poached egg to her bowl.

They were fried until golden brown, and looked very tempting.

Niu Fuchun also wanted to eat some, but he knew his sister-in-law's personality. He would be lucky to get even one; if he was greedy, he might not get any at all.

Never mind, I'll just consider it as a way to appease Wang Shufang.

Niu Fuchun swallowed hard, looked away, and started slurping the porridge in his bowl.

Having worked so hard for so long, the two of them were starving. In no time, they finished all the food on the table, leaving nothing for the mother and her two daughters.

"belch--"

"Just make yourself something to eat tonight. We've finished our meal, so please clear the dishes away." Niu Fuchun said, burping contentedly and sighing comfortably. Life couldn't be better than this: being waited on, sleeping soundly, and having a full stomach.

He held Wang Shufang in his arms, fantasizing about the future, his hand gesturing on her stomach as if his son was already inside.

"What are you doing? It's only been a day, where are you going to find a son for you?" Wang Shufang slapped his hand away and said coquettishly.

It must be said that people and flowers are alike.

They all need nourishment; the more nutrients they are given, the more vibrant they will bloom. Wang Shufang, whose complexion was originally ashen, looked much younger in just one day and one night.

"Come on, let's take a stroll by the river before it gets dark. We've eaten too much and are too full to move around properly. We shouldn't let it interfere with our business tonight." Niu Fuchun pulled Wang Shufang away.

"Mom, I'm hungry."

Seeing her father leave, Niu Zhaodi tugged at Lan's sleeve and said pitifully.

"There are still some wild vegetables left in the kitchen. Let me cook you some wild vegetable soup." Madam Lan piled the bowls, chopsticks and plates on the table into a basin, intending to wash them, but when she heard her youngest daughter say she was hungry, she prepared to cook soup first.

"Mother, can you add some salt? The wild vegetable soup at noon had no flavor at all." When Niu Zhaodi heard that she would be drinking wild vegetable soup again in the evening, her beautiful face wrinkled like that of an old woman.

“There’s not much salt left at home. We’ll have to wait until after the autumn harvest to go to town next time. Zhaodi, you should learn from your third sister and be more sensible, okay? Don’t make things difficult for your mother.” Madam Lan looked at her beautiful youngest daughter, who was already 13 years old and whose looks had long surpassed those of her two married daughters.

Standing next to Yindi, they were like heaven and earth. The child's father had mentioned before that when Zhaodi turned fourteen, he would marry her off to exchange for a dowry, and he had to ask for a high one to make up for Yindi's share.

Therefore, Lan always spoke very gently to her youngest daughter, Zhao Di, who was the only one among the three women who could get enough to eat.

"Alright, I'll just add some salt to your bowl, Yindi. Let's bear with it. Your sister is spoiled; don't be like her." Seeing that Zhaodi was pouting and not saying anything, Madam Lan had no choice but to coax her, saying that she would put salt in her bowl separately.

Zhao Di then smiled.

What Kelan didn't see was that Yindi's eyes had lost their light.

"Okay, Mother," she replied, squatting down to wash the dishes.

The moon climbed above the treetops, and the mountains fell into a deathly silence.

Only Niu Fuchun's house.

The creaking of the bed continued until midnight.

The two slept in each other's arms in the middle of the night, as the nights in the mountains were a bit cool, not as hot as during the day.

At the same time, everyone in Shuangqiao Town was asleep, and the streets did not become lively again until dawn.

After breakfast, the servants of the Yan family were all busy with their respective tasks. Today was Xiao Su's day off, and she left the Yan family early in the morning with a bamboo basket, heading straight for the street.

Two months after entering the manor, Xiao Su had already saved two taels of silver.

Since receiving Yan Xia's birthday gift yesterday, Xiao Su has been thinking about how to reciprocate, and luckily she has the day off today.

Let's go for a stroll in the streets.

If she came across delicious food, beautifully embroidered handkerchiefs, or novel trinkets, she would buy them and give them to her master.