Wang Qiqiang happened to come in and saw him coaxing Yuan Doudou, which made him furious.

"Uncle An, are you going to dig up graves in the fields? I'll go with you. If you don't have enough people, I'll go call a few more brothers. They all have the tools." It was his own uncle, yet he was taking the opportunity to extort money.

An Bihuai was unhappy because he hadn't gotten any benefits, but he couldn't vent his frustration in front of so many people, so he could only hold back: "Alright, then I'll trouble you and your brother."

If it weren't for saving face, he wouldn't want to take on this hard labor.

When the group arrived at the field, An Bihuai put his hands on his hips and kept directing Wang Qiqiang and the others to work.

"Hurry up, start with this side."

"Be careful, don't touch my older brother's coffin, or he might come knocking on your door in the middle of the night."

Wang Qiqiang didn't say anything, he just kept working. He only had one thought in mind: this work was for Yuan Doudou, and had nothing to do with An Bihuai.

"Brother Qiqiang, why are we the only ones doing the work, while he just talks the talk but doesn't walk the walk?" Wang Qiqiang's cousin, Wang Qiling, was just over sixteen years old, but he was tall and strong, with a muscular body, and was a good worker.

Wang Qiqiang stood in the pit, shoveled a shovelful of soil and threw it up, his arm muscles bulging as he went up and down.

"Qiling, ignore him, let's get on with our work." Wang Qiqiang just wanted to finish his work quickly so he could go back and help.

Seeing his cousin's nonchalant attitude and his focused work, the younger brother didn't dare to say anything more.

"Hey bro, do you like teasing me?" Wang Qiling craned his neck and leaned close to Wang Qiqiang's ear.

Wang Qiqiang was so frightened that he leaned back, his ears immediately turning red, and remained silent.

“Brother, my mother said that marrying a widow is unlucky, you can’t be foolish.”

Wang Qiqiang couldn't hold back any longer. He grabbed Wang Qiling and glared at him, saying, "Don't talk nonsense. If I hear you again, I'll give you a beating."

Wang Qiling had been punched by his cousin before, all because he had said something unpleasant about Yuan Doudou, and now he was going to beat him up again for Yuan Doudou's sake.

Is this still a biological brother?

"I know I was wrong, brother, please let go." Wang Qiling felt like he couldn't breathe.

On the way back, no matter how much Wang Qiling tried to coax him into talking, Wang Qiqiang remained silent.

"Brother, I was wrong. Actually, I hoped you could get back together with Dou Dou." Wang Qiling said anxiously, starting to make up nonsense.

Wang Qiqiang stopped and turned to ask, "Really?"

Wang Qiling nodded vigorously, "Of course it's true."

He thought about it and realized that if the person he liked were also a widow, he would probably do anything for her.

"Never mind, it's too late." Wang Qiqiang's eyes dimmed as he walked back dejectedly.

These words immediately piqued Wang Qiling's curiosity, and he carried the shovel forward.

"Brother, what do you mean by 'too late'?" Wang Qiling stretched his long neck, like a giraffe eating grass.

Wang Qiqiang was deeply troubled and unwilling to tell anyone, so he deliberately quickened his pace.

"Hey, bro, wait for me!" Seriously, if you're not going to say anything, then don't. Why are you trying to get rid of me?

When they arrived at Anjia, most of the mourners had already left, and the remaining people were helping to prepare food.

Wang Qiqiang led his brothers to the village to borrow tables, benches, bowls, chopsticks, and other items, which they set up in the yard in advance.

By the time we finished all that, it was completely dark.

Yuan Doudou let Anji sit on the cushion while she went to the kitchen to help cook.

Those who helped us today, we'll host a banquet for them tonight.

"Dou Dou, go and rest. You don't need any help here." Zhang Aiju was stir-frying vegetables on the stove, sprinkling water into the food as she cooked.

Yuan Doudou picked up a potato from the table, which was bigger than her palm, cut it into strips, and said it would taste best when stir-fried.

"Auntie, I've been kneeling all day, I need to stretch my muscles." Yuan Doudou swiftly sliced ​​thin potato pieces.

The woman tending the fire was Zhang Aiju's younger sister-in-law, and she was amazed by Yuan Doudou's knife skills.

"DouDou is so young, yet she's quite skilled at chopping vegetables." Wang Ningshi gave a thumbs up.

Zhang Aiju took a closer look and was amazed to find that Yuan Doudou had sliced ​​the potatoes into pieces thinner than a hair. It was truly remarkable.

"DouDou, who did you learn this skill from?" There's no one like this in the village.

Yuan Doudou tried hard to suppress her laughter. Actually, she was only good at chopping vegetables. She hadn't deliberately learned from anyone. For a while, she was obsessed with a food variety show and learned to cook with her idol. She even had a competition with her roommates to chop potato shreds. Whoever chopped the fastest and best could enjoy a day of meal delivery.

She used all her talents to stay in bed without moving.

"Auntie, please don't make fun of me. Compared to you, I'm still far behind." Yuan Doudou finished cutting one potato and then took another.

We don't have potatoes this big at home; I guess they were a gift from someone in the village.

Living in ancient times wasn't without its advantages. The custom of helping one family in times of trouble was still very good, something she rarely experienced in the past.

Zhang Aiju smiled; this girl gets shy when you praise her.

"Auntie, you must be tired after a long day. Let me cook for a bit." Yuan Doudou prepared the side dishes, went to the stove, and took the spatula from Zhang Aiju's hand.

Seeing her eagerness, Zhang Aiju clearly wanted to show off her skills, so she smiled and said, "Perfect, I'll go out and see if there's anything else we need."

The funeral arrangements for Wang were mainly handled by the village elders, with Zhang Aiju assisting. If anything was missing, Zhang Aiju would have her son prepare it.

Logically, this matter should have been handled by the second branch of the An family, but An Bihuai felt there was no profit to be made and didn't want to do anything extra.

With Zhuang Shuhui intervening and blocking his path, even if he wanted to do something, he would be nagged for a long time.

Yuan Doudou washed the pot clean, heated it up, added a little oil, put in the cleaned potato shreds, and stir-fried them over high heat.

Next, add red chili peppers and coarse salt, and continue to stir-fry.

Before taking it out of the pot, sprinkle with chopped green onions and drizzle a ring of aged vinegar around the edge of the pot; the aroma will immediately come out.

"Wow, it smells so good!" Wang Qiqiang followed the aroma in and was surprised to find that the person cooking was Yuan Doudou.

Just as he was about to turn around and leave, Yuan Doudou called out to him.

"Brother Wang, thank you for your hard work today." She was genuinely grateful to Wang Qiqiang for helping her in so many ways.

She placed the stir-fried hot and sour shredded potatoes on the outside table, looked at Wang Qiqiang and said, "Eat more tonight."

Wang Qiqiang's face flushed. Was Yuan Doudou concerned about him?

Wang Qisheng took a quilt from home and had just entered the An family's courtyard when he saw his elder brother staring blankly into space.

"Brother, what's that smell? It smells so good!" He smelled the mouthwatering aroma even before entering the courtyard, and wondered who had such good cooking skills to make such fragrant food.

When Wang Qiqiang saw his younger brother come in, he immediately returned to normal.

"Oh, it's shredded potatoes that DouDou stir-fried." He said, pointing to the shredded potatoes on the table.

Wang Qisheng was stunned when he saw the shredded potatoes.

Potatoes are a common food, and most families boil or roast them whole. Even if they are cut, they are usually cut into chunks. This kind of shredded cutting is something I've never seen before.