A bunch of wildflowers was placed in a hollow in the wall. Instantly, the entire cave came alive.

Looking at the furnished room, Ms. Huang was satisfied and quickly shared her new home with her husband.

Grandpa Zhao is also a person who enjoys life.

He expressed satisfaction with the only two pieces of furniture in the stone house, and then began to give his opinions on the state of the country.

Tables, chairs, wardrobes, shelves, etc. are needed.

Of course, this was compiled from the old man's requests.

While Zhao Qingyan was drawing, the men of the Zhao family were busy with the work.

After the furniture in the old couple's room was set up and the mud bricks were dried, Zhao Qingyan gave her father a private lesson.

Zhao Minggeng then began tinkering in his stone house.

It took me three days to finally figure out how to make the earthen bed.

To improve practicality, a two-meter-long earthen kang (heated platform bed) was built along the width of the stone house, and a chimney was also built along the stone wall.

Another chimney was erected at the entrance, and a hole was made in the doorway. Zhao Qingyan generously sponsored a sheet metal chimney.

Bamboo mats were laid on the kang (heated brick bed) and the flue.

After this tidying up, the entire stone house looks both clean and practical.

Especially on the day they tried out the heated kang, the kang started to get warm after only fifteen minutes of burning fire, and the Zhao family was overjoyed.

While the Zhao family was busy building their second home in the valley, things were not so peaceful in Zhao Village outside the valley.

The reason was simple: many villages were looted by refugees, making their already difficult lives even worse.

The drought has eased, and the refugees have been resettled.

Those who had fled to the mountains or hidden elsewhere gradually returned home.

Going home doesn't mean things will get better.

Aside from having a roof over their heads, they still lacked food and drink.

Some people's houses were even burned down by the refugees.

So they all started to have designs on their relatives.

In particular, I heard that Zhao Family Village was the only village that was not looted by the refugees.

Families related to Zhao Village, after some thought, brought their families to Zhao Village seeking help, in other words, to freeload.

They usually get along well, and they have some food stored at home.

People come to us begging for food, and if you speak nicely, you can usually get some grain with you.

They're not exactly a classy family, they're just really shameless.

Eight members of the family—more than 20 people in total—visited Liu Xiaomai's maternal family, the great-granddaughter-in-law of the third uncle's family.

Liu Xiaomai's father, Liu Qiquan, mother, Liu Zhangshi, elder brother, Liu Jindao, sister-in-law, Liu Wangshi, and four nephews, all had long snot running down their noses.

As soon as Liu Zhangshi entered the door of her third uncle's house, she started wailing.

"Xiaomai, you heartless bastard! Your parents are starving, they haven't eaten for three days, and you don't even go to check on them."

"Damn it, my own mother's here and I'm not even coming out to greet her!"

The aura it exuded was like that of an empress dowager arriving.

When asked why Liu Zhangshi was so confident, it was because Liu Xiaomai was currently pregnant, and it was estimated that she was about six months along.

Liu Xiaomai, who was making clothes for her child in the house, heard her mother's wailing and her heart skipped a beat. "Oh no."

She carefully emerged from the room, supporting her lower back.

"Father, Mother, Eldest Brother and Sister-in-law, what brings you here?" Her voice trembled as she spoke.

"You little hussy, isn't it because you have no conscience? Your family is starving, and you didn't even send them some food."

What's the use of raising you? You're just a money-losing burden. If I had known you were this useless...

"We should have married you off to that cripple at the village entrance back then; at least we could have gotten 20 taels of silver as a bride price."

While speaking, he pinched Liu Xiaomai's arm.

Liu Xiaomai was in so much pain that she was twitching.

"Mom, it hurts, it hurts, it hurts. Please be gentle."

Liu Zhangshi wanted to slap her daughter again. Liu Xiaomai's grandmother, seeing her granddaughter-in-law being treated unfairly, felt it was a slap in the face to their family.

They quickly came out to greet them.

"Oh, who am I talking about? It's our in-laws! What whirlwind blew you here?"

"Xiaomai is a daughter-in-law who married into my Zhao family. How can her mother-in-law be so hostile towards us? Giving us a hard time right from the start?"

Knowing that she needed someone's help today, Liu Zhangshi immediately put on a fawning face.

“Look at what my mother-in-law is saying. It’s been a long time since we’ve seen my Xiaomai. Her father, her brothers, and I all miss her, so we came to see her.”

Liu Xiaomai's nanny was the eldest daughter-in-law of her third uncle's family. She was a master at managing the household and was known far and wide for her shrewdness and shrewishness.

She has this nickname for two reasons: first, her real name is Zhou Guihua (meaning "Osmanthus Flower"), and second, she has a bold and straightforward personality.

Over time, no one remembered her real name.

Spicy Flower forced a smile, a smile that didn't reach her eyes.

"Oh, it must have been hard for you, my dear in-laws, to bring a group of children and walk for two hours to see my Xiaomai."

The basket your in-laws are carrying is quite big. How much good food and drink did they bring for my wheat?

"Look, our in-laws have gone to so much trouble. Qiutong, Xiazhi, quickly take the things our in-laws brought to the main room."

Qiu Tong and Xia Zhi were quick-witted as well. Both of them were seventeen or eighteen-year-old young men. Before Liu Xiaomai's father and older brother could react, they immediately took off the baskets.

As soon as I held it in my hand, I knew it was empty. I even peeked inside and exclaimed loudly,

"Grandma, our in-laws' baskets are empty, they didn't bring anything. How can you say they brought something for your sister-in-law?"

One sentence made Liu Xiaomai and her family members feel ashamed.

Liu Zhangshi didn't care about saving face. What was face anyway? Could it feed or nourish?

He gave an awkward laugh.

“Auntie, look what a disaster this is! My house has been robbed by those refugees again. Where will we find food and drink?”

"I heard your Zhao Family Village wasn't robbed, so I shamelessly came to your door asking for some help from our in-laws. Our family hasn't eaten for three days."

With a smile, La Zihua said, "My dear in-law, please don't complain about being poor to this old woman. Don't make a joke."

Look at your family, so full of energy! You're really going to make it, that's a two-hour journey.

"My old woman doesn't have that kind of stamina."

Spicy Flower mocked, but wouldn't let the Liu family into the house.

It wasn't for any other reason than that the Liu family members started wailing before even entering the house, which really annoyed her.

"Hehe, hehe, look at what my aunt-in-law is saying. If it weren't for a last resort, I would never have been willing to take my grandsons on such a long journey."

I don't ask for anything else, I just hope my in-laws will take pity on my grandsons and give them a full meal.

The children haven't eaten for days.

He was about to kneel down when he said that.

Although La Zi Hua is a feisty person, she doesn't take advantage of every situation.

She knew very well that if she accepted his kneeling, the family's food would be ruined that day.

She immediately moved aside and said, "Xiaomai, look, why don't you let your family into the main room?"

Liu Xiaomai, who had been standing there in a daze and almost buried her head in her pants in embarrassment, finally came to her senses.

"Father, Mother, Eldest Brother and Sister-in-law, please come inside."