“Third Daughter-in-law is here!” Mother Song finally spoke, breaking the awkward silence.
“Mm, since it’s the first meal after splitting the family, of course we should eat together,” Lin Ruxia said.
“Mom, sit here!” Song Dabao stood up and offered his seat. Since tonight’s meal was white rice with eggs, everyone had come early to the table to wait.
Lin Ruxia didn’t refuse. Being new to this situation, she didn’t know where to sit anyway—and she was hungry. Since morning, she had only eaten a small piece of bread from the mall space.
After sitting down, she noticed there were only two dishes on the table: one plate of wild vegetables and one plate of fried eggs. She couldn’t help thinking—if she hadn’t insisted on adding eggs, would they really be eating just vegetables tonight?
She recalled how, in her previous life, even when eating alone, she’d prepare at least three dishes and a soup. Family gatherings with a dozen people would have thirty or forty dishes.
Her grandparents used to say that life was hard in the early years after the founding of the country. She had thought they were exaggerating—but now, looking at her dozen sons’ excited expressions, she realized it was true.
Each child held out an empty wooden bowl eagerly as Mother Song served them one by one.
“Mom, you eat first. I’ll help serve them,” Lin Ruxia said, feeling a bit embarrassed watching Mother Song do all the work.
“Alright. From today on, you’re in charge of your own household. Start learning from this meal,” Mother Song replied.
By the time the ladle reached Fifth Treasure, Lin Ruxia saw there was still plenty of rice in the pot. She filled each bowl to the brim and handed them out.
“If it’s too much, just tell me and I’ll take some back. If it’s not enough, bring your bowl again after you finish, and I’ll serve more.”
The moment she said that, the children who already had their rice immediately sped up their eating—especially Third Treasure. As soon as Lin Ruxia filled Twelfth Treasure’s bowl, he handed his empty bowl over again.
She was a bit surprised but still refilled it.
Soon, Second Treasure did the same. After a flurry of refills, Lin Ruxia realized she hadn’t even had a chance to eat.
“If you want more, just serve yourselves,” she finally said.
In the end, the older boys—Dabao through Seventh Treasure—each ate three large bowls until they were stuffed. The younger ones ate less, not because they weren’t fast, but because they simply couldn’t eat that much.
To Lin Ruxia’s astonishment, all the rice and eggs were gone within five or six minutes.
By the time everyone finished, she was still slowly eating her half bowl of rice. After fifteen minutes, she had only eaten half a bowl and one egg. The wild vegetables were bitter and hard to swallow.
Father and Mother Song had also only eaten half a bowl of rice before switching to coarse grain cakes with vegetables.
Overall, everyone except Lin Ruxia enjoyed the meal.
She was shocked by how eating here felt like a battle. In her upbringing, meals were supposed to be slow and refined.
Thinking about having to eat with all these sons every day made her feel life would be very difficult.
Looking at the empty wooden bowls and Second Treasure waiting to wash dishes, a thought suddenly flashed through her mind:
If I can’t adapt to them… why not change them instead?
With that idea, she felt enlightened.
After finishing her meal, she told Second Treasure to wash the dishes and returned to her room to make plans.
First, she needed to buy that estate. Second, prepare enough clothes and food for the children. Third, set rules.
But how would she bring supplies out from the space?
Clothes could be explained as fabric she had bought earlier. Rice could be said to come from town. Maybe she could even try selling goods at the black market mentioned in the original story.
“Mom, the water’s ready. You can bathe now,” Second Treasure called from outside.
“Coming!”
She felt a bit guilty—making a child boil water for her bath.
The original owner had been very particular about cleanliness, bathing daily and soaking weekly, so the older boys had been tasked with heating water since they were five or six.
When she stepped outside, Dabao and Second Treasure had already carried the water to her door.
“Have you two washed?” she asked.
“No—” Dabao began.
“We washed at the river at noon,” Second Treasure quickly said.
“That doesn’t count. I’m injured today, so I’ll just rinse. You can use the rest of the water.”
She then asked, “Do you have school tomorrow?”
“Tomorrow’s Sunday—no school,” Dabao replied.
“Do you want to come to town with me tomorrow?”
“You’ll really take us?” Second Treasure asked in surprise.
“Of course. I’ll need help carrying things,” Lin Ruxia smiled. “But you’ll need cleaner clothes.”
They looked embarrassed.
“We only have two sets… and this is the better one,” Second Treasure said.
Lin Ruxia froze. She hadn’t expected that.
“Then don’t change. I’ll buy fabric tomorrow and make you new clothes.”
“No need, Mom. You used to say kids grow fast, so there’s no need for many clothes,” Dabao said.
“That was before. Now things are different. We’ve split the family—you’ll be living with me. I don’t like dirty children,” she said, finding an excuse.
After sending them off to bathe, Lin Ruxia returned to her room.
She reflected on how badly the original owner had treated the children—giving away even the old clothes their father brought back from the army.
Those clothes had gone to Liu Shengnan, a fellow sent-down youth who had once helped the original owner but later took advantage of her kindness.
“Forget it,” Lin Ruxia muttered. “If she dares to take advantage again, I’ll make her repay everything.”
She took a black dress from the mall space to use as sleepwear and changed out of the uncomfortable green dress.
After bathing, it was nearly seven. The sky had darkened.
Back in her room, she lit a candle and replaced the bedding with better ones from her space, worried she wouldn’t be able to sleep otherwise.
Meanwhile, as she busied herself, a dispute broke out on San Ya’s side.