Qin Xiaozhou gave Wang Dahe half a string of money, saying, "Uncle Dahe, you've worked hard these days, raising chickens, ducks, and geese so well. You'll need to take care of things in the garden in the future. Take this half a string of money and add some grain and rice to your family."

There were a few light rains in the first half of this year, which can't be considered a period of favorable weather, and it didn't completely solve the problems left over from the drought in the previous two years. However, thanks to these rains, the plants have recovered most of their vitality and no longer look as gray and withered as they did in the previous two years.

Grain in the fields is precious, and the little rain makes it difficult to have a good harvest. Every household hopes for more rain in the summer so that they can harvest more grain and feed one more person.

However, the vegetables and fruits grew quite well, enough to barely stave off hunger and survive, though not as nourishing as rice and flour, and therefore not considered taxes to be paid.

Lu Yunfeng caught a rooster for him, tied its feet with straw, and said, "Take this chicken home and add it to your dishes."

Wang Dahe resolutely refused to accept money, not even the chickens, saying that the wages he was paid were enough. He kept repeating this, and finally, unable to refuse any longer, he actually went home.

Wang Lan smiled and said, "He's a very honest man. He's been working for the past two months and has given his wife a lot of medicine. She looks much better now. Every evening, he goes to the fields to weed. He brings back the weeds, chops them up, and feeds them to the chickens. The crops are doing well, and I heard that the hens at home are laying more eggs. The whole family has actually gained weight. Every time Dahe's mother sees me, she says that our family saved her daughter-in-law and their whole family."

Even though they wouldn't accept it, Qin Xiaozhou couldn't refuse to deliver it. All the chickens, ducks, and geese in this mountain were ready to be sold for barbecue, and he couldn't let the people who had been taking care of them go without getting a single bite of meat. He took a basket, put the money and chickens inside, and said, "Grandma, deliver this to her quietly."

Wang Lan nodded repeatedly, picked up the basket, and covered the vegetables with a lid. "That makes perfect sense."

Before she even left the house, Li Fengxian came in first. "What good stuff did you bring?" she asked, raising the basket in her hand. "The cucumbers from the field are crisp and sweet. My grandsons and nephews came back today, so I brought some for them to eat."

A basket of cucumbers could be a staple food during a year of famine, but the Lu family's backyard was overflowing with cucumbers and vegetables. If it weren't for the high consumption of building the house, they wouldn't even be able to finish their own. Wang Lan calmly handed the basket to Qin Xiaozhou and took the cucumbers herself. "Sister-in-law, you're too kind. Please come in and sit down."

Li Fengxian was waiting for these words. She went inside and looked around. She had seen large and small bags by the river, but now there wasn't even a trace of peanuts and melon seeds. However, her purpose today was not to eat and drink, so she asked directly, "Where is that mother and daughter?"

Wang Lan sat down to the side. "The woman next door is breastfeeding. She hasn't finished her postpartum period yet. It's just that it's hot in May. Otherwise, she would have come all the way from the county town and caught a cold, which would have caused her to develop health problems."

Li Fengxian sighed and patted Wang Lan's hand. "These girls are a money-losing burden from birth. Their families raise them well, and when they reach the age where they can work and are sensible, they arrange their marriages. They're really just raising wives for other families. If they can help their families after marriage, then it's not a waste of raising them. But if they really think that once they get married, they're like water spilled from a cup, only caring about running off to the river, then it's truly a waste. Don't you think that makes sense?"

Wang Lan was taken aback. "Sister-in-law is right."

“I knew you weren’t that heartless. Luckily, your brother can still work now. He doesn’t expect his grandchildren to support him in his old age, but he will have to rely on his children and grandchildren in the future. But his grandchildren are all filial. They would rather go without food and drink for your brother. Your brother just hopes that the younger generation can live a life without worrying about food and clothing. That’s when he can rest easy.” Li Fengxian said, holding Wang Lan’s hand with genuine affection.

Then he said to Lu Yunfeng, "Your cousin and his wife have always wanted to learn from you. You should take care of them. We are all family. Living in Wangjia Village, we need to help each other to make it last."

Lu Yu stared in astonishment at the room. Even Wang Lan and Zhao Fang thought Li Fengxian was possessed by a ghost. Li Fengxian was always cursing and greedy without any attempt to hide it, so why was she speaking so indirectly today?!

It was mostly taught by her eldest daughter-in-law.

All he wanted was a job in the Lu family and to make money. He put it so grandly that Lu Yunfeng pretended not to understand. He exchanged a few polite words and then left under the pretext of checking on the new house.

Just then, they heard a child crying next door, so Qin Xiaozhou went next door as well. Lu Yu went to the kitchen, and Zhao Fang also went to the kitchen with her son, feeling affectionate. She was worried about the shop in the county town, thinking, "I don't know if Xiao Yan can handle things alone in the shop. I hope she doesn't run into any difficult customers."

Lu Yu used a strainer to scoop out the blanched pork ribs and put them in the stove to stew, adding bamboo shoots dried in the spring. "Don't worry, sister-in-law, Xiao Yan is very capable now. She can handle any customer, and everyone in the shop listens to her. Nothing will happen in a day or two."

Zhao Fang smiled. Her children were all doing well now, and she was very happy. Xiao Si clapped his hands and called out "Sister" and "Auntie," which made everyone very happy.

Jingming finished nursing the baby and was about to get out of bed when she said, "I'll go cook."

Qin Xiaozhou quickly stopped her, "No, you should stay here and take good care of yourself during your postpartum period. After you finish your postpartum period, you should stay here to take care of the children and my grandmother. She is getting old and we need to keep someone at home to put our minds at ease. She can't breastfeed these days because she's taking medicine. I'll have my grandmother go to the village to buy a ewe later so the children can drink goat milk."

"Thank you so much, shopkeeper." Jingming's eyes were filled with tears. He raised his sleeve to wipe them away, his snot and tears sticking to his sleeve. "I will definitely take good care of the child and the old lady."

Qin Xiaozhou looked at her hygiene habits and couldn't agree with them. So she seriously explained the conditions for taking care of the child to her. She didn't want to see her soft little sister become a snotty-nosed child with snot stuck on both sides of her cheeks, black sleeves, and dirty, messy, yellow hair. Most importantly, the complementary food could not be chewed up and fed to her.

"You must remember what I'm saying carefully and strictly follow it, otherwise my family will definitely not accept you."

Jingming hadn't really taken it to heart at first, but when he heard that she didn't want it, he immediately panicked. "I'll definitely listen to you." After saying that, he reached for his sleeve to wipe his nose, but then he put it down. The snot almost got into his mouth, and he even stuck out his tongue to lick it. Finally, he took the used diaper and wiped his nose.

Qin Xiaozhou almost had a heart attack and felt nauseous and wanted to vomit.

"Cut all your old clothes into pieces. Keep the good ones and throw the rest away. And cut your hair too."

I hadn't thought it through that day, but now, looking at that hair and those dirty clothes stuffed in the corner, I realized there might even be fleas in them. The more I thought about it, the more itchy I felt. I hurriedly got up and shouted anxiously, "Don't cut up the old clothes! Throw them all out and burn them! Burn your hair too!"

Shaving your head completely is best!!

Jingming was stunned. Wasn't Manager Qin supposed to be an extremely kind person? Why would she need a haircut? How could she cut her hair? What kind of woman cuts her hair?!

"You, how could you... Waaaaaah... I... Waaaaaahh ...