"Xiao Xue, that child, is such a planner. As soon as I heard that Yongsheng was getting married tomorrow, my head spun. But she had everything arranged in an orderly fashion!" Li Xiuying praised her granddaughter.
She agreed with her granddaughter’s calculation regarding the two daughters-in-law. Over the years, how many things have those two daughters-in-law taken from the household? Every time, Yongsheng has had to tighten his belt to take care of the kids first.
Now that Yongsheng is getting married, as his brother and sister-in-law, they should contribute something.
"Yes...yes, indeed! Xiao Xue is so capable!" Feng Minghua said reluctantly. She had to praise Xiao Xue a few times along with her mother-in-law before she could claim any credit.
Thus, the two who initially wanted to gain some advantage both ended up spending a bit. Although it wasn’t much, just some vegetables, during times when even a bite of food was precious, it was quite something.
After finishing the quilts, looking at the soft cotton quilts made of new fabric and cotton, they were both green with envy.
The quilts they got when they got married were nothing compared to these, not only was there less cotton, but the fabric wasn’t even sturdy.
By now, they didn’t keep warm at all. ʀᴇᴀᴅ ʟᴀᴛᴇsᴛ ᴄʜᴀᴘᴛᴇʀs ᴀᴛ novèlfire.net
"Alright, Minghua, Lingling! You two quickly go and grind the corn, it’s needed for tomorrow!" Li Xiuying ordered like a proper mother-in-law.
"Okay, we’ll go now!" Liu Lingling responded obediently. However, Feng Minghua wasn’t having it.
"Mom, we’ve been busy all morning, I’m hungry! Can’t we eat before we go? Grinding is tiring!" She sat without moving.
At this time, everyone was eating two meals a day; the four of them just finished sewing two quilts, and it was only twelve! So, Li Xiuying hadn’t even thought about eating, but Minghua was adamant about not going.
Wang Cuihua looked at her eldest daughter, wondering what to do. She didn’t know how to deal with such shameless people.
"Aunt, are you hungry? Let me heat up the cornmeal porridge we had in the morning. There’s a bowl left!" Bai Ruxue pretended to get up to heat up the meal.
"Well...your second aunt must be hungry too. Everyone should be hungry. Xiao Xue, Aunt will help you make food. Let’s eat and then get back to work!" Feng Minghua, hearing about cornmeal porridge, quickly dragged Liu Lingling, eager to eat at the sister-in-law’s house.
"Sister-in-law, I’m not hungry! It’s so early!" Liu Lingling didn’t agree and continued to argue with her.
Feng Minghua had long been dissatisfied with Liu Lingling. Just now, this wretch had taken advantage of her being caught off guard to suggest providing pickled vegetables while making her offer dried beans. Now she was contradicting her again! See how she would deal with her later.
"Fine, I won’t eat either. Let’s go home to eat! Xiao Xue, take out the corn; we’ll go grind it!" Feng Minghua glared at Liu Lingling, feeling embarrassed, and said with a bit of awkwardness.
"Not going to eat? It’s quick to heat it!" Bai Ruxue still pretended she was going to heat the cornmeal porridge for Feng Minghua.
But Bai Ruyun looked at her eldest sister, knowing they had eaten white rice congee with meat-filled buns and tasty pickles that morning. Where was any cornmeal porridge?
"No need, Xiao Xue. Don’t bother yourself; everyone’s busy! Let’s go!" She stood up and started pushing Liu Lingling.
"Sister-in-law, don’t push me, slow down!" Liu Lingling had just put on her shoes and was nearly pushed over.
Bai Ruxue went to the shed outside to grab the corn and had them each carry back fifty pounds.
What she didn’t know was that Liu Lingling spent the entire afternoon at the mill and nearly got exhausted.
Feng Minghua kept complaining about a stomachache and needing to go to the bathroom, leaving Liu Lingling to do the grinding alone.
But Bai Ruxue didn’t care since the two were equally bad. As long as the work got done, they could mess with each other all they wanted.
She returned the quilts, clothes, and her grandmother to the house, and ordered two trays of tofu, bringing home ten pounds of pork and some wood ear mushrooms from the supermarket, delivering them all to her grandma’s house in the afternoon.
When she arrived, Wang Yongsheng, Grandpa Wang, Wang Junsheng, and Wang Shusheng had already completed the betrothal visits. The relatives had been informed, and they were just waiting for tomorrow’s wedding.
"Uncle, here is the tofu, pork, and mushrooms! All six dishes for tomorrow are arranged!" Bai Ruxue set everything down, the tofu was even wrapped by her two brothers.
With so many people in the village and only so much land, the root-digging was already done in the afternoon, and her brothers had come back early.
"Xiao Xue, you’ve worked hard these past days. Uncle will buy you a gift later!" Wang Yongsheng was full of smiles, he was finally about to marry the girl he loved, no one knew how happy he was.
"You’re too kind, Uncle! Alright, we’re heading home! We’ll be here early tomorrow!" Bai Ruxue took her two brothers, pushing the bicycle home.
She dared not let both of them ride the bike for fear of them falling, so they chatted as they walked, pushing the bike together.
"Sis, Uncle’s wedding is really sudden. We’ve just learned Uncle has a girlfriend, and now he’s getting married!" Bai Rushan for once joined the chat.
"Isn’t it? I’m still getting used to it myself!" Bai Ruchuan added.
"It’s fine! Quick and decisive. It’s more troublesome if delayed! I see that Aunt’s family is not an easy one." Bai Ruxue joined in the chat with her brothers.
Lately, she had to find a way to get Aunt to work in Pingyang Town, otherwise, the constant visits from her family would trouble her grandparents.
If Uncle didn’t like her, she wouldn’t approve of such a family.
She had gotten a good look at them when measuring sizes in the morning and delivering clothes in the afternoon. They weren’t just greedy but also liked taking advantage, each with their own agendas. Even their gazes were deceitful.
"You two should prepare too! Once March starts, I’ll get you both into school. You don’t have to work for now, just read your books!" Bai Ruxue instructed her two brothers.
"Sis, you should study too! Otherwise, staying at home means you have to work!" Bai Ruchuan said, "Now that dad has a job, life should be easier!"
"Don’t worry! I have my plans!" Bai Ruxue patted her brother’s shoulder.
It’s only the year ’70 now! There are seven more years to the college exam, and she doesn’t want to waste time in school! There’s a lot to be done.
"Sis, now that Dad works, Mom can’t work either because of the kids, and if we all go to school, you’ll be the only one working. How much food can we get when it’s distributed? Maybe I shouldn’t go to school; I can stay home and work with you!" Bai Rushan suggested.
"What a silly thing to say! Our family doesn’t need work points for food! Rest assured, you won’t go hungry!" Bai Ruxue, worried her secret would be discovered, would have shown it to her siblings long ago!
She just worried that if her secret got out, it would invite trouble! So she guarded it cautiously.
Speaking of, it’s been days. Zhang Yuan should have reached the Capital City by now, right? Why isn’t there any news?
He mentioned he had some trouble when he left? What kind of trouble? Could it be as Zhao Hongmei said, that his grandfather wanted him back for matchmaking or, worse, for marriage?
Lost in thought, Bai Ruxue returned home, and when she arrived, her two sisters already had dinner ready, waiting for them.