Chapter 524: Chapter 270: Two Generations of Mother-in-law and Daughter-in-law_2
"How should I know, I wasn’t there at the time," Lady He finally wasn’t foolish to that extent and quickly replied.
"Second daughter-in-law, what time is it now, where have you gotten with the cooking? If you don’t hurry up and work, do you want to starve us all to death?" from inside the Upper Room, came Lady Zhou’s scolding voice.
Lady He felt somewhat wronged. Clearly, she was in the right to ask Zhao Xiue to work, and Lady Zhou should have supported her. Yet now, it was Lady Zhou who spoke up, not scolding Zhao Xiue, but instead scolding her. She heard more than once how Lady Zhou, upon hearing Zhao Xiue had scolded her, got furious at home, saying that if Zhao Xiue didn’t come back it would be fine, but if she did, she would teach Zhao Xiue a lesson, to make Zhao Xiue understand rules and respect for elders and superiors.
"Mother, I just can’t manage on my own, so I asked the second brother’s wife for a hand. She didn’t help, and even scolded me instead. Since when can a daughter-in-law scold her mother-in-law in the Lian Family?" Lady He called into the room.
"Oh, it’s just this bit of work. If I weren’t pregnant and feeling unwell, I could do it all single-handedly. And you still need someone to help? How did you manage before without me? Without me, you wouldn’t even be alive, would you? ... It’s just that you can’t stand me and want to pick a bone with me. Fine, then. Pay me back my money, and I’ll be your ox and horse right away." Zhao Xiue said with a cold laugh.
Inside the Upper Room, it was quiet, with no more sounds coming from Lady Zhou.
Lady He, not receiving support from Lady Zhou and feeling somewhat guilty about He Laoliu’s debt, and since she wasn’t a match for Zhao Xiue in a quarrel anyway, could only swallow her grievances and went back to cooking.
"Sister, lend me a light." from inside the West Wing Room, Lian Manman spoke and stretched her hand with the vermicelli over to roast it above the flame. The vermicelli puffed up upon meeting the fire, and its color also turned white.
Lian Manman roasted two sticks of vermicelli, handed one to Lian Zhizhi, and took one for herself to eat.
Children in tenant farmer families generally don’t spend money on snacks, but they use their ingenuity to create a bit of deliciousness for themselves. For instance, roasting caught sparrows and bird eggs to eat, burying a potato or two in the stove pit to roast, or like now, roasting vermicelli.
After being roasted by the fire, the puffed vermicelli, in terms of texture, resembled the prawn crackers Lian Manman had eaten in her previous life, of course without the seafood flavor, but still crunchy and quite tasty.
Lian Manman had learned this after watching a kid from the same village eat like this.
After roasting two more sticks of vermicelli, Lian Manman and Lian Zhizhi divided them between themselves to eat, and just as the vegetables in the pot came to a boil, Lian Manman added the whole bunch of vermicelli to it.
The yard had once again become quiet; as for the quarrel between Lady He and Zhao Xiue, it was as if the rest of the Lian Family hadn’t heard or seen anything.
Lian Manman knew, from this point on, Lady He would probably be trampled underfoot by Zhao Xiue.
"Why am I caught in the middle, unable to please anyone? He Laoliu’s debt isn’t my doing. I didn’t give the second brother’s wife any hard work, I was just too busy and asked her for a hand. But she scolded me for this," afterwards, Lady He came over, grabbing Lady Zhang’s hand and not letting go, bursting into tears as she complained.
Lady Zhang couldn’t say much either and could only vaguely agree with her.
...
The chicks and ducklings bought at the start of spring, after being fed for these days, had already grown to three or four times their original size. As the chicks and ducklings got bigger, they couldn’t always be kept in the chicken coop. Usually, they were fed once in the morning, then the door of the chicken coop was opened, allowing them to roam freely in the yard. Chickens roaming freely could peck for worms in the soil, which helped them grow faster.
Lady Zhou also had to let the chicks out every day to find their own food. Both families’ chickens bought only a few days apart had grown to a similar size. Yet, it seemed to be an innate ability of the housewives of tenant farmer households, as they could always distinguish which chickens and ducks were theirs among those almost the same size.
Even so, one day, a mistake still occurred.
After dinner that day, Lady Zhang prepared a bowl of cinnabar ink. Lian Zhizhi, Lian Manman, Wu Lang, and Xiao Qi herded all their chickens and ducks into the coop and then, one by one, caught them. Lady Zhang marked each of their backs with the cinnabar ink.
This would prevent any future mix-ups.
Such marking was a common practice among farmsteads that raised chickens and ducks; it made finding them convenient if they ever strayed from home.
"Mother, this one seems to be a young rooster," Xiao Qi said, handing a chick to Lady Zhang.
The chicks had now grown bigger and could be easily distinguished as males or females. The roosters had larger combs and grew in body size more quickly than the hens. Among the batch of chicks Lady Zhang had bought, three could be clearly identified as roosters.
"Roosters are good. Once they’re fattened up, we can slaughter them for meat," Lady Zhang said with a smile as she accepted the chick from Xiao Qi’s hands.
Across at the east-side coop, Lady Zhou was with Lian Xiuxiu, Lady Zhao, and Lian Yeye, also marking her chickens. She too used cinnabar ink, but applied the marks on the heads of each chicken.
Lady Zhou had bought fewer chicks than Lady Zhang, yet she had already found four young roosters. Lady Zhou’s face didn’t look pleased.
Just then, Zhao Xiue and Erlang walked over from the back courtyard, one after the other.
Erlang, with his head down, was carefully speaking to Zhao Xiue, who appeared impatient, and with a flick of her elbow, she pushed Erlang aside.
It was a sharp jab, and it hit right under Erlang’s ribs.
Erlang broke into a cold sweat and cried out in pain, clutching his side.
"Zhao Xiue, what are you doing? Why are you being so rough with Erlang?" Lian Xiuxiu, on her way from the coop to the Upper Room, passed by them and saw Erlang’s pained expression. She immediately spoke out in anger.
"What would an unmarried girl like you understand? It’s a matter between a husband and wife. Why are you asking, aren’t you ashamed?" Zhao Xiue, seemingly in a bad temper, snapped back at Lian Xiuxiu on the spot.
Lian Xiuxiu’s face flushed red.
"Zhao Xiue, is that how you speak to your elder sister-in-law? Have you no manners?" Lady Zhou said, walking briskly over on her small feet.
***......****
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