That evening, most families in the village had a good meal, and the Lu family was no exception.
Chen and Jiang Qinyu cooked a pot of noodles together, adding a small amount of pickled vegetables to the pot. Then, when Chen wasn't looking, Jiang Qinyu took a bag of chicken bouillon from the discount section at the cashier and sprinkled some into the pot.
Perhaps it was the chicken essence that enhanced the flavor, but the Lu family was very satisfied with the noodles tonight, and they frequently praised Chen's improved cooking skills.
Chen, however, gave Ma and Lu Yancai a stern look and said, "You two, stop looking, there's nothing left in the pot."
"How could it be gone? I clearly saw you make such a big pot, Mother!" Lu Yancai said, dissatisfied.
The three of them only had half a bowl of noodles each night, and he thought there was still some left in the pot!
Chen said coldly, "Do you think it was a lie when your father and I said we would halve your family's food rations?"
“But Mother, Tianbao is at the age where he is growing. If you treat him so poorly, what will happen if he doesn’t grow tall?” Ma’s eyes lit up, and she immediately started with Lu Tianbao, trying to get him an extra half bowl of noodles.
Anyway, what's for her son is hers; if she asks for another half bowl, she can share a couple of bites.
At this moment, Old Man Lu spoke up, "As long as you two don't cause any trouble and behave well afterward, he won't be shortchanged."
He dared to reduce Lu Tianbao's food intake because Lu Tianbao was in good health before, and reducing his food intake for half a month or a month wouldn't harm his health.
Lu Tianbao was used to eating the best and most plentiful food at home, so when he was suddenly asked to reduce the amount today, he immediately refused.
But children's thoughts are the most direct. In this family, his parents and grandparents certainly wouldn't mistreat him, so the people who are not feeding him are naturally Jiang Qinyu and her two nieces.
Upon hearing that he could only eat this much tonight, Lu Tianbao immediately climbed onto the table and tried to snatch Pan'er's bowl!
"What are you doing?" Jiang Qinyu grabbed his hand and looked at Lu Tianbao with a cold face.
“They eat my family’s food, why can’t I eat it? They should be grateful to our family for giving them food, why should they eat more than me?” Lu Tianbao glared at Jiang Qinyu with a righteous indignation.
Before Jiang Qinyu could even speak, Old Man Lu slammed his fist on the table in a fit of rage and grabbed Lu Tianbao, pulling him down from the table. "Lu Tianbao, what are you trying to do? Have you been ignoring everything your grandpa said? Get down here right now!"
What does a six-year-old know? The words Lu Tianbao said were definitely what Lu Yancai and Madam Ma had been telling him before. Thinking of this, the old man Lu was furious. He got up, pulled out the long bench he was sitting on, and threw it at Lu Yancai.
"I'll teach you to raise your child like that! I'll beat you to death!"
Lu Yancai had developed a conditioned reflex from being beaten these past two days. Before the stool hit him, he rolled on the ground, narrowly avoiding a bloody head injury.
"No, Dad, what did I do again? Is Tianbao wrong? I didn't teach him that! Even the child knows this. How can Tianbao accept that you and Mom treat a few outsiders like this?" Lu Yan rolled around a few times, ran to the door, and mustered up his courage to shout at Old Man Lu.
It wasn't that he wasn't afraid of being beaten, but he felt incredibly aggrieved. Tonight, they were eating thin noodles! They rarely got to eat them, maybe once a year. Why were so many of them given to outsiders?
"Outsiders, outsiders! Who in this room is an outsider? Does my word no longer carry weight?" Old Lu trembled with anger.
If the eldest son were still at home, he would definitely demand a separation of the family immediately! Just looking at the second son and his wife makes him angry.
With one hand holding Lu Tianbao, Chen slapped Ma Shi hard with the other, yelling, "You two have spoiled the child! If I ever hear you say that Shufan and Pan'er are outsiders again, you'd better get out of this house!"
As long as the eldest son is still alive, she would never object to the division of the family. The second son's family should be separated. Only when they suffer will they realize the benefits of following them and the eldest son.
Jiang Qinyu watched the whole thing with a cold eye, seemingly unaffected, and even urged Shufan and Pan'er to finish the rest of the noodles in their bowls.
She didn't want to live with Lu Yancai and his wife, and now was not the time to separate the family.
It's not that she can't afford to raise two children, but rather that everything in this house, from the furniture to the entire family fortune, was earned by the original owner's cheap husband, Lu Yanzheng.
Since she has taken over someone else's body, she naturally enjoys all the rights that the original owner should have.
Now that the family is splitting up, the Lu family will either give her two rooms or give her some money so she can take the children and build a thatched house.
She must be crazy to choose to live in a thatched hut instead of a traditional brick house.
Therefore, the family must be divided, but it must be divided according to her wishes.
Once her status in the family became more important, even though Lu Yan was the biological son of the Lu family elders, they wouldn't dare to withhold anything when the family property was divided.
Moreover, the attitude of the Lu family elders towards her made her unable to watch them be angered to death by Lu Yancai and his wife.
Everything will have to wait until she has more say in the Lu family, or even in Dingshui Village.
After the two elders of the Lu family had a fierce outburst of anger, Chen pulled Lu Tianbao back into the house to educate him, and also ordered Ma to clean up the table and kitchen.
Jiang Qinyu wanted to take the two children back to the house, but Shufan whispered in her ear, "Auntie, we have to watch the water vat so that Aunt Lu doesn't steal water."
Jiang Qinyu almost laughed out loud and whispered to him, "There's only a bottom left in the water tank, so you don't need to keep an eye on it anymore."
Just now, Chen brought out three days' worth of dry rations with her. The water in the water tank is only enough for each person in the family to drink a small half bowl each day for the next three days.
Anyway, the aunt and her nieces will never lack water. If Madam Ma wastes the rest of the water, Madam Chen will deal with her.
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