These words left Granny Zhao speechless.

Before he could retort, a feisty woman laughed:

"Auntie Facai, when did your family move to the seaside? Why are you meddling in our business?"

“Absolutely. Just look at how efficient Cai Ping is; you can tell she’s done a lot of work.” Another slightly plump woman chimed in.

Ye Caiping recognized the two women as Tie Niu's wife and Zhu Zi's wife, who had accompanied her to Lijia Village to demand an explanation last time.

Although the villagers had a bad impression of Ye Caiping.

But as Ye Caiping said, she didn't eat their rice, so whether they were lazy or greedy was none of their business.

Moreover, Ye Caiping not only didn't eat their rice, but also shared her method for removing cassava toxins, giving them an extra food source for the winter.

As the saying goes, "He who eats another's food is bound to do his bidding," so many villagers began to defend Ye Caiping.

When Granny Zhao saw so many people criticizing her, she became intimidated.

The village head's wife said sternly, "You rich man, do you still want this cassava? If not, go home."

"Who said I didn't want it!" Granny Zhao was startled and quickly grabbed the cassava that she had cut in half.

Zhao Pozi's daughter-in-law hurried over and said anxiously, "Auntie Village Head, my mother is just talking nonsense because she's too tired. I'll take her back right away."

He then smiled apologetically at Ye Caiping, saying, "I'm so sorry, Caiping."

As she apologized, she cursed inwardly, "Can't this old hag shut up? She's hateful every day!"

After saying that, he pulled Granny Zhao away.

Ye Caiping ignored them and continued cutting cassava with her head down.

Old Mrs. Ye snorted and immediately started chatting with the village head's husband and the woman beside him.

They say Caiping isn't lazy or greedy; she's incredibly diligent. She even takes turns cooking with her two sisters-in-law.

Amidst the bustling crowd, a woman in her early thirties pursed her lips and whispered to Madam Du beside her:

"Others laugh at her for being lazy and greedy, but your sister-in-law is not ashamed, but proud and smug."

Du slammed her wood-chopping knife down on the wooden stake, glaring at her and saying, "What's it to you? Did I eat your rice?"

The woman—Liu Chunfang—choked.

She knew that Du and Ye Caiping didn't get along, so she used words to stab Du in the back, hoping to share her hatred and join her in bashing Ye Caiping, thus finding a sense of belonging.

Unexpectedly, it turned out to be a huge embarrassment.

Du couldn't stand Ye Caiping's arrogance, but she also couldn't stand Liu Chunfang's disparaging remarks. Torn between these conflicting emotions, she finally lost her temper.

Feeling frustrated and bored, Du picked up her wood-chopping knife and left.

Anyway, one person from each family is enough, so it doesn't matter if she leaves.

Because there were many people available, the dozen or so baskets of cassava were quickly chopped.

Ye Caiping asked everyone to bring bamboo sieves, cover the opening of the basket, and tie it with strips of cloth.

Then they carried it to the riverbank and soaked the cassava, along with the bamboo basket, in the water.

Fearing that the whole basket of cassava would be washed away, they tied it with a rope and fastened it to a tree by the river.

"Cai Ping, how long do we need to soak this cassava?" asked the village head's wife.

"Seven days."

"Look, the men are carrying cassava down again. Let's hurry up and get to work."

...

Up on the mountain, lunchtime has finally arrived.

The man in the cassava forest threw down his hoe and hurried toward his basket.

"Wash your hands and face thoroughly," Ye Daquan shouted. "Eating raw cassava can cause poisoning."

The men then rushed to the mountain stream to wash their hands and faces.

After cleaning up, he took his own bowl and chopsticks and sat down on the floor.

As soon as Ye Daquan and the others opened it, they smelled the fresh aroma of cassava, and their mouths watered.

The bowl has a layer of brown rice at the bottom, topped with a thick layer of cassava chips, and comes with some pickled vegetables.

"Is this cassava? Daquan, give me a slice." A sharp-eyed man reached out with his chopsticks to grab it.

Ye Daquan quickly covered it, saying, "No."

Ye Erquan and Ye Yong also quickly covered their bowls.

The men were getting impatient. They had been saying that the poisonous root was edible, and they had been digging for ages, but they hadn't even tasted it yet, and they were itching to get some.

"I'll give you two bites of brown rice, and you give me a slice of cassava."

Ye Daquan's eyes lit up. Two mouthfuls of brown rice were much bigger than the cassava chips. Although he still wanted to eat cassava, he had had enough of it these past two days.

So Ye Daquan traded a piece of cassava for two mouthfuls of rice.

"I'll change mine too, I'll change mine too."

"I'll trade half an egg for three slices!"

After Ye Daquan's cassava was robbed, the cassava belonging to Ye Erquan, Old Man Ye, and the Ye Yong brothers was also taken away by the eager men.

The men finally got to taste the cassava they had been longing for, and Ye Daquan's family got to eat rice and even eggs. Everyone was very satisfied.

After a whole day of work, half of the cassava on the mountain had been dug up.

Old Man Ye and the others carried hoes and baskets home.

Upon entering, one sees Ye Caiping cooking in the kitchen while Ye Jin'er tends the fire.

"Oh dear, why is Caiping in the kitchen?" Ye Daquan was so surprised that he dropped the basket in his hand.

Ye Caiping said, "It's my turn to cook today."

"How can you cook?" Ye Daquan exclaimed in frustration.

Ye Caiping glared at him: "Didn't I tell you last time not to discriminate? If you keep talking like that, I'm moving out."

No, no, no.

Ye Caiping continued, "There's not much work to do, just cook some porridge and cassava, and stir-fry some cabbage."

Because the family was poor and the meals were monotonous, even feeding fourteen people only required a little more effort.

"Then I'll fetch water for you." Ye Daquan didn't mind the effort and turned around to pick up the bucket to fetch water.

Upon seeing this, Ye Erquan quickly followed.

Ye Caiping did not refuse.

Besides cooking, the household chores included cleaning, washing clothes, fetching water, cleaning the chicken coop and pigsty, chopping pig feed, cooking pig rice, mixing chicken feed, and feeding livestock.

But each household washes their own clothes, and fetching water is a man's job. When it's a household's turn to do housework, the man from that household is responsible for fetching water.

Since Ye Caiping had no man, the Ye brothers, Daquan and Daquan, had to choose one for her.

Now that all the chickens and pigs in the house have been sold, there's no need for cleaning or making pig feed and chicken rice, so the housework is quite easy.

Soon, the food was served.

Ye Daquan looked at the food on the table with a face full of regret: "If I had known that my younger sister was cooking today, I wouldn't have exchanged the cassava at noon. That's my younger sister's cooking! I've never eaten it before! And I actually exchanged it at noon."

Old Man Ye and the others: "..."

Ye Caiping's lips twitched slightly.

Seeing Ye Daquan's shameless fawning manner, Madam Du choked.

If Ye Caiping weren't Ye Daquan's biological sister, she would have fought with her no matter what.