"How was your harvest today, you three?" Mother Xiao put down her hoe and asked with a smile.
Jiang Sui and Xiao Lanlan looked at each other and smiled when they heard that. The three of them put the baskets and backpacks under the eaves, each of them was filled to the brim.
When Xiao's mother saw this, her eyes lit up and she was very surprised:
"Oh, you guys are so lucky today. You found a great Feng Shui location?" she said in a half-joking tone.
"No, it's the same place we often go to in previous years, but I don't know what happened this year, the mushrooms are growing like crazy. Maybe it's because my fourth sister-in-law is in a happy mood, so we are lucky enough to run into it. We plan to go again in the afternoon. We still haven't picked most of them. This year, we will try to dry more dried goods so that we can exchange them for more money in the town."
Xiao Lanlan looked very excited, gesturing as she spoke, and that was the joy of harvest.
Mother Xiao also nodded in agreement while listening:
"That's right. It's all thanks to your fourth sister-in-law. When you go there in the afternoon, you have to be careful not to fall or get hurt. Do you understand?"
"Mom, I want to go too. Picking mushrooms is so much fun. I like picking mushrooms." Xiao Hechuan was eager to show off, his clear eyes full of determination.
"Okay, our Hechuan is really sensible and amazing, that's it!" Xiao's mother gave a thumbs up, just like coaxing a child.
Look, Xiao Hechuan, who was praised, instantly revealed a proud expression.
Mother Xiao smiled, but she did not forget her daughter-in-law. She stepped forward and tucked the messy hair on Jiang Sui's forehead behind her head, then gently brushed the dust off her body. She was so gentle that Jiang Sui could not help but feel tears in her eyes.
In fact, she and the original Jiang Sui not only have the same name, but also a similar life experience. She is an orphan who grew up in an orphanage and was adopted by foster parents when she was eight years old. Her foster parents treated her very well because they could not have children and treated her as their own.
But what she didn't expect was that one year after she came, her adoptive mother became pregnant and gave birth to a younger brother. Since then, her status plummeted, and her life was not much better than that of her original self, Jiang Sui. She also extremely lacked family love. Now, Xiao's mother gave her the feeling of a mother, so she was deeply moved.
"Are you tired this morning? Eat more and eat until you are full. You look so thin. Get fat quickly so that your mother will be happy."
Jiang Sui nodded with red eyes, and her two dimples were deep when she smiled, which looked very beautiful.
"Child, why are you crying, silly girl!" Seeing that her eyes were red, Xiao's mother quickly reached out to wipe them for her.
Xiao Hechuan, who was drinking water, heard his wife crying, so he quickly threw away the ladle and came over.
"My wife is crying? Why is she crying?"
He pulled Jiang Sui over and made her face him. Seeing her red eyes, like a little deer, he touched her face with heartache.
"Don't cry, daughter-in-law. Smile. You look so pretty when you smile."
Jiang Sui burst out laughing at his words, and Xiao's mother and Xiao Lanlan also laughed out loud.
"This child is really caring." Xiao's mother was very pleased.
In the kitchen, Zhou was busy, watching the fire and making pancakes. When Xiao's mother came in and saw that Liu was not there, she asked:
"Why are you alone? Where is the third brother's family?"
Upon hearing this, Zhou wiped her hands on her apron and said helplessly:
"She's lying in her room, she says she's having morning sickness."
Everyone knew whether Liu was suffering from morning sickness or not. She just wanted to be lazy. She vomited for a few days when she was just one month pregnant, but after that she ate everything with relish and could eat and sleep well.
Xiao's mother was also helpless. This was her daughter-in-law. Even though the third brother had one, she still assigned her to do some light work, such as helping to light the fire, sweep the floor, etc. But she didn't even want to do it and always found excuses to be lazy.
All the housework is done by the second daughter's family. After a long time, she may not say it out loud, but she may feel resentful in her heart.
It seems that she has to think of a way, otherwise the resentment of the second family will accumulate for a long time and something bad will happen.
For lunch, we had cornmeal pancakes, pumpkin porridge, pickled radishes and pickled vegetables, and some leftover white meat from the banquet.
Because the men in the family have to do farm work, they have to eat a full meal at noon, so they eat the most filling coarse grains.
When it was time for dinner, Liu came out yawning, sat down at the table and started eating with peace of mind. Zhou was so angry that she dared not express it and could only put on a stern face.
"Why don't you help your sister-in-law cook at noon? It must be so hard for your sister-in-law to do it alone." When the third brother came back and didn't see his wife, he knew that she was being lazy again, so he took the initiative to ask about it, otherwise he would feel embarrassed.
Liu heard this and disagreed:
"I'm not feeling well. I have morning sickness."
"Hmph, you have a good appetite and it doesn't look like you have morning sickness. I think you're just lazy." The third brother Xiao Yi complained under his real name.
As soon as these words came out, Liu immediately became unhappy and put the bowl and chopsticks on the table:
"Xiao Yi, what do you mean? The child I'm pregnant with is not yours? Who are you showing off to by being so sarcastic?"
"How am I being sarcastic? I'm just telling the truth." Xiao Yi felt embarrassed after being yelled at by his wife in front of the whole family, so he retorted with a dark face.
"Don't you have one? I'm going to bear a child for you. You saw with your own eyes how I vomited before. So, I married into your family to work, and you're turning your back on me if I don't do one day's work?" Liu was so aggressive, with such a loud voice, that the whole family looked at her intently.
Upon seeing this, Father Xiao slammed his chopsticks on the table in dissatisfaction, then snorted coldly and his face turned dark. Mother Xiao's expression was not looking good either.
Jiang Sui was chewing a corn cake on the side. It was only her second day and the third sister-in-law was already making a fuss. She was the only one trying to make a name for herself.
"Let's eat first. Why are you making such a fuss? Are you not going to work in the fields this afternoon?" Xiao's mother spoke in a deep voice. Only then did Liu feel a little scared.
However, this matter was caused by her. She had just yelled so loudly, and if she continued to eat as if nothing had happened, she would lose face. So she simply got up and went back to her room angrily.
She was still pregnant, so she had to eat lunch. So Mother Xiao looked at her third son again:
"Bring it to her room later and talk to her nicely instead of making a fuss all the time."
"I got it, mother." Xiao Laosan always felt that this bear woman of his was too troublesome. She was allowed to be sarcastic to others, but not to others!
After dinner, Xiao's mother talked to the second son's wife alone, comforted her, and gave her a piece of flowered cloth from her room. Only then did Zhou smile a little.
After dinner, Jiang Sui, Xiao Hechuan and Xiao Lanlan went up the mountain again, carrying their backpacks and continuing to pick mushrooms.
It’s still the same old place. Fortunately, no one has discovered it and the mushrooms are still there. I was just worried that this Feng Shui treasure land would be discovered by someone along the way.
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