Inside the room, Xu Chunhua said, “The children are already a year old. I’m planning to wean them.”
Over the past year, Meng Zhu had grown plump and fair from drinking Xu Chunhua’s breast milk.
Chen Rou frowned slightly.
No other food was as healthy as breast milk, and she couldn’t afford expensive milk powder for her daughter.
Though dissatisfied inside, she kept her expression calm. If she dared say even one word against it, Xu Chunhua would definitely mock her mercilessly.
“Thank you for your hard work this past year, Third Sister-in-law,” Chen Rou said gratefully when she saw Xu Chunhua turn toward her.
Xu Chunhua curled her lips. She hated Chen Rou’s pretentious behavior the most.
“We both got what we needed.”
Xu Chunhua stood up and adjusted her clothes before picking up a bowl of dark medicinal soup that had cooled slightly nearby.
Chen Rou’s eyelid twitched. Curious, she asked, “Third Sister-in-law, what’s that?”
“Medicine to stop milk production.” Xu Chunhua downed it in one gulp, frowning bitterly. If Chen Rou weren’t present, she would’ve immediately taken a candied date from the cabinet to sweeten her mouth.
Chen Rou opened her mouth slightly.
Originally, she had intended to ask Wang Cuilian to persuade Xu Chunhua not to wean the children.
But now, the milk had to stop.
Thinking about it, Chen Rou couldn’t help feeling annoyed. She suspected Xu Chunhua had done it on purpose.
And she was right.
Xu Chunhua absolutely did it intentionally.
With so many chickens and ducks inside Little Yu’er’s space, why would she still care about those two eggs a day?
Most women in the village breastfed until their children were two or three years old. Some even continued until the child was five or six.
Besides, when Meng Wei and Meng Qing had turned one, Xu Chunhua had also weaned them immediately because she found breastfeeding troublesome.
Later, during the day, the babies could eat rice paste, while privately they could be fed egg custard and milk powder. That was exactly how Meng Wei and Meng Qing had been raised, and now they were perfectly healthy.
Now that Little Yu’er possessed that magical treasure called a space, with enough eggs to eat until they were sick of them, how could they possibly fail to raise two babies properly?
When Wang Cuilian returned home from outside, she saw Chen Rou sitting in the courtyard basking in the sun with a troubled expression.
“What’s wrong, Xiaorou?” Wang Cuilian quickly asked with concern after noticing something was off.
Chen Rou sighed and told her that Xu Chunhua planned to wean the children.
Wang Cuilian’s brows shot upward in anger. She stormed to the third branch’s room and cursed loudly, “How can you be so heartless? The children are still so young, and you’re already weaning them?”
At that moment, Meng Qiushi walked in carrying a basket of herbs and happened to hear her words.
“You’re not worried about Little Yu’er and Little Che’er. You’re worried Chen Rou’s daughter won’t have milk to drink. When Meng Wei and Meng Qing were weaned at one year old, I never saw you feel sorry for them.”
Meng Qiushi set down the basket and cast a meaningful glance toward Chen Rou, who was clearly stirring up trouble.
The tightly shut door to the third branch’s room opened.
Xu Chunhua leaned against the doorframe and agreed, “Exactly. My milk is mine to decide about. If I want to wean my children, then I’ll wean them. Since when is it your place to interfere?
“Meng Zhu isn’t my biological daughter. Even if she starved to death, it wouldn’t concern me. If you’re so capable, then stop yelling at me here and go buy milk powder for your precious granddaughter!”
Xu Chunhua paused for a few seconds before turning her gaze toward Chen Rou, who stood quietly nearby.
“Chen Rou, the fact that I fed your daughter is because I’m kind-hearted. You should’ve been endlessly grateful to me. What can two eggs a day even do?
“Could they buy milk for your daughter? Hah. Ungrateful thing! Running to tattle in the courtyard—did you think I was deaf?”
Wang Cuilian’s head throbbed with anger. Stabilizing herself, she snarled, “Fine! From now on, your two eggs a day are gone. And starting tomorrow, you’re going back to the fields to earn work points!”
Xu Chunhua looked indignant and pointed at Chen Rou.
“Then why does Chen Rou, a married-out adopted daughter, get to eat and drink for free at home?”
At that moment, Wang Yun from the second branch pushed open her window and chimed in.
“Exactly! She’s an adopted daughter with no blood relation to the Meng family. Why does she get to eat well, live well, and avoid field work?”
Though Wang Yun had once envied Xu Chunhua for being able to stay home and breastfeed Meng Zhu instead of working, the person she disliked even more was Chen Rou, who competed with them for the family’s resources.
