Chapter 17:
Xiao Zhou Shi made a pot of corn grits porridge, cold tossed wood ear mushroom, stir-fried shepherd’s purse, stir-fried pickled mustard greens…
No one knew why, but the same dishes tasted far less delicious than those made by Luo Zhi’er…
As soon as Li Gui and Li Zhenzhu arrived and saw these things, they began to nitpick!
Even so, as soon as the food was served, it was snatched up almost entirely by her family’s children.
The two children were dressed in filthy clothes, as if they had rolled in the mud; their chests, elbows, and knees were covered in mud crusts.
Second Brother Yunliang had thick yellow snot hanging from his nose, which flowed to the corner of his mouth; he licked it off with his tongue and ate it!
Oldest Brother Muqing competed with Li Gui to eat the shepherd’s purse from the plate; he accidentally dropped some on the table and picked it up with his pitch-black fingers to stuff it into his mouth…
He even made a funny face…
Li Gui frowned in disgust: “Eldest Sister-in-law, Muqing and Yunliang are not little kids anymore; you should still pay attention to their behavior…”
“Exactly, next time there’s a banquet in the village, if they see those two like this, won’t they poke a hole in the Old Li Family’s backbone!”
Li Zhenzhu thought of the anger she had endured earlier and quickly chimed in!
“Heh, Uncle really doesn’t know the ways of the mortal world; you only look clean now!”
“Hahaha! Eldest Sister-in-law, I came to this family early; at that time, you were still a half-grown kid. Don’t deny it—you were just like this back then, even more slovenly. Have you forgotten?”
Li Gui’s face flushed pale then white.
“Muqing’s mother, say less!”
Li Daqiang saw the wind wasn’t blowing right and quickly tugged at his wife’s sleeve!
“Tch! Mind your own business!”
Li Gui shot up, his face ashen, and stormed into the room!
“You, this morning, why do you keep stirring up trouble? Will you ever stop?”
“You mean it’s my fault?”
“That’s not what I mean, Muqing’s mother. It’s mealtime—don’t argue!”
“Hmph! It’s because you’re useless!”
“You!”
Li Daqiang slammed down his chopsticks in anger, losing all appetite.
Li Gui entered the room and sat at the desk by the window, his eyes gleaming with the gaze of a feral wolf cub!
One by one, they looked down on him because he currently had no real skills.
Don’t underestimate him; once he became an official in the future, he’d make those bitches who mocked him kneel and beg him!
For now, he still had to rely on them—heartless things.
They never thought that their ability to hold their heads high and be respected in the village was all thanks to him, Li Gui…
While they argued, Li Zhenzhu had already piled a mountain of vegetables into her own bowl and twisted her butt to go into the room as well.
By the time Xiao Zhou Shi noticed, Yunliang was wailing loudly, with snot flowing into his mouth again: “Mom, Aunt took it all; I still want to eat cold tossed wood ear mushroom!”
Xiao Zhou Shi cursed furiously… “An adult actually robbing food from the kids, not working herself, yet picky about the taste—it’s not good, then don’t eat it…”
“A young woman with such thick skin; she was just turning up her nose at me earlier, but when it came to eating, she ran faster than anyone…”
“Pah!”
Li Zhenzhu huddled inside the room, pretending not to hear, but she mentally noted it down harshly against Xiao Zhou Shi!
She just sneered coldly: wait and see; when her mom came back, she’d have a good show!
Li Gui sat at the table by the window and suddenly smelled a fragrance.
He glanced at the pot beside Luo Zhi’er and silently zoned out…
They were eating without calling Luo Zhi’er and the other two.
Today, by default, each family ate their own!
However, everyone smelled the waves of aroma drifting from the pot cooking pig feed under the side room…
It made Xiao Zhou Shi couldn’t help but swallow some saliva, feeling her own bowl of food even harder to swallow…
“This Luo Zhi’er must have hidden some meat in there, right? How could pig offal smell this good? It must be that…”
“Wife, it can’t be that much!”
“I say you’re honest, and you really are!” She suddenly stood up, about to go check it out!
Luo Zhi’er was thinking about what seasonings to add to the braised intestines; she took Miaomiao with the small hoe to the back mountain hillside to get the few wild onions and wild small chives she saw that day…
Li Sanmao watched the fire…
On the way back, she saw the chili pepper seedlings they had picked and pulled in the garden, and searched for a few small chili peppers of poor quality…
Before they could react, Xiao Zhou Shi ran over and lifted the lid…
“Eldest Sister-in-law, what are you doing?”
Luo Zhi’er rushed over to block her, not knowing she kicked something; a heavy object came smashing down.
It nearly knocked her flying… “Wife, are you okay?”
Li Sanmao stood up, his face full of tension…
Zhou Shi rubbed her forehead, furious to death; she was the one who got hurt.
She steadied herself against the wall, her face gloomy as she looked at her: “Hmph! Luo Zhi’er, you two have such scheming thoughts—hiding meat for yourselves while pretending to cook pig offal here. Hand over the meat now…”
“Otherwise, you’ll have hell to pay!”
“Eldest Sister-in-law, what nonsense are you saying? Wasn’t it you who told us to come out and cook?”
