Chapter 3 It all feels like a dream
The sun was setting in the west.
The orange sunset cast dappled shadows on the courtyard.
Cheng Wanwan sat in the main seat and said in a calm voice, "This is the food I prepared to offer as a tribute to your maternal grandparents."
Her words chilled the hearts of the five people present.
They only knew that their mother would give the best things from home to the Cheng family, but they never knew that these were precious things like rice.
They've never eaten solid food in their entire lives.
The thought that the Cheng family not only ate their food but also beat their mother filled the four boys with indignation.
“However, what happened today has made me completely lose faith in your maternal grandparents.” Cheng Wanwan sighed deliberately. “Over the years, I have given the Cheng family so much money and grain. Now that the family is really struggling to make ends meet, I went back to collect the debt. Who would have thought that your eldest uncle would smash my head open like that?”
She lowered her head, her long eyelashes obscuring the emotions in her eyes, and she looked genuinely heartbroken.
The four boys exchanged glances, their eyes filled with surprise and doubt.
My mother had been beaten by my eldest uncle before. At first, they tried to get justice for her, but they ended up getting beaten up by her instead.
So when they heard the villagers talking about how their mother came back from the Cheng family with a bloody head, they didn't have much to say. No matter how shameless the Cheng family was, their mother would always side with them, and her four sons were like children picked up from a latrine.
Cheng Wanwan sighed again: "From now on, we'll keep the good things for the Cheng family for ourselves. Hui Niang, take this rice and cook it."
Wu Huiniang's hand trembled slightly: "Why...why cook it?"
Cheng Wanwan knew about her hesitation.
The villagers of Dahe Village traditionally eat two meals a day, but now that they have no food, they have reduced it to one meal.
These kids just finished their wild vegetable porridge, so their food rations for the day are done. If they want to eat something, they'll have to wait until tomorrow.
As the saying goes, a half-grown boy can eat his father out of house and home.
That little bit of wild vegetable porridge wouldn't be enough to feed a woman like her, let alone four boys and a pregnant woman.
Now that she has become Cheng Wanwan of Dahe Village, she has an obligation to take good care of these children in place of the original owner.
However, if a person changes too quickly, it's easy to spot the signs.
She deliberately put on a stern face and said, "Just cook it when I tell you to. What's there to ask?"
Wu Huiniang dared not ask any more questions. She took out about one-tenth of the rice, just a small half bowl, and prepared to cook it.
Cheng Wanwan had a headache; half a bowl of rice wouldn't even be enough for the youngest child, Zhao Sidan, to eat by himself.
She had no choice but to get up, carry the whole bag of rice to the kitchen, and pour it all into the cracked pot: "Cook it all."
Wu Huiniang was so shocked that her face turned pale.
There were nearly three pounds of rice here, which could be exchanged for ten pounds of millet, enough to feed the whole family for at least five or six days. To cook it all in one meal would be a waste of food, but faced with her mother-in-law's deliberately stern face, Wu Huiniang didn't dare to ask anything and quickly washed the rice, started a fire, and cooked the meal...
Zhao Dashan swallowed hard: "Why do I have a feeling that Mother has been traumatized?"
Zhao Ergou squinted: "Mother wants us to eat our fill and then go to the Cheng family to collect debts?"
Zhao Sanniu grabbed a hoe from the side: "I've wanted to beat those bastards from the Cheng family up for a long time."
Zhao Sidan licked his lips: "The rice must be delicious."
The fire in the stove roared, the aroma of rice filled the air, and the pot bubbled and steamed.
Cheng Wanwan asked Wu Huiniang to scoop out the rice soup and divide it into six small bowls, so that each person could drink some rice soup first, so as not to feel uncomfortable in their stomach if they ate too much later.
The fragrant rice soup has a layer of rice oil on the surface, thick and steaming.
The four boys stood by the table, too afraid to move.
In the past, whenever there was food at home, my mother would eat the leftovers and then give a few to them.
"What, you don't like it?"