Wang Yun had long been dissatisfied with Chen Rou.
Especially after hearing Wang Cuilian planned to hold a first birthday banquet for Meng Zhu, the resentment in her heart had reached its peak.
Whenever Wang Cuilian saw Wang Yun’s two daughters, she would call them “money-losing goods.” Yet when it came to Chen Rou’s daughter, she called her “precious jewel in the palm” and even spent the family’s money to throw her a birthday banquet.
The family hadn’t split yet, meaning all the money they earned was controlled by Wang Cuilian.
So the money for the banquet was everyone’s money.
Just thinking about it made Wang Yun’s heart ache painfully.
If the banquet were for the third branch’s children, Wang Yun wouldn’t have been this resentful. After all, the third branch contributed a lot to the family, and they had even given birth to auspicious dragon-phoenix twins.
But Chen Rou?
First, she was an adopted daughter. Second, she contributed nothing to the family. Third, during pregnancy she monopolized the best resources in the household.
Why?
Was she worthy of it?
Inside the room, Meng Qiushou quickly grabbed Wang Yun’s arm, signaling for her to stop talking.
Wang Yun shot him a glare and shoved him aside.
“How did I end up marrying such a coward? All you know is how to play peacemaker! Even Third Brother knows how to protect his wife and children. You practically help your mother torment me!”
Meng Qiushi: “What do you mean ‘even’?”
After being scolded, Meng Qiushou shrank his neck and stopped talking.
Whatever. He never wanted to get involved in these trivial household fights anyway.
Wang Cuilian’s face darkened as she announced shocking news.
“Xiaorou will marry Qiufeng soon. Let’s see who still dares say she’s an outsider then!”
Everyone present was stunned.
Inside the room, Meng Yu perked up her ears and listened carefully to the voices outside.
At that moment, Meng Che crawled over, drooling as she tried to get close to Meng Yu.
Meng Yu turned her face away in disgust and pressed her tiny hand against Meng Che’s face.
She had once suspected Meng Che, like herself, had been reborn with memories.
Later she realized Meng Che was simply naturally quiet.
Xu Chunhua looked between Chen Rou and Wang Cuilian.
“So Chen Rou’s about to become my eldest sister-in-law?”
Wang Cuilian puffed out her chest proudly and hummed in affirmation.
“Then she should also work in the fields earning work points. Why can she stay home while the rest of us daughters-in-law suffer in the fields?”
Xu Chunhua stubbornly refused to let go of the issue.
Wang Cuilian glared at her irritably. “I’ll earn work points for Xiaorou myself. Xiaorou will stay home and cook. Whether you agree or not doesn’t matter. If you’re capable, have your own mothers work the fields for you too!”
Since Wang Cuilian had spoken so firmly, Xu Chunhua stopped pressing that point.
Instead, her eyes flickered slyly as she abruptly changed the topic.
“Mom, you’re really unfair. You’re using everyone’s money to hold a birthday banquet for Meng Zhu, but none of the actual Meng family children ever got that treatment.”
Wang Yun immediately echoed her.
“Exactly! Why should our blood-and-sweat money be spent on a girl who isn’t even related to the Meng family?”
She couldn’t help glancing at Xu Chunhua again.
Originally, she couldn’t stand Xu Chunhua.
But ever since Chen Rou had begun living permanently with the family, Wang Yun suddenly felt Xu Chunhua wasn’t bad at all.
“I’m the head of this household. I can spend the money however I want!” Wang Cuilian retorted confidently.
Meng Qiushi clutched his chest dramatically, looking heartbroken.
“Then let’s split the family! Mom, you’d rather hold a birthday banquet for Chen Rou’s daughter than for your own biological grandchildren. Your actions are too disappointing!”
Xu Chunhua’s eyes glittered calculatingly.
“That’s right. Tomorrow’s Little Yu’er and Little Che’er’s birthday too, yet you never said anything about holding a banquet for them. A banquet for Meng Zhu would cost at least thirty-something yuan, wouldn’t it?”
Meng Qiushi suddenly let out a loud howl.
“What?! Over thirty yuan?! How much sweat would I have to shed in the fields to earn that back? I can’t live like this anymore!”
His voice was so loud that several heads immediately appeared over the fence—it was Auntie Li from next door and a group of eager gossipers.
Auntie Li asked excitedly, “Wang Cuilian, what’s happening at your house? Why’s it so noisy?”
Xu Chunhua immediately ran over and briefly explained the situation.
The others clicked their tongues and shook their heads.
“Wang Cuilian, you’re way too biased. Aren’t you afraid of hurting the other children’s feelings?”
