Chen Suwen took Ye Yulian to pick chayote. Chen Suwen didn't really like chayote; in fact, she was tired of it.
Despite not liking to eat them, she still enjoyed picking them.
As long as it's not stressful picking of vegetables or fruits, she still enjoys this kind of "labor" that she does however makes her happy.
Therefore, Chen Suwen took her own large basket and enthusiastically picked chayote, picking both old and young ones as long as they were edible.
"What do you think will happen to the Wang family next door?" Ye Yulian asked Chen Suwen while picking melons. "Will Liu Lifen let her in-laws successfully freeload off her?"
They all knew that Fu Guixiang's mother and brother were definitely coming to freeload.
They were well aware that the Wang family had previously caused a scene at the Fu family's residence and had even taken back the three hundred yuan dowry that was originally intended for the Fu family.
As for the job that was given to Fu Guilan, Yang Donghua, as her husband, had already paid her back, so of course he didn't ask for it back.
"I heard that Fu Guilan brought the three hundred yuan dowry given by the Wang family when she married into the Yang family, but her family didn't leave her a single penny."
"Now that her family has returned the bride price to the Wang family, hasn't her family's savings been almost completely depleted?"
There aren't many places to make money in the countryside, and the Fu family doesn't seem to be a wealthy family. A few hundred yuan should be enough to cripple them.
Chen Suwen shook her head, "Although three hundred yuan is indeed a huge loss for the Fu family, it is unlikely to cause them serious damage or deplete their entire fortune."
How could a family that could afford to send Fu Guilan to high school really not have much money?
Even if Fu Guilan is smart and beautiful, her family must still favor sons over daughters, so they would never sacrifice the interests of male offspring and pour all their resources into Fu Guilan when they are short of money.
Therefore, the Fu family must have some wealth, which allows Fu Guilan to live such a comfortable life without harming the interests of the male members.
"Look at how the Fu family agreed to let Fu Guilan marry into the Yang family with three hundred yuan. Tell me, would you be willing to give your daughter such a large 'dowry'?" Chen Suwen asked Ye Yulian.
Ye Yulian shook her head, "Then I really can't bear to part with it."
She'd be lucky to give her daughter a dowry of 100 yuan; she simply couldn't afford 300 yuan.
In her family, the eldest son has a job in the city, the second son went to the countryside, the third son is a daughter who got married, but the fourth and fifth sons both went to the countryside.
In her family, only Lao Zhao and his eldest son have jobs, and each of them earns a meager salary to support several people in the family. Where would they get so much money for their daughter's dowry?
Chen Suwen shrugged. "So the Fu family isn't particularly poor."
Ye Yulian understood what she meant, but she believed that Fu Guixiang's mother and the others had come to freeload.
"Don't you believe in Liu Lifen's abilities? Do you think she's the type to be bullied by her in-laws?"
Although Liu Lifen did not have the same infamous reputation as Chen Suwen as a wicked mother-in-law, she was still known as a shrew.
It's not like she hasn't fought with her neighbors before; in addition to her neighbors, she's also fought with neighbors from several other streets.
So, given her personality, Fu Guixiang's mother might not necessarily come out on top.
As the two chatted about gossip about the Wang family, they picked the edible chayote melons. She also picked the older ones, planning to share them with the neighbors so they could plant some too.
After picking the chayote, the two carried the edible ones to Ye Yulian's house.
Chen Suwen helped Ye Yulian cut the chayote, which would then be blanched and dried so it could be stored for a long time.
"Mom, there are so many melons!" Lin Chunfen, the eldest daughter-in-law of Ye Yulian's daughter-in-law, was shocked to see her mother-in-law bring back so many melons.
It's okay to eat chayote occasionally, but you'll get tired of it if you eat it every meal. Anyway, Lin Chunfen's feelings about chayote are neither good nor bad right now.
If she finishes both baskets of this size, she might never want to see chayote again.
Although it's nice to have something to eat, chayote is a vegetable, not a staple food, so she wasn't very happy to have so much stockpiled.
"It's good to have more. We can dry them and send them to the second brother and the others later."
Her second son was sent to the countryside in the north, her fourth son was sent to the countryside in Fujian Province, and her fifth son was sent to the countryside in the northwest.
She was genuinely worried that they weren't eating well, coming from all over the country, and wished she could give them some extra subsidies.
Lin Chunfen didn't have any objections, as long as her mother-in-law didn't send all the family's money to her brother-in-law and sister-in-law.
It's just cutting up chayote, blanching it, and drying it. What's the big deal?
Things that can be solved with effort are not problems.
After all, she had no money, but she had a lot of strength.
Chen Suwen, along with Ye Yulian and Lin Chunfen, cut the chayote. Of course, she was very careful not to let the chayote juice get on her hands.
When you cut a chayote, it secretes a sticky juice that, once dried, feels like a film on your hand.
Moreover, this juice is difficult to remove once it dries, and Chen Suwen didn't want to have to go through a lot of trouble to remove the sticky liquid from her hands.
Lin Chunfen gets along well with her mother-in-law. Although there are occasional conflicts between them, their relationship isn't particularly tense when there aren't any.
When we're working together, I can still share gossip with my mother-in-law.
Chen Suwen helped the mother-in-law and daughter-in-law with their work, and then they started gossiping about the Wang family, mentioning that a mother-in-law and daughter-in-law in a certain family had fought again, and that a man in another family had even hit his wife.
We talked about all sorts of gossip.
Peel the chayote and slice it. Since it needs to be dried, you can cut it into thicker slices.
Soak the sliced chayote in a basin of water first, so that the secreted juice will not stick to the chayote or oxidize it.
After cutting up a large bowlful, Lin Chunfen went to start a fire to boil water. Once the water boiled, she put the chayote slices in to blanch them.
After blanching for a few minutes, the chayote is almost cooked through, then it can be taken out and dried.
Fortunately, their family had many bamboo trays, which could hold a lot of chayote slices to dry.
Chen Suwen worked alongside her mother-in-law and daughter-in-law for a long time before finally cutting, blanching, and drying the two baskets of chayote.
Looking at the yard full of chayote slices, Ye Yulian breathed a sigh of relief, "Once they're dried, they should last a long time."
Chen Suwen nodded, "It would be even better for stewing meat."
Unfortunately, it was difficult to get meat in this era, but hunting was not prohibited, so if you were skilled, you could go up the mountain to hunt.
Whether you catch pheasants or rabbits, you can stew them with dried chayote; it should be very delicious.
Moreover, Ye Yulian's children were sent to the countryside to work, where people could raise chickens and ducks. Perhaps they could trade some meat with the villagers to make stewed chayote.
However, it must have been difficult for the Zhao family's children to become educated youth, so she didn't necessarily expect them to buy meat to eat.
She herself was craving stewed chayote with meat.
It seems she also needs to dry the chayote at home; she can use it to stew meat later, it should be delicious.
I'm getting a little hungry just talking about it.
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com