In the early morning, just as the sky was getting light, smoke began to rise from the chimneys of Zhoujia Village, as the hardworking women of Zhoujia Village began to prepare breakfast for the whole family.
Near the village entrance, the most eye-catching thing is a row of six large tiled houses facing north and south, which look very grand. This is Zhou Chunping's home.
What is even more eye-catching is that there is a lush vegetable garden on each side of the tiled house, which is obviously reserved for the future expansion of the house.
One end of the vegetable plot is connected to a thick mud wall, and the other directions are sparsely surrounded by a circle of bamboo fences.
The vegetable garden to the east of the tile-roofed house is over a hundred square meters in size, with six or seven neatly laid out rows, planted with all kinds of vegetables. The green ones are Chinese cabbage, leeks and green onions, the tender yellow ones are cabbages, and there is half a row of carrots with green berries hanging down. Even the most picky people would praise the good vegetable growing in this family.
Compared with the east side, the vegetable garden on the west side of the tile-roofed house looks a bit pitiful. Behind the sparse bamboo fence is a narrow vegetable garden, about ten meters long, leaning against the mud wall. It is narrow at one end and wide at the other, and the narrow end is less than one meter wide.
Although the vegetable patch on the west side is not big, it is well organized. In addition to half a bed of cabbage and half a bed of cabbage, there are also a few clumps of green chives planted in the corners around the vegetable patch.
Wu Jinfeng had a scene in the warehouse yesterday. After returning home, she had a long face and banged the pots and pans, but she did not ask Zhao Yunxiang to come over to help her cook.
By the time Zhao Yunxiang brought the food home, it was already dark. She wanted to help her mother-in-law cook, but her own children got in the way.
Zhou Yuanyuan and Zhou Jiasheng rubbed their flat bellies and kept complaining about being hungry. Zhao Yunxiang, remembering her recent argument with her mother-in-law, didn't want to go over to her since she hadn't called out. Plus, the two children were still young and couldn't afford to starve, so she pretended she couldn't hear Wu Jinfeng's "pots and pans symphony" and prepared dinner. After the three of them finished, they cleaned up and went to bed.
Wu Jinfeng banged on the kitchen door for a long time, but no one paid any attention to her. She wanted to throw a tantrum again, but her husband Zhou Chunping yelled at her, "You damn bitch, hurry up and cook! I'm starving."
Zhou Chunping spoke up, so Wu Jinfeng had to quiet down and obediently started cooking dinner. Over the past month, Zhao Yunxiang had been away from Zhoujia Village, and Wu Jinfeng had been cooking for so long that her hands and feet had become much more nimble.
After dinner, Wu Jinfeng tossed and turned in bed, unable to sleep, thinking about how to punish her third daughter-in-law to vent her anger. In the middle of the night, Wu Jinfeng finally came up with a good idea.
Early in the morning, Wu Jinfeng threw two large baskets of clothes to Zhao Yunxiang and asked her to wash them.
Zhao Yunxiang didn't say anything. She took the clothes and started washing them silently by the well in her own yard.
Since last night, Zhao Yunxiang had been prepared for Wu Jinfeng's outburst. This morning, Wu Jinfeng didn't use any foul language, but was just doing laundry, which Zhao Yunxiang could accept.
Wu Jinfeng had always been very neat and tidy when she was young, and even now that she was older, she still kept up the habit. Her graying hair was combed sleekly, without a trace of frizz, and tied into a knot at the back of her head, pinned with a wooden hairpin.
Wu Jinfeng was wearing a blue cloth gown today with two slightly darker patches on the sleeves, and a pair of blue homespun trousers that had been washed to a pale color. Her face still vaguely showed the beauty of her youth.
After dealing with Zhao Yunxiang, Wu Jinfeng felt a little better. She realized she might not be able to fall asleep even if she tried to take another nap, so she went to the kitchen to prepare breakfast. Hmm, let's make some scallion dumplings! She hadn't had them in a while, and she was craving them.
Wu Jinfeng scooped out half a spoonful of fine white flour from the locked cupboard, added a little water, and stirred it with a pair of chopsticks. Looking at the fine white flour that she had rarely eaten in the past two years, Wu Jinfeng still felt a little gloomy.
Wu Jinfeng couldn't stop fuming when Zhao Yunxiang didn't bow to her. And that little girl, Xiaojiu, you're so naughty at such a young age, you dared to poke me with a needle? Pah! I'll use some tricks to discipline you these next few days.
Humph! Now that she has entered the Zhou family, no matter how capable Zhao Yunxiang is, she has to obey Wu Jinfeng's wishes!
Go back to your parents' home? I've been asking you to go back to your parents' home for so long. If all three daughters-in-law in the Zhou family were like Zhao Yunxiang, what status would Wu Jinfeng, as a mother-in-law, have in the Zhou family? A married woman should stay at home peacefully. Why is it so embarrassing to run around all day?
Wu Jinfeng's chopsticks made a rustling sound as they stirred, a sinister smile playing on her lips. After Wu Jinfeng finished stirring the batter, she listened to the sounds of washing clothes outside the window, a sneer on her face.
It was already winter, and Wu Jinfeng was wearing a thick cotton jacket under her blue coat. It was conceivable that Zhao Yunxiang would not feel very good about washing clothes in such weather.
That big basin of clothes contained not only hers and the old man's clothes, but also those of the eldest and second sons' families. As the mother-in-law, she should just teach her ignorant daughter-in-law a lesson.
Wu Jinfeng curled her lips.
In the backyard, the white mist gradually dissipated under the first rays of morning sun. The small courtyard was connected to the Zhou family's main house by a narrow door.
A gate in the fence separated the courtyard from the vegetable patch. Near the main house, under the eaves, stood a small chicken coop, with a few hens grazing for food by the fence.
In the open space in the middle of the yard, a well was dug. Its rim was about ten centimeters above the ground and surrounded by a stone fence. Around the well platform, a circle of fist-sized pebbles, about a meter wide, was built.
Zhao Yunxiang was squatting beside the narrow well, laboriously washing two large basins full of clothes. The white air from her breath soon soaked her bangs.
Not far from Zhao Yunxiang, Zhou Yuanyuan and Zhou Jiasheng were in horse stance, practicing boxing. Ever since seeing his grandfather practicing boxing with Yuanyuan and Wen Ziqing in Zhaojiagou, Zhou Jiasheng had strongly requested to join the group. Seeing his grandson's eagerness, Zhao Qingshan offered to teach him as well.
Although Zhou Yuanyuan and Zhou Jiasheng hadn't learned very well in the past month, they both felt that their agility had increased significantly. As for their fighting strength, it hadn't been tested yet, so it was unknown at the moment.
While Zhou Yuanyuan was boxing, his eyes were only on Zhao Yunxiang. Seeing Zhao Yunxiang sweating profusely in such cold weather, Zhou Yuanyuan felt a pain in his heart.
Her mother was still too weak. Looking at the familiar floral coats in the pile of clothes, Zhou Yuanyuan clenched her teeth tightly. The damn old woman was too bullying. She even brought Zhou Miaomiao's clothes for her mother to wash. Was Gu Dahua's hand broken?
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