Chapter 115 Why should we wait for her before we can eat?
The food at the Xiao family's house was ready, and everyone was staring at the pot of food. The main meat dishes included dried meat, cured meat, and dried fish, while the vegetable dishes included green vegetables, wild vegetables, and mushrooms. The vegetables had soaked up the broth, and even before eating them, you could tell they would be very appetizing, even more tempting than the meat dishes.
They kept swallowing their saliva, but no one dared to move. They all waited for her to come back. Everyone else was used to it, including the three little ones.
Xiao Xiuning, who had just returned, did not have such a habit. She was already hungry, so she quickly served herself a bowl of rice. Just as she was about to pick up some food, Yang slapped the back of her hand. "Smack!"
She was very dissatisfied. "Mother, I'm hungry. Who knows when she'll come back? If she never comes back, are we all just going to wait for her on an empty stomach?"
I at least gathered firewood, but Yun Zhaoxue did nothing and made everyone wait for her on an empty stomach. Why should she?
Mrs. Yang said, "The pot was sent by Xue'er's good friend, and she also bought the food. Without her, we wouldn't be able to eat. It's not a big deal to wait a little longer."
It won't hurt to wait a little while. What if Yun Zhaoxue gets angry if we don't wait?
At this moment, Yun Zhaoxue came out. Madam Yang served her rice first, saying, "Xue'er, eat. It's freshly made. You're pregnant, so you should eat more meat to nourish your body."
"Thank you, Mother."
"You're welcome. It's all a mother should do."
Only Xiao Xuanwu remembered Xiao Xuance. I looked around and finally saw him come out of the woods. I waved to him and said, "Third brother, come quickly. Your food is ready. Eat it while it's hot."
The Xiao family was the first to start eating.
Seeing that the eldest son's family had already started eating, Wu and the others urged Xiao Mingshu, "Mingshu, hurry up, don't dawdle and be lazy, the whole family is waiting to eat."
The grandson, Yao'er, also urged her, just like his grandmother, "Auntie, hurry up, I'm hungry."
Xiao Mingshu said, "There isn't enough firewood. I have to watch the fire and gather more firewood. I can't manage it all by myself. It's only when someone helps me gather firewood that we can cook faster."
No one moved; they were all urging her, "Then hurry up and go! Pick up more at once. You only carry a little at a time, and it'll be burned in no time. Carrying more won't kill you."
Xiao Mingshu said, "The mountain road is difficult to walk on, with many steep slopes and rocks below. I was worried about falling."
She knew that if something happened to her and she couldn't walk, they would abandon her and leave her to fend for herself. She wanted to live.
Zhang muttered under her breath, "If you don't die from this fall, you're just a worthless life. If you die, you die."
Xiao Mingshu felt that her whole family would starve to death without her. "If I die, who will cook for you?"
When Zhang saw that she still dared to talk back, she was so angry that she wanted to pounce on her and hit her.
Sitting next to her, Uncle Xiao pulled her back: "Alright, what Shu'er said makes sense. She's the only one in the family who can cook. Everyone is counting on her. Stop targeting her."
As Yang was eating, she saw Xiao Mingshu busy at the stove, one hand sticking firewood to the fire, the other holding a spatula, and coughing incessantly.
My heart suddenly tightened, as if I had been hit by something. This child is so pitiful.
There's still a little firewood left in the main house; we need to keep it to cook this afternoon, so there's no point in keeping it.
Yang put down her bowl and chopsticks, picked up the firewood and walked over, "Shu'er, we still have some firewood left over there, let me bring it over for you to use."
Wu scoffed, "Oh, what's the use of bringing over a bunch of broken firewood? You made so much meat, you should just give us a bowl to put in our noodles so we can have some meat on our plate. That would be more like it."
They've completely fallen out; she won't even call me "sister-in-law" anymore.
Madam Yang shook her head. "I didn't give it to you. I gave it to Shu'er. She has to watch the fire and gather firewood all by herself. She can't manage it all. You are perfectly capable people who can't cook, and you don't even know how to lend a hand to gather some firewood. You shouldn't let the child work alone, and you even scold her for being slow. How can you live with yourselves?"
Zhang said, "She is my daughter, and I can do whatever I want with her. Our two families have already separated. If your eldest son's family has food, we don't get any. So stop interfering in our family's affairs."
