Qin Chunhong's second daughter-in-law is named Zhu Zhaodi. She has been married for three years and gave birth to a daughter as her first child. She doesn't dare to speak loudly at home.

This time, she finally gave birth to a big, healthy boy, and felt that she had gained a foothold in the Zhou family, even speaking with more confidence.

They even dared to make demands.

The old hen that had been stewing for several hours was the one her mother-in-law had stewed for her, using various hints and suggestions, under the pretext that she didn't have enough milk.

Unexpectedly, as soon as the stew was finished, Zhou Weijie tore off a large chicken leg.

Is that a big chicken leg?

No, that's not it.

That was Zhu Zhaodi's status in the Zhou family.

So even though her in-laws told her to put up with Zhou Weijie, she still couldn't.

Qin Chunhong understood perfectly what her second son's wife was saying.

She rolled her eyes and snapped at him irritably:

"You're so easily swayed. You've put up with this for so many years, what are you afraid of now?"

After ladling a bowl of chicken soup, Qin Chunhong placed another chicken leg into the bowl, carried it to Zhu Zhaodi's side, and said in a low voice:

“The third son isn’t ours. We’ve tolerated him all these years. We’ve let him stay home and not work in the fields, but we still have to support him for the sake of our reputation.”

Once he gets married, we'll have a reason to separate him from our family. Then he'll have nothing to do with us anymore, and naturally he won't be able to take your son's food.

For so many years, our family has endured this for the sake of our good reputation. There's no reason for us to make a fuss with him over such a trivial matter now that things are about to get out of hand.

You're in your postpartum period, so stop thinking about those unnecessary things, lest you run out of breast milk and my grandson goes hungry!

After being reprimanded by her mother-in-law, Zhu Zhaodi quieted down, lowered her head, and obediently drank the chicken soup...

Seeing that her second son's wife understood what she said, Qin Chunhong closed the door and then picked up the lock to lock the kitchen door.

Although I don't want to fall out with Zhou Weijie, I also can't let him keep stealing good things from home to feed outsiders.

This morning, I was caught off guard and lost a big chicken leg.

Thinking of that big chicken leg, Qin Chunhong's eyes almost reddened with heartache: she hadn't eaten a chicken leg in many years.

It's such a waste that it's given to other women like this!

Qin Chunhong didn't have a good impression of Zhou Weijie's girlfriend: "She's just started dating someone and she's already trying to get him to eat. What kind of person is she?"

Hmph, she's enjoying her life now, but I'm afraid she'll suffer once she marries Zhou Weijie...

******

For several days in a row, Ruan Miaomiao would work for two or three hours, earn three work points, and then go home.

Back home, I busied myself with tasks in the space.

The tomatoes and cucumbers that had been planted earlier were ripe. Ruan Miaomiao picked the tomatoes and pulled out the tomato stems to dry in the yard, intending to use them as firewood.

She planted the corn that she had secretly hidden while working on the empty plot of land.

The corn on one corncob is enough to fill the planting space.

At that time, the corn planted by Jianshan Brigade was still the old variety, unlike the fruit corn developed in later generations, which always had a raw taste no matter how it was cooked.

She loves the sweet and sticky texture of the old-fashioned corn variety, which is also very filling.

After planting the corn, Ruan Miaomiao began using the thin, dry firewood she had collected that day to build trellises for the cucumbers planted nearby, guiding the cucumber vines to climb up.

It has limited planting space, but a short maturation period and high yield.

In just half a month, Ruan Miaomiao harvested ten kilograms of tomatoes and about ten cucumbers.

Thinking that the food sent to the cowshed last time might be gone, Ruan Miaomiao decided to cook more delicious food for her parents while everyone in the village was working in the fields and granaries.

Wash and slice fresh tomatoes, sprinkle with white sugar, and a simple cold tomato salad is ready.

There were still some pheasants and rabbits that Zhou Jingyun had sent earlier that hadn't been dealt with in the space, so Ruan Miaomiao patiently took care of them.

Chicken feathers and rabbit fur were all piled up to one side, along with the leftover bones from eating rabbits before. These could all be taken to a recycling station to be recycled for money.

These days, even chicken feathers, scraps of bone, and cow dung can be collected.

Everything about it is a treasure.

Ruan Miaomiao picked up some dried shiitake mushrooms she had brought from Haicheng, soaked them in water, and then stewed them with the prepared pheasant.

As for rabbit, it has a strong gamey smell, so it needs to be cooked with plenty of oil and salt to bring out its flavor. Therefore, it was made into spicy rabbit meat.

One pot was stewing, and the other was boiling; the kitchen was filled with a wonderful aroma that made Ruan Miaomiao swallow hard.

Suddenly, there was a knock on the door.

Ruan Miaomiao muttered to herself: Weren't they all supposed to be working at the granary? Why are there still people coming to exchange things?

Despite her thoughts, Ruan Miaomiao still closed the kitchen door.

He then brought all the tomato stalks that had been drying in the courtyard back into his storage space before opening the courtyard gate.

The courtyard gate opened, revealing an old, wrinkled face.

However, the faces were unfamiliar; they weren't the aunties and old women that Ruan Miaomiao often talked to.

The old woman standing outside the door, with her back hunched over and holding a child's hand, was called Old Lady Lü.

Upon seeing Ruan Miaomiao come out, he immediately smiled and spoke:

"Oh my, Ruan Zhiqing, your family has made something delicious again?"

"My grandson and I haven't had meat in ages, let's eat together!"

As she said this, Grandma Lü pulled her grandson forward, trying to squeeze past Ruan Miaomiao into the courtyard.

Seeing this, Ruan Miaomiao immediately realized: Oh, so they just wanted to freeload!

She gripped the courtyard gate tightly, standing firmly in place, the smile fading from her face, her expression turning cold:

"What's it to you if I eat something delicious?"

Upon seeing Ruan Miaomiao's attitude, Old Lady Lü's expression immediately changed. She glared at Ruan Miaomiao with venomous eyes and began to curse with her withered lips:

"What does this have to do with me?"

"If it weren't for the aroma of your cooked meat wafting out and whetting the appetites of my grandson and me, would we even be craving meat?"

As she spoke, Old Lady Lü gave Ruan Miaomiao a push and muttered unkindly:

"Get out of the way, bring me some meat."

Otherwise, what if my wife starves to death later? Will you take responsibility then?

? ? ?

Ruan Miaomiao was bewildered by Old Lady Lü's self-righteous and matter-of-fact attitude. After being pushed, she pushed back.

"I'll take responsibility if you starve to death?"

"Heh, even if you starve to death, I'll just give you two extra pounds of grain at the banquet!"

"You, you, you..."

Grandma Lü was so angry that her teeth chattered, not expecting Ruan Miaomiao to say such a thing.

After all, the thing people fear most when they get old is death.

This girl actually wants to eat at my banquet?

She clapped her hands, stomped her feet, and began to wail and curse:

"They're bullying the old woman! They're bullying the old woman! These educated youths from the city are bullying us old country folk!"

The granary was in the middle of the village, and the people working inside heard the commotion and ran over.

When Old Lady Lü saw someone approaching, her eyes gleamed with smugness, and she immediately lay down on the ground, rolling around and crying.

"Oh dear, this old woman's life is so hard. My husband died young, and now that I'm so old, I'm still being bullied by these educated youths from the city..."