Mother Zhou didn’t speak—she was somewhat intimidated by Meng Zhizhi.
Yet Zhou Hongying hadn’t learned her lesson; she always felt there was something insincere about Meng Zhizhi’s smile.
“What are you smiling at?”
Zhou Hongying asked with a stern but hollow tone.
Meng Zhizhi ignored her, which left Zhou Hongying feeling unsettled.
She watched as Meng Zhizhi turned to Mother Zhou. “Mom, you spent a fortune to bring us into this family. As daughters-in-law, it’s only right that we cook a meal and serve you.”
Then, she spread her hands. “But the Zhou family doesn’t have just one daughter-in-law. Surely you don’t expect me to cook alone?”
This was clearly dragging Zhao Mingzhu into it.
Zhao Mingzhu understood instantly—her best friend was creating a chance for them to talk alone. She immediately puffed out her chest. “Fine, I’ll do it. What’s so great about knowing how to cook? As if I don’t know how either.”
Mother Zhou watched them being so agreeable with suspicion.
Honestly, these two daughters-in-law were too unpredictable. Their sudden willingness felt like they were up to no good.
“What are you staring at?”
Zhao Mingzhu raised her delicate eyebrows. “Meng Zhizhi is going to cook. Are you saying I can’t? If you don’t let me cook, I’ll flip your stove over.”
“Wow, you’re pulling gender discrimination on me?”
“Looking down on me?”
This was indiscriminate attack, pure and simple, like a cannon going off.
Mother Zhou, “…”
Mother Zhou’s face flushed red. She hadn’t said a word.
She felt utterly wronged.
It was Meng Zhizhi who smoothed things over, asking with feigned innocence, “Mom, what would you like for lunch? Braised pork, boiled fish, or at the very least, some spicy and sour cabbage?”
Mother Zhou’s mouth twitched, but she still remembered to lecture Meng Zhizhi against daydreaming.
“Braised pork and boiled fish? You’re thinking too grandly. Each person gets only half a catty of meat coupons per year, and they’re impossible to get. As for fish, that’s even rarer. In this freezing weather, forget fish—you won’t even see fish scales.”
Meng Zhizhi lowered her head to stare at her toes, tuning her out—la-la-la, turtle chanting sutras.
She treated it all as nonsense.
Mother Zhou thought she had listened and understood, so she hurried to her room, scooped a ladleful of cornmeal with a gourd dipper, and handed it to Meng Zhizhi.
Meng Zhizhi looked at the ladle of bright yellow cornmeal and didn’t take it.
Mother Zhou pushed it forward, but Meng Zhizhi tactically stepped back. Mother Zhou was puzzled. “Didn’t you say you’d cook? Why aren’t you taking it?”
Meng Zhizhi lifted her gaze, her eyes gentle and calm like autumn water. “Mom, I only know how to cook white rice, white noodles, braised pork, braised fish—those kinds of substantial dishes. If you give me coarse grains like this, I won’t know what to do with them.”
She spread her hands and joked, “It’d be a waste.”
Mother Zhou was instantly left speechless. She looked at Zhao Mingzhu, who declared confidently, “If she can’t do it, neither can I.”
“You troublemakers!”
Mother Zhou cursed. “Both of you, come inside. I’ll teach you.”
Meng Zhizhi responded sweetly, “Alrighty, I knew Mom loved me the most.”
Zhou Hongying, listening nearby, nearly vomited up the fried dough sticks she’d eaten that morning.
It was utterly disgusting.
“That’s my mom!”
While Mother Zhou went to light the coal stove, Zhou Hongying snarled at Meng Zhizhi, “That’s my mom.” She emphasized it twice. “Why are you calling her so affectionately?”
Meng Zhizhi tilted her head and called out to Mother Zhou, who was carrying the coal stove, “Mom, she won’t let me call you Mom.”
“Should I call you Aunt Zhou instead?”
As soon as she finished speaking, Zhou Hongying looked shocked. Clearly, she hadn’t expected Meng Zhizhi to be so bold as to go straight to tattling.
