“Grandpa, today’s dishes weren’t made by Mom—they were made by… sister-in-law.” Gu Shiwu emerged from the kitchen carrying a bowl of chicken soup with both hands.
“Oh.” The term “sister-in-law” startled Grandpa Gu, but he didn’t press for an explanation.
Mother Gu fetched water in an enamel basin for Grandpa Gu to wash his hands. Gu Ning carried the pigweed into the kitchen, washed her own hands, and then brought a basin of vegetables to the main hall.
A square table stood in the center of the hall. Grandpa Gu sat at the head, with Mother Gu and Gu Ning on his right, Lu Zhenzhen on his left, and Gu Shiwu at the foot of the table.
The soup, made from a free-range old hen without any additives or shortcuts, was a nourishing delicacy.
Its aroma made mouths water. Lu Zhenzhen ladled a bowl for Grandpa Gu. “Grandpa, have some soup first.”
“We’re used to eating rice first,” Gu Ning said, picking up her rice bowl and heading to serve herself. Gu Shiwu followed.
Seeing this, Lu Zhenzhen ladled a bowl for herself and quietly sipped the soup. She didn’t want to change the Gu family’s habit of eating rice before soup.
Grandpa Gu picked up the bowl of chicken soup in front of him and drank it. Though over sixty, he was still robust and finished the small bowl in a few large gulps.
“Grandpa, let me serve you some rice,” Gu Shiwu said, standing up immediately after seeing his grandfather finish the soup.
Just as Lu Zhenzhen finished her soup, Second Aunt Gu walked in, pulling two little boys by the hand.
Stepping over the threshold, she announced loudly, “Dad, sister-in-law, these two little noses of mine caught the scent and started crying and begging to see their great-grandpa.”
“Crying won’t help, and neither will seeing Great-Grandpa. I bought this hen with my own money, so you can forget about eating any,” Lu Zhenzhen said seriously.
“What’s wrong with sharing a little of that big bowl of chicken with the children?” Second Aunt Gu said, quickening her pace toward the dining table.
Seeing this, Lu Zhenzhen picked up the bowl of chicken and divided the meat among the rice bowls of the Gu family. She had been drinking soup earlier and hadn’t touched the chicken yet.
Gu Ning and Gu Shiwu had nearly finished their rice, so they received more chicken, while Grandpa Gu and Mother Gu got relatively less.
Lu Zhenzhen carried the remaining bowl of chicken to the rice pot, scooped rice over it to cover the meat, completing the series of actions in one smooth motion.
“You… you… I thought you’d changed for the better, but you’re only getting worse!” Second Aunt Gu trembled with anger, pointing at Lu Zhenzhen through gritted teeth.
“This is the hen I bought. How is it wrong of me not to share it with you?” Lu Zhenzhen said, ladling another bowl of chicken soup for herself.
She then divided the chicken from the soup bowl among the four members of the Gu family, leaving only a bowl of clear broth and a plate of cabbage on the table.
Seeing the fury simmering in his second daughter-in-law’s eyes, Grandpa Gu slammed the table and said, “Eldest, Second Aunt Gu, and you, Xiao Ning and Xiao Wu, listen carefully. Xiao Ye has been away on missions since he joined the army and hasn’t returned to base yet.
We don’t know if he’s submitted his divorce papers or if they’ve taken effect. Until we receive a letter from Xiao Ye,
if any of you drive Zhenzhen away, I’ll break your legs. Second Aunt Gu, take the children and go home now.”
“…” Second Aunt Gu, whether from anger or shock at being dismissed, stood speechless.
“Waaah, Grandma, I don’t want to go! I want to eat chicken!” The younger boy, understanding that Great-Grandpa wanted him to leave, burst into loud sobs.
“Grandma… I haven’t tasted chicken in a year… waaah…” The older boy plopped down on the floor and started rolling around.
Lu Zhenzhen didn’t even glance at the child throwing a tantrum on the floor, eating her meal with her head down, completely unburdened.
Having grown up in a dog-eat-dog orphanage and endured all kinds of hardships after entering society, her life philosophy was clear: if you don’t fight for what’s yours, you’ll only be bullied.
