Lu Amian stood in front of Adou, even more puzzled.

Just then, Meng Chijian returned home. A-Mian quickly stuffed the reins into his hand and whispered, "Just tell him that this donkey is yours now and you won't be returning it."

Meng Chijian nodded almost imperceptibly, then lowered his eyes.

He had picked her up before, and at that time she smelled of fresh grass and sunshine. But just now, as he got closer, he immediately smelled a floral fragrance on the little thing.

It's not the sticky, cloying scent of some foreign perfumes, but rather a light, refreshing fragrance.

Meng Chijian had previously thought he would never be able to smell anything again.

After all, if anyone is constantly surrounded by the smells of blood, the stench of corpses, and filth, their nose will gradually lose its original function.

Meng Chijian moved a little closer, calmly watching his little one arguing his case.

“This donkey already belongs to the Meng family. Look,” Lu Amian pointed to the people behind her, using her position to intimidate them, “my father can’t take it back.”

Lu Weiwei was stunned for a moment, then slapped her thigh and laughed, "What would I need your donkey for? Your father was worried about you marrying into the Meng family, so he asked me to take a detour to check on you." She became happier as she spoke, seeing was believing, and now she was completely relieved.

She didn't even drink water before leaving in a hurry, her departing figure radiating joy.

Lu Amian was completely confused. "That's weird."

Meng Jing was too lazy to think about it anymore and excitedly came to talk to A Mian, "It smells so good! What did you pick?"

She then rummaged through A-Dou's basket, saying, "Sister A-Mian, you're so silly! Why did you pick up so many stones?"

"It's... fun. You can't see it now, but when it's light tomorrow, you can pick it up and look at it in the sun. It looks really nice, and there are colors inside..." Lu Amian spoke softer and softer, secretly glancing at Meng Chijian.

The latter acted as if he hadn't heard her, took off the basket she was carrying, and then took the basket off A-Dou and put it in the corner.

"I picked a lot of locust flowers; these are edible."

"Really? How do you eat this?" Meng Jing cupped her face in her hands. "Do you know how to make it?"

Lu Amian nodded, then slapped her forehead, "Right, let's hurry up and make dinner!"

Meng Jing said, "Hehe, I've already started cooking the rice."

Lu Amian quickly went into the kitchen as well. She knew her mother had made this dish many times and was very familiar with it.

First, pull out the branches and collect all the locust flowers by hand into a basin. Wash them carefully, removing any impurities. Then, blanch the flowers in boiling water until they turn green, then quickly remove them and rinse them several times with cold water.

Lu Amian squeezed out the water with her hands, and the locust flowers were now processed.

The food at the Meng family's house was good, and the kitchen was much more abundant than that at Lu Amian's house, plus the cabinets weren't locked.

Hanging from the beam were leftover preserved fish, sausages, and bacon from the New Year celebrations. There was still half a bowl of rice in the rice jar, and some dried and pickled vegetables in the cupboard. There were five or six eggs in a blue porcelain bowl.

The rarest thing was that one of the jars was half-filled with lard!

When Lu Amian was a child, she could eat meat every four or five days. But later, she could only taste meat occasionally during festivals. The oil at home was all vegetable oil, and it always tasted a bit bitter after eating too much of it.

The Meng family may look dilapidated from the outside, but they are so generous when it comes to food...

"Can I put this in?" Lu Amian asked.

Meng Jing was tending the fire, smiling broadly, "Of course! If my third brother doesn't eat meat for a day, he'll tear down the house. Look at the size of him."

Lu Amian scooped a spoonful of lard into the pot, then cracked two eggs. Meng Jing clapped her hands and told her to crack two more, "These were all bought by Third Brother from town. He goes to buy them every few days!"

"These are very expensive." At the town's market, eggs cost one penny each.

"There's nothing we can do. We're all bad at raising chickens; everything we try dies. Why waste money buying chicks? Besides, we're worried Mom might slip and fall if she steps on them..."

Lu Amian said "Oh," sprinkled some salt into the egg mixture, added locust flowers, stirred it well, and then poured it into the pan to stir-fry.

Because of Meng Jing's comment that "if you don't have enough to eat, you'll tear down the house," she chopped some cured meat and stir-fried it with the wild chives from the vegetable basket. These were the ones Meng Jing had picked earlier.

Although Lu Amian only cooked home-style dishes, everyone who was hungry took a deep breath of the aroma.

"Time to eat."

Meng Chijian had already set up a table and chairs in the courtyard and helped Meng's mother sit down.

"It smells so good..." Mother Meng smelled the faint fragrance of flowers. She drank her porridge and ate more than usual, along with some locust flower and scrambled eggs.

There was no rule in the village that men and women should not sit at the same table, so Lu Amian consciously went to serve herself some porridge.

Meng Chijian said, "Go get some rice. Mother only drinks porridge because her teeth aren't good."

Lu Amian said softly, "I...didn't do any work."

"Oh, it's alright," Meng Jing took her bowl. "That's always been the case in our family; having a full stomach is the most important thing!"

As he spoke, he filled her bowl with rice—this was something even the richest landlord in Lu Village probably wouldn't dare to eat every day.

Lu Amian wanted to say something, but when she saw the rice and smelled its aroma, she couldn't take her eyes off it and swallowed hard.

"Eat."

Lu Amian immediately started eating heartily. At first, she only ate the locust flower and scrambled eggs, but gradually she saw that no one hit her hand when she picked up the cured meat, so she felt at ease and ate very attentively.

Meng Chijian noticed a grain of white rice stuck to the corner of her mouth as she ate, and smiled inexplicably.

Lu Amian hadn't had many proper meals before, and now she felt warm all over, as if her stomach was a hundred times more comforted. She was so happy she was almost dizzy.

However--

The stomach, ravaged by hunger, had shrunk considerably and was sending out signals of resistance against its owner's will.

She had only eaten half a bowl when she couldn't eat anymore.

How could Lu Amian be willing to give up? She insisted on continuing to eat, but Meng Chijian, who had been suspicious that she still smelled of flowers, was very close to her. When he saw her start to swallow without even chewing, he immediately frowned.

"If you can't eat, then forget it."

Lu Amian stubbornly replied, "I can eat it."

Meng Chijian was too lazy to waste words with her. He grabbed her waist with one large hand to prevent her from escaping, and touched her stomach through her clothes with the other large hand.

Lu Amian was already stuffed; her belly had developed a slight curve, like a freshly baked steamed bun.

"..." Meng Chijian said with a stern face, "Do you think you're a goldfish? You don't even know you've eaten too much? You're not allowed to eat anymore."

Lu Amian nodded, looking very aggrieved.

Meng Jing chuckled, "Sister A-Mian, there will be more delicious food tomorrow, don't worry. Indigestion is not good."

Meng Chijian let Lu Amian go for a walk in the backyard. He took Lu Amian's bowl and ate the rest of the rice.

Meng Jing laughed again, and even her mother asked what was wrong.

Meng Jing only said that she had thought of something funny.