In the afternoon, Huang Lao Da and Huang Lao Er returned carrying a pile of things.
"Mom, everything's bought," Huang Lao Er said, pulling things out of the box. "This is pork, five jin, and the vendor even threw in three big bones. This is mutton, mutton is the cheapest, I bought ten jin. Fried dough twists, candied dates, red bean cakes..."
"Alright, alright," Jiang Nuan interrupted his endless nagging, "It's all bought. Give it to your sister-in-law to keep safe and let her decide how to use it."
Jiang Nuan had one thing she couldn't understand: why did these mothers-in-law and daughters-in-law fight so fiercely for the right to manage the household?
They have little money, yet they have to worry about a ton of trivial matters. They have to decide what to cook and how much food to eat, and they have to decide what chores to do for their family members. To put it nicely, they are housekeepers, but in reality, they are just maids.
She plans to leave all these matters to her eldest daughter-in-law starting today.
"Mother, leave these arrangements to me?" Madam Wang's eyes shone brightly. Realizing she had lost her composure, she immediately lowered her head. "Mother, you are the head of our family. You can arrange these things."
“Just accept the arrangement I’ve made,” Jiang Nuan said, becoming even more willful after learning of Jiang’s bad temper. “That’s settled then. If you’re unsure, discuss it with Jiao Jiao.”
As she spoke, Jiang Nuan took out a bunch of keys from her waist. "Here, take this too. From now on, unless it's a matter of life and death, you can decide everything else yourselves."
Jiang Nuan wanted to reveal her family's assets, but she felt guilty.
She had already squandered half of the five taels of silver, and she was too embarrassed to hand over such a mess to her daughter-in-law.
Fortunately, the seedlings in the space are almost ready, and they can be exchanged for money in two or three days.
“Mother,” Wang said, trembling with emotion, “thank you for trusting me. I promise I won’t let you down.”
"Don't feel pressured," Jiang Nuan patted Wang Shi on the shoulder, "It's no big deal."
After handing over the keys, Jiang Nuan felt completely relieved, finally free from worrying about these trivial matters.
Jiang Nuan felt exhausted thinking about how her two sisters-in-law had run to her room to get food yesterday, even though she was about to enter the space.
Fortunately, it was just a little bit too late, otherwise things would have been much worse.
“Mother,” Wang felt a warm glow in her heart, “Mother asked me to manage the household, I will definitely do my best.”
"Okay, do a good job," Jiang Nuan said speechlessly, looking at her eldest daughter-in-law who was full of enthusiasm, before turning and leaving.
"Mother~" After Xie found out, she didn't say anything, but looked at Jiang Nuan with longing eyes and kept acting cute.
Everything was understood without words. Jiang Nuan rubbed her forehead. "You want to manage the household with your sister-in-law?"
“Yes, yes,” Xie’s eyes sparkled, “I’m more capable than my sister-in-law.”
Xie carefully counted her advantages in her mind: she was a good cook, strong, and efficient at work...
"It's not like this is a good thing, is it really necessary?" Jiang Nuan tapped her forehead. "Worrying about these trivial things every day will drive you crazy."
She strongly suspects that the reason why mothers-in-law are so irritable these days is because they are just too annoying.
“I don’t mind,” Xie Shi kept shaking Jiang Nuan’s arm. “Mother, I just want to manage the household with my sister-in-law, is that alright?”
"Fine, fine," Jiang Nuan forcefully pulled her hand away, "Tell your sister-in-law yourself that I agree."
"Okay, I'll go right away." After hearing Jiang Nuan say this, Xie Shi left happily.
That evening, the chicken that died with its eyes wide open and the plump, white rabbit still did not appear on the Huang family's dining table.
Wang Shi fully inherited and carried forward the spirit of Jiang Shi: frugality (stinginess), and the Huang family returned to the days of drinking wild vegetable porridge.
Except for Jiang Nuan and the fat man.
Mrs. Wang specially cooked fine rice porridge for the two of them.
The bland white rice porridge made Jiang Nuan feel very wronged.
The rest of the Huang family felt even more wronged than she did!
It's easy to go from frugality to extravagance, but difficult to go from extravagance to frugality. The Huang family had been eating and drinking well these past few days, and suddenly returning to their miserable days made them lose their appetite.
"Sister-in-law," Huang Xiaosi said with a bitter face, "why is the food so bad today?"
"Is it bad?" Wang looked at the table. "No, it's even better than before. I added two more handfuls of brown rice."
"Sister-in-law," Huang Lao Er really didn't want to drink, so he simply put down his chopsticks, "Didn't Mother say that the food at home should be better for those who are healthy? Why are you still eating the same thing as before?"
“Second brother,” Wang explained with her head down, “you’ll be able to eat well tomorrow, just bear with it tonight.”
These words almost stunned Jiang Nuan.
She cleared her throat and slowly said, "Eldest daughter-in-law, our family really doesn't need to eat so poorly. Spring plowing is coming soon, and if we don't fatten up now, we won't be able to handle the busy work. Let it go this time, but don't be so frugal next time."
“Mother,” Xie said with a bitter face, “I have tried to persuade my sister-in-law many times, but she just won’t listen.”
She told her sister-in-law several times not to do that, but her sister-in-law was stubborn and insisted that it was better for the family and that her mother would be happier.
What's there to be happy about? Who would turn down good food and meat to eat brown rice porridge?
Ms. Xie decided to feed the remaining brown rice to the chickens tomorrow.
“Mother,” Wang said, her eyes reddening with grievance, “Your daughter-in-law only thought that it was right to cut back on food and live frugally because we don’t have much food.”
“Your initial intention was good,” Jiang Nuan affirmed first, then changed the subject and continued, “but you used the wrong method. Food is the most important thing for people. No matter how frugal you are, you can’t be frugal with food and drink. Besides, our family is already very frugal. We’re not even at a moderately prosperous level.”
The Huang family's meals were a little better than before, with refined rice and meat now available, but that was all. Meat was only added in tiny amounts to the dishes to enhance the flavor, and the rice was only slightly thicker than porridge.
This food is worse than a ten-yuan boxed lunch.
Jiang Nuan felt that she had already wronged herself enough, but in the end, she encountered a Wang Shi who was even more ruthless than herself.
Thinking of this, Jiang Nuan announced loudly, "From now on, our family will eat white rice every meal, have meat every day, and everyone will eat an egg every day."
"Mother, if you say that, our family's meals can rival those of the emperor in the palace," Huang Xiaosi said with longing.
“An emperor? Even a landlord’s family can’t compare. This is nothing,” Jiang Nuan shook her head. “When you have the chance, I’ll let you know what kind of food is better than an emperor’s.”
"Mom, really?" Huang Xiaosi asked excitedly, "Is our family that awesome?"
"You'll find out later," Jiang Nuan said with a mysterious smile.
“Mother,” Wang Shi tugged at Jiang Nuan’s sleeve, “according to what you said, it would probably cost more than thirty coins a day.”
"It's alright, in a few days, Mom will help you make a lot of money," Jiang Nuan promised boldly.
As night fell, Jiang Nuan, having finished her boasting, grabbed a wooden bucket and slipped into the spatial dimension.
"Vegetables, oh vegetables," Jiang Nuan said as she watered the plants, "you have to grow up quickly so we can sell them for money."
After tending to her precious vegetables, Jiang Nuan excitedly walked over to the plum saplings.
The seedlings, having rested in the space for half a day, are growing exceptionally well, bursting with vitality from their slender branches and leaves.
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com