“This courtyard…” Lin Chaosheng thought for a moment, “Why don’t we sell or rent it to the brigade?” Lin Chaosheng suddenly had this good idea.
"No, I disagree!" Zhao Shufang immediately objected upon hearing this.
Lin Chaosheng looked at her, puzzled. "Why, Mother? Isn't it good for our whole family to live together?"
Zhao Shufang sighed, "It's not that it's bad, it's just that I've lived in this courtyard ever since I married into the family, and it's the property left to me by the Lin family ancestors, besides..."
Zhao Shufang paused and looked at Lin Chaosheng, "Besides, what if my moving in disturbs your married life with Xiaomei?"
"Mom!" Lin Chaosheng laughed, "Then let's rent it to the brigade. The house will still be under the Lin family's name. As for Xiaomei and me, we're both looking forward to you moving in with us soon!"
Zhao Shufang shook her head. "Never mind, let's talk about it later."
Seeing that he couldn't reason with Zhao Shufang, Lin Chaosheng quickly gave Lin Shanhai a meaningful look.
"Don't look at me. Your mother is the head of the household. If she doesn't agree, there's nothing I can do," Lin Shanhai said, avoiding Lin Chaosheng's gaze and suppressing a laugh.
Zhao Shufang immediately kicked Lin Shanhai, "I'm in charge again? When did you become so obedient to me again?"
"Ouch, look, Chaosheng, I really can't help you with this..." Lin Shanhai said, pretending to be in pain as he rubbed the spot where he had been kicked.
Lin Chaosheng and Lin Shansheng burst into laughter upon seeing this.
"Alright, Father and Mother, stop arguing," Lin Chaosheng stepped in front of Lin Shanhai and grabbed Zhao Shufang, who was about to slap Lin Shanhai again. "Mother, let's get down to business first."
Zhao Shufang had no choice but to give up. "I'm only letting you off the hook because of the eldest son," she said, then turned and walked out of the house. "Let's go, son, let's go marinate the meat."
Lin Chaosheng and Zhao Shufang walked out of their home. As they passed a person, Zhao Shufang was met with envy.
"Aunt Zhao, you really raised a good son! Look how successful he is!"
"Yes, yes, Sister Zhao, your belly is really something!"
"When I saw that Zhao was pregnant, I knew she would be blessed in the future."
Zhao Shufang was beaming with pride as everyone praised her along the way, and she walked with her head held high.
As soon as they arrived at Lin Chaosheng's house, Liang Mei and Liang Fu came out to greet them.
"Mom, you're here! Come and teach me how to cure meat!" Liang Mei stepped forward and took Zhao Shufang's arm.
"Oh my, I'm so lucky! Not only do I have such a good son, but I also have such a beautiful and capable daughter-in-law!" Zhao Shufang was even happier when she saw Liang Mei's delicate face.
"If we had another baby as beautiful as you, I would die happy!" Zhao Shufang said, patting Liang Mei's hand.
Liang Mei tucked a stray hair behind her ear. "Mother, let's not talk about this anymore. Xiao Fu is still here!"
Seeing Liang Fu blushing beside her, Zhao Shufang said embarrassedly, "Look at this old woman, I'm getting old and I don't know what I'm talking about!"
Liang Mei quickly waved her hand, "No way, Mother, it's perfectly normal for you to want me to have a baby soon. Let's not talk about that anymore, let's quickly marinate the meat, I can't wait to taste your cooking!"
Seeing the mother-in-law and daughter-in-law acting like a real mother and daughter, Lin Chaosheng felt a surge of happiness.
Then, Zhao Shufang, Liang Mei, and Liang Fu began to marinate the meat.
"Look, Xiaomei, pig hair is the hardest thing to clean, especially wild boar. We definitely can't remove the hair from such a large piece of pigskin, so we'll cut it into pieces first." Zhao Shufang said as she cut the wild boar meat into small, even pieces.
Liang Mei also started cutting.
