Chapter 221 Surrounded by Wolves 1

Fortunately, Ma Xiulian, the mother-in-law, was tolerant and never scolded her daughter for not being able to give birth to a son.

If this were someone else's family, they probably wouldn't be having such a good time.

"Our Chen family is truly blessed."

Thinking of her precious child, Ma Xiulian's eyes softened, and her originally harsh face became more kind.

Seeing that she was easy to talk to, Zhao's mother, holding the faded hem of her clothes, said somewhat awkwardly, "Mother-in-law, I've come here mainly to discuss something with you."

"What's wrong?" Ma Xiulian asked, feigning ignorance.

At this time, what else can relatives do besides borrow grain when they come to visit?

Zhao's mother looked at her, opened her mouth for a long time, but swallowed the words that were originally in her throat. She shook her head and said, "It's okay, it's okay."

Ma Xiulian said with a smile, "Since you're here, Mother-in-law, why don't you stay for lunch before you leave? You and your eldest son's wife can chat for a bit, and I'll go to the kitchen to start the fire and cook."

As soon as her mother-in-law left, Zhao Mei quickly pulled her own mother into her room, closed the door, and asked with a worried look, "Mom, did you come here to borrow grain this time?"

Zhao's mother nodded, "I know that every household is short of food, but I really have no other choice."

She is honest and thin-skinned, but she has a very good temper and no authority at home. When her daughters-in-law pressure her, she has no choice but to shamelessly go to their house.

Actually, their commune's harvest this year wasn't too bad; they should be able to eat their fill. But they were worried that something might go wrong with the autumn harvest.

Zhao Mei held her mother's hand and comforted her, "I'll go ask my mother-in-law to see if she can spare a little bit."

While saying this, they were actually sighing in their hearts. Their mother-in-law had already warned them that they probably couldn't borrow the grain.

But she couldn't just stand by and watch her family go hungry without doing anything about it!

After saying this, Zhao Mei was about to get up and go to her mother-in-law to plead for mercy, but her mother stopped her: "Forget it, food is too precious. Let's wait and see about the autumn harvest. I'll go back first. You... work harder and try to have a son soon."

More than the food, she was worried about her daughter who hadn't had a son in ten years since marrying into the Chen family.

Upon hearing this, Zhao Mei's eyes instantly reddened: "I also want to have a son, but I just can't!"

Zhao's mother comforted her for a while, and even thought about secretly praying to the Goddess of Mercy who grants children for her daughter.

She felt too embarrassed to stay for lunch, so she secretly left.

After seeing her mother off, Zhao Mei went to the kitchen to help her mother-in-law prepare lunch: "Mom, my mom has left."

Ma Xiulian sighed, "Why did you leave? I've already started cooking the cured meat."

"mom……"

Zhao's mother opened her mouth but ultimately couldn't bring herself to say that her family wanted to borrow grain.

Unfortunately, during the meal, the conversation turned to the issue of borrowing grain in the commune.

"This year is really tough. Families with few able-bodied members can't even fill their stomachs, and now they're begging people everywhere to borrow food."

“I think it’s those families with more labor that are having a hard time. Look at those communes down there, the grain harvest is bad, and there are many people to feed in their families.”

"I thought this year would be a bumper harvest, but who would have thought such an unexpected event would happen!"

Zhao Mei felt even more distressed upon hearing this, so she looked at her mother-in-law and was about to speak when Ma Xiulian said, "Regardless of other families, our family will never lend out grain! We cannot open the door to lending grain, otherwise there will be a second one if we do, not to mention that our family's grain is barely enough to feed the whole family."

Old Zhang's family at the east end of the village lent grain to a relative, and afterwards, many other relatives came to their door to borrow grain. In the end, they had no choice but to lend out a lot of grain.

(End of this chapter)