The next second, before Zhou Hongying could react, Mother Zhou rapped her on the head with her knuckles. “Are you an idiot? I spent a fortune to bring this daughter-in-law into the family, and you won’t let her call me Mom? You want her to call me Aunt?”
Zhou Hongying rubbed her head, looking aggrieved.
Ignoring her, Mother Zhou dumped the coal cinders from the stove outside under the eaves before carrying the stove into the small kitchen.
The Zhou family’s living conditions in the compound were quite good—they had a separate shed built as a small kitchen.
Mother Zhou was rather proud of this. She said to Meng Zhizhi and Zhao Mingzhu, “In this whole compound, only our family and the Chu family have a kitchen. Everyone else cooks under the eaves.”
“So, you two are lucky to have married into our Zhou family—it’s a blessing earned over eight lifetimes.”
Her intention was to get Meng Zhizhi to flatter her, but instead, Zhao Mingzhu sized up the kitchen and turned around, bumping heads with Meng Zhizhi. She sneered, “It’s not even as big as my family’s bathroom.”
Mother Zhou, “?”
She was about to retort but remembered Zhao Mingzhu’s background and decided to keep quiet. She lowered her head to fiddle with the coal stove on the ground, skillfully changing the subject.
Meng Zhizhi and Zhao Mingzhu exchanged a glance, understanding something about each other.
Mother Zhou was stingy, cared about face, and now they could add “bullying the weak and fearing the strong” to her traits.
Once they understood her personality, dealing with her would be easier.
Seeing Meng Zhizhi and Zhao Mingzhu silent, Mother Zhou thought they were willing to learn and began chattering, “To save on coal briquettes, after cooking, if the coal core is almost burnt out, just let it be. If there’s still a lot left, take it out and use it to light the stove next time.”
“If either of you ever cooks, follow my method.”
Zhao Mingzhu looked unimpressed. A single coal briquette—was it really worth all this trouble? It was just too much hassle.
Mother Zhou could tell—this one wasn’t frugal.
She said, “The Zhou family was able to marry you two—” She didn’t say the word “troublemakers” out loud, as it would reflect poorly on her.
“—daughters-in-law, all thanks to me saving every penny over the years.”
Meng Zhizhi thought she was rather pitiful.
Scrimping and saving to bring two troublemakers into the family.
How unlucky.
But on the surface, she smiled sweetly and said, “Mom, you’re amazing. Without you, the Zhou family wouldn’t be able to function.”
This hit the mark for Mother Zhou—she felt the same way.
Without her, her two sons wouldn’t have been able to marry.
The more Meng Zhizhi praised her, the more Mother Zhou showed off. She poured a large ladle of cornmeal into water, mixed it, and shaped it into one pancake after another. “See? This is our main dish for lunch. We’ll have cornmeal pancakes and a pot of rice porridge—that’ll be enough.”
Looking at the cornmeal pancakes, Meng Zhizhi truly had no appetite.
Cornmeal was rough on the throat—it really wasn’t a pleasant food.
“Mom, the cornmeal is too dry and doesn’t hold together well. Add two eggs when mixing it. That’ll make the cornmeal a bit more fragrant and smoother.”
Zhou Hongying, who had been pretending outside, instantly poked her head in. “Mom, I think what my sister-in-law said makes sense.”
This was the first time Zhou Hongying had taken Meng Zhizhi’s side since she married into the family, all for the sake of two eggs.
Meng Zhizhi was speechless, but on the surface, she still looked at Mother Zhou with anticipation. “Mom, before I married over, my mother said the Zhou family was the best household in all of Xinghua Hutong.”
“With such a good family, surely I won’t even get to have an egg, right?”
Mother Zhou turned around and saw three pairs of big eyes staring at her. She lifted her chin proudly. “Your mother wasn’t wrong. Our Zhou family is indeed the best in all of Xinghua Hutong.”
As she said this, she casually took two eggs from the clay jar.