Respecting the elderly and cherishing the young? It wasn’t that such virtues didn’t exist, but they had to be earned.
Anyone who tried to take what was hers—regardless of age or gender—could step aside.
Seeing Lu Zhenzhen calmly eating with her head down, Gu Shiwu also scooped rice over the chicken in his bowl and buried his face in his meal.
For someone who hadn’t tasted meat in a long time, sharing one chicken among five people was already a stretch—he could easily finish a whole chicken by himself.
So Gu Ning didn’t soften her heart and share either. She followed Gu Shiwu’s example, covering the chicken in her bowl with rice before silently eating with her head down.
Mother Gu looked at the four pieces of chicken in her bowl, then cautiously glanced at Lu Zhenzhen, but didn’t dare give her chicken to her grandnephew.
Though she was willing to sacrifice a few pieces of chicken, she feared Lu Zhenzhen might get angry and throw the bowls and chopsticks, so she kept her head down and ate.
Grandpa Gu saw everyone at the table eating with their heads down and wanted to continue his meal too, but he couldn’t just ignore his two great-grandchildren rolling on the floor.
He picked up a piece of chicken with his chopsticks and said to the child on the floor, “Stop crying. Come over to Great-Grandpa and have some chicken.”
“Waaah… I want to eat… waaah…” The child on the floor cried while scrambling over to Grandpa Gu’s feet, reaching out with dirty hands to grab the chicken.
Grandpa Gu picked up another piece of chicken with his chopsticks, and instantly, both children stopped crying, devouring the chicken in their hands.
Second Aunt Gu sniffed the aroma, drooling as she glared fiercely at Lu Zhenzhen, weighing the pros and cons in her mind.
If she drove this troublemaker away, her father-in-law, her husband, and that wolf cub Gu Ye would surely punish her.
Every time Sister-in-Law received money and ration coupons mailed back by Gu Ye, she would share a pound of meat and a pound of fruit candies with their two families.
It was just one meal of chicken—missing it wasn’t a big deal. As long as Lu Zhenzhen’s six hundred yuan ended up in Sister-in-Law’s hands, her daughter Xiaofang would get a share.
It was all Gu Ye’s fault for being useless and failing to win Lu Zhenzhen’s affection. If Lu Zhenzhen liked Gu Ye as much as she liked Xu Yanqing…
Then she would surely flatter their family just as she flattered the Xujia… Thinking this, Second Aunt Gu resented Gu Ye even more.
So she strode over to Mother Gu’s side, reached out, grabbed a piece of chicken from the bowl, stuffed it into her mouth, and then grabbed another.
This scene stunned Lu Zhenzhen. Though Second Aunt Gu hadn’t directly offended her, it ruined her appetite.
Lu Zhenzhen shot Second Aunt Gu an icy glare, the bone-chilling coldness sending a shiver down her spine. Without even caring for her grandson, Second Aunt Gu turned and fled.
Seeing Lu Zhenzhen scare her second aunt away, Gu Ning breathed a sigh of relief. For a moment, she had been terrified her second aunt would snatch the chicken from her bowl.
The dining table finally fell quiet. In her previous life, Lu Zhenzhen had watched her figure, accustomed to eating only half a bowl of rice per meal.
Now, this body was weak. After drinking two bowls of soup and a large bowl of rice, she still felt hungry, but unfortunately, all the food was gone!
“I’m going back to my room to rest for a while.” Lu Zhenzhen put down her bowl, washed her face, returned to her room, and lay down comfortably with her eyes closed to rest.
In the main hall, Grandpa Gu, having eaten his fill, also lay down on a bamboo recliner to rest, preparing to join the collective labor in the afternoon.
Mother Gu cleared the dishes, Gu Ning chopped pig feed, and Gu Shiwu swept up the chicken bones from the floor before going to fetch water.
As long as Lu Zhenzhen didn’t embarrass herself at the Xujia family, the Gu family would be more than grateful, never expecting her to do any work in the first place.
Lu Zhenzhen had originally only intended to rest for a while, but she ended up sleeping until the sun set in the west. Upon waking, she first entered Kongjian and curiously activated the robot.
“Master, I am 006. How may I assist you?”