Hearing Liu Baoguo asking her for food, Xia Juhua shook her head at him: "You are still young, you can't eat. What if you choke?"

"Mom, what's wrong with Baoguo?" Wang Caifeng heard her son crying as she entered the yard, and ran in in a hurry, even forgetting to put the basket in the kitchen. She also forgot her determination to please her mother-in-law before going out, and looked at Xia Juhua with dissatisfaction.

"He just woke up, so I held him in my arms. He must be hungry." Xia Juhua didn't think there was anything wrong with a baby crying a few times - her grandson's wife had taught her in her previous life that she shouldn't hold a baby as soon as he cried, saying that crying helps exercise a baby's lung capacity.

Those were the words of Liu Baoguo's wife, and Xia Juhua thought it was okay to use them on him.

Wang Caifeng had no idea that her future daughter-in-law had any theories about how to train her child's lung capacity, so she was somewhat dissatisfied with her mother-in-law for just standing on the ground and watching her son cry: "Mom, don't you hate to see Baoguo cry?"

That was before I didn’t know how you would treat me!

Xia Juhua glanced at Wang Caifeng calmly and said, "I can't bear to see a child cry, so when you went to the private plot, I told you to come back quickly, so that the child wouldn't wake up and cry because he can't find you. Why did you go out for so long?"

Wang Caifeng was stunned, looking at her mother-in-law in disbelief. Since the second daughter-in-law came into the family, Wang Caifeng found that her mother-in-law had changed a little, becoming more talkative, but also more sincere than before.

She just came back from her private plot and happened to meet some talkative young wives. When they asked her if she got along well with her new sisters-in-law, she couldn't help but say a few more words. Anyway, her mother-in-law was at home, so she never had to worry about her children when she was away. No matter whether she came home early or late, her son was taken care of neatly, well fed, and smiled broadly whenever he saw people.

Today, the mother-in-law stood there and watched her son cry. She even asked why she came back late. Wang Caifeng felt a little wronged: "Mom, I didn't go out for a long time."

Xia Juhua looked at the few radishes in her basket that could be counted, then looked at Wang Caifeng, lowered her head and said, "Okay, it will be done in a short while if you say so. I still have to continue working. Bring the child to me when I cook." Only five of the eight quilts were made, and she didn't have time to argue with Wang Caifeng.

Wang Caifeng's heart actually began to beat in fear after hearing this. She had just been talking to those young wives, and they were envious of her for being able to chat with people on the street at any time of day or night while raising a baby, so they only asked her if she could get along with her sisters-in-law, but not whether she could get along with her mother-in-law.

Wang Caifeng doesn't seem tired of taking care of the child at all. Needless to say, she doesn't have to worry about the child when she goes out. If the mother-in-law doesn't care or doesn't take good care of the child, how can Wang Caifeng not worry about her son?

But they certainly didn't expect that the mother-in-law had changed. Why did the mother-in-law change? While Wang Caifeng carried the child back to the house, she thought about the reason for Xia Juhua's change. In the end, she came to the conclusion that after Sun Hongmei came into the family, the mother-in-law made a comparison between the two daughters-in-law, which made her dissatisfied with herself.

The mother-in-law must think that Sun Hongmei is better at talking than she is, so she is partial to Sun Hongmei. Wang Caifeng thinks this is not okay. She came into the family early and has lived with her mother-in-law for three years. She knows that her mother-in-law is meticulous about her life. She wants to show Xia Juhua that living at home is not just about saying nice things. She, Wang Caifeng, knows how to live better than Sun Hongmei!

When Sun Hongmei came back tiredly for lunch, she found that Wang Caifeng had not only prepared the meal, but also prepared water for her mother-in-law to wash her hands. She also asked Liu Baoguo to wait by Xia Juhua's side with a towel. As soon as Xia Juhua took her hands out of the water, Liu Baoguo had already raised the towel high and said, "Grandma, here."

What's going on? Sun Hongmei was puzzled, but she smiled and said, "Baoguo is such a smart little boy. He knows how to be filial to his grandmother at such a young age."

Wang Caifeng proudly puffed out her bulging belly and continued, "All the children in our family are filial. Baoguo is setting an example for his younger brother."

"Sister-in-law, has someone called to check the baby's pulse?" Sun Hongmei felt that Wang Caifeng was showing off too much. How could she be so sure that she was pregnant with a boy?

Wang Caifeng was choked by her and couldn't help but look at Xia Juhua. Xia Juhua was looking at the food on the table with a frown, as if she hadn't heard about the lawsuit between the two sisters-in-law. Sun Hongmei also followed her gaze and looked at the food on the table, and she became even angrier.

Wang Caifeng only cooked porridge at noon. Although it was much thicker than the porridge at Sun Hongmei's mother's house, it was still porridge. Ever since Sun Hongmei got married, the Liu family had dry food on the table for three meals a day, but they never had only porridge in the morning and at noon.

The first day she went to the fields, Wang Caifeng gave her this to eat. Could this fill someone up after working in the fields for half a day?

"Caifeng, why don't you have any cakes?" Xia Juhua also felt that Wang Caifeng's behavior was not fair, so she asked directly. She had to ask, because if she didn't ask, Sun Hongmei would think that she was the one who asked Wang Caifeng to cook like that, and her reputation as a wicked mother-in-law would start to spread, right?