Only after cracking them and watching the eggs fall into the cornmeal bowl did Mother Zhou react. “Heavens, we only have five eggs left to last until the end of the month.”
“It’s only the beginning of the month, and we’ve already used two. How are we going to survive the next twenty days?”
Meng Zhizhi curled her lips.
Zhou Hongying tried to tiptoe away, but Meng Zhizhi grabbed her. “Mom, since the eggs are already cracked, we might as well all eat them together.”
Mother Zhou turned and saw Zhou Hongying looking guilty as a thief, so she vented all her anger on her. “Eat, eat, eat—that’s all you know how to do.”
But since the eggs were already cracked, they couldn’t be put back. She sighed and could only mix the eggs into the cornmeal.
After finishing that,
Mother Zhou was about to make cornmeal pancakes, so she first took out the oil bowl. She lightly dipped a piece of gauze into the oil bowl and began wiping it around the edge of the wok.
As she wiped, she lectured and brainwashed them.
“We women must live frugally, spending money where it matters most. We should eat less on ordinary days and save the food for the men, who work hard outside.”
Meng Zhizhi thought to herself.
What nonsense, and such stinky nonsense at that.
Saving food for the men to eat? Dream on.
Eating this stuff, I wouldn’t even have the strength to hang myself.
She gave Zhao Mingzhu a meaningful look. Zhao Mingzhu understood instantly and immediately snatched the oil pot, pouring it into the wok. “Mom, you’re so stingy with the oil—are you planning to give Meng Zhizhi special treatment?”
Without waiting for Mother Zhou to answer, Zhao Mingzhu sneered. “Fine, I knew you liked Meng Zhizhi more than me.”
While cursing, she kept pouring oil into the wok.
Mother Zhou’s eyelids twitched. She rushed over to grab it, but Zhao Mingzhu threw the oil pot back at her. “Here, take it!”
Mother Zhou picked up the oil pot and saw that only half was left. Her heart ached with pain. “You wasteful woman! With that one pour, you’ve used up ten days’ worth of rations.”
Zhao Mingzhu retorted righteously, “That’s still better than you giving Meng Zhizhi special treatment.”
Meng Zhizhi remained silent.
Meng Zhizhi just kept tossing the pancake batter into the wok.
She was afraid that if she tossed it too late, Mother Zhou would react and pour all the oil back into the pot.
Given Mother Zhou’s stingy nature, she really might do that.
So, Meng Zhizhi had to be quick and decisive, making sure to get the cornmeal egg pancakes into the wok first!
As soon as the pancakes hit the wok, they sizzled and instantly absorbed all the oil.
Mother Zhou leaned over to look and saw that the oil was gone, all soaked up by the pancakes. Trembling with anger, she cursed, “Wastrels, wastrels!”
Meng Zhizhi took the opportunity to tear off a piece of the golden cornmeal egg pancake she had just finished and stuffed it into Mother Zhou’s mouth. “Is it good?”
The oily cornmeal pancake was fried until both sides were golden brown, crispy and crunchy in the mouth. Not only was it not rough on the throat, but it also had a hint of smoothness.
That was the fragrance of eggs.
Mother Zhou swallowed it hastily and instinctively said, “It’s good.”
As soon as the words left her mouth, she regretted it. Once she admitted it was good, all the rice, flour, oil, and eggs in the house would probably be wasted from now on.
Meng Zhizhi said, “That’s enough.”
Next, she followed the same method and made a total of twelve cornmeal pancakes.
Each pancake was golden, crispy, and delicious.
Before the meal was ready, Zhou Hongying, who usually looked down on her, craned her neck and sniffed.
If Mother Zhou hadn’t stopped her, it seemed like her whole face would have been pressed against the cornmeal pancake.
Seeing this, Meng Zhizhi raised her eyes and curled her lips slightly.
Zhou Hongying felt a bit embarrassed and snorted, “I didn’t expect your cooking skills to be pretty good.”
“At least my mom didn’t waste the few hundred yuan in bride price to marry you off.”
