After a long sleep, Liang Shuyan woke up to find the sun already up and exclaimed, "Oh dear, why did I sleep so late today?"
She rubbed her eyes, put on her clothes, and hurried out to the yard.
Dahei strolled leisurely in the yard, while Jin Dashan squatted to one side, tidying up the chopped firewood. Next to him was a stack of firewood, neat as a wall. This boy was meticulous in his work, and even the smallest things were done impeccably.
Liang Shuyan looked at Dashan: "There's no work to do at home right now, you can go do what you need to do!"
Jin Dashan muttered to himself, "Mother, Dashan is going to go up the mountain to cut some bamboo to make a bed and some small stools for the family!"
"You...you can do it?"
Da Shan chuckled: "Mom, I can give it a try."
Erniu carried a bucket of water, creaking as he came in. As soon as he entered, he leaned close to Liang Shuyan's ear and whispered, "Mother, it looks like Aunt Liu was beaten by a man. Her head is wrapped in gauze, and she's still carrying water!"
Liang Shuyan frowned: "Ah? Such a thing actually happened. Do you know why?"
"It seems to be about her daughter-in-law. Her daughter-in-law originally ran away with the cripple from Kaoshantun, but now she's back, wanting to take away her two grandsons and half of Aunt Liu's property. Aunt Liu refused, so her husband beat her!"
"He's really not a man. He doesn't know how to protect his woman when it matters, but he hits her instead. He deserves to be like a lonely ghost all day long!" Liang Shuyan cursed angrily and turned to go to the kitchen.
The two daughters-in-law were chatting and laughing. This morning they prepared small noodles and steamed eggs.
When Zhang saw her mother-in-law come in, she immediately stopped smiling: "Mother, you're up. Please sit down. Breakfast is ready!"
Liang Shuyan glanced at it: "These noodles you cut? Apart from being uneven, they're a lot better than usual!"
Zhang blushed and said, "Mother, I learned from you, but I still can't do it as well as you do!"
Liang Shuyan glanced at the bowls and chopsticks on the table and said, "From now on, you two can cook separately. One of you will cook on odd-numbered days and the other on even-numbered days. But we must carefully consider the hygiene of the food and the ingredients. Secondly, personal hygiene is also important. Our Jin family has always been particular about food. Therefore, I hope that both of you can improve your cooking skills so that we won't lack manpower in our food business!"
Liu's eyes crinkled with laughter: "Mother, your daughter-in-law will be going back to her parents' home soon. After she comes back, I'll stay on even-numbered days and my sister-in-law on odd-numbered days. Erniu said he doesn't want to go and wants me to go alone, so I'll go after dinner!"
When it came to her eldest daughter-in-law returning to her parents' home, Liang Shuyan had her own ideas. This sister-in-law, Ning, from Liu's family was a heartless woman. Not only did she mistreat her mother-in-law, she also wanted to sell her only sister-in-law, Ruyan, to a brothel. Liu was very concerned about her reputation, and she never told anyone about these things in her family. She thought she was keeping it well hidden. In fact, Liang Shuyan had known about the ins and outs of the matter for a long time.
Jin Erniu was squatting in the yard washing his face when Liang Shuyan called out, "Jin Erniu, come here!"
Jin Erniu glanced at his mother standing under the eaves and felt something was wrong. He thought to himself that he hadn't done anything against the rules, so what was wrong with his mother?
He put down the towel in his hand and walked towards his mother.
"Are you ignoring what your mother said now?"
Jin Erniu was completely bewildered, not knowing what was wrong with his mother, why she had suddenly said something he didn't understand.
"Mother, please tell me what I did wrong. I'm confused."
Liang Shuyan breathed a sigh of relief: "After dinner, I order you to accompany your wife back to her parents' home. This time, I will prepare gifts for you. The gifts should be substantial, but you must make your wife proud and show your proper demeanor. You must not let your wife be inferior to her sister-in-law. The key is that you must bring your sister-in-law back with you this time!"
Jin Erniu was dumbfounded: "Mother, what, what's going on? Didn't you used to dislike this? This time you actually want me to bring my sister-in-law back and give her a generous gift. Mother, that's a bottomless pit, I'm not going!"
"Are you going or not?" Liang Shuyan reached out and grabbed Jin Erniu's ear.
"Mom, I'll go!"
Jin Erniu nodded in agreement. Liang Shuyan received some gift boxes from the system. The gift boxes looked exceptionally luxurious, but the contents inside were completely unknown. They were a jumbled mess, layer upon layer, and when you opened them up, they were just worthless junk. Liang Shuyan did this to spite her powerful sister-in-law, Liu Shi.
The family had a simple breakfast, and Li Lanfang's embroidery became the topic of conversation. When the discussion turned to this, Liang Shuyan offered a new suggestion: "Mother, you see, your health isn't good, and you can't bend over for long periods. How about this? I'll look around and see which women in our village know embroidery, and we can all join in. I'll talk to the shopkeeper, and we'll take a higher cut, then distribute it to the villagers according to the number of people. You'll only be responsible for checking the quality of the embroidery to ensure it's up to standard. This way, it'll be faster, the quality will be better, and most importantly, you won't have to work so hard. What do you think?"
Liu smiled and said, "Mother, this is indeed a good idea. My sister-in-law and I can join in and learn from Grandma. This method is quite good. In short, who would complain about having too much money if it's a business that can make money?"
The old woman put down her chopsticks and said in a deep voice, "This won't do. Why would the shopkeeper offer such a high price to an old woman like me? It's simply because he values my embroidery skills. If I give this embroidery to someone else, everyone in the village will flock here as soon as they hear there's a job that pays well. Whether they know how to do it or not, they'll all come to do it. Wouldn't that ruin my reputation? No, absolutely not!"
Liang Shuyan knew Li Lanfang's stubbornness, so the topic ended there. Liang Shuyan simply replied, "Okay, Mother, then thank you for your hard work. Don't overwork yourself. If you really can't do it, your daughter-in-law will help you, and the money you earn will still be yours!"
"Nonsense! I'm a member of this family. I eat here, so how can the money I earn belong to me? Even though we've come to this place, we still have a place to stay. But if we earn money, shouldn't we improve our living conditions? Of course, we should build a new house. How can we not spend money?"
Erniu, who had been baring his teeth just moments before, immediately shouted excitedly upon hearing the news of building a house: "Great! Great! Our whole family will work together to earn money, and then we'll build a new house by the end of the year, so that Mom and Grandma won't have to work so hard!"
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