He directed his two daughters-in-law to start a fire and roast the chicken.
Li Lanzhen taught them to skewer the chicken with two thick tree branches and roast it on a grill made from a thick tree trunk. By rotating the branches, they could roast every side of the chicken.
Although the pheasants caught in the mountains are not very big, they are well-fed and watered, and have a lot of fat on their bodies, making them at least more meaty than those who fled famine.
Pheasants and rabbits sizzled and dripped with oil over the fire, emitting an enticing aroma. Several little ones squatted by the fire, drooling.
On the other side, Xue Nizi and Tonghua cooked a large pot of brown rice, as instructed by Li Lanzhen. The sweet potatoes, which don't keep well, were eaten first.
The family consists of young people and little ones. If they don't eat enough, they won't have any energy. Since we're staying here for a few days, let's consider it a way to nourish the adults and children.
The moment the lid was lifted, an enticing aroma of rice wafted out.
Han Yuemei was cooking loach soup when Li Lanzhen secretly added a red ginseng and a piece of old ginger to it.
Once the soup boils, the aroma fills people's noses and lingers.
"Loach soup, this is the most nourishing thing. Give pregnant women a few sips, it's the best tonic," Ye said to Li Lanzhen.
Li Lanzhen nodded, "Yes, let the eldest daughter-in-law drink more."
Zhang Yueniang looked at her mother-in-law with gratitude. She was getting nicer to her every day, not letting her do anything, and letting her eat as much as she could when there was good food, and letting her bask in the sun and eat more.
Sigh, I never even dared to dream of such a leisurely life, but now it's happening to me!
As a result, Zhang Deshui's entire family also enjoyed good food.
Every time Zhang Yueniang met her parents, brother, and sister-in-law, they would say that she had found a good in-law, and that she should take good care of her mother-in-law and Han Minghai, love the children, and treat Miaomiao even better, and not have any thoughts of favoring boys over girls.
Li Lanzhen, who was rendering lard, was oblivious to her eldest daughter-in-law's gratitude; she was too busy.
The lard has a very strong flavor. Half a basin of lard cracklings are golden brown. One bite and they're crunchy. Li Lanzhen wasn't stingy at all. Everyone, adults and children, had lard cracklings to eat. She even asked Han Mingjiang and Han Minghai to each take half a bowl to their fathers-in-law's houses. Once the lard was rendered, each family would get half a bowl.
Before long, the three dishes and one soup were served: a plate of roasted chicken and rabbit, a bowl of fresh stir-fried mushrooms, a large bowl of loach soup, and a plate of cold wild vegetables.
Other families also cook meat, mostly boiled, with the meat and wheat bran sprinkled in, along with chopped wild vegetables. It's a good meal that I haven't had in two years.
But the village chief's house was in complete chaos over a single meal, with chickens and dogs running amok.
"Yuli, if you try to take meat from my grandson's bowl again, just you wait!" Aunt Huaihua was furious; these two girls were so ill-mannered.
Aunt Huaihua tried to be as fair as possible when distributing food to everyone in the family.
Unexpectedly, Gu Yuli and her sister Gu Yushi didn't eat from their own bowls. Instead, they tried to snatch the meat from the bowls of the younger children. They were quick and nimble, accurately grabbing the meat from their bowls with their chopsticks. The children, not getting any meat, were anxious and angry, and burst into tears.
The daughters-in-law wanted to get angry, but then they remembered what the village chief had said to the eldest sister-in-law and Li, who had brought two maids with them.
“We’re all family. Yan Yan has suffered a lot. Now that she’s back home, we should all be more tolerant of her and let your mother find her a good family. She won’t be staying long. I’ve left the flowers here. If anyone doesn’t want to, I’ll let them move out of the family and start their own farming to support themselves.”
Unexpectedly, before they could find a family for Han Yanyan to marry into, she had to flee the famine.
There was no other way, so they were taken out again to escape the famine.
The eldest daughter saw this but didn't lecture or manage them.
The village chief was also in a bind; if it weren't for the famine, he would have already divided his family property.
After the family separated, everyone lived their own lives, always their own.
That evening, the elderly couple discussed the matter.
"Dad, let's separate. Separating now is a good thing, so that the bond between the siblings isn't worn down, and the mother-daughter relationship isn't eroded either."
"Sigh, I was thinking of fleeing the famine together, finding a place, and then separating. But now, it seems we can't continue like this. It's better to end it sooner rather than later. Let's break up! We'll break up tomorrow morning."
So the next day, word spread that the village chief's family had split up.
Opinions on this matter vary. Some agree with it, while others say the village chief is heartless for not treating his own daughter well after she returned, leaving the three women to fend for themselves.
Li Lanzhen thought the village chief was right.
Given the upbringing of Gu Yuli and her two daughters, they'd be struggling to survive in this world. Why don't they cling tightly to the village chief's family, lie low, and wait until they're settled in Youzhou before making a proper exit? That would be so much more dignified. Instead, they're courting death every day. What are they even doing?
Now I'm separated from everyone and have to live on my own. It's tough!
After the family division was completed, Han Yanyan knelt before the village chief and Aunt Huaihua, crying with tears streaming down her face.
“Father and Mother, it’s all Yan Yan’s fault. I couldn’t keep my man and came home with two maids after the divorce. If you hadn’t taken us in back then, I would have had nowhere to go. I will remember your great kindness.”
No one noticed the sinister intent hidden beneath the tears.
The village affairs were left to the winds of the mountains after everyone had eaten.
Because everyone has a goal: to use all their strength and in the shortest amount of time to go up the mountain and find everything they can eat.
Of course, the gains were also very significant.
Li Lanzhen still needed to gather all the wild vegetables and fruits and put them all into her spatial storage. When she had time, she would sort them out, keeping some for herself and listing the rest in the shop to exchange for the supplies she needed.
Li Lanzhen is still riding the coattails of good luck today.
Walking through a field of honeysuckle, of course, picking the honeysuckle was the first task.
After passing the honeysuckle, you'll see a grove of prickly pear trees.
Prickly pear is a good thing. I'll store it away in my space first, and when I have time, I'll take it out and clean off the thorns on its surface, then boil it into a paste and mix it with water to drink.
Once everything is tidied up, I'll sit down and enjoy the breeze.
Suddenly, a ding sounded, and the system spoke, "Host, there is a special exchange merchant in the store. He continues to exchange for prickly pears. Please exchange for them quickly."
"Tongzi, I also want to eat prickly pears. I'll keep these for myself. I won't exchange them."
"Host, you'll regret it if you don't redeem today. The supplies this merchant has listed are all things you need, some of them are urgently needed. I'll say it again, you'll regret it if you don't redeem."
The repeated admonition, "You'll regret it if you don't redeem it," made Li Lanzhen uneasy. If she didn't redeem it, the merchant must be using it to save a life, right?
Okay, consider it as me saving a life. Li Lanzhen kept one pound of prickly pears and put the rest on the store. Sure enough, the prickly pears were gone in a second, followed by Li Lanzhen's shock.
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