Lu Changgui, the second son of the Lu family, was naturally a peacemaker—he rarely offended anyone.
“Fourth brother, the whole pig isn’t that big. Asking for twenty jin right off the bat is a bit much. Sister-in-law, our family only needs ten jin,” he said.
“Second son, are you crazy? Ten jin isn’t enough! At least twenty jin! My share is at least twenty jin, and not a gram less,” Old Madam Lu snapped, her voice sharp and caustic. Seeing her, Lin Xiyue could barely suppress a smirk.
Before Liu Ruyun could speak, Lin Xiyue grabbed a nearby butcher knife and strode forward.
Bang!
The knife slammed into the chopping block. She looked at the assembled relatives and said firmly,
“This wild boar was hunted by me. If you want some meat, either pay or leave. As for embezzling my father-in-law’s compensation money, that will be reported to the authorities. Since you claim that silver belongs to you, let the county magistrate decide. Embezzling compensation money is a crime—you could end up in prison.”
“Who’s going to prison?”
Just then, the village chief Lu Huaiming walked in. Seeing the commotion, a small smile lingered on his face.
“Village chief, you finally came! What a disaster in our family! I never thought our old Lu household would bring home such an unfilial and treacherous daughter-in-law. Just now she threatened to report us to have us all thrown in jail!”
Old Madam Lu grabbed the village chief and started her dramatic complaints. Liu Ruyun instinctively stepped forward to defend Lin Xiyue, and Lu Yanqiu stood alongside her.
Lin Xiyue felt warmed by their support, but such petty scenes didn’t faze her.
“So this is Jinghuai’s new wife? Looks clever. I heard you were slaughtering a pig today, so I came to join the fun. Why the argument?” Lu Huaiming, accustomed to village disputes, had long gotten used to such scenes.
“Village chief, this is Lin Xiyue, our new daughter-in-law. This wild boar was hunted by Xiaoyue and our third son. We were happy, but then this incident happened. Sorry for the trouble,” Liu Ruyun explained tactfully, and the chief immediately understood the situation.
A joyful day spoiled by Old Madam Lu’s arrival—anyone would be annoyed.
“Village chief, I need to ask you something,” Lin Xiyue said, sensing that he was approachable.
“Ask away. If I know the answer, I’ll tell you,” he replied.
“According to our country’s law, who is entitled to the compensation money of a soldier who died in battle?”
The chief thought for a moment. “Military law specifies: the compensation money belongs to the wife; if the wife is deceased, it goes to the children; if unmarried, to the parents; if both parents are dead, it goes to siblings. Outsiders must not touch it.”
“And what crime is it to embezzle a soldier’s compensation money?” Lin Xiyue pressed further.
The chief hadn’t thought about such matters in a while, so he took a moment to recall.
“Embezzling a soldier’s compensation money is punishable by fifty strokes of the cane and imprisonment. At minimum, three years in jail.”
At this, Old Madam Lu’s face turned pale with agitation.
“Village chief, that money is my son’s! How can I not take it? I raised him with hardship—this money should go to me as his mother!”
Now the chief understood why Lin Xiyue was asking—this was about Lu Changming’s compensation money.
Back then, Liu Ruyun had only mentioned splitting the family but had not discussed the compensation money. The chief had no idea it was taken by Old Madam Lu and her husband. No wonder Liu Ruyun and her children had struggled—originally, they hadn’t received a penny.
“Every law has its limits. This isn’t about what you want. I remember Changming’s compensation was twenty taels. You didn’t give a single coin to the eldest daughter-in-law? Now you complain? Return the money immediately! If this goes to court, you’ll be punished, and it could even affect Lu An’s civil service exams. Consider which is more important,” the chief declared.
Many present nodded in agreement.
Hearing that it could affect her son’s exams, Lu Changgui panicked.
“Mother, An will be taking the exams next year. This can’t delay him!”
Old Madam Lu, of course, wanted her eldest grandson to succeed. But twenty taels—where could she get that?
