After returning to her parents' home, Xiao Yunying greeted her two sisters-in-law who were shelling peanuts in the yard. She spoke a few extra words to her second sister-in-law, Wang, thanking her for the pomegranates and for protecting her the day before.
This was the first time Wang had ever seen her sister-in-law speak to her with such a kind and gentle smile. She was at a loss for words, and while shelling peanuts, she didn't dare to look up, awkwardly replying with a few words.
Only after Xiao Yunying entered her parents-in-law's house did Wang breathe a sigh of relief.
Sister-in-law Zhang nudged Wang with her elbow and said with a smile, "Your aunt is just saying a few words to you, why are you so nervous?"
Wang denied it: "Who's nervous? It's not like I'm meeting the county magistrate, what's there to be nervous about?"
Zhang pointed to the two baskets: "Don't be nervous, you threw the peanuts and shells in the wrong places."
Wang blushed and quickly picked up the peanut shells and kernels: "I was distracted and didn't notice."
Zhang stopped teasing Wang and started peeling peanuts herself: "My aunt was sick a while ago, and her personality has really changed a lot. Sister-in-law, you shouldn't argue with her anymore. If you do, it'll be my second brother who'll be caught in the middle."
Thinking back on the past, Wang felt a little uncomfortable. Everyone said that she and her sister-in-law had quarreled, but they were clearly evenly matched. Why was no one blaming her sister-in-law and everyone was talking about her?
She felt a little upset, but didn't argue: "I know, otherwise I wouldn't have said anything when my sister-in-law brought me vegetables before."
She knows she has a quick tongue; when emotions run high, she blurts out whatever comes to mind, and sometimes she regrets it afterward, but she just can't help it.
So now she avoids speaking to her sister-in-law whenever possible, and only expresses her dissatisfaction after her sister-in-law has left.
She knew her sister-in-law had suffered a lot in the past two years, so she pretended not to know when her mother-in-law secretly sent her food and money. Only when she couldn't hold back did she complain a few words to her husband.
It's best for sisters-in-law to keep their conversation brief; saying too much will only annoy others. Zhang changed the subject: "What do you think my aunt came back for this time? I saw that her basket was very heavy; she must have carried a lot of things."
Wang was also curious: "Could it be that it's been filled with snow fungus?"
The two women were speculating in the yard when the elderly couple inside the house exclaimed in surprise, "You're going to build a house?"
Xiao Yunying rummaged through her things: "I sold a basket of snow fungus a few days ago and got some money. I want to demolish the house and rebuild it."
Mu Lianrong pulled her daughter aside and whispered to Luo Chen with her back turned, "Are you really planning to spend your whole life taking care of these kids?"
Xiao Yunying said frankly, "No, but nobody knows whether Luo Sheng is dead or not. If he doesn't come back, it would be good to leave them a sturdy house. It would also fulfill my feelings of being their stepmother."
She wasn't the original owner of this body, so she didn't have that much kindness to raise the child of the man who abandoned her.
She was willing to take care of them because the original owner couldn't bear to leave the children, and also because she felt they were a little pitiful.
Taking care of them is not difficult, so let's just consider it as offsetting the guilt and gratitude for occupying the original owner's body.
Luo Chen lowered her head; as expected, she was still thinking of leaving.
After Xiao Yunying finished speaking, she glanced at Luo Chen, who was looking down, and realized that his son was still there. It wasn't very polite to discuss whether his father was dead or not in front of him, so she patted him on the shoulder:
"Maybe your dad is alright and will be back in a while. What I just said was just a guess, and I'm not sure."
Luo Chen: ...Could you be any more perfunctory?
Mu Lianrong got angry: "Do you have money? You're building houses for other people."
“How can you say it’s building a house for someone else? I need to live in it too.” Xiao Yunying took out snow fungus from her basket: “I can exchange this for silver.”
The elderly couple each picked up a plant and examined it closely: "Is this snow fungus? It's so big!"
"This is what it looks like after it's dried; it expands even more after being soaked."
Xiao Yunbai chimed in, "Mother, my little sister is really capable! She's already sold a whole basketful, eight taels of silver per plant!"
Mu Lianrong carefully put the snow fungus down, then patted Xiao Shanhai's arm and took the snow fungus from his hand: "What are you picking at? This is such a precious thing, what if you break it?"
Xiao Shanhai argued in a low voice, "I didn't break it. I just poked around to see what was inside."
He had seen snow fungus before when he went up the mountain, but he didn't recognize it and didn't pay attention to it. It wasn't until two years ago that he realized how precious it was. For a long time, he kept lamenting how he was so ignorant and didn't even know to pick up money when he had it.
This thing is strange. You can often see it when you're not looking for it, but when you start to look for it carefully, you can't find a single one.
"Second brother, could you please bring me a large porcelain basin filled with clean water?"
Xiao Yunbo responded and went out. After a while, he returned with two large bowls and gave one to Xiao Yunying and one to Luo Chen: "Drink up. If you're still hungry, your second brother will pour you more."
Xiao Yunying chuckled and told Luo Chen to put the bowl on the table, then soaked the two snow fungus in it.
Mu Lianrong panicked: "Oh dear, Yunyun, what are you doing?"
Farmers all know that dried goods that have been soaked in water will not sell well no matter how much they are dried. A discerning person can tell at a glance that they won't fetch a good price.
Xiao Yunying deliberately soaked the snow fungus in front of her parents: "I'll teach you how to soak snow fungus. These two are specially for you to try."
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