Luo Zhi’er was so angry she almost laughed; what kind of rotten excuse was this?
“If you have a clear conscience, let me take a look. What’s there to hide?”
“Fine, look then. If it’s pig offal after you see, please stay away from me, and honor your word!”
“Hmph!”
Luo Zhi’er lifted the lid of the pig lung soup pot, then the lid on the small cauldron: “Go ahead and look!”
Xiao Zhou Shi craned her neck, frowned, and stirred the pot with a spoon for a bit.
It didn’t look disgusting; the aroma was so stimulating that she couldn’t help wanting to scoop a few big spoonfuls into her own bowl.
Luo Zhi’er snatched the spoon in anger and slammed the lid back on.
“Seen enough? You can go! Please!”
“You…”
Her eyes flicked to the braised intestines—black and dark, looking like that thing…
A bit of contempt, but the smell didn’t resemble shit at all; it actually made her want to eat it!
“Eldest Sister-in-law, you’ve looked and stirred; there’s no hidden meat like you said. Please leave!”
Li Sanmao said coldly.
Xiao Zhou Shi’s eyes darted around; while the few people were at each other’s throats, she was still scheming how to eat some of that meat soup…
A voice broke through,
“Yo, the rice is ready? No one called us Second Son’s Family!”
Chen Shi poked her head out from the Second Son’s Family room doorway; this Xiao Zhou Shi was really malicious, not calling her.
She had deliberately listened to their commotion outside and confirmed that Luo Zhi’er was indeed making soup with pig offal…
Xiao Zhou Shi turned back and sneered sarcastically: “Heh, Second Sister-in-law, you’re really living comfortably; the sun is already on your butt, and your whole family just needs to open their mouths to eat!”
“This is your husband’s family, not your maternal family. Sorry, today I didn’t cook your Eldest Son’s Family’s corn grits!”
“You, what do you mean?”
“Weren’t you sick? You’re eager to eat now; if you want to eat, do it yourself—that’s what I made…”
“What’s so great about that? Do you think you’ll starve me to death?”
“Hmph! That corn grits is also what Mother-in-law left for the whole family’s rations today, not just for your Eldest Son’s Family…”
“And the vegetables you’re eating were pulled back by Third Sister-in-law yesterday; your Eldest Son’s Family ate them all alone!”
“We haven’t said anything yet? If everyone has a share, what reason is there for your Eldest Son’s Family to eat it all?”
She wanted to provoke Luo Zhi’er into cursing her out, to stand on the same frontline as herself…
Unfortunately, Luo Zhi’er was busy with her braised pig intestines and didn’t respond!
Chen Shi turned and headed to the backyard kitchen, grabbing a bowl to serve corn grits…
Xiao Zhou Shi saw this and rushed over; the two immediately started tussling together…
Luo Zhi’er stared in shock, mouth agape; was it worth it? Fighting over a mouthful of corn grits…
Wasn’t this Second Sister-in-law from a town maternal family? Surely they didn’t lack this stuff?
Probably starved…
They fought until blood was flowing; Li Daqiang was scared and ran to break it up, while Jiabao cried in fright.
Jiayong, to avenge his mom, led Jiabao and the oldest family’s Muqing and Yunliang into the fray as well.
Now it was a mess—the adults and children in the room all piled into a brawl…
Li Zhenzhu ran to the doorway and watched the spectacle with interest—serves them right!
It’d be good if these little things beat each other to death; these two sisters-in-law were rotten to the core!
Luo Zhi’er felt it best not to get involved; she just kept Miaomiao far away and ran over to pull the children apart.
Li Daqiang’s family were bigger, so Jiayong and Jiabao took the worst of it.
Their little faces, arms, and necks were all scratched up.
After a quick patch-up, she inwardly fumed—this was outrageous.
The adults were having a great time fighting! Poor children suffering for it.
Liuliu stood by Chen Shi, eyes full of terror, endlessly shouting, “Mom, don’t fight!”
Luo Zhi’er had Li Sanmao bring Liuliu over to avoid harming the innocent!
But this girl Liuliu refused to come no matter what, insisting on watching her mom…
Xiao Zhou Shi was irritated by her crying and yelled back, “Cry cry cry, girlie, what’s the use? Better for the boys to avenge Mom and fight them!”
Li Daqiang grabbed the desperate Xiao Zhou Shi, but Chen Shi took the chance to slap her hard across the face!
This poked the hornet’s nest!
“Awoooo, Li Daqiang, you got guts! Just wait!”
It stunned Li Daqiang too; his grip loosened, and Xiao Zhou Shi lunged at Chen Shi, knocking her down, straddling her, and clawing at her face…
Her face instantly had deep gashes, oozing blood…
“Aaaah! Zhou Hanjuan, you bitch, you dare scratch my face—I’ll fight you to the death!”
Chen Shi cared most about her looks; this time, she might be disfigured…
Li Sanmao saw things had gone too far today and rushed over; together with Li Daqiang, they separated the two…
Her pig lung soup pot was bubbling and done; she scooped a bowl for Miaomiao, a big bowl each for the two families’ children, and left one for Liuliu…
Fight on, fight on.
Judging by this, with the family division matter, even if she didn’t bring it up, someone else was already itching to do it…