“Oh, village chief, you’re trying to kill me! Where am I supposed to find twenty taels? Most of it’s been spent over the years. Not long ago, I even gave two taels to the eldest daughter-in-law! Where would I get twenty now?” she wailed, throwing a tantrum.
Liu Ruyun knew that most of Lu An’s studies over the years had been funded with the compensation money, so Old Madam Lu likely didn’t have much left. Getting the full twenty taels back was impossible—but even retrieving half would be good.
“Give me ten taels. The remaining ten can stay as Changming’s contribution for your old age. From now on, the first household will not intervene in your life or death. You’ve already given me two taels before, so just give me eight more,” Lin Xiyue proposed.
The chief nodded. “The eldest daughter-in-law is reasonable. I’ll supervise this. You have two days to come up with the eight taels, or I’ll personally write a petition and take you to court.”
Old Madam Lu wanted to protest, but the second and fourth sons knew there was no room to argue—they had to take her home to gather the money.
Seeing the matter resolved, Lin Xiyue was delighted. Thanks to the village chief, everything was settled. Others praised the chief for his wise judgment.
“I actually came to buy meat. My children have been wanting some, but I haven’t bought any yet. I’ll take two jin—here’s twenty wen. I won’t trade anything for it,” the chief said, tossing the coins onto the table.
Liu Ruyun moved to return the money, but the chief dodged.
“One matter at a time. If you don’t take this money, I have no face to take the meat.”
Seeing his insistence, Liu Ruyun gave up. Lin Xiyue cleverly cut a strip of pork for him—without weighing it, but it was surely three to four jin.
The chief smiled but didn’t refuse. The daughter-in-law of the Lu family was indeed clever.
After sending the chief off, nearly all the villagers had finished exchanging meat. Out of the two or three hundred jin of pork, after removing innards, head, and trotters, about two hundred jin remained.
After slicing the pork and big bones, a little over a hundred jin of meat remained.
Lin Xiyue cut four portions, each three jin, and gave them to Uncle Genwang, Uncle Youtian, Tie Zhu, and Da Niu as a reward for their help. Pork trotters, liver, and blood were divided among them as well.
Taking advantage of the large pot in the courtyard, Lin Xiyue halved the pig’s head and threw it in to boil along with the big bones.
Village seasonings were sparse, so Lin Xiyue improvised with what she had, adding herbs from the mountains that could act as brine flavoring.
Though she wasn’t skilled in cooking, she knew how to braise meat. For the intestines, she only directed Liu Ruyun in cleaning them, as she hadn’t done it herself before.
Having eaten pork intestines before in her past life, Lin Xiyue knew they were delicious but labor-intensive to clean. Liu Ruyun used wood ash instead of flour—it cleaned well enough.
By nightfall, the pot bubbled with meat fragrance that filled the entire courtyard—but they still couldn’t eat yet, which was torture.
“Too bad second brother isn’t back. He won’t get to taste this wild boar,” Lu Yanqiu lamented, savoring the smell.
Inside, Lu Jinghuai was also drawn by the aroma. After having Lu Yanqiu help him, he was in rare good spirits, letting him support him to sit a while.
The thick blanket was replaced with a thin one. Previously, he avoided thin blankets due to incontinence, but after drinking Lin Xiyue’s special water, he could feel his bladder again, so he agreed to change.
Half an hour later, the meat was ready. Lin Xiyue gave each of them a meaty bone. The pork was tender, falling off the bone—each bite brought immense satisfaction.
Though she hadn’t liked meat in her past life, Lin Xiyue realized now that it truly was an essential food.
Liu Ruyun took a piece to Lu Jinghuai. As always, a mother’s love is the first to care.
“Jinghuai, try it! I don’t know what Xiaoyue put in it, but it tastes amazing,” she said.
Lin Xiyue hadn’t measured the salt, so Liu Ruyun had done that part, but she had added other ingredients. The meat was undeniably delicious.
Lu Jinghuai, tempted by the aroma, didn’t hesitate.
“Mother, you eat too. I don’t need help,” he said.
“All right. Call me when you finish. There’s still a whole pot left. I’ll bring you more later.”