Old Lady Shen was extremely upset! Ever since Li Jiaofeng came into the family, she hadn't had a single peaceful day!
After driving away Miao, Shen Zhigao was in a hurry to welcome Widow Li into the family. However, Widow Li was not as easy to manipulate as Miao. Even though it was not her first marriage and she was pregnant, she insisted on finding a Feng Shui master to choose an auspicious day and having a matchmaker, betrothal money and a large banquet before she would marry.
According to Old Lady Shen, it would be fine if such a shameless woman who secretly had an affair with a man and got pregnant moved in quietly, but the Shen family was kind enough to give her food and let her in, not to mention that they had the nerve to hold a wedding!
Widow Li dared to ask for everything. If she didn't agree, she would yell that she would beat the child. She asked for a betrothal gift of six taels and six cents! It was about the same price for marrying a young girl in the village.
Old Lady Shen was unwilling at the time, but Miao had been driven away, and Shen Zhigao was under the control of Widow Li, who was threatening to die at home. Old Lady Shen couldn't bear to see her son being single, so she had to accept her bad luck. After much persuasion, she negotiated the betrothal gift to five taels, asked Old Lady Shen's sister to be the matchmaker, and set up three tables of banquets in her yard, which was considered a marriage.
Originally, Shen Lao Niang was heartbroken after paying a lot of compensation to Miao. Before that, the Miao brothers had moved all the newly harvested peanuts and the stored grain at home. As the autumn harvest was approaching, it was all hard physical work, and they couldn't bear it without grain, so they had no choice but to borrow some from their relatives.
Due to the absence of Shen Qing, the most useful labor force, Old Man Shen and Shen Zhiwei's husband, who had not worked in the fields for many years, had to go to the fields to work. Even so, they were unable to finish harvesting before the autumn rain. A heavy rain destroyed one-fifth to one-sixth of the crops.
After paying back the food debt, the family would have nothing left except for the food stored for next year. Now with the wedding expenses added, the Shen family was in deep trouble!
But that's not all: since Miao and Shen Qing left, there's been so much more work to do at home! No one cooks, no one washes clothes, no one feeds the chickens, no one cleans the pigsty. She and her second husband have become lazy over the years, and suddenly they're so tired that their bodies ache!
After Li Jiaofeng came in, not only did she refuse to help with the housework, she also complained about stomach aches and discomfort all day long and asked someone to take care of her!
Moreover, Old Lady Shen seriously suspected that Li Jiaofeng was deliberately making trouble for her, wanting to intimidate her as the mother-in-law: otherwise, she would ask the second son's husband, Zhao, to take care of Li Jiaofeng, but Li Jiaofeng would say that Zhao's husband was a boy and it would be inconvenient; she would ask the second son's little daughter to serve her, but said that the child was clumsy and she dared not let her get close.
She had to catch me, the mother-in-law!
At this moment, Li Jiaofeng's voice calling for her mother was heard again in the yard, which gave her a headache.
Old Lady Shen walked to the door of the east wing with a stern face and said, "Old man, are you done yet? Can you be quiet for a while? There are so many things to do at home. I don't have time to be around you all day!"
If someone else had been scolded by their mother-in-law like this, they would have dared not say a word. But if Li Jiaofeng was afraid of this, she would not have been able to marry into the Shen family! Li Jiaofeng touched her bulging belly and said with a smile: "Mom, it's not me who is bothering you, it's your grandson in my belly who is making a fuss! Why do I hear people outside shouting to buy meat, buy meat? Is it the butcher who is carrying meat to our village?" If the butcher shops in the county town have not sold out by the evening, the butchers will carry the meat to nearby villages or sell it at a discount to idle men who specialize in running errands, so that the meat will not be stale tomorrow.
However, this kind of situation is not common. Lantang Village is relatively close to the county town, so it only happens occasionally.
Li Jiaofeng licked her lips and said, "Let's buy some for our family. We haven't eaten meat for a long time. Your grandson needs more meat to grow white and fat."