"Alright, Chaosheng, chop some firewood and get ready to start a fire!" Zhao Shufang lit the weeds and threw them into the stove.
When the iron pot was dry-heated and smoking, Zhao Shufang pointed at it and said, "Alright, now let's sear the pig skin."
Liang Mei learned very quickly, and she and Zhao Shufang finished frying all the meat pieces in no time.
"Next is scraping off the pig bristles, which will be much easier than at the beginning." Zhao Shufang handed Liang Mei and Liang Fu each a small knife. "Scrape at an angle, and be careful not to cut your hands!"
The three of them then began to diligently scrape the pig bristles.
Lin Chaosheng wanted to step forward to help, but suddenly remembered that he still had some things to do.
He hurriedly put four large steamed buns into the cloth bag and wrapped it up tightly.
"Where are you going?" Zhao Shufang looked up and asked Lin Chaosheng.
Lin Chaosheng squatted down in front of Zhao Shufang and said in a low voice, "Mother, I'm going to bring some food to Wei He and Grandma Wei."
"Is it the Wei family, whose fate is now unknown, with no one knowing whether the young couple is alive or dead?" Zhao Shufang asked.
“Isn’t that his family?” Lin Chaosheng replied. “You didn’t see how malnourished Wei He was, and Grandma Wei was the same. She was already in poor health, and she still did so much work every day…”
Zhao Shufang urged Lin Chaosheng to deliver the items, "Of course! Hurry up and deliver them, and make sure no one sees you!"
Lin Chaosheng nodded solemnly, "Don't worry, Mother!"
After saying that, he went out and headed towards the Wei family's house.
As soon as Lin Chaosheng left, Zhao Shufang sighed.
Liang Mei asked, "What's wrong, Mother? Are you feeling sorry for that child from the Wei family?"
Zhao Shufang nodded, tears welling in her eyes. "I also feel sorry for Sister Wei. Fortunately, her child still had a child. If they were all gone, Sister Wei would be all alone..."
Zhao Shufang choked up as she spoke, as if she could see her own child going out to work and not knowing whether he was alive or dead, with no one at home to accompany him.
Liang Mei quickly comforted her, "Mother, don't worry, Chaosheng and I will never leave you. Besides, you're moving in with us anyway, so please don't be sad anymore."
When Zhao Shufang heard Liang Mei's voice, she assumed they had agreed to come and live together, so she quickly shook her head. "Xiao Mei, I still need to think about moving in with you."
Upon hearing this, Liang Mei immediately panicked, thinking it was her fault that Zhao Shufang was unwilling to move in with her.
"Mother," Liang Mei looked at Zhao Shufang cautiously, "Is there something I did wrong that makes you not want to move in?"
"No, that's not true!" Zhao Shufang quickly denied. "You silly child, I was just reluctant to part with the old house and didn't want to disturb your married life with Chaosheng, that's why I hesitated."
Upon hearing this, Liang Mei breathed a sigh of relief and hurriedly advised, "Mother, if you don't move here, what will I do when Chao Sheng and I have a child?"
"Besides," Liang Mei noticed that Zhao Shufang's expression seemed to soften, "don't you want to see your own grandchildren every day?"
Zhao Shufang's last line of defense was finally breached. "You silly girl, you're really tempted! Okay, let's move in."
Upon hearing this, Liang Mei's mood instantly brightened, and she nuzzled Zhao Shufang's shoulder, "You're such a good mother! I've been looking forward to your arrival so I can learn your cooking skills!"
Hearing this, Liang Fu quickly added fuel to the fire, "Yes, yes! The steamed buns you made last time were so fragrant and soft, I've been looking forward to you teaching my sister how to cook!"
Zhao Shufang smiled, "You two kids are really good at flattering people. Alright, if you keep talking, do you still want to eat something good tonight? Let's get to work!"
"Okay!" Liang Mei and Liang Fu smiled at each other and answered in unison.
On the other side, Lin Chaosheng had just arrived at the Wei family's house.
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