Chapter 5 Dispute
After hanging up her clothes, Song Lubai started cooking porridge and picking wild vegetables.
She can do all the chores on the stove, and she's quite fast at cooking.
As for the little conflict she had with Lin Dahai earlier, she didn't take it to heart at all.
Since her mother and Uncle Lin remarried, there have been many unpleasant things happening in the family, big and small. Today's argument is not even worth mentioning.
Anyway, she listened to her aunt; she never suffered a loss at home.
After the twins finished washing the clothes, they carried the basin to the washroom, with Lin Jinyao trailing behind like a little tail, her hands and face still covered in foam.
From inside the open room, one could hear an aunt praising the three children for being capable.
The wild vegetables she's been eating these past few days were sent by her aunt, Zhang Lan. There's a big basket of them at home; when packed tightly, there's not much, but it's enough for three to five meals.
After the wild vegetables have been picked and washed, and the steamed mixed flour buns and corn porridge in the pot are cooked, take the pot out, add water and bring it to a boil to blanch the wild vegetables. After taking them out, mix them with some salt, vinegar and garlic juice, and drizzle two drops of peanut oil, and you're all done.
The food smelled exactly like her mother's cooking.
Song Lubai set the food on the table in the main room, then went to the washroom to wring out clothes with the twins. Just as the clothes were hanging up, Zhang Cui returned with a box of vegetables.
The tin box smelled of meat. When I opened it, I found a fragrant dish of stir-fried dried green beans with pork belly.
The pork belly looked rich and dark, glistening with a layer of oil.
After a long day in the workshop, Zhang Cui stretched her arms and said proudly, "Luckily I'm quick on my feet, otherwise I wouldn't have been able to grab this box of meat."
The stir-fried dishes in the food factory's canteen have always tasted good; as soon as the box is opened, everyone, big and small, starts drooling.
Lin Heping couldn't wait to grab his chopsticks and pick up some meat, but Lin Dahai grabbed his chopsticks and tapped his hand, glaring at him, "No manners!"
Lin Heping was so badly beaten that he dared not cause any more trouble.
In short, he and his brother had the lowest status in the family; their parents could discipline them, and their sister could too.
Lin Dahai coughed and said, "The eldest son is injured this time and needs to be properly nourished. We'll divide this dish in half and reheat it tomorrow to send to the eldest son."
When Liu Mei was mentioned, Lin Dahai's lips twitched.
The doctor said that Liu Mei would not be able to have any more children. The eldest son only has two children, a girl and a son. He is not in a good mood because he has too few children.
He didn't want Liu Mei to eat the meat in the lunchbox, but he'd rather it went into Song Lubai's stomach.
Zhang Cui acted as if she hadn't heard what he said, first putting a piece of stir-fried dried green beans with meat on each of the twins, then putting a piece on Lin Jinyao's plate, and finally Song Lubai.
"Eat it while it's hot, or we won't know where the next meal will come from. No leftovers today, not even wild vegetables."
Lin Dahai was used to his stepdaughter Song Lubai not taking him seriously, and he was also used to Zhang Cui often ignoring his words.
But he had already been humiliated twice today, and seeing Song Lubai acting as if nothing had happened, just eating and drinking leisurely, he couldn't swallow his anger.
A man should be the head of the household; he's such a spineless coward. Liu Mei's mother is right.
He slammed his chopsticks down on the bowl. "Don't you have any manners? You're so short-sighted. You're eating like you're starving ghosts with just a little bit of meat."
One sentence offended all four people eating at the table.
Song Lubai knew that these words were specifically meant for her, but that didn't stop her from continuing to pick up food.
She ate the meat and vegetables her mother brought back with a perfectly justified attitude.
Lin Jianshe swallowed his food and mumbled, "Dad, my sister-in-law has been drinking chicken soup for days, but we haven't even tasted a bite of meat. What, don't we deserve to eat meat? Mom, why is Dad so biased!"
Song Lubai took a sip of soup and added, "The doctor said that it's best for my sister-in-law to eat more soupy and easily digestible foods right now."
Zhang Cui still remembered Liu Mei's attempt to sabotage her job when she broke her leg. She was already being polite to Liu Mei, who was her stepdaughter-in-law, but seeing that Lin Dahai still dared to put on airs, she put her chopsticks on her bowl, glanced at Lin Dahai, and moved the vegetable box containing green beans and meat further away from him.
"Eat if you want, don't eat if you don't want to. I can give the money and tickets I earn, and the food I buy, to whoever I want."
Lin Jinyao, who was standing to the side, had tears welling up in her eyes.
Even though she was young, she could tell that the argument at the dinner table was related to her mother.
She gently tugged at Lin Dahai's sleeve and whispered, "Grandpa, my mom can't eat these right now."
Although she didn't know why she couldn't eat it, her aunt had just said that the doctor forbade it.
Lin Dahai was already seething with anger, but he couldn't provoke Zhang Cui, so he could only direct his anger at Lin Jinyao, who posed the least threat.
He slapped him across the face. "You stupid idiot who doesn't know what's good for you! Your mother wasted her life giving birth to you. You don't know how to care for people at all."
Lin Jinyao's face was flushed red from the slap, and she held back her tears, not daring to cry.
Although Song Lubai's feelings towards Lin Jinyao were complicated today, she had genuinely cared for this little girl before. Most importantly, she couldn't stand Lin Dahai slapping people.
This reminded her of the time he slapped and hit her.
"Bullying the weak, bullying one's own kind, is shameful and disgusting!"
A tone of disgust rang out at the dinner table, and Lin Dahai immediately glared at her.
Song Lubai glared back defiantly, "If you dare to lay a hand on me again, I'll shout it so the whole building will know."
Her aunt said that Lin Dahai cares about his reputation and is always polite to everyone. Everyone says he is a good person with a good temper. Such a person cares about his reputation the most. If you don't want to suffer at his hands, it's actually very simple.
Her aunt has an extremely fierce temper; she is the absolute head of the household and has no say in anything.
Song Lubai knew her aunt's position in the family, always listened to her, and had been learning from her.
Lin Dahai's forehead veins throbbed as he was verbally abused, but remembering the poor soundproofing of the tenement building, he swallowed his anger.
He took a steamed bun and went out.
Even after they left the house, the conversation at the dinner table was still going strong. Zhang Cui looked at Song Lubai and said, "How could you talk to him like that? You have no manners at all."
This wasn't the first time Song Lubai had talked back to Lin Dahai. Her mother said she had been even more aggressive in the past. Today, her attitude was relatively good, but that was only because Liu Mei and Lin Dahai had angered her a few months ago, and her mother was angry for a longer period of time this time.
Song Lubai snorted, "Don't you know he was deliberately picking a fight today? He even hit people. I remember the times he hit me before, and I just couldn't hold back."
Zhang Cui recalled the year she and Lin Dahai had just started their family. Because Song Lubai ate two extra pieces of meat at the dinner table, Lin Dahai frequently cast dissatisfied glances at her daughter. Then, her daughter directly exposed Lin Dahai's intention not to let her eat more meat, which caused Lin Dahai to slap her hard.
She waited for several years to wait for her ex-husband who died on the battlefield before remarrying. When she only had one child, she naturally cared about her daughter as well.
If it's a biological father, why would he be afraid of his own daughter eating a few more bites of meat?
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