Yunling sneezed loudly, fanned the dust that rose in front of her eyes, and said to Gangzi:
"Okay, Gangzi, let's leave a mark here and then go back."
"Okay, boss."
Gangzi dusted off his hands. He first picked up a twig and made a mark in the soil that he could see. Then he used a knife to lightly carve some marks around the soil and along the way they came. After he finished, he left with Yunling.
After the three returned to the base camp, Old Man Yun and Old Man Fan were carrying tree stumps to build the beams and pillars. When Yun Ruoxia saw Yun Ling return, she hurriedly ran up to tell her about the people from the main branch of the family who had come earlier.
"Ling-jie, do we have anything today?"
"Great news! Great news! We'll have meat to eat today!"
Everyone was puzzled and looked in the direction of the speaker.
Just then, Granny Yun came back excitedly carrying two old wooden buckets. Following behind her, Zhang carried two dried pigeons in her left hand, two dried fish in her right hand, and two bunches of dried vegetables around her neck, hopping and skipping along.
Behind them were four young women, each holding a small bag of rice, their faces beaming with smiles. Although they had little to carry, the joy emanating from them was infectious, and others couldn't help but join in the laughter.
Yun Ruoxia looked at Old Lady Yun and asked:
"Mother, where did all these things come from?"
"Of course it was bought, otherwise it wouldn't have fallen from the sky, would it?"
"Bought it? Where did you buy it? With your mobility, you wouldn't have gone all the way to the city to buy it."
Zhang smiled slightly and took over the conversation, saying:
“My mother and I were just thinking of taking a stroll down the mountain to see how the villagers live. But we hadn’t gone far when we saw several women worshipping a stone guardian. You know how powerful my mother is.”
"She immediately used this as a starting point and had a very lively chat with those women. One of them was so enthusiastic that she invited us all to her home for tea."
“In her yard, there were dried goods drying in the sun: dried quail, dried pigeon, dried rat, dried fish, dried pork, sausage, and salted duck eggs. We were so tempted that we bought some.”
Listening to Zhang's recitation of dishes, everyone couldn't help but feel sorry for her "buying a little." Since there were so many good things, she should have bought more. Buying only a little was a real waste.
But before this thought could even settle, Old Lady Yun put down her things and said:
“Winter is almost here, and they all have to tighten their belts to get through the winter. We had to visit several households to buy these four small bags of rice, and even these two round wooden buckets took my mother a lot of effort to get.”
Yun Ruoxia nodded, her gaze then falling on the dried vegetables Zhang Shi had taken from her neck. She was somewhat puzzled.
"Sister-in-law, why are we buying dried vegetables? We should buy some fresh vegetables instead; they're cheaper and tastier."
Old Lady Yun picked up where she left off and replied:
“These dried vegetables are for making soup. If your sister-in-law hadn’t been talking to that other woman about cooking, we wouldn’t have been able to buy dried vegetables, get pork bones and lungs, and of course, we wouldn’t know where the butcher lives or where those who raise chickens and ducks live.”
"Does Mom mean we'll have chicken and duck to eat?"
Old Lady Yun laughed and said:
"That woman said that if you want to eat good chicken, you have to put in a lot of effort. The Guan family in the next village raises chickens. Their chickens are free-range in the bamboo forest, eating grass, insects, and rice, and drinking water from the mountains. The meat is incredibly tender."
Yunling swallowed hard upon hearing this, and immediately jumped to her mother's side, saying:
"Grandma, shall we go buy chicken tomorrow?"
Yunling's words made everyone laugh, and even Old Madam Yun was both amused and exasperated. She gently poked Yunling's head and teased her:
"You good-for-nothing! You haven't even eaten what's in your bowl yet, and you're already eyeing what's in the pot. I think you should skip this preserved meat rice today and save your fantasies about those free-range chickens for a proper meal tomorrow."
"That won't do."
The conversation between the grandmother and grandson brought laughter to everyone, and the laughter echoed through the mountains and forests. Unfortunately, the second and third sons' wives, who had returned home, couldn't hear it.
It took them a long time to recover from their grief. They went to the shore to get some fresh air and dry their tears before going home.
Liu was standing in the center of the courtyard, with her eldest daughter-in-law standing beside her with a resentful look on her face, and Yun Da sitting in a chair behind her with a serious expression.
Faced with this palpable sense of impending trial, the third son's wife swallowed the sudden surge of nervousness that rose within her and said with a hint of obsequiousness:
"I...I...I'm going to cook."
"Cooking? This house was broken into and everything was stolen, what's the point of cooking?"
The second son's wife was also somewhat flustered, but thinking of Yun Xiaowu, she forced herself to be strong. She placed her hand on the third son's wife's back, giving her strength, and then said coldly:
"Since we don't need to cook, let's go back inside and rest."
Liu immediately flew into a rage, pointing her finger directly at the second son's wife, and cursed:
"You scoundrel, you've done something wrong, yet you still act like this? Have you lost your mind and want to rebel against the heavens?"
"Please explain clearly, Mother, where did you get the term 'traitor within the family'?"
"You stole the two pieces of cured meat that were hidden in the rice jar. If this isn't a case of thieves within the family, then who is?"
The eldest daughter-in-law was also dissatisfied, and her words were sharp. Seeing that the two hadn't returned yet, she thought she'd cook the meal first, and then prepare the dishes when they got back. However, after repeatedly rummaging through the rice bin, she couldn't find any cured meat.
This morning I saw those two sneaking around in the kitchen again, doing something suspicious. Naturally, I thought about what they had done. This cured meat was something we had worked so hard to save, and now it was all gone. Anyone would be angry in that situation.
"What do you mean by 'stealing'? Does your sister-in-law mean we don't get any of those two pieces of cured meat?"
"You guys really did steal it!"
Yun stood up abruptly, his serious expression revealing a petty, manipulative demeanor.
"We already said we didn't steal anything."
Liu was so angry she could barely speak. She nodded repeatedly, saying, "Fine, fine, fine," while looking around for a suitable tool. Once she picked up a broom, she seemed to have divine assistance and became even more arrogant.
"You still say you didn't steal it, huh? You stole some food but won't admit it. Today I'll fulfill my duty as a mother-in-law and teach you a lesson so you'll remember it."
The eldest daughter-in-law naturally applauded, but don't think she didn't know that these two families were always gossiping about her behind her back...
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