"Boss, that's enough. It was your sister who was wrong. Mingjiao, apologize to your sister-in-law," Zhou's father said decisively.

Zhou Mingqian laughed in exasperation, "Dad, you really are a master at smoothing things over. Every time Zhou Mingjiao makes a mistake, you just tell her to give a perfunctory apology. Go ask around outside, is there really such a good thing?"

Shen Banxia used to think it was due to the script, but later she realized that whether it was scripted or not, it was inseparable from their true nature.

Although the majority of people still prefer sons to daughters these days, if a family has many sons, wouldn't the only daughter be all the more precious?

"Eldest son, what do you want to do? Are you going to beat up your sister? She's a grown woman now," Zhou's father retorted.

“Did I say I’d beat her up? Didn’t Mom prepare corduroy fabric to make pants? Just give them to my wife.” Zhou Mingqian wasn’t stupid; a beating wouldn’t teach her a lesson.

"I disagree! Why should I? That's mine!" Zhou Mingjiao roared.

Zhou Mingqian ignored her and stared at his father. Seeing this, Zhou's father thought for a moment and said, "Old woman, give the fabric to the eldest son's wife."

"Dad, that's mine," Zhou Mingjiao glared fiercely at Zhou Mingqian.

Zhou's mother also tried to persuade her, "Those were cloth coupons given by her eldest uncle, this, this isn't right, is it?" She really didn't want to give them to her eldest son's wife, that troublesome debt collector.

Why should I? You're such a lazy bum, yet you want good things? Dream on!

"Give it to her first, we'll talk about Mingjiao's later," Zhou's father had his own reasons. With his eldest son's personality, if he wasn't silenced, who knows how he would badmouth his own sister Mingjiao. In that case, Mingjiao's already bad reputation would probably get even worse.

Although Zhou's mother was unwilling, she always gave Zhou's father face in front of the children.

Because of the corduroy fabric incident, Zhou Mingjiao was so upset that she went inside without even eating.

Shen Banxia didn't care about all that; Zhou Mingjiao could get special treatment, but she didn't have that privilege.

That night, Shen Banxia nudged Zhou Mingqian and asked in a low voice, "How is the situation outside now? What have you found out?"

“The price of grain has gone up again, and on the black market, it’s doubled,” Zhou Mingqian said in a heavy voice.

Because of the medicinal herbs, he had saved up two hundred coins, which he felt was quite a lot.

You have to understand, the entire Zhou family couldn't save that much in a year.

To reiterate, although Zhou's father was muddle-headed when it came to family matters, he was a competent brigade leader. He always took the lead in many things, and he really didn't go easy on his family members except for his youngest daughter.

"The weather this year is a bit abnormal. We're already wearing thick cotton clothes and using thick blankets in November. How are we going to get through the rest of the year?" Shen Banxia couldn't help but worry.

Zhoujiazhuang, where she is currently located, is in the southwest region, where temperatures below zero are rare. However, it's only November, and the temperature is already quite low.

"This year's weather is really unpredictable, and that's why grain prices have gone up. I'm worried that if heavy snow closes the roads, it will be even harder to buy grain," Zhou Mingqian said with concern.

"Have you run out of money?"

"Yeah, I bought rice, peanuts, walnuts and stuff like that. I also saw some dried seaweed and dried shrimp being sold over there, so I bought some of those too," Zhou Mingqian said, feeling that he was quite lucky.

“Even though we haven’t separated yet, it’s not easy to bring those things back because they have a smell. They’re all currently stored in Xiaotian’s secret base,” Zhou Mingqian couldn’t help but sigh.

“It’s alright, we’ll still have peanuts and walnuts tonight to satisfy our cravings. But the weather is getting colder and colder, so see if you can find any cotton or something. Also, we need firewood and heating supplies. It would be best to buy some water tanks too, since we can’t be short of water when it’s freezing cold,” Chen Banxia said, speaking her mind as she went.

“Honey, really? We’re not like you in the North. We rarely get heavy snow here. I only remember one time when the ground was frozen and the roads were blocked. It hasn’t snowed since then. We’ve been married for over four years and it hasn’t snowed at all,” Zhou Mingqian thought his wife was exaggerating.

"Have you forgotten the little field mouse?" Shen Banxia didn't say anything else.

Zhou Mingqian was really anxious now, "Really, it's going to snow?"

"Yes, it's not just snowing heavily, but also hailstones the size of eggs, and even freezing rain," Shen Banxia only discovered this today.

After all, the script simply stated that it was a once-in-a-century cold spell.

As for the details in parentheses, it's a friendly reminder that suddenly appeared in the script on the light screen, right when Zhou Mingqian wanted corduroy fabric.

"How does that little field mouse know so much detail?" Zhou Mingqian asked in surprise.

"Otherwise what? I think it might have become a spirit," Shen Banxia thought. Could she mention the script on the light screen? She could only shift the blame to the little field mouse.

"Yes, I understand, wife," Zhou Mingqian said solemnly, taking a deep breath as if he had made up his mind. "I will never let you suffer, wife."

"Remember to mention the weather tomorrow night," Shen Banxia said. She wasn't a saint, but in a large family, if only she and her husband lacked nothing, who knew what they might do when pushed to the brink?

"good".

No one knew about the couple's late-night conversation.

As the weather gradually gets colder, Shen Banxia has already started using a fire in her clinic.

Even so, Zhou's mother was still throwing things around at home, saying, "It's only a few months now, will the charcoal in the house last until winter? Pregnant women are so delicate." The charcoal here refers to the burnt charcoal left in a rotten jar after the firewood has burned out, which won't last long.

If we burn firewood in the clinic, the smoke is terrible, which is inconvenient.

In the evening, after finishing his day's work at the clinic and eating some porridge, Zhou Mingqian brought up the recent cold weather and looked at his father, "Dad, I feel like the weather is strange. Also, when I went to the county town to get some Western medicine, I heard that grain prices have gone up, and I heard from a friend that the black market grain prices have doubled."

"What? Boss, is this news true?" Zhou's father frowned, unable to believe it.

Zhou's mother immediately exclaimed, "This is terrible! Who can afford to eat this? The weather is really strange. In previous years, at this time, we could wear a short-sleeved shirt and a light jacket on top. This year, we've all wrapped up in our old winter coats, and you know what? We still feel cold."

"The old hands in the village also said that the weather was not good this year, but they did not expect the grain price to rise so quickly. Eldest brother, you often go to the county town, go and ask around more. Also, wife, prepare some more food and money for the eldest brother, and see if there are any ways to find some cotton."

"Old man, it's not that serious, is it? Maybe it'll be fine in a couple of days, who knows? I..." Seeing his father's increasingly dark face, he ultimately didn't say anything more.