Seeing Meng Tao, Zhou Cuiling said, "I was just about to wait for my eldest brother to finish fetching water and then ask him to call you over for dinner."

"I've already eaten," Meng Tao said. "The food I got in advance from the brigade headquarters today has been ground. I also got half a bag of rice. After removing the husk, there are more than ten kilograms of white rice. I'll make steamed rice tonight."

"So you don't have to cook?"

"I picked a small cabbage from the educated youth and cooked it like this. It tastes delicious."

Zhou Cuiling couldn't help laughing: "I think you've suffered too much at the Tian family, so you think food without oil or salt tastes good."

Then he pointed upstairs and said, "I've collected all the clothes and folded them on the bed. Aren't you staying with me tonight?"

"No, my room is ready."

Meng Tao finished speaking and asked, "Uncle Zhou went back to work at the commune. Where's Auntie? Why are there only the four of you at home?"

"I don't know what happened at my grandma's house, but she asked my mom to go there after work. I happened to have to check the accounts today, so I came back late. I haven't had dinner yet, and I'll be late for class again." Zhou Cuiling said.

Meng Tao just remembered that she still had to go to literacy class.

I went upstairs to get the clothes and said to Zhou Cuiling, "I'll take the clothes back. You can cook and eat first. I'll come over later and go to the class with you."

"Since you've already eaten, there's no need to go around me. I'll definitely be late. The educated youth in your family, Jiang Xiaodong, Zhao Ming, and He Huijuan are all teachers. It's Zhao Ming's turn to teach tonight, so just follow him."

"Okay, we'll go together when we get back."

"good."

Meng Tao came out holding the clothes. As night fell, it was pitch black all around and the village road was only vaguely visible. It was so inconvenient without electricity. She missed the street lights in the city so much.

When we returned to the Meng family yard, the educated youth were having a meal. They were eating together, which means everyone pooled their food to cook, then divided the food into lunch boxes, and everyone ate their own food and washed their own lunch boxes. They also took turns cooking, which was good as there was no dependence.

The Meng family originally had two kerosene lamps, one for each of the male and female educated youth. When Meng Tao came back, the male educated youth took the initiative to return the lamp, leaving half a kerosene in it, enough for Meng Tao to use for a few days.

Meng Tao lit the light and tidied up her things in the room. After they finished their meal, she saw Zhao Ming was about to leave, so she hurriedly asked him to wait a moment, put on her schoolbag, locked the door, and went to the literacy class with him.

Seeing Meng Tao's behavior, the educated youth were all secretly amazed: This is really a huge change. After leaving the Tian family, she knows how to take the initiative to learn and pursue progress. Not bad! Zhao Ming is an enthusiastic and talkative young man. His parents teach at the university. He was influenced by them since he was a child. He is also happy to be a teacher. He talked with Meng Tao all the way. He found that Meng Tao was actually very smart. She could draw inferences from some problems. Her way of thinking was different and unique. He couldn't help but promise to give Meng Tao a special treatment and ensure that she would complete the primary and junior high school courses in the shortest time. As long as Meng Tao is willing to learn, he can also teach high school courses.

Meng Tao was very happy that her teacher was here, and she knew that she, the "child prodigy", had a provenance.

Most of the causes were caused by Tian Baoshan and Zhao Liulian. Zhao Liulian had a miscarriage, which was also a period of confinement. She lay in bed every day, waiting for people to serve her, asking for chicken and meat to supplement her nutrition, and asking people to wash her clothes and clean the house. The two daughters also had to be taken care of well and not let their daughters cry. If Meng Taohua was still there, these things would not be a problem, but Meng Taohua left, so who should she expect to do it? Of course, it was her mother-in-law Wang Shuifeng.

How could Wang Shuifeng be in such a mood now? The house was in a mess. The old man and the eldest daughter were both living in the hospital. They needed money and people to take care of them. But the two younger sons dropped out of school and ran back home. They were squatting on the door every day and didn't want to go out. She was very anxious, so how could she care about so many things? Let the granddaughter cry if she wants to, but she helped Zhao Liulian wash clothes? Wishful thinking! It's just a short confinement period. Which woman hasn't experienced it? You take yourself too seriously and want to eat nutritiously. Don't you eat well enough on weekdays? Go and ask around the village. Which family is as generous with oil and salt as the Tian family in cooking? Others use chopsticks to fry oil, but the Tian family uses a spoon. They scoop half a spoonful of oil into the pot for every meal. Isn't that nutritious enough?

Besides, the fourth son Tian Zhiyuan had done something to the girl, so he had to marry her. After paying the 300 yuan betrothal gift, Wang Shuifeng only had about 30 yuan left, which she had to keep for the medical expenses at the clinic and could not spend carelessly.

So, dream about eating chicken and meat. We still need to keep the two hens at home to lay eggs.

Wang Shuifeng actually disliked her eldest daughter-in-law Zhao Liulian. She only gave birth to two granddaughters after marrying into the family. She also relied on her eldest son to spoil her. She was lazy and spoiled all day long, and she didn't even take care of her own daughters. What kind of person is she? In the past, Wang Shuifeng never said anything about such a daughter-in-law for the sake of her eldest son, but now how could she still bear it? Whenever Zhao Liulian made a fuss, she would scold her. Tian Baoshan wanted to protect his wife and scolded her too, just to vent his anger.

Zhao Liulian was also very capable. She dared to respond whenever her mother-in-law scolded her. The mother-in-law and daughter-in-law had one or two quarrels every day. It was a lively and chaotic scene, adding a lot of vitality to the gloomy yard.

Wang Shuifeng stood in the yard with her hands on her hips. She had just stopped scolding Tian Baoshan and Zhao Liulian when she saw Tian Yalan, wearing a big straw hat, running in from the gate as if being chased. She hurriedly asked her where she had been. Tian Yalan took off her straw hat and threw it under the eaves. With red eyes, she pulled Wang Shuifeng into the house. The mother and daughter closed the door and stood in the main room to talk.

"Mom, our whole family stayed indoors and didn't go out. We didn't know what was going on outside—that damn woman Meng Taohua actually ran to the provincial capital to look for my third brother!"

"What?" Wang Shuifeng asked in surprise, "You went to look for peach blossoms just now?"

"I went to look for Zhou Cuilian and met Meng Taohua on the way. She said it herself!"

"You took her words seriously? Why don't you ask Zhou Cuilian? Zhou Cuilian is the same. You treated her so well in the past, but she never said a word when she heard anything... And your big-headed cousin is also a simple-minded guy. You asked him to go to the commune clinic to take care of your father and your elder sister, but he only did that one thing. He didn't even bother to listen to what people outside said."

Tian Yalan now feels disgusted when she hears the name Shi Datou: "Don't mention Shi Datou to me!"

Wang Shuifeng sighed: "Things have come to this..."

Tian Yalan's face changed: "Mom! What do you want to say?"

"Okay, let's not talk about this. Did Taohua really go to the provincial capital? She can't read a few words and is timid. I have kept her under control for years and didn't even let her go to the commune. How could she dare to go such a long way? Isn't she afraid of being sold?"

Add more to it.

(End of this chapter)