"Little sister, does your mother know you are coming?"

Sister Liu looked at them and asked.

The three of them nodded in unison.

"My mom knew and asked me to come over and ask first, but she didn't know it would cost money."

"Go back now and explain to your mother what your Aunt Yan just said before coming back. If you don't agree, don't come over."

After they left, Mrs. Liu introduced the family situation of the three girls to Song Fuyu.

"All three of them are relatively obedient children, but their family conditions are not very good, especially the one on the left, Hu Xiaolan."

"She is the second daughter of Captain Hu. She has an older sister and two younger sisters."

From the way the three of them were dressed, Song Fuyu could roughly tell their family situations.

Hu Xiaolan is the girl who speaks in a mosquito-like voice. Her clothes are full of patches, but they are washed quite clean.

Although I am poor, I am not lazy.

"Her grandmother was a strong person. She felt that Captain Hu's family had not given birth to a son, so she required them to remit half of their salary back home every month. If they didn't receive the money in a certain month, she would definitely come to make trouble within a few days."

"I sent half of my salary back home, leaving less than 20 yuan. How can I spend it for a family of six?"

In the countryside, this amount of money is more than enough, but here you have to pay for everything except living.

"Captain Hu doesn't protect his wife and daughter?"

"Oh... it's hard to say..."

"If that's the case, even if she's willing to come, I can't easily accept her. If her grandmother comes to make trouble, I won't be able to handle it."

"If her mother can't stand up on her own, this job really can't be recruited."

Although she sympathized with the girl, Mrs. Liu held the same opinion as Song Fuyu on this issue.

When Yan Ziyuan came back for lunch at noon, Song Fuyu told him about this matter.

"It's really hard to say what happened to the Hu family."

"It is said that his mother had a difficult labor when she gave birth to him and suffered a lot, so he obeyed her every word and did not dare to resist at all."

"He's the only one in their family?"

"no."

"I don't know exactly how many brothers and sisters he has, but it's definitely more than our family."

"All right."

In her opinion, this kind of man is nothing more than a mama's boy.

However, there is a difference between him and ordinary mama's boys. Most mothers at least treat their sons well, but his mother asked for half of his salary all at once, obviously not caring about their small family or his life or death.

"His wife and four daughters are good people, hardworking and willing to endure hardships. We buy the firewood for our family from them."

Only a small number of families living in courtyards like theirs would use firewood. Before winter, the eldest daughter in their family would come and ask if anyone needed to buy firewood. If someone did, they would spend time every day going to the mountains to chop firewood.

Song Fuyu felt a little sad after hearing this. She felt that Captain Hu was a burden.

The five of them, mother and daughter, could live a much better life without him.

People who can find business opportunities for themselves, are not afraid of dirt or tiredness, and can put aside their pride, can actually live a good life anywhere, provided they have no burdens.

However, divorce is not popular in this era. If someone gets divorced, the man will not be affected much, but the woman will definitely be scolded by people around her.

Without the support of your mother's family, you must have a strong heart to bear the consequences of divorce.

The next day, to her surprise, the three girls who came yesterday, the other two did not come, but Hu Xiaolan came.

"Aunt Yan, I want to learn embroidery from you."

"Does your mother agree?"

She nodded, then stretched out her hand that had been hidden behind her back and placed it in front of Song Fuyu.

"I don't know how much tuition I need. My mom gave me five dollars. Is that enough?"

Hu Xiaolan saw Song Fuyu staring at the money in her hand but not taking it. She was already extremely nervous and even began to tremble slightly.

"Take the money back. I won't charge tuition."

"Aunt Yan, can't you accept me?"

Hu Xiaolan began to speak with a nervous, crying tone.

"It's not impossible to accept you..."

"Aunt Yan, are you worried about my grandma?"

"Um!"

She didn't choose to hide it just because she was a child.

"Don't worry, if my grandma comes to make trouble, my mom said she will definitely cut off the money she sends to her every month."

The reason they sent her money was, on the one hand, because they didn't want her to come and make trouble for no reason, and on the other hand, they wanted to create the illusion that they were very poor so that grandma wouldn't get too much.

They would help everyone chop firewood before winter. They could also help those who didn't have time or didn't want to grow vegetables. They also earned money by pasting matchboxes every month... All together, the five of them, mother and daughter, earned dozens of dollars a month.

Her father had no idea how much money they earned every month, as her mother secretly saved it all.

Although their clothes were tattered, it was to hide their identities and also to deceive their father and grandmother.

"As long as your grandmother doesn't come to my place to make trouble, I can take you in."

"Okay, thank you Aunt Yan, I will definitely study hard!"

As nervous as Hu Xiaolan was when she came, she was as happy when she left.

She hopes to learn a skill and make a lot of money in the future so that her mother and sisters won’t have to work so hard.

In the afternoon, Song Fuyu closed the door and started making braised dishes in the kitchen.

She brought some of the old brine that she had made in the village and placed it in the space.

There is a big difference in the taste of new and old brine.

This time, in addition to braising the offal, I also braised a lot of black fungus, potatoes, tofu, eggs...

She will treat some to guests tomorrow and put the rest into her space and take it out when she wants to eat.

"Wife, are you making stewed food? The smell is so overbearing that I can smell it from far away."

When Yan Ziyuan came back from training, the people who had just walked by were still talking about whose family's cooking smelled so good. However, he didn't even need to think about it. Just by smelling the food, he knew it was from his wife's hand.

"I made a pot of braised food. We're going to have braised pork rice tonight."

"Wife, you did all this to give it to someone else?"

"No."

"I forgot to tell you at lunch today. Tomorrow night, invite everyone you are close to and treat them to a meal."

"Didn't you promise the three comrades who helped us move to come over to your house for a drink? If they're free tomorrow, invite them all."

"My dear wife, thank you for your hard work."

He just didn't want her to go through too much trouble, so even if someone asked, he would just refuse.

"It's okay. If I can't win, I'll ask Sister Liu to help me."

"Okay, I'll go inform them tomorrow."