When Liang Shuyan returned home, she saw a fire burning in the yard and frowned, asking, "Mother, has something happened at home?"
Niu Niu was so frightened that her legs went weak. She ran over tremblingly and immediately hugged Liang Shuyan's legs, crying loudly, "Mom, there are wolves!"
Madam Liu nodded heavily: "When my daughter-in-law was at the door, she heard the howling of wolves coming in waves, and it seemed to be getting closer and closer, so, Grandma, that's why we lit a fire!"
Liang Shuyan had read such passages in books before: after wolves broke into people's homes, they ate the livestock and people in the house. The bloody scene was simply shocking.
Wolves are afraid of fire. Burning a fire in the yard can only keep the wolves out of the yard, but it won't drive them away completely.
"Erniu, Sanwang, you two tidy up the things on the donkey cart. Oh, and Erniu, hurry up and pull the dog out, feed it some food, and tie it up in front of our house!"
Upon hearing this, Erniu immediately nodded: "Okay, Mom, I'll get ready to take the dog out and tie it up at the door!"
Jin Erniu tugged at the bag, and the dog jumped out, almost scaring Jin Erniu to the ground.
His voice trembled as he stammered, "Mother, didn't you say it was a puppy? How come it's so big? It's practically a wolf!"
Jin Erniu felt that his mother must have been misled by someone. He stood up tremblingly, grabbed Liang Shuyan's hands and said, "Mother, you haven't been fooled by someone, have you? This, this is clearly a wolf! No, I've seen wolves before, but none of them are this ferocious!"
"How could that be? No way! That person even explained that this is the latest breed of wolfhound, good for guarding the gate. It's a wolfhound, but not a wolf. Do you think your mother is stupid? Besides, if it were a wolf, wouldn't it have eaten us already?"
Jin Erniu thought about it and realized that if it really was a wolf, wouldn't they have been eaten on the way?
Liang Shuyan slowly walked over, reached out and stroked its neck with both hands, and said with a smile, "You're so dark-skinned, so from now on I'll call you Big Black!"
Big Black wagged its tail, not at all fierce, but rather seemed very friendly, which stunned Da Shan and Er Niu beside it. They never expected that their mother would buy such a big, wolf-like dog, and that it seemed to be very affectionate with her.
"Oh dear, Mom, it seems to really like the name 'Big Black.' Look, it's even wagging its tail!"
"Sanwang, come here and tie up Dahei. Dashan, you need to build a doghouse for Dahei. Oh, and make it nice."
Da Shan agreed and went to get busy. Er Niu, on the other hand, stood for a while and then went to pull the things off the donkey cart. With a meow, a black cat flew out of the bag and almost scratched Er Niu's face.
Erniu felt unlucky. He let out a sigh of relief: "I was just scared by this big black cat, and now it's a kitten. What other new and interesting things has Mom bought?"
Liu also came over and, seeing the large stack of beautiful porcelain bowls and plates, covered her mouth in surprise: "Mother, you bought so many bowls and chopsticks, it must have cost a lot of money. Actually, the old bowls at home can still be used."
"What does it mean to make do? Making do means settling for less, without any serious or responsible attitude. Life should have a sense of ritual; how can we just do the bare minimum?"
Liu Shi naturally didn't understand what her mother-in-law meant. Zhang Shi wiped her hands, glanced at the plates, took the beautiful bowls and plates from Liu Shi's hands, and said with a smile, "Since Mother has already bought them, there's no need to say anything more. Hurry up and take them inside, clean them up, and put them in the cupboard."
Zhang happily carried the plate inside, while Liu saw a pile of beautiful fabrics and exclaimed excitedly, "Mother, are you making new clothes for us? This fabric is so beautiful! Your daughter-in-law has never worn such beautiful fabric before!"
Liang Shuyan glanced at Liu Shi: "That's right, I'll make two sets of clothes for each of you, so you'll have to be more diligent from now on, and you can't upset your mother!"
"Mother, I understand. Your daughter-in-law must work hard and listen to you!"
The rice and flour were moved from the mountains to a small house, which was supported by a frame made of several wooden sticks. The kitten was left in that house so that it could protect the grain from rats if any came.
Li Lanfang shook her head: "Look at you, how can you be so extravagant when it comes to daily life? These fabrics are obviously high-quality, they must have cost a lot of money."
"Mom, how could that be? You know your daughter-in-law is good at bargaining, don't you? Don't worry, these things aren't that valuable. Look, what's this? We still have spare ribs tonight."
Li Lanfang smiled broadly, a few wrinkles appearing on her old face.
He then picked up a delicate little box and asked, "What is this?"
Liang Shuyan said with a grin, "Mother, this is a good thing too. Give one to me, one to the eldest daughter-in-law, one to the second daughter-in-law, and the rest is mine. Hehe, it's good for beauty and health. Women in our Jin family not only need to live well, but more importantly, they need to be fair-skinned and tender, and be loved by everyone!"
Liu blushed and said, "Thank you, Mother. The Ge family's daughter-in-law really knows how to dress up. She made her skin so white and even boasted about it in the village. I, her daughter-in-law, envy her good skin."
Liang Shuyan snorted coldly: "If you have money, you can buy good rouge and powder, so naturally you'll have good skin. Humph, if you don't have money, you'll look sallow and old, and there's nothing you can do about it."
Zhang carried a string of meat into the kitchen and, as instructed by her mother-in-law, soaked the meat in salt water.
Liang Shuyan distributed the face cream, then turned and went into the kitchen. Today, she was going to cook a delicious meal so that the whole family could have a good meal. Since they fled the famine, they hadn't had a proper meal.
Liu came in carrying a pile of firewood and placed it by the stove: "Mother, let me start a fire for us!"
"Okay, eldest daughter-in-law, you wash the rice and start steaming it. I'll cut the meat. Today I'll make you a 'rolled mountain meat'!"
Madam Zhang smiled kindly: "Mother, the names of these dishes are all quite strange. I've never heard you name dishes like this before."
"Alright, hurry up and cook!"
The kitchen was filled with smoke and a thick haze. Liu Shi was very talkative, chattering on and on, but Liang Shuyan answered patiently without showing any signs of annoyance.
"Open the door, Dashan, I have something important to tell you!" A familiar voice came from outside the door, approaching from afar.
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