Xiaoyue ignored Grandma Ge completely and turned around to close the door.

Yesterday, when Ge Erping returned, he told Grandma Ge about the incident where he encountered hooligans on the way. Grandma Ge wanted it kept quiet, fearing it would damage Ge Erping's reputation. As for Xiaoyue, Grandma Ge actually hoped she would die somewhere out there.

Grandma Ge cooked breakfast. After the eldest daughter-in-law left, a letter came from the second daughter-in-law's family, saying to Grandma Ge, "I'll also go home to visit and do my part for my sister-in-law. She'll have more options for choosing a partner, won't she?"

Upon hearing what her second daughter-in-law said, Grandma Ge immediately decided that her second son and his wife should also take their eldest grandson back to their maternal grandparents' house.

Grandma Ge got up in the morning to steam some egg custard for Ge Erping, but when she went to look for the eggs, she found they were all gone. Grandma Ge usually put the eggs in a basket, and she had even left one there yesterday at noon. She immediately realized that Xiaoyue had taken the eggs. In the past, when she banged on the door and Xiaoyue urinated on her, she could only stand in the middle of the yard and curse.

Xiaoyue was inside looking for silver, having moved all the firewood outside and even carefully spread out the ashes. Just then, Old Mrs. Ge arrived, carrying a fire poker, her white hair tied in a bun with a silver hairpin, her grey-black dress adorned with a black apron, one hand on her hip.

Seeing that Grandma Ge was in good spirits, Xiaoyue smiled and said, "I cooked it. There was no food when I got home yesterday, and I don't know how to cook anything else, so I could only eat boiled eggs." She said it as if it were the most natural thing in the world.

Frustrated, Old Mrs. Ge threw down the fire poker in her hand. She wanted to hit Xiaoyue, but Xiaoyue dared to deal with robbers. Thinking about it, Old Mrs. Ge felt a little scared. She only knew Xiaoyue as a reckless person before, but now it seems that she is a suicidal person.

She had thrown the fire stick far away and didn't bother to pick it up; she still had to cook and her child's father and daughter needed to eat.

Grandma Ge missed hitting Xiaoyue with her fire poker, and she couldn't retrieve the fire poker either.

Grandma Ge said to Xiaoyue, "Since you've already eaten the eggs, go and cut pig feed. Cut feed for your eldest brother's family, your second brother's family, and our family's. Don't come back today until you've finished." After giving her a stern instruction, Grandma Ge went to the kitchen.

Grandma Ge steamed two kinds of rice, as well as eggplant and potatoes.

Xiaoyue finally found the lost tael of silver in the new house. Calculating the time, it was about time for dinner. Since Grandma Ge had asked her to cut pig feed, she decided to go to her house for dinner.

So he ran to the Ge family's courtyard, went straight to the kitchen, scooped out some rice, took a bowl of eggplant and potatoes, filled a bowl with soybean paste from the soybean paste vat, picked some tender scallion leaves from the vegetable garden, and put a small table on the kang (heated brick bed).

She ate with Lu Xiaomei and Xiaodouding. When Grandma Ge saw Xiaoyue go to the kitchen, she started scolding her again. Xiaoyue ignored her. Seeing that Xiaoyue was ignoring her, Grandma Ge ate a couple of bites of rice and said to Grandpa Ge, "Xiaoyue ate all the eggs we've been saving up all summer."

Ge Erping then hurriedly added, "Xiaoyue was... you know... by those hooligans. Otherwise, how could she have escaped from being attacked by two hooligans?" Even now, thinking about it, his voice still trembles, and he gets goosebumps all over.

Grandma Ge slammed her hand on the table. "Don't mention what happened yesterday to anyone. Keep it to yourself. If I hear you bring it up again, I'll slap you across the face." Her triangular eyes, just like Erping's, were almost wide open.

Ge Erping responded with a hesitant "Mm".

After finishing the meal and cleaning up, Xiaoyue carried a basket on her back with a sickle inside. She made two rice bags and filled a gourd jar with water. The gourd jar was given to her by her sister-in-law. Xiaoyue lived in Juli City, which is located in the north. Gourds are very common there, and people usually split a gourd in half to make a water ladle.

Holding a sickle, Xiaoyue decided to try her luck on the mountain. Around noon, she decided to eat her food at the top of the mountain before coming down.

Xiaoyue chose another route down the mountain. When she reached the halfway point, she saw a monkey head mushroom the size of a fist on a tree. It had pure white tendrils, but it was too high for Xiaoyue to reach.

Xiaoyue unfastened the basket on her back and stepped onto it, but it was still a bit too short. Xiaoyue saw a fallen tree trunk, jumped off the basket, and tried to use the broken branch to support the tree that grows monkey head mushrooms.

Xiaoyue couldn't move it, so she placed the basket on the broken tree and stuffed stones under it to make the surface flat before stepping on it, taking out her sickle, finding the right angle, and gently applying force to finally pick the monkey head mushroom.

Xiaoyue wrapped the monkey head mushrooms in large leaves, picked up her basket, and followed the road to the foot of the hill. There were several *Heliotropium indicum* plants at the foot of the hill. The black *Heliotropium indicum* plants grew in clusters of five or six. Xiaoyue cut two plants and held them in her hand.

Then Xiaoyue went to the willow grove and started cutting willow branches about the thickness of her little finger. Unlike firewood, the willow branches were heavy when you hugged them. Xiaoyue tied them with rope, took Tiantian Yang, and carried them to the house that was still under construction.

After putting down the willow branch, Xiaoyue placed the monkey head mushroom on the stool and put the Tiantian seedling in the room.

She went up the mountain again, this time to cut pig feed. She filled a whole basket and quickly delivered it to Lao Ge's house, scattering the pig feed into the pigpen.

Xiaoyue went into the west wing to check on Lu Xiaomei. Seeing that he had stopped coughing, she asked the little boy if he wanted to play with her.

Little Douding put on her shoes and went downstairs, quickly taking Xiaoyue's hand.

Xiaoyue took Xiaodouding to her house and led him inside. As soon as Xiaodouding saw Tiantian inside, he clapped his hands and jumped up.

"Eat here every day, and then go home to find your mother."

The little boy nodded as he ate, completely ignoring Xiaoyue.

Xiaoyue cut two more baskets of pig feed and delivered them to her eldest sister-in-law's family and her second sister-in-law's family respectively.

He returned to Grandma Ge's house, found the axe, and then carried the basket to his new home.

My dear reader, there's more to this chapter! Please click the next page to continue reading—even more exciting content awaits!