Chapter 5:
Outside the kitchen, in the yard, Old Man Li didn’t notice that Luo Zhi’er and her daughter hadn’t come to eat.
He picked some pickled mustard greens into his bowl, sat on the big stone by the yard edge, and just focused on shoveling rice into his mouth.
Several half-grown boys scooped up every last bit of the big bowl of egg drop soup that had just been brought to the table!
Li Gui frowned unpleasantly; this was the reason he couldn’t stay at home every time.
But looking at the empty bowls spinning on the table, he swallowed saliva; before he could scoop any, it was gone.
Helplessly, he picked some shredded radish into his mouth to go with the rice, but it was really hard to swallow.
He started to complain a bit, saying disdainfully, “Mom… next time remember to put more eggs.”
“It’s all these stinky boys’ fault! Gui’er, here, there’s still some egg flowers and green vegetables at the bottom of the bowl; Mom will scrape them out for you to eat!”
Zhou Shi said ingratiatingly.
Thinking that when no one was around later, she’d fry an egg for her Gui’er to eat.
She quickly stood up and used chopsticks to scrape all the remaining things from the bottom of the bowl into Li Gui’s bowl.
Li Gui frowned, seeing his mom use the chopsticks she’d eaten with to stir the vegetables into the bowl; he suddenly felt nauseous and wanted to vomit…
“Reincarnated hungry ghost or what? Leave some for your uncle!”
Zhou Shi scolded the younger ones a couple more times!
Saliva sprayed everywhere!
Xiao Zhou Shi pursed her lips; only her youngest son was the treasure, but her own kids and husband weren’t?
Grab it, must grab it! Why not grab; even grabbing some egg flowers would be good!
“Mom, my Yunliang and Muqing are right at the age when they’re growing!”
Zhou Shi grumbled, “What, you still not satisfied even after those two ate?”
“Mom, I just feel that they’re all descendants of the Old Li Family, so we can’t show favoritism!”
“What? I’m going to enjoy Gui’er’s blessings in the future; what about you all? What blessings can you let this old woman enjoy?”
“Serve your whole family?”
Xiao Zhou Shi’s face looked embarrassed.
Chen Shi looked at the oldest brother’s family with considerable contempt at their unseemly scene at the table, scorning them disdainfully; these country bumpkins really have no rules.
She looked heartbroken at her two sons, especially as the second brother started wailing loudly.
“Jiabao, don’t cry; it’s just eggs, right? When Mom goes back to town, she’ll have your maternal grandma fry some for you to eat!”
“This stuff, heh, it’s not like we haven’t eaten it before!”
She sneered sarcastically…
The clear soup was already hard to swallow.
If it weren’t for that wheat matter, she wouldn’t want to stay in this countryside for another second.
It made the second brother Li Lei unable to hold his head up…
No one cared at all whether Liuliu and Miaomiao, those two girls, were growing…
Because of the double harvest, Li Sanmao hadn’t gone hunting for some days; there was just this little meat at home, and even that wasn’t enough for everyone to share evenly…
The second brother, under his wife’s resentful gaze, speechlessly picked some cold pickled mustard greens and stuffed them into his mouth, eating them with corn grits!
It made him want to vomit; he worked to earn silver for the family all year round, and this was what he ate!
Halfway through eating, he smelled a meaty aroma wafting through the air, so fragrant it almost made his mouth water.
“What is this taste?”
Old Man Li stopped and sniffed…
“Dad, it smells like meat.”
The second brother also took a deep breath and sniffed!
“Where did the meat come from?”
“Could it really be the snake meat that Luo Fatty made? Can snake be made this fragrant?”
Zhou Shi said incredulously, hesitating.
“Mom, I’ll go take a look; you wait a bit!”
Xiao Zhou Shi’s eyes darted; she stood up, bowl in hand, and ran very fast into the kitchen, where she saw Luo Zhi’er and her daughter drinking soup—the taste smelled absolutely delicious…
“Heh! Third sister-in-law, what’s this? You two are eating so fragrantly! Why eat alone?”
Luo Zhi’er didn’t even look up. “Eldest sister-in-law, what we’re eating is just some lowly stuff that can’t be put on the table. Mom didn’t let Miaomiao and me eat the meal you made, so how can you call it eating alone!”
Wasn’t this eating alone because they deliberately isolated her and her daughter?
Xiao Zhou Shi frowned tightly; this third wife felt different somehow—her words stabbed right at the heart!
She picked another piece of snake and put it into Miaomiao’s bowl: “Miaomiao, eat more!”
“Mm, Mom, this snake soup is really delicious; snake meat is actually very tasty too!”
Luo Zhi’er watched Miaomiao gulping soup and eating meat, feeling an indescribable satisfaction! There was a hint of smile in her eyes.
“Eldest sister-in-law, you have rice and vegetables; don’t tease us mother and daughter!”
Zhou Shi’s eyes darted. “Look at you saying that, third sister-in-law; what kind of meal do we have—it’s barely enough to fill the stomach. I don’t mind this snake meat; let eldest sister-in-law taste it…”
With that, she kept swallowing saliva, went to the stove by herself, and ladled a full bowl, her eyes lighting up after one sip!
“This is too delicious; third sister-in-law, leave some more for us, don’t eat it all!”
She scooped more into her bowl to fill it, then ran out!
Luo Zhi’er stood up, got a big bowl for Miaomiao, ladled plenty of snake pieces, filled it up. “Miaomiao, eat quickly; it’ll probably be gone soon!”
“Hey, Mom, how about giving some to Liuliu?”
Luo Zhi’er said, “Don’t worry; soon they’ll can’t help coming to ladle it; she’ll get some.”
She also filled her own bowl; she knew her own body well— she had to nourish it properly, or it could be fatal!
Sure enough, as soon as Xiao Zhou Shi went out, Zhou Shi ran in: “Little hoof, this snake is so delicious; why didn’t you ladle some out for your in-laws, brother, sister-in-law, and nephews to taste?”
Luo Zhi’er smiled coldly. “Mom, you wouldn’t let me go out to eat with you all, saying this snake was filthy and disgusting; now you’re blaming us…”
Zhou Shi was so angry her seven orifices smoked; what had happened to this third wife? She used to do whatever was said, but today she’d already retorted several times…
“Mom, little uncle doesn’t like eating this; you absolutely must not give it to him…”
With that, she gave a meaningful smile.
“You!”
Zhou Shi didn’t bother arguing with her because the snake soup was simply too delicious; she couldn’t help salivating…
With several scoops of the iron ladle, she scraped the pot clean, muttering as she walked, “Hmph! It’s all gone into dog bellies; there’s barely enough left for anyone!”
“Mom, why doesn’t Grandma keep her word? She just said who would eat this stuff, and now she’s ladled it all!”
Miaomiao said curiously.
“Miaomiao, you’re still young; you don’t understand the adult world. Some things involve benefits and change whenever they want!”
“Oh.” Miaomiao nodded in confusion, and Luo Zhi’er stroked her head: “How is it? Are you full?”
“Full, but it was so delicious; Miaomiao has never eaten anything this tasty; I want more…”
“Heh! Good, as long as you’re satisfied; next time Mom will make you something even tastier!”
“Yay! Mom, you’re the best.”
