In the mountains, Meng Qiufeng found a wild duck egg. He neither ate it himself nor gave it to his two children. Instead, he quietly slipped it into Wang Cuilian’s hand.
“Xiao Rou is still recovering after childbirth. Let her have this duck egg to nourish herself.”
Wang Cuilian beamed with delight. “Boss, you really are thoughtful and considerate. You know how to care for your little sister.”
As soon as Wang Cuilian returned home, she hurried to boil the duck egg and prepared to bring it to Chen Rou’s room.
The moment she entered, she saw Chen Rou lowering her head and wiping away tears, her brows full of sorrow that refused to fade.
“What’s wrong, sweetheart? Don’t cry.” Wang Cuilian quickly walked over and used a handkerchief to wipe Chen Rou’s tears. “Silly girl, if something’s bothering you, tell Mom. Don’t you know crying during confinement is bad for your eyes?”
“Mom… I don’t have any milk anymore…” Chen Rou sobbed guiltily.
Chen Rou had always been slim, and her milk supply had never been plentiful. She thought it would increase after a few days, but instead, it had suddenly dried up today.
Wang Cuilian froze. “How could that happen all of a sudden? Let me see…”
Having raised children herself, Wang Cuilian quickly figured out the problem after checking.
“It’s not blocked milk. You’ve completely lost your supply.” Her expression turned grave.
“What should we do then? We can’t just let Zhuzhu starve, can we?” Chen Rou looked at Wang Cuilian helplessly through teary eyes.
Wang Cuilian picked up Meng Zhu. “Didn’t your third sister-in-law also give birth? Looking at her, she obviously has plenty of milk. Feeding two babies or feeding three makes no difference. Letting her nurse Zhuzhu is a blessing for her!”
Chen Rou’s eyes lit up, though hesitation soon appeared on her face. “Will Third Sister-in-law agree?”
Wang Cuilian’s eyes widened. “How dare she refuse!”
At that moment, Meng Zhu became hungry and burst into loud cries.
Without delay, Wang Cuilian carried Meng Zhu and knocked on the third branch’s door.
“Third son! Open the door!”
Inside, Meng Qiushi and Xu Chunhua quickly lit some mugwort and wiped their mouths clean before slowly opening the door.
Meng Qiushi lazily leaned against the doorframe. “Mom, what is it?”
Ignoring him completely, Wang Cuilian strode into the room. Smelling the mugwort, she frowned.
“Why are you burning mugwort for no reason?”
“The room reeks of piss and shit. Burning mugwort helps get rid of the smell,” Meng Qiushi explained while glancing at the baby in Wang Cuilian’s arms. “Why’d you bring Chen Rou’s kid here?”
Xu Chunhua quietly shifted Xiao Yu and Xiao Che farther inside. Whenever Wang Cuilian came over at a time like this, it definitely wasn’t for anything good.
Wang Cuilian shoved the baby into Xu Chunhua’s arms and immediately reached for the front of Xu Chunhua’s clothes.
Xu Chunhua reacted as though handed a burning coal and quickly stuffed Meng Zhu back into Wang Cuilian’s arms. Raising her voice sharply, she shouted, “Mom, what are you doing?!”
“Xiao Rou doesn’t have enough milk. Help feed the baby,” Wang Cuilian said matter-of-factly while trying to pull at Xu Chunhua’s clothes again.
Xu Chunhua slapped her hand away. Her fair face flushed red with anger.
“Mom, have some respect!”
Meng Qiushi grabbed Wang Cuilian’s sleeve and pulled her backward. Gone was his usual playful grin. His face darkened.
“My wife only has enough milk for our son and daughter. Why should she feed Chen Rou’s daughter?”
Meng Zhu let out a piercing wail.
Seeing the couple refuse her, Wang Cuilian immediately sat cross-legged on the ground holding Meng Zhu and began crying and singing loudly.
“Oh heavens! Heartless ingrates! Your niece is starving, and you won’t even spare her a mouthful of milk!”
From beside the window, Chen Rou secretly watched everything outside. Pressing her lips together, she thought resentfully: A tiny baby can’t drink that much milk. Meng Qiushi and Xu Chunhua are really too cruel.
Xu Chunhua adjusted her clothes and climbed off the bed.
Although it was already September, the sun remained scorching hot. But Xu Chunhua was still in confinement, and it was said women in confinement shouldn’t be exposed to drafts. Meng Qiushi quickly draped a thin coat over her shoulders.
Then Xu Chunhua started crying too, her voice even louder than Wang Cuilian’s wailing and Meng Zhu’s cries.
“Mom, ever since I got pregnant and during my confinement, you’ve never given me a single good thing to eat! Whenever there’s something good in this house, you shove it all into Chen Rou’s room.
“I’m already struggling to feed two babies by myself, and now you’re forcing me to feed Chen Rou’s daughter too. Where am I supposed to get the milk from?!”
Xu Chunhua was beautiful to begin with, and her tearful appearance naturally stirred sympathy in others.
But Wang Cuilian remained unmoved.
“Then just feed the boy and Zhuzhu. As for the girl you gave birth to, just feed her some rice soup.”
Xu Chunhua’s crying abruptly stopped. She stared in disbelief at the shameless old hag.
Neighbor Auntie Li and several others watching from behind the fence immediately began speaking up for Xu Chunhua.
