After Lin Ran finished speaking, she ignored Wang Zhaodi and instead went to help soothe Shen Wenfang’s breathing.
Shen Wenfang’s chest was heaving violently; it seemed she was truly infuriated!
However, her first priority was still to care for Lin Ran’s health.
“Ranran, are you feeling better? Is your head still spinning?”
Lin Ran smiled and shook her head.
“Mom, I’m fine now. I just took a nap and feel much better.”
“That’s good, that’s good!”
Shen Wenfang looked relieved, but her anger flared up again when her gaze swept over Wang Zhaodi.
How did the second son end up marrying such a creature!
Actually, Lin Ran was also very puzzled by this question.
Because just now, she had quickly looked over Lin Weiguo and her two brothers, finding that they all had very regular and upright features.
The third brother wasn’t home, but his looks were the most outstanding among the three brothers!
She and the third brother were fraternal twins, and they shared about thirty percent of their facial features.
Although she hadn’t looked in a mirror yet, she assumed she wasn’t bad-looking herself.
Meanwhile, Wang Zhaodi not only had a face full of pockmarks but was also short. Her only merit might be that she was fair-skinned; her features were barely passable.
She wondered how she and the second brother had even ended up together.
When the three men of the Lin family heard Lin Ran say she was fine, they also looked relieved.
Lin Ran noted these subtle changes in expression.
It seemed the original owner was indeed very pampered at home!
Also, the eldest sister-in-law seemed quite easy to get along with, except for this second sister-in-law who jumped out to cause trouble every now and then.
Over there, seeing that everyone was ignoring her, Wang Zhaodi exploded!
She immediately sat down on the ground and began to wail.
“Everyone, come and judge this!”
“The sister-in-law is driving her brother’s wife back to her maiden home!”
“I can’t live like this anymore!”
“The Lin family is unreasonable!”
“The whole Lin family is helping the youngest daughter bully the daughter-in-law!”
“Lin Lao Er, you heartless man! Are you just going to watch your sister drive me away?”
“You…”
“Wang Zhaodi, shut your mouth!”
Seeing that Wang Zhaodi’s ghost-like wailing might attract the neighbors, Shen Wenfang trembled with rage. Wang Zhaodi wanted to ruin Ranran’s reputation!
“Second Son! Aren’t you going to control your wife!”
Being called out by name by Shen Wenfang, the second Lin brother finally stopped weaving his bamboo basket with some reluctance and looked at Wang Zhaodi.
“Weren’t you the one who started by disliking my sister? This is also my sister’s home. You disliked her, so she drove you away. Besides, she just said it; were you actually driven back?”
“If you have the time to make a scene, you’d be better off saving your energy to help the eldest sister-in-law make dinner so we can finish earlier and rest earlier!”
Wang Zhaodi was furious; this dog of a man was just muddled and couldn’t distinguish between family and outsiders.
“Fine, you, Lin Lao Er! You only know how to side with your sister. Are you living your life with me or with your sister!”
The second Lin brother gave her a strange look and spoke the truth:
“Our family hasn’t split up yet. Aren’t we all living our lives together?”
Wang Zhaodi was floored!
Lin Ran couldn’t help but chuckle. Although this second sister-in-law was a bit annoying, the second brother was quite interesting!
Shen Wenfang was clearly accustomed to this. She stopped bothering with them and pulled Lin Ran away.
“Ranran, you go rest. Mom will go give your eldest sister-in-law a hand.”
Lin Ran just wanted to stick to Shen Wenfang right now, so she acted spoiled:
“Mom, I’m not tired. I’ll go help too!”
Unable to sway her, the two of them went to the kitchen together.
As soon as Lin Ran entered the low-ceilinged kitchen, she saw the blackened stove; even the yellow mud walls around it were turning black.
At this time, the eldest sister-in-law, Liu Ping, was tending the fire.
Lin Ran gave a small smile and greeted her.
“Eldest Sister-in-law, is there anything you need help with?”
Liu Ping waved her hands repeatedly.
“No… no need…”
Her voice was as faint as a mosquito.
Shen Wenfang also nodded.
“I told you to go rest. It’s almost ready; there’s no need for your help!”
