With some hesitation, Jingrun picked up a piece of food with his chopsticks and put it into his bowl.
He was stunned the moment he put the food in his mouth.
How could that be?
This stuff is crispy and sweet, perhaps because it's soaked in the fragrant broth, which amplifies the freshness and aroma of the ingredients, making it especially refreshing in this pot of food.
My sister is probably right; the stepmother has indeed changed. The original stepmother never had such abilities.
Xu Jingrun finished his lunch with a heavy heart, washed the dishes, and then went to the yard to chop firewood.
He may be small, but he is very strong.
The tree branches that were intact in the morning, after he cut and sorted them, were now partly broken into pieces and neatly arranged in the woodshed.
When the weather is nice, we'll take the firewood out to dry.
In the afternoon, Chen Yunyun said in the kitchen that she was processing extra fish and didn't want Niu Niu to help with the fire; she was busy in the kitchen all by herself.
Niu Niu and Jing Run finally had a chance to whisper to each other.
"Brother, she's not a stepmother."
Jingrun remained silent, implicitly agreeing with Niu Niu's statement.
Putting aside the fact that the fragrant broth at noon had an unknown origin, the fish itself was also suspicious.
The river is completely frozen now, and the fish have long since hidden themselves away. How can you possibly catch five fish in one go?
And the chestnuts we ate that day were also strange.
There was only one road leading out of the village, and the villagers had walked it thousands of times without ever discovering the edible chestnuts. How did the stepmother find them?
As more and more clues accumulated, even Jingrun, who did not believe in ghosts and gods, had to admit that his stepmother had truly changed from the inside out.
I just don't know what she really thinks of them.
Will it hurt them?
The two children were worried, but when they saw Chen Yunyun come out of the kitchen, they both hid their emotions.
Chen Yunyun held two salted fish in her hand, tied them to the eaves with a thin rope, and waited for them to air dry.
The fish had just been coated with coarse salt, and when the sun shone on it, it reflected a dazzling light.
Chen Yunyun clapped her hands with satisfaction. These four plump salted fish would taste amazing when eaten during the Chinese New Year.
These past two days, before the snow falls, we should go into the mountains more often. With such high luck, of course we should make the most of it and stock up on all the supplies and mountain products!
After preparing the fish, Chen Yunyun stood in the yard.
The thick branch was cut in half by Jingrun and has now been chopped into firewood.
She picked up a machete, ready to deal with the rest.
The machete was a bit dull, and even with all her strength, she could only manage to cut a small gash in the branch.
After working for a short while, her hands started to ache. While mechanically chopping down trees, she complained that this was another kind of backbreaking labor, comparable to digging the ground!
However, if all this firewood is chopped and cut into sections, it should be enough for the mother and her children to get through the whole winter.
Chen Yunyun was also thinking that she would have to go to the commune tomorrow to buy some coal and household goods, and then the little ones would have to stay at home.
Five days passed in the blink of an eye.
The villagers remained the same, keeping their distance from her house. Chen Yunyun had seen Zhang the hunter with Huzi twice when she went out. Zhang the hunter looked at her no differently than the villagers. Chen Yunyun gradually lowered her guard, thinking that perhaps she had just been mistaken that day.
Two days ago, she went to the commune and bought coal, a hot water bottle, and some food and clothes. At the strong request of her eldest daughter, Niu Niu, she went to the recycling station and collected a lot of books, putting them all into her system backpack and returning home with a full load.
I went up the mountain a few times, and on two out of five times I caught some mountain produce: a plump gray rabbit and a pheasant.
The rabbit was skinned and cooked into a delicious stew, which the family of four ate until their bellies were round.
The pheasant was kept in the yard, and Niu Niu and Da Wa would find earthworms and worms to feed it every day. It was quite diligent, laying an egg every other day.
Mountain eggs are slightly pointed at both ends and are larger than regular eggs. Chen Yunyun once used mountain eggs to make fried rice. After several children ate it, Niu Niu's "darkening value" dropped by 0.1, while Da Wa's "darkening value" remained unchanged.
Although Da Wa is only seven and a half years old, he is very deep and sometimes even Chen Yunyun can't figure out what he's thinking.
When she first arrived, she punished her eldest son for being disobedient. Now, he is exceptionally obedient and sensible, and has never made a mistake, but he never gets close to Chen Yunyun.
Therefore, in order to reduce his "darkening" value, Chen Yunyun tried every method, such as telling the story of King Goujian of Yue enduring hardship and humiliation to achieve his goal...
When talking about Goujian, Da Wa showed a rare look of curiosity. Chen Yunyun was invigorated, thinking she had found the right approach, and spoke with even more enthusiasm. But in the end, after listening to Goujian, she asked about Sun Wu, and then about the Five Hegemons of the Spring and Autumn Period. Da Wa's dark side remained as solid as a mountain.
Chen Yunyun was too tired to continue talking, so she handed her eldest son a copy of the Records of the Grand Historian, and only then did she have some free time.
Compared to her older child, Chen Yunyun felt that Niu Niu was an absolutely adorable little girl, and she would always give her more food when serving her.
Niu Niu looked at the ribs in her bowl, on the verge of tears. She loved eating fatty meat! She didn't like gnawing on ribs!
That night, the family went to bed early and were sleeping soundly when Chen Yunyun felt something wet beside her. She opened her eyes, woke up, and had only one thought in her mind: Oh no, Sanwa wet the bed again!
Resigned to her fate, Chen Yunyun got up and lit the kerosene lamp. Sanwa was still kicking his legs. Chen Yunyun was so angry that she slapped him twice on the bottom. He had peed three times already! She would never let him play with fire again.
Change the pants, change the sheets, put on a thick layer of clothes...
By the time Chen Yunyun got back into bed, it was already two or three in the morning.
It was late at night, and everyone was sound asleep. But a noise came from the courtyard—the sound of mud from the courtyard wall rolling down to the ground.
A short while later, a rustling sound came from the latch of the main room door.
Chen Yunyun was completely wide awake and became alert.
There were no sticks in the room, only needles and thread for sewing shoes. Chen Yunyun quietly got out of bed, took all the needles out of the basket, and stuck them into the ground in the dark.
The wooden door creaked open, and someone entered. The deliberately lowered footsteps were especially clear in the quiet night, and the person went straight to Chen Yunyun's room without hesitation.
Strange, why is that person so familiar with the layout of her house?
As the footsteps drew closer, Chen Yunyun clutched the newly changed bedding in her hands.
A scream pierced the air, then abruptly ceased.
The commotion woke up several children. The eldest child lit a lamp, and the three younger children and the eldest all looked at the man rolling on the ground.
Taking advantage of the fact that the man's head was covered by the blanket and he couldn't break free, Chen Yunyun quickly grabbed a thick rope and tied him up tightly.
They were all tied to chairs, and the skinny man was still crying out in pain, his face covered in snot and tears, looking extremely disheveled.
Chen Yunyun looked disgusted. "How can someone like this be a thief?"
She kicked the stool, and the man finally came to his senses. He immediately ordered, "Bandage me up right now, pay me back, my leg is ruined! You're a vicious woman!"
Chen Yunyun carried the person and stool to the main room with great effort. She waved her hand, signaling the children to go back to sleep.
The children all left obediently. The third child was carried to bed by Niu Niu, while Niu Niu and the eldest child got dressed and hid behind the house to eavesdrop.
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