“Wang Cuilian, you’re way too biased! Why should Chunhua ignore her own daughter to feed Chen Rou’s child?”
“Tsk tsk, something’s seriously wrong with your head.”
Wang Cuilian spun around and shouted at the onlookers, “What business is it of yours?! If you’re so free, go work in the fields! What happens in my family is none of your concern!”
Wang Cuilian was notorious for being unreasonable and aggressive, so no one dared say much more. They simply continued watching the drama unfold.
A calculating look flashed through Xu Chunhua’s watery eyes.
“Mom, every drop of milk comes from ten drops of blood. If you want me to nurse Chen Rou’s daughter, fine. But from now on, all the good food in this house has to come to me first.”
In truth, her milk supply was abundant. Xiao Yu and Xiao Che couldn’t even finish it all, and she often squeezed out the excess for Xiao Wei and Xiao Qing to drink.
“Why should it? Dream on!” Wang Cuilian snapped instinctively. Deep down, she believed only Chen Rou deserved the family’s good food.
Xu Chunhua immediately changed expression and cried toward the watching neighbors:
“To make an ox work, you first have to feed it! Every drop of milk costs blood! If you don’t feed me well, where am I supposed to get milk from? This mother-in-law doesn’t even treat her daughter-in-law like a person—she’s trying to suck me dry!”
Meng Qiushi wrapped an arm around Xu Chunhua and joined in dramatically.
“We can’t live like this anymore!”
Xiao Wei and Xiao Qing exchanged glances before bursting into loud sobs as well.
The courtyard instantly erupted into a chaotic chorus of crying, rising and falling one after another.
Wang Cuilian’s lips trembled, but she still refused to give in.
At that moment, Chen Rou walked out.
“Mom, Third Sister-in-law works hard feeding babies. From now on, let all the eggs, fish soup, and good food in the house go to her instead. I’m fine.”
Wang Cuilian opened her mouth to object, but after meeting Chen Rou’s determined gaze, she finally relented.
“…Fine.”
Xu Chunhua instantly stopped crying. Sniffling, her delicate face looked flushed pink and white after shedding tears.
“Mom, I’m starving right now. Without nutrition, there won’t be any milk for my little niece.”
Chen Rou handed Xu Chunhua the duck egg Wang Cuilian had given her and smiled gently.
“Third Sister-in-law, Zhuzhu is in your care.”
Xu Chunhua accepted the egg and lifted her chin arrogantly, refusing to look directly at Chen Rou.
“Now that’s more like it.”
“Hurry up and feed Zhuzhu!” Wang Cuilian urged impatiently.
Xu Chunhua carried Meng Zhu into the room. Wang Cuilian and Chen Rou tried to follow, but Meng Qiushi suddenly slammed the door shut, nearly smashing it into their faces.
Furious, Wang Cuilian pounded on the door.
“You little bastard! Open the door!”
From inside came Xu Chunhua’s sweet but threatening voice.
“Mom, Xiao Rou, I don’t like people watching me while I nurse. If you don’t want me to feed her, just say so.”
Chen Rou stopped Wang Cuilian from knocking again and called gently toward the room:
“Alright, Sister-in-law. Sorry to trouble you. Let me know when Zhuzhu’s done nursing.”
Inside the room, Xu Chunhua carefully examined Meng Zhu and scoffed to Meng Qiushi:
“This Meng Zhu looks exactly like Chen Rou. Just looking at her annoys me.”
As she spoke, she pinched Meng Zhu’s cheek.
Since the baby was drinking her milk, she might as well collect some interest.
Meng Yu had heard the entire exchange clearly.
In the original story, Chen Rou’s milk supply had always been poor, and Wang Cuilian constantly cooked chicken soup, duck soup, and fish soup for her so she could barely produce enough milk for Meng Zhu.
But now, all the family’s chickens and ducks had been secretly collected into Meng Yu’s space.
Reluctantly spending money, Wang Cuilian had recently bought three hens and five chicks from villagers who raised more poultry.
Those three hens were specifically for laying eggs and wouldn’t be slaughtered easily.
After feeding Meng Zhu, Xu Chunhua openly showed her disgust and shoved the baby back into Meng Qiushi’s arms.
“Take her back already. Just seeing this child makes me uncomfortable.”
Meng Qiushi nodded in agreement. He hated Chen Rou so much that he despised everything connected to her.
“Chen Rou’s daughter is just as annoying as Chen Rou herself.”
The couple exchanged a glance and couldn’t help laughing.
Xu Chunhua waved her hand impatiently.
“Stop grinning like idiots and return the precious little treasure already. That old hag and Chen Rou are probably waiting anxiously.”
Sure enough, the moment the door opened, they saw Wang Cuilian sitting outside on a small stool.
Mother and son stared at each other for a long moment before Meng Qiushi handed Meng Zhu back to her.
“From now on, whenever you make steamed egg custard for Chen Rou, send it to my room instead. Chen Rou isn’t even nursing a baby herself, so why should she eat so well?”
Wang Cuilian carefully checked Meng Zhu. Seeing her precious granddaughter sleeping peacefully, her face softened into a loving smile.
Walking over, Chen Rou quickly agreed. After all, she was relying on Xu Chunhua to feed her daughter.
Seeing her baby sleeping soundly, Chen Rou’s lips curved into a gentle smile.