Chapter 83 The Best Mother-in-law's Handbook 5
The atmosphere at the dinner table was dull. Liu Qiao slurped her rice porridge, her eyes switching back and forth between her mother-in-law and sister-in-law.
Why did she feel that her mother-in-law was a little different today? She was still the same person, but she just felt that something was wrong, but she couldn't put her finger on it.
While drinking porridge, he gently nudged the head of the family with his arm, his eyes full of gossip.
Feng Wu, who had only drunk half a bowl of rice porridge, put down the bowl and said, "I'm old and don't have much of an appetite. Xiao Tao, you sisters should clean up the dishes and go to the fields with your parents to work. The second brother's family, oh, Zhen Mei should also go to the fields."
"Grandma, I still have some embroidery work to finish..." Zhu Xiaotao rubbed her delicate palm and whispered.
"Why are you still embroidering? You don't have the talent. Why would a country girl try to imitate the manners of a city girl? You have the body but not the life. If you don't want to starve, just go back to the fields."
Zhu Zhenmei stamped her feet and yelled at Feng Wu, "I'm not going to the fields. If you want to go, go by yourself. I want to go back to town to find my Third Aunt!"
Zhu Zhenmei, who had never worked in the fields, hated the mud and dust in the fields the most. She was going to marry a rich man in town in the future, so how could she work in the fields?
Feng Wu pulled Zhu Zhenmei's arm and said with a half-smile, "Your Third Aunt is not your mother. She can't support you for the rest of your life. You are a sixteen-year-old girl who is lazy and doesn't know how to grow crops. It's shameful for a girl to run to the town all day long for no reason!"
Holding her waist, she sighed slowly, "It's also my fault as a mother. I didn't discipline you strictly enough, which allowed you to have some unruly thoughts. Don't worry, I will teach you well in the future!"
Zhu Zhenmei couldn't shake off her mother's tightly grasped hand. She frowned and warned, "Mom, Dad would definitely not be happy if he knew you had sent his only precious daughter to the countryside."
"Tsk, he's still not happy. Why shouldn't he be happy? He has so many mouths to feed at home, how can he possibly feed them? Okay, go with your eldest brother and the others to the wasteland in the north and try to open up an extra acre of wasteland today."
Good farmland had to be purchased with silver, seven or eight taels per mu, and it was not easily available. Most of the good farmland was in the hands of some large landowners and wealthy merchants in the counties, cities, and prefectures.
Without land, there is no way to grow crops, and without crops, there is no food to eat. So the farmers set their sights on the large wasteland in the north. Although the wasteland is not fertile enough, it is better to have it than not.
Clearing land is hard and tiring work. After a day's work, the palms of the hands holding the hoe are covered with blisters and the back cannot be straightened.
Fortunately, the weather started to cool down at this time and the sun was not so scorching.
In order to supervise this family of lazy people, Feng Wu changed his clothes, wrapped a cloth on his head, and led his family towards the north of the village.
At this time, most of the villagers were like them, going to the north to open up wasteland. Looking at a family of more than ten people, some holding sickles and some carrying hoes, everyone was surprised.
The Zhu family is also well-known in this village. The head of the Zhu family, Zhu Changdan, works as a foreman at the Fangshan River Wharf. He receives a monthly salary of five cents, which is unique in the village.
The two old sisters who were familiar with the original Liu Fengniang also caught up with Feng Wu with sickles in hand.
"Feng Niang, why is your whole family out today?" The person who said this with a hint of sarcasm was Xu Lamei, Liu Feng Niang's close friend before she got married. They both married into Shande Village one after another.
Xu Lamei married into a family with the surname Mao. Over the past ten years, she gave birth to two sons and two daughters. Her mother-in-law couldn't say she treated her two brothers well, but she could still live with them for the sake of face. After the family split up, she still had a warm relationship with her brother-in-law's family.
"Look at what you're saying," nudged Xu Lamei, who spoke in a bad tone, and Fengwu's other elder sister, Xiong Xiaolan, comforted her, "It's good this way. Without a family, they rely on you, the mother-in-law, to support them. You raise the children, and the children will take care of you in your old age. It's only natural. But you only care about the children. You work in the fields all day long. Why don't you care about yourself? That person in your family..."
Seeing Xiong Xiaolan's hesitation, Feng Wu pretended not to notice. He patted the backs of the two sisters' hands with a smile and said with emotion, "I was stupid before. It took me an illness to realize that husbands, sons, and grandchildren are all unreliable. From now on, I will think more about myself!"
"What? Are you sick? No wonder I haven't seen you these past two days. I thought you missed the trip." Xu Lamei tugged at Feng Wu's arm and looked him up and down. "Are you okay? If you're sick, just stay home. You can still do a day or two of work in the fields."
Feng Wu felt a little warm in her heart that her original body still had such a sister who cared about her sincerely. She smiled soothingly, "It's okay. I've been lying down for a day and I feel much better."
Xiong Xiaolan saw something was wrong and frowned, asking, "There hasn't been a doctor in the village these past two days. You're sick now, and haven't your doctors thought of finding a doctor to see you?"
Feng Wu smiled awkwardly, with a helpless look as if she had seen through the essence of human nature. "Sons are no longer under the control of their mothers when they grow up. I have raised several children. As a mother, I have done my best to live up to the Zhu family." She never mentioned the matter of inviting a doctor.
Some things are more likely to arouse people's imagination if they are not said out loud!
The two good sisters looked at each other and saw sympathy and sympathy in each other's eyes. Who could say it wasn't true?
Isn't it true that all children in the family forget their mothers after marrying a wife? They were also daughters-in-law before, so they can't blame them.
The three of them did not continue to communicate, but just silently held each other's arms, hoping to give their good sisters some warmth.
Among the Zhu family, except for Zhu Erlang and his wife who occasionally went to the fields, everyone else looked pale.
There are three daughters in Zhu Dalang's family and two sons and one daughter in Zhu Erlang's family. The little girl just turned five years old this year. She has two small buns on her head. She is led by Liu Qiao and walks a little slowly with small steps.
Liu Qiao followed her daughter's pace, walking slower and slower until the main group was almost out of sight. Then she held her daughter in her arms and took two quick steps. When she could see the group again, she immediately resumed her slow pace.
When Feng Wu and his companions arrived at the wasteland, many people were already cutting dry thatch half a person's height in the places they had chosen.
Large patches of thatch fell down, revealing patches of barren fields with half-exposed roots.
After searching his memory, Feng Wu walked to a half-cultivated piece of wasteland and pointed, saying, "The thatch on this piece of land has been cut. You two brothers will be responsible for turning the soil. Remember to dig out the grass roots in the soil and turn the soil thoroughly so that the crops can grow well."
Zhu Dalang supported his wife and planned to let her find a shade under a tree to rest for a while. It took less than a quarter of an hour to walk from home to this wasteland. His wife's face was sunburned red, and Zhu Dalang felt distressed when he saw it.
Unable to bear Zhu Dalang's worthless lickspittle, Feng Wu stopped him.
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