Cheng Luanluan had lost all hope in her birth family, so her personality underwent a drastic change. She decided she had to live a good life for herself.
"I'd be surprised if I believed you," Auntie Wang said disdainfully. "Having money to buy meat is not as good as stocking up on a few more catties of grain. Old Madam Zhao was indeed right; she truly is a family-wrecker, living from hand to mouth. Her children will suffer following her..."
After she finished speaking, she fiercely swallowed a mouthful of saliva. The smell of meat from next door made her mouth water. Once the autumn harvest was complete, she would definitely take a few catties of grain to the town to exchange for half a catty of pork, so her own children could also taste meat...
Zhao Sidan rushed into the courtyard and immediately spotted a sizzling pot of braised pork. Smoke rose from it, and his saliva uncontrollably flowed out.
Cheng Luanluan whispered, "Sidan, from now on, no matter what delicious food we have at home, you must not tell anyone outside, no matter who it is. Do you understand?"
Zhao Sidan nodded vigorously: "I won't tell, I won't tell anyone!"
If it fell into the ears of their maternal uncle, he would surely come and snatch all the meat away.
Cheng Luanluan used a pair of chopsticks to pick up a piece of braised pork, blew on it, and put it into his mouth: "How is it? Is it delicious?"
Zhao Sidan swallowed it in one gulp, barely tasting anything. He licked his lips and said, "Mother, another piece..."
"You greedy cat," Cheng Luanluan chuckled. "Go, call your second brother and third brother back for dinner."
Zhao Sidan turned around and left immediately.
Cheng Luanluan told Wu Huiniang to put the braised pork on the table, then went to cook white rice.
She called Zhao Dashan in: "I remember you seem to know a bit about building with mud bricks. Can you build a small stove over here?"
A small stove with two pots, one for cooking rice and one for cooking dishes, would save a lot of effort and time.
The year before, in town, Zhao Dashan had learned how to build with mud bricks and indeed knew a little. He immediately went to the riverside to find some stones to bring back, then took yellow soil from behind the courtyard, added water to create a muddy mixture, and began building the stove according to Cheng Luanluan's instructions.
The rice was now cooked, and the aroma of meat and rice wafted through the room.
Just then, Zhao Sidan ran back in a panic: "Mother, this is bad! Second Brother and Third Brother are arguing with someone else..."
Cheng Luanluan suddenly felt weary at heart.
How did these two rascals get into trouble again?
Before she could say anything, Zhao Dashan threw down the stone in his hand: "Go, let's see who dares to bully my younger brothers."
"You stop right there!" Cheng Luanluan called him back. "Stay home and build the small stove properly. I'll check it when I get back."
She stepped out.
When two children fight, of course, the parents must step forward to resolve it. Letting the eldest go would only cause more conflict.
Zhao Sidan led the way, briefly explaining the situation.
The one arguing with the two children was Zhang Wulai, who was Zhang Dagang's son. The father and son were notoriously idle troublemakers in the village.
One could tell with a moment's thought that this was because Zhang Wulai hadn't gotten the rabbit yesterday, so he deliberately sought out her two sons to cause trouble.
So, Ergou and Sanniu were simply caught in a random misfortune.
Cheng Luanluan walked to the head of the village, where there was a well, the only place in the village that still had water. People queued up to draw water all day long.
At this moment, the two Zhao children and Zhang Wulai were fighting, and half the villagers were standing there watching the commotion.
“Zhang Wulai, you’ve lived all these years for nothing, you can’t even handle those two young brats?”
Zhang Wulai spat. “I’m protecting the village’s interests. These two brats carried back ten buckets of water past midnight yesterday, and today they’re here again, queuing for water. Does the water in the village just appear out of thin air? If their family uses so much water, other families will have less. Why do they want to hog all the good stuff?”