Truly, a dog’s mouth can’t spit out ivory.
Meng Zhizhi snatched the cornmeal egg pancake from her hand. “What a pity you didn’t pay the bride price, otherwise I’d have made you a plate of cornmeal egg pancakes too.”
Just as Zhou Hongying was about to step forward, Zhao Mingzhu blocked her way.
“You didn’t pay the bride price and still want to eat? Dream on.”
So blunt.
Zhou Hongying was so angry she burst into tears. She went to complain to Mother Zhou, who sighed after hearing it. “Why did you provoke them, Hongying?”
Her tone was earnest as she lowered her voice. “I don’t even dare to provoke them, and you went ahead and did it. Do you have a death wish?”
It seemed Mother Zhou’s awareness was quite high now.
Zhou Hongying grew even angrier upon hearing this, feeling there was no place for her in this family anymore.
She turned and ran out, so angry she even skipped lunch.
For Meng Zhizhi, it was even better if she didn’t eat.
After all, the food she made wasn’t for Zhou Hongying but for herself and Zhao Mingzhu.
Otherwise, she’d have had to force herself to eat the food Mother Zhou cooked.
Seeing her bring out all the dishes.
“Time to eat.”
Mother Zhou called out.
Zhou Yushu drifted out like a ghost.
Hearing the commotion, Father Zhou came over to eat. Seeing only a few people at the table, he paused. “Why are there so few of us?”
“Where are Hongying and Zhou Chuang?”
The Zhou family had five children in total.
Zhou Shechuan was the eldest, Zhou Ye the second, Zhou Yushu the third, and Zhou Hongying the fourth.
The youngest was Zhou Chuang, seventeen years old and Zhou Hongying’s twin. He was also the most mischievous, hanging out with people outside and getting into trouble.
He was the type who never stayed home all day, sometimes not even showing up for a month or two.
How could Mother Zhou answer this?
Could she say that before the meal, her youngest daughter had gotten angry and run off?
She vaguely replied, “Zhou Chuang is nowhere to be seen all day, as you know.”
“As for Hongying, she just threw a tantrum and ran off.”
Father Zhou sighed. “If these kids aren’t here at mealtime, they’ll just have to go hungry.”
Meng Zhizhi and Zhao Mingzhu didn’t say a word.
They just buried their heads and ate. It had to be said, Meng Zhizhi’s cooking skills were truly impressive.
Zhao Mingzhu kept shifting the hot cornmeal pancake between her hands, reluctant to let it go. “It’s really delicious.”
Crispy on the outside, tender on the inside, and infused with the aroma of eggs—this was far better than the coarse, throat-scratching cornmeal pancakes they had eaten earlier.
Mother Zhou had intended to maintain some decorum and say a few words first, but before she could even open her mouth, Meng Zhizhi and Zhao Mingzhu had already started eating.
This made her frown slightly. “Meng Zhizhi, Zhao Mingzhu, how can you start eating before your elders?”
“Besides, when you were girls at home, didn’t your parents teach you? On the dining table, women shouldn’t eat until the men have started.”
Zhao Mingzhu was instantly about to explode.
What era was this?
Men must eat first, and women aren’t allowed to eat until then?
Meng Zhizhi didn’t say a word. Instead, she picked up an egg cornmeal pancake and handed it over. “Mom, try it.”
Mother Zhou was puzzled.
Meng Zhizhi shot a glance at Zhao Mingzhu, who immediately understood. She stepped forward like a female bodyguard, gripping Mother Zhou’s neck and shoulders.
Meng Zhizhi followed closely, breaking off a piece of the cornmeal pancake and bringing it to Mother Zhou’s lips. “Hurry up, didn’t you tell me to serve you?”
“How about it? Are Zhao Mingzhi and I serving you well enough?”
Mother Zhou, “…”
If it weren’t for the fact that she was being restrained, it might have felt more like being served.
She felt extremely uncomfortable, held in place like this, and protested, “Let go.”
