Li Meihua was overjoyed. Her daughter was even more promising than she had imagined. She just didn't know how salty the filling would be.

Thinking of this, she couldn't help but pick up a little bit of food with her chopsticks, put it in her mouth and taste it. The saltiness was just right, which really surprised her.

I blanched the cabbage in boiling water, and it tasted much better.

"Nizi, your filling is much better than what your sister-in-law and I made. I can't quite put my finger on it, but it just tastes especially delicious."

Qiao Xiaoni: "Mom, our food tastes a bit bland because we don't have MSG."

"What is MSG?" Tao Chunfang asked, looking puzzled.

"It's a seasoning for flavoring, just like how we feel the freshness when we eat dried shrimp."

"Oh, this is the first time I've ever heard of MSG. Our village is too far from the town. It's been a year since I last went there! You have no idea how much determination it took for me to send you to school in town. Thankfully, you don't have to go to school in town anymore. I can finally relax."

Qiao Xiaoni added a piece of firewood to the stove: "Let's not talk about this anymore, let's hurry up and make the vegetable pancakes!"

Li Meihua nodded and washed her hands in the basin. In just a short while, she knew that her daughter was very clean and had washed her hands twice.

After adding firewood, Qiao Xiaoni washed her hands again, then came back and started working on the cornmeal in the basin.

With a flick of her little hand, a dough pancake appeared. She then placed the filling inside, and with a quick clasp of her hands, a vegetable pancake was ready.

Li Meihua watched her daughter do it and copied her; her years of cooking experience allowed her to learn quickly.

The two of them worked quickly and soon a pot of vegetable pancakes was ready. They put the lid on, and the fire in the stove was very strong, so the pot boiled very quickly.

"Mom, steaming it over high heat for about 20 minutes is enough. I'm going out for some fresh air; it's too hot in here."

"Go ahead! It'll be cooler outside."

"Um."

When Qiao Xiaoni returned to the courtyard, she saw her brother and sister-in-law coming back from outside. Qiao Manli ran to her in one breath.

"Auntie, are the apples still there? And Mom said you left me some eggs."

"Yes, everyone's here. Grandma will heat up the eggs a little later before you eat them. Apples are for dessert, so eat them after you finish your meal."

"Mmm," Qiao Manli happily agreed.

Tao Chunfang heard her husband tell Lu Ting what her sister-in-law had said to him, and her gratitude was even greater than before. She suddenly felt warm, and many of her sister-in-law's past faults disappeared at this moment.

Perhaps it was truly empathy that won over my sister-in-law...

Qiao Xiaoni was unaware of everything Tao Chunfang had been thinking. She had suddenly discovered that she could control the power within her body; if she didn't want to know what the other person was thinking, she wouldn't receive their thoughts.

This was a huge surprise for her. When she was a host, she always wore various gloves, partly for decoration, and partly to avoid knowing what others were thinking.

As the old saying goes, sometimes it's better to play dumb than to know the truth. Sometimes being a little oblivious can help you make friends, while knowing what others are thinking can be painful. Having experienced so much, Qiao Xiaoni understands this all too well.

Qiao Haisheng walked over and asked, "Why are you two back? Who's watching the land?"

Qiao Dashan laughed: "Uncle Liu happened to be looking after the land too, so I asked him to help out. I'm too hungry, I'll go back and keep an eye on it after I finish eating."

"Just hang in there a few more days, and once the corn is ripe, we won't have to watch over it anymore."