“What business is it of yours?! Get lost, all of you!” Wang Cuilian rushed to the fence and spat furiously, scaring Auntie Li and the others into quickly backing away.
Meanwhile, Meng Qiushi continued wailing nearby as if he had suffered an enormous injustice.
Embarrassed by the scene, Chen Rou hurried back into the room and secretly peeked outside through the crack in the window.
“What exactly do you want?!” Wang Cuilian grabbed Meng Qiushi by the collar and roared.
Spittle sprayed all over his face.
Meng Qiushi raised his sleeve in disgust and wiped his face clean.
“Mom, you sprayed me with saliva. So gross.”
Wang Cuilian: “…”
During her momentary silence, Meng Qiushi took a step back.
“I can’t live like this anymore. Split the family! Take out however much money the household has left and divide it!”
At last, Meng Dazhuang, who had been acting invisible this whole time, finally spoke.
With a dark face, he stared at Meng Qiushi.
“As long as the parents are alive, the family does not split. If you want a division, it’ll only happen after we die.”
“Your father’s right.” Wang Cuilian glared at Meng Qiushi sinisterly, wishing she could devour him alive.
Meng Qiushi and Meng Qiucan had always been rebellious children since childhood, like debts come to collect from a past life.
Meng Qiushi immediately began acting shameless again, speaking weakly.
“Fine, then no division. From now on, our third branch won’t work in the fields anymore. Anyway, all the money we earn never gets spent on us.”
Wang Yun’s eyes lit up.
“Our second branch won’t work either!”
“One after another, you’re all rebelling! What exactly do you want?” Wang Cuilian demanded angrily.
Meng Qiushi always followed through on his words. If neither branch went out to earn work points, the whole family would starve.
Meng Qiushi calculated on his fingers before extending three fingers toward Wang Cuilian.
“A birthday banquet for Chen Rou’s daughter would cost at least thirty-five yuan, right? I won’t ask for more. Just give thirty yuan each to our third branch and the second branch.”
Wang Cuilian’s voice suddenly shot up several octaves. Meng Qiushi’s outrageous demand made her so angry her face turned red.
“Thirty yuan?! Why don’t you just rob me instead?!”
“You’re willing to spend over thirty yuan on Chen Rou’s daughter, but you can’t bear giving your own son thirty? Fine then. From now on, our third branch won’t work for work points anymore. Either split the family or give us the money.”
Meng Qiushi plopped down on the doorstep, looking completely shameless and utterly fearless.
Wang Cuilian ground her teeth furiously.
After all these years, the family had only managed to save around one hundred and twenty yuan total. Meng Zhu’s birthday banquet would already cost over thirty yuan. If she also gave thirty yuan each to the second and third branches, she might as well die on the spot.
“You second and third branches each get ten yuan. Not a cent more!” Wang Cuilian glared viciously at Meng Qiushi.
Meng Qiushi immediately stood up and held out his palm in front of her.
“Fine. Hand it over.”
Wang Cuilian stormed back into the house to get the money, cursing nonstop under her breath.
“I really owed you all in my past life!”
In truth, she didn’t want to give them anything.
But if she refused, Meng Qiushi would continue demanding a family split. And if she rejected that, he would refuse to earn work points.
With how thick-skinned Meng Qiushi was, he genuinely could do something like that without caring what people said.
In the end, Wang Cuilian painfully and reluctantly gave ten yuan each to the second and third branches.
Wang Yun immediately snatched the money from Meng Qiushou’s hand and stuffed it into her own pocket.
If Meng Qiushou held onto it, Wang Cuilian would probably manage to take it back sooner or later.
Meng Qiushou’s personality was weak. If Wang Yun herself hadn’t been strong-willed, their life together would’ve become unbearable long ago.
Once the door closed, Meng Qiushi and Xu Chunhua exchanged a glance, both wearing triumphant smiles.
Meng Qiushi waved the bills in his hand. “Tomorrow I’ll buy you a new outfit.”
Xu Chunhua’s eyes instantly lit up.
That old witch only bought them fabric to make new clothes when their old ones became too tattered to keep wearing.
After all, people needed dignity and appearances.
As for Wang Cuilian’s sense of shame… it barely existed.
Meanwhile, Xu Chunhua bought herself one new outfit every season. Whenever anyone asked, she simply claimed her mother had bought it for her.
After all, Wang Cuilian couldn’t exactly force her daughter-in-law to strip off her clothes and hand them over to the household.
Xu Chunhua pulled the bills from Meng Qiushi’s hand and fiercely kissed him on the face.
“Marrying you wasn’t a loss after all.”
Meng Qiushi grinned in complete satisfaction and wrapped an arm around her waist.
“How about another kiss?”