Song Anxin will never forget the complex expression on Sister-in-law Lin's face when she left.
It was getting dark by then. Farmers usually ate dinner early, so they had to start a fire and cook before dark to finish all the chores for the whole family, otherwise they would have to work in the dark.
Farmers at the bottom of society don't have things as precious as candles, so they're already cooking later than usual.
Song Anxin's stomach had been growling with hunger for a long time, and she saw that her four sons were still standing there.
"What? Aren't you going to eat?" Song Anxin asked.
The four sons seemed to wake from a dream, and hurriedly chopped wood, fetched water, and started a fire. Lin Fengnian, in particular, worked even harder than usual.
Only the third son, Song Fenghe, looked at Song Anxin uneasily, and as if he had mustered up a lot of courage, he asked, "Mother, aren't you going to take out the grain?"
After saying that, he resignedly closed his eyes, bracing himself for a scolding from his mother.
Song Anxin slapped her forehead. Oh, she had forgotten about that. In this family, she was the most authoritative person. Even the food was locked in the cupboard and taken out periodically by her.
Song Anxin took out the key hanging around her neck and walked back to her room, saying, "Wait a moment, Mom will get it for you right away."
Song Anxin used her key to open the food cabinet in her room and was instantly dumbfounded.
There was only a pitiful amount of blackened millet and a little bit of dark flour in the cupboard. That was all the food the family had. Song Anxin had thought that the family was poor, but she never expected them to be this poor.
However, this is how most farmers at the bottom of society live now. According to the original owner's memories, the Great Yin Dynasty has only been established for a short time.
The wars of the past few years caused immense suffering for ordinary people living at the bottom of society, and only in recent years has things stabilized.
However, there was constant warfare on the border, so it was as if internal troubles had been resolved only to be met with external threats.
Just as Song Anxin was sighing, her four sons were secretly gathering together.
The second son, Lin Fengshou, said, "Mother didn't scold anyone. I thought we'd only have wild vegetable soup to eat today."
The third son, Lin Fenghe, chimed in softly, "Yes, Mother seems to have changed a bit."
The youngest, Lin Fengyao, opened his big eyes and said, "Mom smiled today!"
The happiest person was Lin Fengnian: "Mother actually agreed to let me marry Zhang Mei, hehehe... Mother is so good." As he spoke, he even started to laugh like an idiot.
The other three were also happy for their eldest brother.
When Song Anxin came out of the house with the grain, the four boys quickly dispersed again.
Song Anxin chuckled. Actually, she could hear everything clearly in her own room. It wasn't that she wanted to hear it, but the ancient house didn't have much soundproofing.
Song Anxin gave all the millet and black flour in her hand to Lin Fenghe. In this family, the third son, Lin Fenghe, was in charge of cooking. The original owner of this body could be said to have taken being lazy and gluttonous to the extreme.
Lin Fenghe was shocked when he received the grain. It was a mixture of millet and dark flour. Could this be all the grain his family had?
However, he didn't dare to ask too many questions; perhaps his mother wanted to eat more today.
Unlike the original owner, Song Anxin didn't stand up and go to her room to wait for her meal; instead, she stayed in the kitchen.
She couldn't accept having these teenagers serve her; she wanted to familiarize herself with the kitchen environment so she could cook for herself in the future.
Song Anxin has honed her culinary skills over the years, and even her picky best friend praises her as Chef Song.
However, the third brother's cooking skills are really not that advanced.
Lin Fenghe washed the millet, added water, and started cooking it in the broken pot. After it was cooked, he added some water, wild vegetables, and black flour, and cooked it into a wild vegetable porridge.
That dark, gooey appearance looked unappetizing.
Lin Fenghe suffered the most. His mother's presence while he cooked was incredibly oppressive, and her expression grew increasingly grim. Yet, he didn't steal a single bite.
Song Anxin was completely bewildered by Lin Fenghe's tearful expression. The original owner's four sons were all good in every way, except that they were too timid, and only the second son was more outgoing.
Song Anxin seemed to suddenly realize something: "Feng He, why didn't you add salt?"
"Mother, didn't we run out of salt a few months ago?" Lin Fenghe said cautiously.
Song Anxin then remembered that her family had been without salt and oil for several months, and she sighed inwardly at her tragic fate once again.
When a large bowl of millet porridge and wild vegetable paste was served, the four sons were dumbfounded.
Of course, it wasn't meant for them to eat. Every mealtime, their mother would only serve them the thinnest porridge, which the dog would then eat all by itself.
The second son, Lin Fengshou, was more direct, asking, "Mother, are you going to eat so much today? Is there any food left at home?"
Song Anxin "..."
Am I a pig? How can I eat so much by myself?
Lin Fenghe immediately noticed Song Anxin's emotions and gently nudged Lin Fengshou.
Song Anxin took in all the subtle actions between the two, so it's no wonder Lin Fengshou asked that question.
The original owner of this body was indeed quite a big eater. Although the four children were all thin, she herself was quite sturdy. Moreover, her skin tone was not as dark as that of ordinary peasant women, but rather fair, due to not working for many years.
If it weren't for her coarse, tattered clothes, one might mistake her for a stewardess from a wealthy family. As for why she's a stewardess and not a mistress...
Rather, it was because the original owner had a very bad temper and would fight and curse at the drop of a hat, which made her look very fierce. What wealthy family's wife would look so fierce every day?
It's all the original owner's fault!
So he said, "There is really no food left at home; this is all we have."
Lin Fenghe realized that his guess was correct.
Lin Fengnian said honestly, "It's alright, Mother, eat as much as you like. We're out of grain, I'll borrow some tomorrow. The grain will be harvested soon, and we'll pay them back then."
Lin Fengshou quickly replied, "Yes, Mother, you can eat as much as you like. I'll go up the mountain to hunt rabbits for you another day so you can have some grease."
Lin Fenghe also whispered, "I can eat a little less and leave it all for Mother."
The youngest son, Lin Fengyao, was drooling over the food on the table, but he didn't forget to say, "I can dig up lots of wild vegetables for Mom to eat."
Haha... Song Anxin was amused by her four sons.
The original owner's four sons were truly filial. I wonder how much good fortune the original owner had accumulated. However, good fortune is taken away if it is not cherished, which is a good thing for him.
The four sons were stunned; they had never seen their mother smile so happily before.
The youngest, Lin Fengyao, didn't have much time for such thoughts. He blinked his big eyes and said, "Mother's smile is so beautiful."
Song Anxin felt very pleased to hear this. Children certainly wouldn't lie, so she ladled out a bowl of thick millet porridge and placed it in front of Lin Fengyao, saying, "Fengyao has excellent taste."
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