Chapter 140: Guaguaguagua.

Xiangjiawan has not organized any land reclamation operations involving all employees for several years.

During the slack season in recent years, most of the men in each family would go to repair the dikes for a few days, then repair the roads and ridges for a while, and cut a shortcut in the mountains, and that would be the end of it.

Therefore, this time, men, women, young and old all came out in droves and rushed to the wasteland allocated to the team by the brigade headquarters. The whole Xiangjiawan was bustling with people and chattering.

Xiang Yao was mixed in with them, and from time to time she could hear a little bit of gossip from others, which she enjoyed quite a bit.

Since ancient times, gossip about ordinary families has mostly been about the relationship between mother-in-law and daughter-in-law.

In the crowd, it is very common for mothers-in-law to say bad things about their daughters-in-law, and for daughters-in-law to say bad things about their mothers-in-law. The stories can be piled up to fill several baskets.

Xiang Yao was standing next to Yang Xiaohong at the moment. The relationship between Yang Xiaohong's mother-in-law and daughter-in-law was pretty good, but Xiang Yao didn't have a mother-in-law at all, so the two of them didn't participate in the topic. They just listened with their ears perked up, their eyes shining brightly.

"Humph, need I even mention my mother-in-law? Everyone in the team knows that she favors her youngest son over her eldest grandson. She only likes the children born to her youngest son."

A thirty-year-old woman pouted and talked about her parents-in-law with a lot of complaints.

"Tell me, when there's work to be done, it's always us, the elders, who do it all the time. And when there's food to eat, they keep it a secret from us and secretly give it to the younger family!"

She snorted coldly, "Just the day before yesterday, I caught a pheasant on the hill behind my house. I thought I could finally have some meat, but when it came time to eat, guess what happened?"

Xiang Yao blinked and commented enthusiastically: "What's going on?"

The eldest sister-in-law rolled her eyes and said unhappily, "The legs, wings, and fleshy parts are gone. It's just a skeleton and two skinny, inedible chicken feet lying in a huge pot of soup!"

"I couldn't help it, so I asked directly, 'Where did the meat go?'" she said. "But then my mother-in-law said I was so greedy for meat that my eyes fell to the ground, and she grabbed me and scolded me..."

"Amazing." Xiang Yao commented.

"That's right!" Yang Xiaohong nodded.

But Xiang Yao felt that since the sister-in-law had already told it as a funny thing, the outcome of this gossip should not be just a scolding.

As expected, the eldest sister-in-law immediately put on a smug smile and continued, "I used to listen to my husband and endure it, thinking that I would be able to endure it after these two old people passed away."

"But then I thought, why should I endure this? This couple can eat, drink, and curse. They don't look like they will be buried anytime soon. If they don't die, then won't I have to endure this forever, until I grow old?"

Although the words were not very pleasant, most of the people present had a good relationship with the eldest sister-in-law. Thinking from her perspective, they felt that it was indeed difficult and unfair, so they all nodded, indicating that this was the truth.

"I secretly saw it early in the morning. As soon as the old woman finished stewing the pheasant, she sneaked into her youngest son's room with a bowl in her hand. I'm not blind!"

"Besides, the fragrance is everywhere. I smelled it a long time ago!"

"So, I stood up in a flash, and before they could react, I walked over to the room of the eldest and youngest family, brought out a large bowl filled with chicken legs and chicken meat, and then walked back in a flash, slamming the bowl on the table. Hey, it scared them a lot!"

Xiang Yao listened to her vivid description of the expressions on everyone's faces at the table at that time, and felt that her sister-in-law's speech was so interesting, energetic, and very attractive.

She couldn't help but think that if this happened in the future, he would definitely be a talented person who could stand on a big stage and give a speech by pointing at a PPT.

The elder sister-in-law continued, "I was so angry at the time that I pointed at the old woman's nose and started scolding her. It would have been fine if she was biased, but she scolded me for asking a question. Wasn't she treating me like a devil? I thought I was doing a good job in this family, but it was the old and young family who were lazy and greedy, and they were living better. How could this be possible?"

"I can't figure it out. If I can't figure it out, I'm going to make a scene. If I don't make a scene, I'll be anxious and toss and turn at night and can't sleep."

"Anyway, after all that chatter, I felt relieved. I ignored everyone, sat down, and started eating the bowl of chicken."

After savoring the flavor of the chicken, the eldest sister-in-law said with a hint of unsatisfaction, "Hehe, you know what, my mother-in-law isn't that great, but she made this dish with great skill. I guess she used quite a bit of oil because it was for her youngest son and grandson."

"Those oily bits floating on the soup—I've eaten so many meals at my in-laws' house, and I've only seen that a few times. And now, I've eaten it all. Hehe, they're so pissed they're blue in the face, but no one dares to say anything."

"Who told me to bring this large bowl from the old room? They are all in the wrong!"

Everyone felt relieved after hearing this. Every family has its own problems. In some families, these problems are even divided into upper, middle and lower volumes. Who doesn't want to have the upper hand in such family disputes?

A woman about the same age as the eldest sister-in-law said, "So, when a new daughter-in-law first enters the family, she must not be suppressed by her in-laws. If she is suppressed, she will not be able to hold her head up for decades to come."

Some old-fashioned ideas are very common in the countryside these days. Not to mention the front and back, there are many customs of putting the new bride "on top" on the day she enters the house.

