Jiang Yuwei followed their gaze and looked back, only to see Chen Guixiang with a face full of anger, glaring fiercely at the two children.
Jiang Yuwei spoke without hesitation:
"What? Aren't they your own grandsons? Or isn't Boss Ning your own son?"
Startled by the question, Chen Guixiang quickly turned to look at Old Man Ning, who was silently eating at the table. She coughed a few times, trying to hide her embarrassment.
"Heh, how could that be? I raised the eldest son myself. If it weren't for him, how could our Ning family afford to send someone to the army?"
Jiang Yuwei sneered:
"Oh? So you're quite self-aware. You should know that Boss Ning joined the army for the sake of the entire Ning family. Shouldn't you repay his sacrifice and dedication?"
Seeing that Jiang Yuwei was no pushover, Old Man Ning quickly stood up and said with a smile:
“What are you saying, eldest daughter-in-law? Of course, the eldest son is our own son, and these two children are our own grandchildren.”
He then nodded kindly to Ning Zhao and Ning Wan, who were standing to the side, and said:
"Your mother is serving you rice, why aren't you taking it?"
Upon seeing this, the two children quickly took the rice porridge from Jiang Yuwei's hand and drank it in large gulps, as if afraid that if they drank too slowly, someone else would snatch it away.
Jiang Yuwei helplessly patted their heads and murmured:
"It seems that I need to earn more money to support you two little ones."
After breakfast, Jiang Yuwei asked Ning Zhao to lead her to find materials to make straw sandals. The two children's shoes were worn out and couldn't be left unfinished any longer.
Ning Zhao felt that Jiang Yuwei was not a bad person after meeting her yesterday. Since Jiang Yuwei arrived, she and her sister had eaten two full meals. With this in mind, Ning Zhao took the initiative to reach out and hold Jiang Yuwei's hand.
As Jiang Yuwei was walking, she suddenly felt a warmth in her hand. Looking down, she saw Ning Zhao holding her hand in one hand and her younger sister's hand in the other, walking forward with a serious expression. A beautiful smile involuntarily curved her lips.
Not long after the three of them walked, Jiang Yuwei discovered a pond overgrown with cattails. Since it was early spring, there were still some cattails that had withered last year by the edge of the pond. Jiang Yuwei quickly took off her shoes, rolled up her trousers, rolled up her sleeves, and went into the water.
The two children sat on the bank, watching Jiang Yuwei relentlessly swing her sickle in the water. In no time, she had filled a basket with withered cattails. Ning Zhao couldn't help but sigh in admiration.
"She...is really strong."
Ning Wan, standing to the side, looked at her brother with bright eyes, then at the busy figure in the water, and nodded hurriedly.
Jiang Yuwei looked at the basket full of cattails, satisfied, put away her sickle, and stepped onto the shore. The two little ones sat obediently beside her, their legs crossed, patiently waiting for her. She couldn't help but give them a warm smile.
At that moment, the sun slowly rose behind her, casting its golden rays upon her, draping her in a dazzling halo. Ning Zhao gazed at the woman before him, her gentle smile prompting him to whisper her name:
"Mother...you are truly amazing."
Jiang Yuwei was slightly taken aback. This was the first time someone had addressed her like that, but she felt unexpectedly comfortable. She smiled, a warm feeling welling up inside her.
"Let's go, let's go cut some more pig feed and then go home to make shoes for you!" Jiang Yuwei said softly, stroking Ning Zhao's head.
"Okay!" Ning Zhao nodded heavily and then led Jiang Yuwei to the place where he and Ning Wan often went to cut pig feed.
A group of women who were digging for wild vegetables on the hillside saw Jiang Yuwei approaching from afar and whispered among themselves:
"Hey, look! Isn't that Ning's eldest daughter-in-law who just entered the family? She's already out working on her second day after the wedding."
"Hmph, how could we possibly let Chen Guixiang live a peaceful life with her vicious nature?"
Jiang Yuwei naturally heard them talking about her from afar, so she calmly took her child and went up to greet them, smiling at them.
Seeing that she was sensible, the women smiled at her, and several of the more enthusiastic ones even struck up a conversation with her:
"I'm telling you, you look like an honest and upright person, but don't let your mother-in-law bully you."
"Exactly, you have no idea how she treated the mother of these two children, sigh."
Upon hearing this, Jiang Yuwei frowned, then quickly asked with a smile:
Do you know what illness the two children's biological mother had that led to her death?
At this moment, another woman secretly nudged the person who had just spoken and said with a grin:
"Hey, don't listen to your Aunt Zhou's nonsense. She just can't keep her mouth shut."
Jiang Yuwei saw that Aunt Zhou seemed to want to say something more, but was pulled away by the people next to her, so she had to quickly finish cutting pig feed and take the two children home.
As soon as Jiang Yuwei entered the door, she asked Ning Zhao to feed the pigs first. Then she emptied all the cattail grass from her basket, moved two small stools to sit in the yard, and pulled Ning Wan to help her tear the cut cattail grass in half.
Although Ning Wan was a little slow, she tried her best to imitate Jiang Yuwei's movements, and the two of them finished quickly.
Jiang Yuwei smiled and gently tucked the stray hairs from Ning Wan's forehead behind her ear, saying softly:
"Wan'er did a great job! Let's take these cattails to the kitchen to dry."
Jiang Yuwei had originally planned to dry the cattails in a few days before weaving them into straw sandals, but the two children's shoes were so worn out that they couldn't walk anymore. Seeing them walking almost barefoot on the ground today, her heart ached.
I had to put some effort into drying them on the pot lid. Fortunately, these cattail leaves had withered last winter, and they dried up pretty much after a little baking.
Relying on her memories of watching survival videos in her previous life, Jiang Yuwei took some cattails, measured the approximate size of the two children, and started weaving. Since the children's feet were small and Jiang Yuwei was quick, she quickly wove two pairs of small shoes.
"Come quickly, Zhao'er, Wan'er, try these shoes on and see if they fit."
When the two children heard that the new shoes were finished, they ran excitedly to Jiang Yuwei's side and solemnly took the shoes from her with both hands.
Ning Zhao and Ning Wan had never worn their own new shoes before. The clothes they wore were all hand-me-downs from Ning Lao Er's daughter, Ning Xin. Now that they had a bride and new shoes, they were naturally overjoyed.
"Mom, look, they're stealing my new shoes!"
Jiang Yuwei looked up and saw a chubby girl in a bright red coat pulling Sun Shi, who had just stepped across the threshold, and shouting in a shrill voice in the direction of Ning Zhao and Ning Wan.
As soon as Ning Wan saw who it was, she was so frightened that she squatted down, covered the brand-new shoes with her hands, hid behind Ning Zhao, and trembled all over.
Jiang Yuwei noticed that although Ning Zhao was also trembling, his back remained straight. Standing in front of Ning Wan, he whispered to the chubby girl, Ning Xin:
"No, Ningxin, these aren't your new shoes. Mother made them for us siblings."
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