Chapter 393 A Tragic Day 1
During her time at her parents' home, all the little bit of weight she had managed to gain at her husband's family home has now vanished due to hunger.
When the meal was almost ready, the two sisters-in-law went to wake up their parents-in-law and the men to eat, and then fetched water for them to wash up.
In the Chen family, the men do all these things themselves; the women only need to boil the water, leave it there, and then cook.
But when she arrived at Old Li's house, it was the things that women were supposed to do.
In the Li family, the man is the head of the household. Apart from working in the fields, the women do everything else.
For Old Lady Li, her daughter-in-law, daughter, and granddaughter were all like livestock, and she could beat and scold them at will.
As long as you don't kill or maim someone, it's fine. After all, killing someone can get you arrested and executed.
If you cripple someone, they won't be able to work, and it's not worth it to keep them around to freeload.
Seeing that Old Lady Li was walking towards the kitchen, Sister-in-law Li quickly scooped hot water into the basin with a ladle: "Mom, wash your face."
My hand slipped, and I added too much hot water, making it a bit too hot.
"hiss!"
Old Mrs. Li recoiled as if her hand were on fire the moment she touched it, pinching her arm hard and yelling, "Are you dead?! Can't you even pour water properly?! Don't you know how to test the temperature? Are you trying to scald me to death?!"
Sister-in-law Li didn't dare to argue. She stood timidly to the side with her head down, and dared not hide, because hiding would only invite a more severe beating.
Meanwhile, the older brother and his nephews, who were washing their faces nearby, didn't say a word, their faces indifferent as if they couldn't see anything.
Because Old Lady Li always says that women need to be beaten a lot to become obedient. Only when they are beaten so badly that they dare not utter a sound will they behave themselves at home and do their jobs. Otherwise, they will become wild all the time.
During mealtimes, only the elderly couple and the men and boys in the family can sit down to eat; the other wives and daughters have to stand to eat.
Unlike the Chen family, in the Li family, it was Old Lady Li who was in charge of cooking and serving dishes and porridge.
The men scooped a large spoonful of the thick porridge from the bottom of the pot, with visible grains of brown rice on top, and then gave each person two steamed buns.
"My dear grandson, eat more!" Grandma Li smiled lovingly at her grandsons.
Only by eating more can they grow strong and healthy, so that they can carry on the Li family line.
The women's bowls contained only clear broth and water, with just a few grains of unpolished rice at the bottom, and a single cornbread to fill their stomachs.
The little girls were even more pitiful; they only had half a steamed bun.
In Old Lady Li's eyes, they were all money-losing goods who would be married off sooner or later, and eating less would mean losing less money.
If you ask for more dowry when you get married, you might even make a profit. You can also go to your husband's family to ask for some money from time to time. That's how you make a living little by little!
Old Li's family only serves these two dishes for breakfast, with absolutely no oil or fat, and they don't even allow extra salt.
When Li Chunhua first came back to eat there, she wasn't used to it. Her palate had become too picky from eating at Old Chen's house, and she found it hard to swallow.
But now I can eat heartily and enjoy it, because I wake up hungry in the middle of the night, and everything tastes delicious when I'm hungry.
But such a small amount of food can only fill you up halfway, and since it's not oily or juicy, it doesn't keep you full at all.
After eating, we had to go to work in the fields. It was all hard and tiring work, and we were starving before noon.
After working all morning, I could only eat half a meal at noon.
After lunch, the women didn't even have time to take a nap; they had to wash dishes and clothes, and gather firewood, while the men could finally lie down at home and rest.
(End of this chapter)
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