Huang Xiaosi left and went to the kitchen.

"Sister-in-law, is the porridge ready? Fatty has been starving for ages."

"Alright," Wang said deftly, ladling out a bowl. "Take it over here."

"It's still hot, no rush." ​​Huang Xiaosi lingered, reluctant to leave, looking like he wanted to say something but couldn't.

Seeing this, Wang asked in confusion, "Little Fourth, what are you trying to say?"

"Sister-in-law," Huang Xiaosi lowered her head, "do you think it's possible, is it possible to let Fatty stay in our house?"

Huang Xiaosi wasn't completely clueless. He knew that adding another person to the family would add to their burden. They had never had enough to eat before, and with Fatty's arrival, they would have even less to eat.

Upon hearing this, Madam Wang paused, then lowered her head and remained silent.

Rationally, she felt that she couldn't leave another person behind, but emotionally, she pitied the fat man's plight and couldn't bear to see a child starve to death.

But the Huang family is so poor that they can't even feed themselves, let alone support an outsider.

She couldn't bring herself to say anything cruel, so she simply kept her head down and remained silent.

"Sister-in-law, can't we really leave Fatty in our house?" Huang Xiaosi said anxiously, expressing her concern. "If this continues, Fatty will really die."

"Little Fourth," Wang said sadly, "our family is not well-off either. With more people competing for food, the whole family goes hungry."

“Sister-in-law,” Huang Xiaosi asked tentatively, “how about I share half of my portion with Fatty? You won’t have to reduce your rations.”

“No,” Wang said gently, “you’ll ruin your health if you do that.”

"What should we do?" Huang Xiaosi was about to cry. "I don't want Fatty to die. He's my sworn brother. We agreed to die on the same day of the same year."

Seeing this, Ms. Wang was at a loss and didn't know what to do.

“Little Four,” Old Huang walked over and gave his wife a reassuring look, “It’s not impossible to discuss letting Fatty stay.”

"Big brother," Huang Xiaosi excitedly grabbed Huang Laoda's arm, "do you have any good ideas?"

"It's simple, just ask Mom." The eldest brother patted his younger brother on the shoulder. "If Mom agrees, no one in the family will object."

“I know,” Huang Xiaosi pouted. “I’m just not sure what to do. I’m afraid my mother won’t agree, so I wanted to see what my sister-in-law thinks.”

At this point, Huang Xiaosi lowered his head in frustration. "My mother is extremely frugal. She'd rather split a single coin in half than spend it. It's already a lot of work for her to spend twenty coins to save Xiaopang. If I were to ask her to support another person, I would definitely get a beating."

"So what if I get beaten up? I'm used to it anyway. But I'm worried that Fatty won't be able to stay. He might die out there after a while. He didn't even have a son, so he won't be able to be buried in the ancestral grave. It would be so pitiful for him to become a wandering ghost."

Upon hearing this, Boss Huang paused for a moment before speaking, "You're really thinking far ahead."

A boy in his early teens is already thinking about having children!

"Little Fourth," Wang Shi said after hesitating, "Mother is different now."

"Different?" Old Huang asked, puzzled. "How are they different?"

“She’s different from before,” Wang explained. “Mother is especially soft-hearted now.”

There was something else she didn't say: she was not only very soft-hearted, but also very peaceful.

Although it had only been two days, the two sisters-in-law noticed something was amiss. However, since Jiang Nuan now seemed to fit the rumors better, they didn't think much of it.

“Mother has always had a soft heart, she’s a very good person,” Huang Laoda said. “Mother used to have a very good temper, but she became shrewish after Father passed away. Without a man in the family, if she weren’t shrewish, our family would be bullied.”

"The same as the last two days?" Wang asked, almost as if possessed.

“Yes,” Old Huang nodded with a smile, “If you go out and ask around, you’ll know that when your mother was a daughter, young men from all around would practically wear out the threshold of your maternal grandparents’ house.”

"Will Mother really agree?" Huang Xiaosi asked excitedly. "Big brother, I'm taking your words seriously."

“Who has time to lie to you? Haven’t you figured it out after all these years? When it comes to matters of life and death, your mother is never stingy. If you don’t believe me, go ask her tomorrow.”

“Okay,” Huang Xiaosi said happily, picking up the bowl. “I’ll tell Mom tomorrow morning that Fatty is waiting to eat. I’m leaving now.”

"Put the bowl down and come to the hall for dinner," Madam Wang instructed.

Hearing Huang Xiaosi's words, she breathed a sigh of relief.

At least I don't have to worry about it anymore.

Their family is indeed poor, but they are able-bodied and can earn more money by working harder.

She would never have peace of mind for the rest of her life if she let such a young child starve to death.

At dinner, Jiang Nuan was missing, and even though they ate chicken and fish, the Huang family didn't enjoy it much.

After taking a few bites, Huang put down his bowl. "Mom's cooking is really good. This is the best meat dish I've ever eaten. Even the dishes served at the village banquets aren't as good as what Mom makes. But when I think about how Mom worked herself to exhaustion while cooking, I can't eat anymore."

"Mom cooked?" Huang Xiaosi looked up in surprise. "Mom even taught me to read this afternoon."

"What?" Huang Lao Da and Huang Lao Er exclaimed in unison.

"Little Fourth, shall I teach you to read?" As he said this, Old Huang's breathing became rapid.

“Yes,” Huang Xiaosi nodded, “Not only me, but Xiaowu, Da Niu, Er Niu and the others also started learning together.”

"I'm so jealous," Huang Lao Er said, looking at his younger brother with envy. "Xiao Si, you're so lucky. You're the only one among the brothers who has this kind of good fortune."

They had already bought the writing brush, ink, paper, and inkstone, but then Mother fell seriously ill, and the matter was dropped.

"Husband, I'm exhausted. Is it because I was too tired teaching you to read this afternoon?" Madam Xie asked, somewhat displeased.

Although she knew how important studying was, she still felt very sorry for Jiang Nuan when she saw her collapse from exhaustion.

“I shouldn’t have let Mother cook,” Wang said, bowing her head in apology. “It’s all my fault. If I had stopped Mother, she wouldn’t have collapsed from exhaustion.”

“It’s all in the past, sister-in-law, don’t say anymore,” Xie said, pursing her lips. “I was also wrong. If I had known it would turn out like this, I would have made a scene and dragged Mother out of the kitchen.”

"I was wrong too," Huang Xiaosi said with a guilty look. "It was tiring enough for Mother to teach us to read. After I finished learning, I ran out to play without thinking about Mother at all..."

“I was wrong too,” Huang said sullenly. “I used to pester my mother to cook for me because I was curious. She must have been thinking about me to keep doing it.”

“Me too,” Huang Lao Er chimed in, “If I came back earlier, I could help with the cooking, so Mom wouldn’t have to work so hard.”

"Xiao Wu was wrong too..."

So, a dinner with good rice and meat turned into a meeting to admit mistakes.

Jiang Nuan woke up in the middle of the night and saw that it was pitch black outside. She went to her spatial dimension to practice her cultivation technique.

When the week ended, Jiang Nuan emerged from the space, looking refreshed; it was already broad daylight.

After getting dressed, I prepared to go to the yard to wash up.

I opened the door and was instantly startled.

Counting the people outside the door, one, two, three, four, there were eight.

Goodness, everyone in the family who's sensible has come over.

"Boss, what are you doing?" Jiang Nuan was completely confused.

They all came to block the door early in the morning; I wonder what kind of show they're putting on now.

“Mother,” Huang Laoda said, bowing his head, “we’ve come to admit our mistake.”