The tall woman wouldn't let it go and demanded an apology. Wei Yuyan felt a little grateful to her and recalled some things in her mind.
It turns out she was the wife of Wu Chen's good friend, I think her name was Xiuhua.
On the day Wu Chen went to join the army, she went home to comfort herself, but the original owner of this body had a rather cold personality.
She didn't come back much after that, only occasionally passing by the Wu family's house to bring Wu Lei and Wu Qian some wild fruits and snacks.
"Alright, alright, I'm sorry, Wu family, I misspoke today."
After saying that, the dark-skinned, thin woman left with a dark expression, carrying the basin.
"Thank you, Sister-in-law Xiuhua, thank you for standing up for me."
Wei Yuyan didn't expect that the dark-skinned, thin woman was really afraid that Wu Chen would come back and cause her trouble.
Quickly thank Sister-in-law Xiuhua.
"It's okay, that's just how she is, bullying the weak and fearing the strong. If anyone talks about you like that again, just bring up your Wu Chen and scare them."
Seeing that Wei Yuyan was no longer cold and aloof, Xiuhua smiled as well.
"Sister-in-law Xiuhua~".
Wu Lei and his sister didn't realize it was Xiuhua until Xiuhua jumped out and said she was a dark-skinned, thin woman. Only then did the siblings notice that it was Xiuhua's sister-in-law.
"Hey...hey! Your hair looks so nice today, did your sister-in-law do it?"
This was the first time Xiuhua had ever seen the siblings' hair so neatly styled; previously, Wu Chen would just casually tie the children's hair up at home.
"Yes, my sister-in-law did it for me."
Wu Qian touched the braid on her head, looking somewhat smug.
"It looks great, sister-in-law. I'm done washing up and I'm heading back now. Bring the kids over to play sometime."
Seeing that she hadn't finished washing, Sister-in-law Xiuhua thought she should go home and cook first.
"Okay, Sister Xiuhua."
Wei Yuyan nodded and quickened her pace, because it was getting dark and it would be difficult to walk later.
The two children helped with rinsing, and they finally finished washing before dark.
"Let's go, it'll get dark soon."
The three of them walked briskly home.
"Xiao Lei, heat up the pancakes and vegetables. I'll hang up the clothes, and then we can eat."
Wei Yuyan asked Wu Lei to heat up the food, otherwise it would be too dark to see clearly while eating, as the kerosene lamp was still a bit dim.
"good".
The two children obediently went to the kitchen to start a fire, and then put the pancakes and vegetables on the stove to steam.
While eating, Wei Yuyan's mind started to wander as she looked at the vegetarian dishes in her bowl, which were devoid of oil.
This can't go on; I really want to eat meat.
The same goes for the two children. Wu Lei is ten years old, but looks like he's eight. Wu Qian is eight years old, but looks like she's five or six.
It was all caused by malnutrition. He was fine when his father was at home.
After Wu's father passed away, Wu Chen had to work outside, and the children often went hungry, looking somewhat thin because they didn't eat on time.
How about we go up the mountain tomorrow and see if there are any medicinal herbs we can gather?
Wei Yuyan studied traditional Chinese medicine in modern times, and was skilled in collecting and preparing medicinal herbs. She just didn't know if there were any good medicinal herbs in the mountains of the village.
The next morning, Wei Yuyan got up early and cooked some plain porridge. She was going to splurge today, and everyone was having plain porridge.
I searched around the house but couldn't find the kimchi jar, which was a bit of a shame. Without pickled vegetables, even plain porridge felt like something was missing.
However, the two children drank with great relish, not letting a single grain of rice escape their bowls.
"Xiao Lei, I'd like to go up the mountain later. Can you stay home with your younger sister?"
Wei Yuyan thought that it would be too difficult for the children to go up the mountain, and there was also the danger of snakes and insects, so it was better to leave them at home.
"Sister-in-law, why don't we go with you? We don't have anything to do at home."
Wu Lei looked at Wei Yuyan with anticipation, hoping she would agree.
"That's fine, just make sure you stick close to me and don't wander off."
I'll make something to eat later, and we'll take it up the mountain to eat. We won't be back for lunch; we'll be back in the afternoon.
Wei Yuyan thought she would make something delicious later, like scallion pancakes, and use more wheat flour.
"Okay, my sister and I promise we won't run around."
Wu Lei and Wu Qian exchanged a glance and laughed, then gulped down the thick white porridge.
"Knock knock knock~ Xiao Lei, Xiao Qian, open the door, your aunt is here."
Before the three of them had finished eating, they heard someone knocking on the door, and a woman's voice came in.
"Eat quickly, your aunt is here."
Wu Lei urged everyone to eat quickly, because if his aunt saw that they were having rice porridge at home, she would definitely ask for rice.
Wu Qian also drank it in big gulps.
"No rush, drink slowly."
Wei Yuyan finished her drink in one go, telling the children not to rush.
Wei Yuyan walked straight over and opened the door; she wanted to see just how shameless this aunt was.
"Is it Auntie who's here? Did she know we're out of food and came to bring us some?"
Wei Yuyan took the initiative as soon as she opened the door.
"Huh?... You're out of food? That can't be right. You have two acres of paddy fields, two children, and one adult. How could that not be enough to eat?"
My aunt was wearing a slightly worn, waist-length ruqun (a type of traditional Chinese dress) today. She seemed to have gained some weight, and the dress was a bit tight.
Upon hearing Wei Yuyan say this, she was both surprised and puzzled.
How could that be? The rice hasn't even been planted yet, and we're already out of food? Who are you kidding?
"Auntie, you don't know this, but a couple of days ago I caught a cold and had a high fever."
The children wanted to get me medicine but didn't have any money, so they used the little rice they had left to buy medicine for colds.
There are only a few dozen kilograms of cornmeal left at home, cough cough.
"I'm afraid we won't last much longer, Auntie. Please do us a good deed and save us, otherwise we'll really starve to death."
Wei Yuyan put on her dramatic act and even coughed twice.
"You don't have tuberculosis, do you?"
When the aunt saw Wei Yuyan standing so close to her, she was so frightened that she ran away as fast as she could, completely forgetting why she had come there in the first place.
"Hahahaha~".
Wei Yuyan couldn't stop laughing when she saw her aunt running so energetically.
"Sister-in-law, did Auntie just leave like that?"
Wu Lei could hardly believe it. In his impression, his aunt was a very difficult person to deal with, but he didn't expect that his sister-in-law would get rid of her so quickly today.
"Well, consider it an act of filial piety towards Grandma since she took things from our house before. From now on, she can forget about taking a single needle or thread from our house again."
Wei Yuyan thought that she would have to buy two more locks next time, one to lock the front door and one to lock the grain.
Fortunately, the mud wall in the house is quite high; most people really can't climb over it.
"Um".
Wu Lei nodded, his eyes filled with determination, as if he had firmly kept Wei Yuyan's words in mind.
"You guys change into a pair of old shoes or old clothes, I'll go make pancakes."
Wei Yuyan first kneaded the dough, using equal parts wheat flour and corn flour. After kneading it, she covered it and let it ferment. Then she went to the backyard and picked a handful of chopped green onions.
Half an hour later, the hot scallion pancakes were ready.
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