Wang Caifeng didn't expect that the first person to make trouble was not Sun Hongmei but her mother-in-law. This further confirmed her mother-in-law's idea of ​​favoring Sun Hongmei. She was angry and thought about how to make her mother-in-law think she was calculating. She even forgot about saving food for the family and said in a pouty voice: "Mom, I thought Zhiquan and the others were not at home today, and we didn't have to work in the fields, so I didn't make any cakes."

Xia Juhua couldn't bear to see her eldest daughter-in-law who was calculating for her own benefit, but Sun Hongmei felt that she had to talk to her eldest sister-in-law, otherwise she would think that she was easy to bully: "So my sister-in-law is saving food for the family. I understand. From now on, when my eldest sister-in-law goes to work in the fields and it's my turn to cook, I will also make porridge."

Wang Caifeng then realized that she had forgotten that her mother-in-law had said that she and Sun Hongmei would work in the fields one day at a time to earn work points. It was because Sun Hongmei said she was pregnant that her mother-in-law let her stay at home for a few more days. But it didn't mean that she didn't have to work in the fields from now on. Sun Hongmei would always stay at home sometimes.

Those who stayed at home not only had to cook, but also had to look after Liu Baoguo.

This is like having a hostage in Sun Hongmei's hands. What to eat is put aside for now. If Sun Hongmei abuses her son while she is not at home, Liu Baoguo is so young that he can't even learn to speak. Wouldn't that be a waste?! The mother-in-law is about to finish making the quilt. It is impossible for her to stay at home and not work.

Xia Juhua ignored Wang Caifeng's changing expression, glanced at Sun Hongmei, and asked, "Do you want to have porridge every day at noon?"

Sun Hongmei still felt wronged, and cried out pitifully: "Mom, don't I think what my sister-in-law said makes sense? We have to live frugally and save what we can. Anyway, there is no heavy work in the team now, so it's okay to have porridge at noon."

You are still playing tricks on me, right? That's what you said. When Xia Juhua was making quilts these two days, she recalled many things that happened in her life. She knew that because of the disaster in the south, not only did the supply and marketing cooperative have manual work to make quilts, but the grain station also wanted to collect surplus grain from its members to support the disaster area.

Because the production teams had just distributed grain, the grain station collected surplus grain and charged a fixed price for it, regardless of whether it was new or old grain. Many families sold the little old grain left over from the previous year. What's worse, some people who were greedy for the high price of surplus grain sold a lot of new grain.

Xia Juhua remembered that in the second year after the grain station collected surplus grain, the entire Chengping area suffered a severe drought, with large-scale crop losses and almost no winter wheat harvest. Those who only sold old grain were better off, but those who sold even new grain were so hungry that they had to rely on wild vegetables to fill their stomachs, just like during the □□ period.

The situation continued until the autumn harvest of 1976, when it was alleviated. There were several elderly people in Ping'an Village who passed away in the past two years.

Xia Juhua was thinking about what excuse she could use to save export grain for the family, but she didn't expect Wang Caifeng to have already thought of an idea for her.

Looking at both daughters-in-law, Xia Juhua asked: "So you both agree that this winter, we will have porridge for lunch instead of dry food, right?" She had to make it clear that she was not the kind of person who treated her daughters-in-law harshly. Everything was their own choice.

Wang Caifeng was also angry at Sun Hongmei's words that she learned it from her sister-in-law. She was afraid that she could not learn Sun Hongmei's aggrieved look, so she nodded stiffly. Seeing that Sun Hongmei did not say anything else, Xia Juhua said, "Eat." She sat down first and picked up a bowl of porridge to drink.

The dish was stewed radishes that Wang Caifeng had dug up in the morning. There was no oil or water in it, so Xia Juhua couldn't eat it. But she kept it to herself, because she wasn't eating alone.

In the afternoon, Sun Hongmei went back to work. After Xia Juhua finished making two quilts, she went to the kitchen, soaked the selected peanuts in water, and started a fire. Wang Caifeng was worried about the lunch. She was afraid that her mother-in-law would be more dissatisfied with her, and she was also afraid that Sun Hongmei would tell others that she bullied her. When she heard Xia Juhua's movements, she followed her to the kitchen.

"Mom, what are you going to do? Do you need my help?"

Wang Caifeng's attitude was certainly not insincere, but Xia Juhua felt that her attentiveness was misplaced, and said without even looking up, "No, I'll make something and take it to the supply and marketing cooperative tomorrow to thank your cousin."

Wang Caifeng's eyes lit up when she heard this. She thought, "That's right. How could I have forgotten about my cousin?" According to her mother-in-law, if it weren't for her cousin's help, she wouldn't have gotten any quilt-making work. With this relationship, her mother-in-law probably wouldn't be too angry with her for the sake of making money.

So she said hesitantly, "Mom, are you still angry with me?"

Is this an admission of fault? Xia Juhua felt that she could not keep up with her eldest daughter-in-law's thinking: "Why should I be angry with you?"

"That's right. Hongmei went to work in the fields today, but I only made porridge and no dry food." Wang Caifeng didn't want to admit that she did it on purpose, but her mother-in-law asked so clearly that she must have seen through her little thoughts.