Seeing Xiang Yao listening attentively, the man smiled and said, "You're lucky. You don't have a mother-in-law at home. You've been the head of the family since you came into the family. I don't know how many people envy you!"

Xiang Yao smiled and said, "There's nothing to envy about this. Every family has its own problems."

Well, actually, she felt that after she got married, Nie Baichuan's family would be completely fine, but she couldn't say that out loud, as it would cause public outrage...

"That's right. Without a mother-in-law, you'll have to take care of the baby by yourself after you have one, which is also a hassle," the sister-in-law said. "You are young and have never had a baby before, so you may not know how to take care of the baby!"

Xiang Yao smiled and said nothing.

She was not worried about this problem. First of all, her mother lived so close to her now. How could she not help her after giving birth?

Secondly, if she really gave birth to a child, she had no intention of raising the child as a widow, and Nie Baichuan would definitely be the one to take care of the child together.

Men don’t take care of children?

You wish!

The topic turned to Xiang Yao, and some people took the opportunity to ask questions that they had wanted to ask for a long time.

"Xiang Yao, where did you get so many peanuts? I heard there are also those extra large, extra red tomatoes, which are very rare here!"

Xiang Yao blinked and casually said the reason he had thought of long ago: "Well, by chance, I met a stranger from another place. He happened to be a relative of one of my teachers. After a few visits, I helped him a little, and he was willing to give me something in return."

When she first brought peanuts to her grandmother's house, she gave Liu Qiaoyun a similar reason, so she wasn't afraid of being exposed.

In fact, this excuse did not stand up to much scrutiny, but whenever someone wanted to ask a deeper question, Xiang Yao would quickly evade the question.

Of course, people won't ask too much, and if someone really wants to find out, they'll be quickly blocked by others.

"It's already a great thing that the girl is willing to donate so many seeds. What's wrong? Do you want to know everything so that you can ask others for them?"

After hearing this, the person asking the question will often just laugh it off and feel embarrassed to continue asking.

As they talked along the way, they soon arrived at a piece of wasteland that the entire production team was going to reclaim.

This piece of land is actually a relatively flat hillside covered with weeds and thorn bushes, and the soil is quite poor.

It is not a good piece of land. It is not suitable for growing crops and it is very difficult to clean up, so no one has ever reclaimed the land here.

But it is different when reclaiming collective wasteland. Strength lies in numbers, and people are least afraid of difficulties and hardships. In addition, the land required for growing peanuts is not too high. After Yuan Dashan discussed it with the old people in the team, he applied for this place with Yang Youliang.

When Xiang Yao and others arrived, quite a few people were already there.

Liu Qiaoyun left early in the morning because she wanted to discuss the shoe styles with someone she was close to. Now she was in the crowd, talking to someone.

Looking at the smile on her mother's face from afar, Xiang Yuanyuan felt that her efforts were not in vain.

When she was at her grandmother's house, every time she went to visit her mother, even though her mother always had a smile on her face, she could still keenly feel that she was unhappy.

But now, since moving into the new house, her daughter and son-in-law respect and love her, and her in-laws are easy-going and easy to get along with. The smile on Liu Qiaoyun's face has become more sincere, as if it was engraved on her face. Every time she opens her eyes, she feels that this life couldn't be better.

As for the Xiang family? Without Xiang Liangsheng and their daughter, she didn't miss them at all.

At that time, Liu Qiaoyun and her group also saw Xiang Yao, and someone immediately said with emotion: "Qiaoyun, you really made the right choice to give birth to such a daughter. Look at how good your life is now."

"Yeah, half a year ago, who would have thought you and your daughter Yao would live like this?" Another person said, "If you ask me, there's nothing wrong with not having a son."

Liu Qiaoyun smiled and said frankly, "Yes, I have my daughter Yaoyao, and that's enough for me. These days are like a dream. In my life, I just hope that my daughter and son-in-law live a good life, and then I will feel at ease."

The others laughed, "Your daughter and son-in-law are incredible. A few years ago, people looked down on the Nie family for their poor background, but look at the past two years, who wouldn't secretly envy their improved financial situation?"

This is true. The fact is, on the surface, everyone looks down on the landlords and rich peasants, and no one wants to marry into such a family. But secretly, they envy the fact that they can buy a two-wheeled vehicle at will, and they are capable and have accumulated a lot of wealth...

Liu Qiaoyun didn't want to discuss her in-laws behind their backs, so she changed the subject: "Let's not talk about that. Speaking of which, Yaoyao told me that although our team has decided to plant peanuts, if any of us want to plant some tomatoes for our children, we can also contact her."

Someone immediately said, "My family wants it! My family wants it! We'll plant a circle around the vegetable garden. If it doesn't grow, it's okay. If it does, then our family can eat this rare fruit!"

Liu Qiaoyun nodded: "Okay, I'll tell Yaoyao when I get home and ask her to keep an eye on the seeds."

A group of people were talking and laughing, and people from the old Xiang family also came over with another wave of people. Liu Qiaoyun suddenly became quiet, and the smile on her face faded a little.

But soon, she returned to her previous state, without even looking at her family, and continued to chat and laugh with others, waiting for the team leader to come and gather.

Coincidentally, Yuan Dashan's voice rang out at the right moment: "Are you all here? Start the roll call!"