Jiang Nuan nodded. "Since your second son's wife isn't here, please be careful when you look after the children. Make sure the two girls don't go hungry. There's still some rice porridge at home; feed them a little every half hour."
"Don't worry, Mother, I won't let them go hungry." As Wang said this, her eyes unconsciously glanced at her bulging chest. Although she was a little embarrassed, she was full of confidence.
Seeing this, Jiang Nuan unconsciously began to scrutinize her eldest daughter-in-law.
Upon closer inspection, it was discovered that although Wang was a bit dark-skinned and thin, she had a very good figure, a standard oval face, and well-proportioned features. If she took good care of herself, she would surely become a beautiful and graceful woman.
In particular, her gentle and graceful temperament makes her even more likable.
After thinking carefully about the other family members, I suddenly realized that they all had good health, but they were all starving and looked emaciated.
Jiang Nuan breathed a sigh of relief, thinking, "Looks like I'm not bad looking."
The Huang family has water, but no bronze mirror. Logically, Jiang Nuan should have known what she looks like long ago, but in fact, she still doesn't.
She was terrified!
She couldn't accept that she had gone from a single, beautiful woman to a wrinkled, spotted old woman with a grassy face.
Therefore, after seeing her hands, which looked like withered tree bark, she never had the courage to look at her own face again.
Wang blushed under Jiang Nuan's gaze, lowered her head, and asked timidly, "Mother, is there any dust on your daughter-in-law's face?"
Although the Huang family was poor, they had a very particular old lady named Jiang, and everyone in the family kept the place clean and tidy.
"No, I was just spacing out for a bit. You go ahead with your work, I'll go to the kitchen to find something to eat."
"Mother, I'll go get breakfast. You go sit in the hall first, it'll be ready soon!" Wang said, glancing at Jiang Nuan before quickly going into the kitchen.
My mother-in-law has a sensitive stomach and needs to be carefully cared for; she's afraid that starving her will cause her health problems.
So, before she could speak up to stop her, Jiang Nuan waved to Er Kang and watched helplessly as Wang Shi disappeared before her eyes.
A gust of cold wind blew by, and her already disheveled hair danced wildly in the wind, making her look particularly desolate.
A moment later, Jiang Nuan walked back to the hall with her head down and shoulders drooping.
Extremely frustrated!
Wang didn't keep Jiang Nuan waiting long. As soon as Jiang Nuan sat down, she brought over some warm food.
A dish of pickled vegetables that never change, and a bowl of thick, watery porridge.
Looking at the golden millet in the bowl, Jiang Nuan immediately realized that her two sisters-in-law had given her special treatment again.
With a flicker of her eyes, Jiang Nuan said to Wang Shi beside her, "Get another bowl, this is too much, I can't finish it."
"Daughter-in-law, I'll go right away." Wang Shi obediently went to the kitchen and brought back a clean bowl.
Jiang Nuan took it, poured out half of the millet porridge, and pushed it in front of Wang Shi, saying, "Here, have some."
“Mother,” Wang said softly, looking at Jiang Nuan with emotion, “Your daughter-in-law has already eaten breakfast. I’ll save these for you to drink at noon.”
“I don’t like eating leftovers. If I give you some, you should eat it,” Jiang Nuan explained after a pause. “Da Ya and Er Ya are still small. If you don’t eat enough, you won’t have enough milk and they will go hungry.”
Jiang had four sons, but Huang Xiaosi was the only one who did not get married.
Huang Laoda is 21 years old this year. His wife is Wang, and they have two sons and one daughter. Da Niu is five years old, Er Niu is three years old, and Er Ya is less than one year old.
Huang Lao Er is seventeen years old this year. His wife is Xie, and they have only one daughter, Daya, who is a little over a year old.
Huang Laosan is seventeen years old this year. His wife is surnamed Jin, and they have no children yet.
The Huang family has thirteen members, which sounds like a lot, but it can't compare to the families in the village with many descendants.
"Mother, you've been so good to your daughter-in-law," Wang said, tears welling up in her eyes again.
"Making a mountain out of a molehill," Jiang Nuan thought to herself. She quickly ate her porridge, wiped her mouth afterward, and slipped away.
Jiang Nuan felt that the Huang family was very hospitable, but they were a little too hospitable for her.
The eldest son's wife would often be moved to tears, while the second son's wife seemed to be a clever person, very skillful at praising others, which even Jiang Nuan, who prided herself on having a thick skin, couldn't handle.
Left with no other option, I can only try to avoid it as much as possible.
"This is so hard," Jiang Nuan said, sitting on a stool and touching her flat belly.
Whether it was yesterday's dumplings or today's porridge, after sharing half of it, we still weren't full. It lacked oil and salt, and after doing so much farm work last night, Jiang Nuan was so hungry that her vision was blurry.
"Never mind, let's go back to our room first."
She suddenly realized something: she hadn't checked the Huang family's assets since she arrived, and didn't even know how much they had.
He hurried back to his room and eagerly searched every nook and cranny.
Sure enough, on the wall next to the bed, they found a movable blue brick. When they opened it, they found a dusty cloth bag inside.
She excitedly took out the cloth bag and poured all its contents onto the bed.
Before long, the light in Jiang Nuan's eyes faded, and in the end, she lay on the bed in dejection, pretending to be dead.
Two pieces of broken silver, two strings of good copper coins, and more than three hundred loose copper coins.
Total: Five taels of silver and three hundred and seventy-five copper coins!
All his belongings added up to less than six taels.
In Jiang Nuan's memory, a medium-sized mu of land cost ten taels of silver.
So poor!
well!
It seems that making money is the most pressing issue.
Fortunately, she didn't have much debt, otherwise Jiang Nuan would have really cried.
She took out the scattered copper coins, put the rest in the thatched hut in the space, and took the more than three hundred copper coins to find Wang Shi.
The Huang family ate so poorly and their house was so empty that she thought they really had no money. Once she found some, she wanted to improve their living standards and help the Huang family recover from their severe financial strain.
In the east wing, Madam Wang placed two maids side by side on the bed and bent down to do her embroidery.
Seeing Jiang Nuan approach, she quickly stood up. "Mother, why are you here? If you need anything, just call me and I'll be right there."
"Nothing serious, just came to see my granddaughter." Jiang Nuan coughed lightly and spoke awkwardly, "Are the girls being noisy? Have you fed them their porridge?"
“They are very well-behaved. They fall asleep as soon as they are full,” Wang said, her eyes filled with tenderness as she looked at the two children. “I have already fed them the porridge. I won’t forget.”
At this point, Wang's gratitude towards Jiang Nuan deepened. Her mother-in-law was an exceptionally kind person who did not look down on girls and even gave them the most precious porridge. Being born into such a family was a blessing for the girls.
Did Wang know that some families would throw their daughters into a chamber pot and drown them?
Looking at the two tiny babies, whose arms were barely longer than her own, Jiang Nuan's eyes darkened. If she didn't know their ages, she would have thought they were only a few months old.
Especially Daya, a child who is just over one year old and still can't walk, is likely due to malnutrition.
“Eldest daughter-in-law,” Jiang Nuan took out fifty copper coins, “buy an old hen and cut two catties of meat, and use the remaining copper coins to buy fine rice. Spring plowing is coming soon, and you are both very weak. You need to replenish your bodies properly.”
“Mother,” Wang’s hands trembled slightly as she held the copper coins, “Isn’t this too much?”
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