"Second brother, do you think sister-in-law can cook for us?"
On her way home, Zhou Xiaomei looked at the oldest of the group, Zhou Xiaocang, with some concern.
"Yes, ever since my brother passed away, my sister-in-law's attitude towards us has changed a lot. She must be very sad!"
"Let's try not to provoke our sister-in-law these next few days, and let's do as much chores around the house as we can. If she decides to leave our family one day, let's not stop her!"
Zhou Xiaocang glanced at his younger siblings. With his eldest brother gone, he was now the pillar of the family. His younger siblings were still young and didn't understand some things at all.
As the eldest boy in the Zhou family, he had to shoulder the heavy responsibility of taking care of his younger siblings.
After all, the eldest sister-in-law was married into the family from outside, and now that the eldest brother is gone, Zhou Xiaocang wouldn't stop her if she wanted to leave.
However, now that his elder brother is gone, if his sister-in-law were to pass away, then the entire burden of the family would truly fall on his shoulders.
Thinking of this, Zhou Xiaocang felt a heavy weight on his shoulders, as if a thousand pounds were pressing down on him, making it hard for him to breathe.
"Second brother, look, there's smoke coming from our house. Is sister-in-law cooking?"
Zhou Xiaoting glanced in the direction of her home and saw thick smoke rising from the kitchen, indicating that someone was busy in the kitchen.
"That's possible. Let's hurry home and check!"
Zhou Xiaocang didn't have high hopes that his sister-in-law would prepare lunch for them at home.
He was already content as long as his sister-in-law stopped beating and scolding them like before.
If his sister-in-law continued to treat his younger siblings the same way, Zhou Xiaocang felt he would no longer tolerate it and would find a way to get rid of her.
They used to tolerate their sister-in-law's misbehavior out of respect for their elder brother, but now that their elder brother is gone, the younger ones have to keep living.
Although he hoped his sister-in-law could continue as she was, as long as she didn't beat or scold them, his wish was actually easy to fulfill.
Zhou Xiaocang prayed silently as he walked towards his home.
Because of his mental disability, Zhou Xiaowu didn't understand any of these complicated matters. He quickly ran into his yard and rushed into the kitchen.
"Sister-in-law, what are we having for lunch?"
As soon as he rushed in, he saw his sister-in-law cooking. Zhou Xiaowu sniffed and felt a delicious aroma wafting into his nostrils.
"It smells so good, sister-in-law! What are you cooking? It smells amazing!"
Zhou Xiaowu moved two steps closer to the stove, but knowing that he would drool when he saw delicious food, he didn't dare to get too close and just looked at the food in the pot from a distance.
I couldn't help but swallow hard twice, trying to prevent the saliva from dripping from the corners of my mouth.
"We had stir-fried cured pork and vegetables for lunch. Where are your brothers and sisters? Why didn't they come back?"
While cooking, Lin Xue asked Zhou Xiaowu questions. She could tell that this kid was the one in the family who wasn't very bright.
"They're behind us, they'll be home soon!"
"Sister-in-law, do you need my help?"
Zhou Xiaowu swallowed hard, but his saliva kept flowing out as if it were free.
He originally wanted to leave the kitchen, since his appearance would definitely annoy his sister-in-law. But the aroma kept wafting into his nose, making him feel like his feet were glued to the ground, unable to move.
"I'll be done soon. You hurry up and tell your brothers and sisters to go wash their hands. We'll be eating in a bit!"
Lin Xue noticed Zhou Xiaowu's embarrassment; he kept swallowing his saliva, a sign that he was craving it too much.
Even though he was craving it so much, Zhou Xiaowu didn't go near the stove, clearly afraid of being disliked by her.
However, Lin Xue thought it was a good thing. What if the boy couldn't control himself and drooled into the food? How could they eat then?
"Your brother and sister will be coming into the yard soon. Hurry up and get the water ready so they can wash up too!"
Seeing that Zhou Xiaowu was still standing in the kitchen, Lin Xue reminded him again.
"ah?"
"oh!"
"Sister-in-law, I'm going right now!"
Finally realizing what was happening, Zhou Xiaowu glanced at the food in the pot again, then rushed out and ran to the well to fill a large basin with water.
"Xiao Wu, why are you fetching so much water?"
When Zhou Xiaocang and the others came in, they saw Zhou Xiaowu's actions and gathered around, not understanding what was going on.
"My sister-in-law asked me to fetch water for everyone to wash their hands so we can eat soon!"
Zhou Xiaowu soaked his hands in the basin and then rubbed them vigorously.
His hands were covered in grass stains, which are very difficult to wash off.
"It's fine if the grass stains can't be washed off, we can just wash away the mud and dust!"
Zhou Xiaocang felt very gratified watching Zhou Xiaowu carefully wash his hands, and at the same time reminded his younger siblings.
How can you not get grass stains when you pull weeds? It takes several days for the stains to fade; they can't be washed off in a short time.
"Come and eat now that you've finished washing up!"
Lin Xue served the food to the table, glanced around, and saw that the others were still busy by the well, so she called out to them.
"Sister-in-law, what are we having for dinner today? I can smell the delicious aroma from far away!"
Zhou Xiaohai is the type of person who forgets everything he's done wrong; he smelled the delicious aroma as soon as he got close to the kitchen.
"You all went to the fields to pull weeds early this morning, which must have been quite tiring, so I cooked you a dish of stir-fried cured pork with greens!"
"Now that your eldest brother is gone, the work in the fields still depends on you guys. Come on, everyone eat more so you can have the strength to finish all the work in the fields!"
Lin Xue put a piece of cured meat in each person's bowl and gave the children a full bowl of brown rice.
"Sister-in-law, why are we eating so well today? We usually work in the fields, but we never eat this much!"
Zhou Xiaomei was the youngest and still somewhat naive. Although the original owner had hit her before, he didn't hold a grudge and quickly forgot about it.
"It's because I've been too busy lately. Your older brother just passed away, and I haven't had the time or energy to cook for you!"
"Now I've finally come to my senses. Your eldest brother is gone, but we who are alive still have to keep going!"
"Zhou Xiaocang, as the eldest son in the family, you'll have to share more of the burden with me from now on. You'll need to take better care of the farm work. I'll manage things at home and won't let you worry about anything!"
"Xiaoting and Xiaomei, you two are still young. Do as much work in the fields as you can, and don't push yourselves too hard!"
“With your eldest brother gone, this crop in the field will definitely depend on the few of us to harvest it. You know I’ve never done farm work before and I’m not familiar with fieldwork, so I can only help you out. You guys will have to do the main work!”
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