Old Lady Shen's forehead was throbbing. "Eat meat, eat meat. How can you not be greedy to death? Who has a greedy daughter-in-law like you? It's been a long time since you last ate meat. You've only been married for more than a month, and you've already eaten meat three times. An egg a day is enough for you. How can it not be enough? Ask who would waste food like this when they are pregnant. Who hasn't been pregnant before?"
Li Jiaofeng still had that smiling face, touching her pointed belly: "I don't want to eat this, it's the baby in my belly that's making a fuss. Before I came home, I lived by myself, and the baby could eat meat every now and then. But after I came home, I can't eat it anymore. How can the baby not make a fuss?"
What she said was true. Her previous husband left her some property, and with Shen Zhigao's frequent and diligent subsidies, she was very well off, and her life was much more comfortable than living in the old Shen family with a mother-in-law above her. If her previous husband had not failed to leave her a child, and she had to plan for the future, she would have lived a much more comfortable life.
She was a little unhappy. Shen Zhigao was very generous when he was coaxing her, but after they got married, she couldn't even get a bite of meat!
Old Lady Shen got even angrier after hearing this: "If you hadn't asked for so much betrothal money, we would have had some extra money to buy meat! Don't you have money in your hands? If you want to eat it, go buy it yourself!" She sneered twice and said: "It's just that it's not the butcher who picked the meat to sell, it's Qing Ge'er who killed the wild boar. Even if you have money, I'm afraid Qing Ge'er won't sell it to you!"
Li Jiaofeng's eyes widened: "Who?" She knew Shen Qing was quite capable. Shen Zhigao had complained to her a lot that his brother was not really like a brother, but she didn't expect him to be so capable. She was impressed. She rolled her eyes and smiled again: "Mom, you are confused. Qing is our own child. Even if he lives with his mother, aren't you still his grandmother? The one in my belly is even more his brother. It costs money to get some meat from him? Shouldn't he be more filial to you?"
Old Lady Shen snorted twice and didn't look good to Li Jiaofeng, but she was actually somewhat tempted in her heart.
Shen Qing didn't know that the old Shen family had already set their sights on his pork. Before the meat buyers arrived, he took a hatchet and chopped off a front leg and a hind leg.
"I'll do it! I'll do it. Don't move, or the wound will open again." Miao quickly stopped him.
"It's okay. My left hand is injured, so it won't affect my right hand's work." Shen Qingquan didn't take the injury seriously: "This pig leg is not easy to chop. I'm afraid you can't chop it. I'll just chop it twice, and you can cut the meat afterwards." He cut the two pig legs neatly: "Send the big hind leg to my uncle's house tomorrow. I'll send the front leg to the village chief's house later."
He was not an ungrateful person. His uncle had come to support them before, and later sent them a lot of sweet potatoes and potatoes. This was a timely help. Before the two uncles separated, he sent a big pork leg.
As for the village chief's family, they took care of them when they divorced, and helped Miao find a female household. This can't be called a favor, but we have to thank them - after all, Village Chief Zhao can choose to side with Shen Zhigao, who grew up with him. Shen Qing is grateful, and they live in the village, so it's not a bad thing to have a good relationship with the village chief.
"After everyone leaves, I'll cut a few pounds of meat and take it to Aunt Lian's family. Thank her family for coming to help, and thank her for taking care of me before."
Miao was very happy to send gifts to her mother's family and friends. However, she felt a little distressed when she thought about the wild boar that her brother had risked his life to buy and her family's situation. "It's ok to give it to your second aunt Lian and the village chief, but you can also cut a front leg for your uncle's family. After selling so much meat, we can also buy some things for the New Year. Your uncles know our situation and can't complain."
There is a big difference in weight between the front legs and the hind legs, and Shen Qing was especially generous, so he cut off the hind legs with half of the buttocks still attached.
"It's okay, mother." Shen Qing hesitated for a moment and did not tell Miao about the cave and the other world for the time being. He just said, "Don't worry about the money. I'm going to the county town tomorrow. I just happened to have saved up a lot of firewood at home. I'll borrow the mule cart from the village chief and take it all to sell tomorrow. I'll tell you when I come back from the county town."
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