Cheng Wanwan asked a question on purpose.
Zhao Sidan picked up a bowl, burned his fingers, but couldn't bear to let go, afraid that his mother would change her mind.
He quickly lowered his head and took a sip. The scalding hot rice soup slid across his mouth, down his throat, and into his stomach. It was simply the best thing in the world!
The other three also hurriedly picked up their bowls of rice porridge, not caring that it was too hot, and drank it all in one gulp.
Cheng Wanwan shook her head with a laugh. Seeing her eldest daughter-in-law still standing there dumbfounded, she pretended to be annoyed and said, "Do you want me to hand it to you or what?"
Wu Huiniang's hands trembled slightly.
In this family, the mother-in-law is number one, the husband and three younger brothers-in-law are number two, and she is number one at the very end. She eats the worst and most unpalatable food in the house, and if there isn't enough food, she goes hungry.
This is rice porridge, which I heard is for newborns. Does she even deserve to drink it?
Is it because she's pregnant that her mother-in-law is finally willing to share food with her?
Cheng Wanwan didn't look at Wu Huiniang's expression again.
She smelled the aroma of rice, and her stomach rumbled. As she served the rice, she felt as if she had forgotten something.
It wasn't until six large bowls of rice were placed on the table that she remembered she had forgotten to cook any dishes!
How can we eat rice without any vegetables?!
Okay, there are no vegetables at home, and no vegetables in the garden either, so let's just eat rice!
The five people standing nearby stared wide-eyed, unable to believe that after such a long period of food shortages, they were finally able to eat white rice.
Is this a hallucination?
"Ouch!" Zhao Sanniu suddenly exclaimed, "Second Brother, why are you pinching me!"
Zhao Ergou swallowed hard: "I wondered if I was dreaming. It seems it's real, not a dream!"
Cheng Wanwan picked up her chopsticks and said, "Eat."
As soon as she finished speaking, the four boys next to her lowered their heads and started shoveling rice into their mouths, as if they were fighting a battle.
Wu Huiniang said cautiously, "Mother, I'll just eat a little bit..."
Cheng Wanwan looked at her with a hint of disappointment. She wouldn't even eat when there was food available. Was she really willing to be a submissive wife?
She said coldly, "Is the other half meant for the Cheng family to eat?"
Wu Huiniang immediately shook her head: "I'll eat it!"
Her mother had finally given up on the Cheng family, and she certainly didn't want her mother to have the idea of sending things to the Cheng family again...
Cheng Wanwan wasn't used to eating dry rice, but her body was very weak, and she managed to finish a bowl of rice by eating it bite by bite.
There were six bowls on the table, all clean, not a single grain of rice left... It seemed like washing the dishes was unnecessary.
After finishing their meal, the four boys were full of energy. Zhao Ergou asked, "Mom, are we going to the Cheng family now?"
Cheng Wanwan looked puzzled: "What are you going to the Cheng family for?"
"We need to collect the debt!" Zhao Sidan gritted his teeth. "Grandma said that my eldest uncle took my father's pension money, a total of twenty taels. We need to get that debt back!"
“That’s right!” Zhao Dashan stood up. “My uncle even broke my mother’s head today. We have to go and demand an explanation!”
Zhao Sanniu patted his stomach: "My stomach is full. I can take on three by myself. Let's hurry before it gets dark!"
Cheng Wanwan wanted to go, but she knew very well that the Cheng family couldn't afford twenty taels of silver, so now was not the time to settle accounts.
She said calmly, "Sit down, everyone."
The four boys exchanged glances. It was clear that their mother had never intended for them to go to the Cheng family to collect the debt.
Come to think of it, how could Mother suddenly give up on her eldest brother's family when she has always been devoted to them?
Once this period of sadness passes, I'm afraid I'll go back to my old ways!
If you've never eaten plain white rice before, that's one thing, but once you've eaten it, it's absolutely impossible to ask them to send it out again!
Zhao Ergou beckoned and whispered a few words in Zhao Sanniu's ear.
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