As she spoke, she briskly lifted the pot lid to see if the sweet potatoes were cooked.
Well, Lin Ran gave up. Although she knew a bit about cooking, she wasn’t familiar with the food here and truly couldn’t help much.
However, she didn’t leave. She just greedily watched Shen Wenfang’s every move, her heart feeling sweet.
Even though the mother in this time and space didn’t have the memories of her previous life, she still treated her with the same deep affection. She truly felt so happy!
As for the backache from the hard wooden bed and the patched black cloth shoes on her feet, she automatically ignored them.
Compared to her mother, these difficult living conditions were nothing.
…
Dinner was eaten at a small wooden table in the courtyard. It was very simple: sweet potato porridge with pickles.
Only in front of Lin Ran was a separate bowl of steamed egg custard.
When Wang Zhaodi saw it, she felt another burst of frustration.
“Mom, you’re too partial!”
“We work ourselves to death outside all day earning work points and don’t even get eggs to eat. Why does the youngest sister get to eat them?”
“It’s one thing for her to stay home and rest without working, but her food is even better than ours?”
“I can’t live like this!”
Shen Wenfang slammed the table.
“Wang Zhaodi, can you stop picking on Ranran all day!”
“Didn’t you see Ranran faint today? She has a weak constitution, so I steamed an egg for her to nourish her. Why can’t you stand it?”
“And even if Ranran has an egg every day, she’s eating what belongs to me and her father. Do you have a say in it?”
Speaking of this, Wang Zhaodi grew even angrier and couldn’t help muttering in a low voice:
“Don’t what you and Dad earn belong to us too? What does it have to do with a mere girl like Lin Ran!”
Lin Weiguo and his wife didn’t hear this; otherwise, they would have definitely set her straight.
Lin Weiguo was also very dissatisfied with the way his second daughter-in-law kept looking for trouble, but as a father-in-law, it wasn’t appropriate for him to scold his daughter-in-law.
So, after Shen Wenfang finished speaking, he settled the matter with finality.
“Ranran doesn’t need to go to work tomorrow. If you’re not feeling well, just rest well at home. Our family isn’t short of the few work points you’d earn.”
Lin Ran naturally nodded obediently.
It was a joke—the original owner didn’t know how to do farm work, and she knew even less; she had no desire to make things difficult for herself.
Lin Weiguo was not only the head of the family but also the brigade leader. Wang Zhaodi feared him instinctively. With him speaking, no matter how dissatisfied she was, she didn’t dare say anything.
It was just that her gaze toward Lin Ran became increasingly resentful.
Suddenly, a flash of inspiration hit her.
“Dad, Mom, I’ve also been exhausted lately. I want to take a day off tomorrow too.”
As she spoke, Wang Zhaodi looked pointedly at Lin Ran, making it clear she was doing it on purpose.
Lin Weiguo had just told his daughter to rest more since she was tired; now that his daughter-in-law said she was tired and wanted to rest for a day, he could only nod in agreement.
At this, Wang Zhaodi finally quieted down and began to eat her dinner properly.
However, in her mind, she was planning what to take to the black market tomorrow to make money.
Shen Wenfang glanced at Liu Ping, who was just burying her head in her food, and added a sentence.
“Since Zhaodi is resting tomorrow, then let Liu Ping rest for a day in a couple of days as well. You are both daughters-in-law; I can’t be seen as favoring one over the other.”
Everyone had no objection, but Liu Ping finally raised her head from her rice bowl and looked at Shen Wenfang with a face full of shocked delight.
“Mom, is this okay? I’m not tired, I don’t need to rest.”
Before Shen Wenfang could say anything, the eldest Lin brother scolded her.
“Mom is caring about you, don’t be ungrateful. Quickly thank Mom.”
Liu Ping listened to her husband the most and quickly said:
“Thank you, Mom.”
She looked a bit dazed.
Lin Ran glanced at the eldest brother; this brother was probably the shrewdest among the three, and surprisingly, he was one who doted on his wife.
Just as she thought of the three brothers, she heard Shen Wenfang ask:
“Where is the third son? All he knows is how to fool around outside all day. He’s still not back yet; I don’t know which of his fox-like friends he’s gone looking for!!”