Wu and the others chimed in, "That's right!"
Xiao Mingshu picked up the firewood and caught up with Madam Yang. "Aunt, thank you for the firewood, but I can't accept it. It's not easy for you to collect firewood, cough cough cough..."
Madam Yang took the firewood. "Shu'er, I'm sorry, it's your aunt who has put you in a difficult position."
Zhang saw the few pieces of firewood on the ground, and the soup in the pot had not yet boiled.
He walked over and pushed Xiao Mingshu, who was adding firewood to the stove, aside, and cursed at her, "Useless thing, go and gather firewood, I'll watch the fire for you."
Xiao Mingshu got up and walked towards the mountains. Her cough could be faintly heard, "Cough cough..."
Mrs. Yang sighed again, "This child is so pitiful."
“Mother, don’t pity her. There are plenty of pitiful people out there. It’s just that she was unlucky enough to be born into Uncle and Aunt’s family.” Xiao Xiuning disliked Xiao Mingshu. She used to steal her thunder at every turn. Now that the other woman was suffering, she felt no sympathy, only schadenfreude.
Xiao Mingshu could never match the love and affection her family members had for her.
Just as Madam Yang picked up her chopsticks, she heard this and frowned, sternly rebuking her: "I can't help others even if they are pitiful, but Shu'er is not just anyone. She is a child I have watched grow up since she was a child. Ning'er, you should have compassion. You and she used to study and learn to read together, and you are like sisters. She is not doing well. How can you say such things?"
Xiao Xiuning lowered her eyes and poked at the rice in her bowl. "Yes! Mother, I know I was wrong."
Xiao Mingshu from the second wife's side had just left.
Zhang added some firewood and saw a bubble rise to the surface of the pot, then another one appeared. She called out to her family, "It's cooked! It's cooked! Quickly bring a bowl to serve it."
Before the third wife's family could even make a move, the second wife's family had already rushed over with bowls to serve noodles.
A group of people crowded around and scrambled to finish the pot of noodles, leaving only a little broth.
When Xiao Mingshu returned with the firewood, she found that all the noodles in the pot were gone, not even a crumb was left for her. She glanced at her family with her dark eyes.
Zhang tilted her head back and poured the last mouthful of soup into her mouth. She stuck out her tongue and licked a piece of the broken end of the bowl. Noticing the look in her eyes, she glared at her and said, "What are you looking at? You useless thing, all you know is picking wild vegetables and mushrooms. This soup is so bland and tastes terrible. Next time, go into the mountains to hunt pheasants and rabbits so we can have some meat, you know?"
Xiao Mingshu didn't answer, nor did she make a fuss. She started cleaning up the pots, pans, and the bowls and chopsticks they had used. She threw the bowls and chopsticks into the pot, poured in some water, and took it aside to wash them. She used a few leaves as a brush to scrub the pots and bowls.
Yang had little appetite and ate only half of the rice. She then picked up some vegetables, put them in her bowl, and walked towards Xiao Mingshu, pulling her behind a large rock.
"Shu'er, eat quickly."
"Aunt, if I eat your food, I'll go hungry. I can't eat yours."
Food is precious, and no matter how much grain a large grain depot has, it will not be wasted.
Yang must have given her her share; she couldn't accept it.
"Eat up, I've eaten half of my rice and vegetables and I'm full. Your third cousin's cooking is delicious, you should try some." Yang picked up a piece of cured meat and fed it to her, then shoved the bowl and chopsticks into her hands.
Xiao Mingshu met her expectant gaze, glanced down at the fragrant food, and let down her guard. Her eyes reddened, and her voice choked with emotion, "Thank you... Auntie."
"Good child, don't cry, don't cry..."
When Yang saw her crying, she felt sorry for her and wanted to hug her, but she took two steps back to avoid it.
She shook her head and said, "Auntie, please don't come near me. I have a cold and I've been coughing. I can't let you get infected."
"We have some medicine left in the main house. I'll go get it for you, but I need to discuss it with them first."
Xiao Mingshu was flattered and quickly shook her head and waved her hand to decline, saying, "Aunt, no need. I'll pick some herbs on the way this afternoon and boil them to drink tonight."
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