Zhao Mingzhu didn’t move, looking to Meng Zhizhi for guidance. Meng Zhizhi spoke to Mother Zhou gently, “Mom, don’t be polite with us. On our first day after marrying into the family, you emphasized that we must serve our in-laws well. Zhao Mingzhi and I will serve you first, and then we’ll serve Father Zhou, alright?”
Upon hearing this, Father Zhou’s old face flushed red. He grabbed two egg cornmeal pancakes himself and squatted by the door to eat. “I have hands and feet; I don’t need you to serve me.”
“Wife, if you like being served, then go ahead and be served.”
He couldn’t bear this kind of treatment.
Mother Zhou couldn’t bear it either.
Her face turned ashen. “Zhao Mingzhu, let go. I don’t need you to serve me.”
Zhao Mingzhu still didn’t move.
Meng Zhizhi put down her chopsticks and smiled at Mother Zhou. “Mom, that’s what you said. I didn’t force you.”
“Of course, if you ever want us to serve you in the future, just let Zhao Mingzhi and me know anytime. Although Zhao Mingzhi and I are rivals, when it comes to being filial to our in-laws, we are united.”
“Don’t worry, Zhao Mingzhi and I will make sure you’re served comfortably.”
The last few words were emphasized with a deliberate tone.
Mother Zhou couldn’t help but shiver. She felt there was more to Meng Zhizhi’s words, but looking at her gentle and obedient face, she couldn’t find fault.
Mother Zhou took a deep breath, straightened her back, and said, “I’ll eat by myself.”
She picked up a cornmeal pancake, intending to find fault with it. But after just a few chews, the corners of her mouth involuntarily twitched upward. Her words, however, remained stubborn. “It’s passable.”
Even as she said this, her hand honestly broke off another piece.
Father Zhou also tasted the flavor. He took a couple more bites in silence, then froze. “Wife, what did you add to the cornmeal today? How did you make it so fragrant?”
What did that make the coarse, throat-scratching cornmeal he used to eat?
Mother Zhou didn’t answer.
Meng Zhizhi naturally wouldn’t miss any opportunity to show off. She said obediently to Father Zhou, “Dad, I made today’s meal. If you like it, I’ll cook again next time.”
Father Zhou hesitated and glanced at his wife.
His wife’s face instantly fell. “With two extra eggs and enough oil to last half a month, how could it not be delicious?”
“If we really let you cook, the family’s savings would be gone within three months.”
Father Zhou suddenly felt the pancake in his hand wasn’t so tasty anymore.
His heart ached terribly.
On one hand, he thought Meng Zhizhi’s cooking was truly excellent, but on the other hand, he felt it was too extravagant.
Zhou Yushu, meanwhile, ate quietly. He ate three pancakes in a row and drank a bowl of porridge so thin you could see your reflection in it before finally feeling somewhat full.
Summoning his courage, he said, “Dad, Mom, I think Sister-in-law’s cooking is quite good. Maybe we should let her cook.”
Mother Zhou had always looked down on her third son, who was so timid he couldn’t utter a word even if beaten. She sneered, “Eat, eat, eat—are you a starving ghost reincarnated? Three pancakes all by yourself, why didn’t you choke on them?”
“Don’t you want to get married anymore?”
Clearly, the third son Zhou Yushu was the one in the family who could be casually scolded and beaten—the lowest in status.
Zhou Yushu’s face instantly turned pale. He nervously clutched the hem of his clothes, lowered his head, and couldn’t say a word for a long time.
Meng Zhizhi suddenly asked, “What’s your name?”
Zhou Yushu was stunned. He instinctively replied, “Zhou Yushu.”
Meng Zhizhi clicked her tongue. “Your name is really nice.”
Who would have thought that this pitiful figure now would become the legendary, thrice-imprisoned-and-released tycoon of the future?
Author’s Note:
Zhizhi: Let me introduce you—this is my future little fanboy.
PS: Red envelopes from the previous chapter have been sent out. Still begging for collections, comments, and nutrient solutions! Kneeling for you all, rolling around and acting cute to beg—love you all~