Li Cuilian recognized Li Chunjiao's voice, picked up a broom and drove a few chickens to the backyard. She shoveled the chaff on the ground into a dustpan and poured it into the backyard, then walked over and opened the gate.
Li Cuilian was a cautious person. Even to her cousin, she didn't want anyone to see her feeding chaff to the chickens. In those days, which household didn't lack food? Some families in the village even ate rice bran when food was scarce.
Zhou Hongming had told Li Cuilian long ago that she shouldn't just live a superficial life, as his family even eats meat once a month! If others saw how comfortable their family was, who knows how many people would be jealous!
Li Cuilian felt that Zhou Hongming was right. Although her family had no shortage of food and could afford to feed the chickens some chaff, it was best not to be seen by others. So every morning Li Cuilian would feed the chickens before opening the yard door.
"Chun Jiao, how come you have time to come here?" Li Cuilian opened the courtyard door and saw Li Chunjiao with a flattering smile on her face. To be honest, Li Chunjiao was really ugly, with a flat nose and small eyes. When she smiled, her eyes turned into slits.
"Sister Cuilian, I'll bring you some cabbage and carrots." Li Chunjiao carried the basket and walked over to Li Cuilian. Li Chunjiao was always generous when asking for help.
"Oh! I was just thinking of going to your vegetable garden at noon to pick some cabbage. Hongming bought some fried tofu yesterday, and it tastes amazing with the cabbage." Li Cuilian saw Li Chunjiao's basket full of vegetables and felt a little satisfied with Li Chunjiao's expression, but she said modestly, "Just give me one cabbage, and you can take the rest back for the children!"
"Sister Cui Lian, I grew this myself, and I didn't spend any money. I've already brought it here, so I can't take it back." Li Chunjiao said politely, but in her heart she was muttering: Bah! You still think it's too much? It's good enough if it's not too little.
To put it bluntly, Li Chunjiao's vegetable patch was planted for Li Cuilian. Whenever Li Cuilian needed something to cook, she would go to Li Chunjiao's vegetable patch to get it. Li Chunjiao always tried to curry favor with Li Cuilian, hoping that she would have a closer relationship with her. Even a few vegetables was something Li Chunjiao could afford.
"Chunjiao, thank you so much." Li Cuilian couldn't help but smile as she watched Li Chunjiao carry the heavy basket into the kitchen. The weather was cold, and Li Cuilian really didn't want to go out. Cutting vegetables in the vegetable garden would leave her feet covered in mud. A basket of vegetables from Li Chunjiao was enough for her to cook several meals.
Li Chunjiao walked into the kitchen familiarly, put down the basket full of vegetables, and asked casually, "Sister Cuilian, where is my brother-in-law? He's not home?"
"That bastard, he was busy at the brigade headquarters until midnight last night and he's still sleeping!" Li Cuilian complained, but she couldn't help but smile. After distributing the grain, what surplus did the brigade have? Wasn't it just a few of the bosses who secretly took it away? Last night, Zhou Hongming came home and handed Li Cuilian a huge stack of banknotes. Li Cuilian hadn't counted them yet, but she estimated it was at least a few dozen yuan.
"My brother-in-law is capable, but he has to work hard." Li Chunjiao tried to find out the information she wanted to know, breathed a sigh of relief, and complimented Li Cuilian a few more times.
"Alas! There is nothing we can do. There are so many families in our Zhoujia Village, and your brother-in-law is a down-to-earth man. He really cares about everyone." Li Cuilian also took the opportunity to praise her husband's "great achievements."
Zhou Hongming is a son who has inherited his father's legacy. His father had been the village chief of Zhoujia Village for over twenty years. Two years ago, when he was about to retire due to his age, he promoted his eldest son, Zhou Hongming, to the position of village chief. Therefore, under the influence of his father's residual power, Zhou Hongming's work as village chief was quite smooth.
Li Chunjiao knew what she wanted to know, and chatted with Li Cuilian for a few more words before going home with an empty basket.
Zhao Yunxiang, her mother and her two sons slept in for a rare time. It was almost nine o'clock when they got up.
"Mom, I like to see you when I open my eyes in the morning." Zhou Yuanyuan said this deliberately while staring at Zhao Yunxiang who was braiding her long braids.
"Mom, me too. I like to see you and my sister." Zhou Jiasheng thought about it and added Zhou Yuanyuan in.
"Dasheng, Xiaojiu, you say you like your mother now, but when you grow up you will definitely dislike your mother because she is an old woman." Zhao Yunxiang rarely joked with the children.
"No, no." Zhou Jiasheng shook his head like a rattle.
"Mom, my brother and I will always like you. We love you very much." Zhou Yuanyuan's sweet and sticky voice also echoed.
"Good children." Zhao Yunxiang's heart was filled with sweetness. After enduring so much anger from her mother-in-law in the Zhou family, her two children were the source of Zhao Yunxiang's warmth and strength.
The mother and her two children were just enjoying a tender moment when a clang sounded from the backyard. Then came Wu Jinfeng's high-pitched voice: "You damned bastard, you bastard, all you do all day is eat and sleep. If you piss me off, I'll have you in the stew pot tomorrow."
Several hens were frightened by the sound of Wu Jinfeng knocking and banging, and they flew around clucking.
"Grandma, what are you doing?" Zhou Miaomiao was surprised to see Wu Jinfeng holding an egg in one hand and banging an iron rod with the other, with a few chicken feathers on her head.
Ever since Zhao Yunxiang returned to her parents' home, Wu Jinfeng has been busy with household chores for over a month and hasn't been so active for a long time.
Zhou Miaomiao looked at the egg in Wu Jinfeng's hand and swallowed her saliva. Somehow, whenever Zhou Miaomiao saw an egg recently, she would think of the frangipani that Zhou Yuanyuan had eaten that morning. That smelled so good...
"What? Picking up eggs?" Wu Jinfeng rolled her eyes in annoyance. Ever since Zhao Yunxiang married into the Zhou family, she had been taking care of the chickens. She also picked up the eggs laid by the hens every day and handed them to Wu Jinfeng.
After Zhao Yunxiang returned to her parents' home, Wu Jinfeng had no choice but to take over the job of taking care of the hens. The number of eggs she collected was getting fewer and fewer every day. If she hadn't only picked up one egg every day these days, Wu Jinfeng would probably have scolded Zhao Yunxiang for not taking good care of her chickens.
Wu Jinfeng had suspected that someone in her family had secretly picked up the eggs and not handed them over, but she only had a pair of eyes, and with so many descendants in her family, she couldn't say anything if she didn't see who took them.
"Grandma, can I eat this egg?" Zhou Miaomiao looked at the egg in Wu Jinfeng's hand again and again, and couldn't help but ask.
"Go away, you little kid, why are you eating eggs?" Wu Jinfeng pulled a long face and was impatient with Zhou Miaomiao's tactless behavior.
"Grandma, if you give me the eggs, I will tell you a secret." Zhou Miaomiao whispered, the greed in her stomach overcoming her reason.
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