Pumpkin Rice: I’ll Deliver the Food Tomorrow.
Zhou Xiaohui threw the basin of dishes and utensils by the well, but Su Xiaoman ignored it and continued combing her hair with a mirror. She used to often braid hair for fake models, like dressing up dolls, so she knew many styles, but she rarely braided her own hair.
Facing the mirror, she earnestly braided a long braid for herself, adding a touch of style different from this era.
The shiny black braid hung over her shoulder, with some stray hairs at the temples. With her fair skin and petal-like lips, she looked extremely beautiful.
The little girl nearby shrunk back in fear when Zhou Xiaohui left, but when she saw her aunt braiding her hair, she widened her eyes and stared at her without blinking.
Su Xiaoman, after finishing her braid, lifted her head and smiled gently towards the direction of the little girl. The girl, Xie Chunjuan, the eldest daughter of Third sister-in-law Zhou Xiaohui, shyly lowered her head.
Su Xiaoman found the little one quite cute.
With her chin resting on her chest, Xie Chunjuan held the basin of dishes and utensils left by her mother and diligently washed them by the well.
Su Xiaoman froze.
“…?”
Wasn’t she supposed to wash the dishes?
The little girl’s washing movements were skilled, but also seemed reluctant. She was too small, with slender arms and legs, wearing tattered old clothes. Her hair was tied up messily, with dry and yellow ends, and she looked malnourished.
The dishes she washed were bigger than her fists.
The water from the well splashed into the basin with a gurgling sound, wetting Xie Chunjuan’s sleeves and pant legs.
“Chunjuan, you step aside, I’ll do it.” Su Xiaoman gently patted the girl’s shoulder, gesturing for her to step back. Although Su Xiaoman wasn’t too keen on helping the Xie family wash dishes, she couldn’t bear to watch such a small child wash dishes here. She stood by and couldn’t pass that moral hurdle.
“Auntie, it’s okay, I can do it.”
Su Xiaoman: “…Then, let’s do it together?”
Su Xiaoman didn’t want to overestimate herself either. Neither of the two Su Xiaoman’s had washed dishes many times, so in terms of dishwashing skills, they might not be as proficient as this little girl. If they accidentally broke a dish, they might just get a light scolding, but the little girl would suffer.
Hearing her suggestion, Xie Chunjuan nodded.
Su Xiaoman washed the dishes together with her, chatting a bit in between. Finally, they wiped their hands clean with a towel. Su Xiaoman clapped her hands. “Okay, all done.”
Hearing this, Xie Chunjuan raised her head, grinned at her, and revealed a row of white teeth.
It was an especially sincere smile.
Su Xiaoman really liked this smile full of kindness, rustic and not particularly good-looking, yet it gave off a sense of sunshine amidst the fields.
“Chunjuan, there’s nothing much to do now. How about I braid your hair for you?”
The little girl had been watching her for a long time just now, probably also fond of beauty. They had formed a sort of camaraderie by washing dishes together, so Su Xiaoman thought about helping her with her hair.
Xie Chunjuan nodded expectantly.
“Your hair looks a bit yellow at the back. Let me trim it for you.”
Su Xiaoman first wiped her little face clean with a towel, untangled her hair and neatly trimmed the dry ends. Then, she took out a few simple yet beautiful hair ties and gave her a pretty little girl’s hairstyle.
Xie Chunjuan looked at herself in the mirror, extremely happy.
Su Xiaoman boiled two hard-boiled eggs with a kettle, ate one herself, and gave one to Xie Chunjuan. The eggs were brought by third brother yesterday.
Holding the warm egg in her palm, Xie Chunjuan looked up at Su Xiaoman and said, “Auntie, you’re really nice. When they say you’re not good, they must be lying to kids.”
Su Xiaoman smiled and shook her head, feeling like she was the one lying to kids now.
Clearly, she was still carrying the “best” persona.
Zhou Xiaohui was sewing shoe soles in the room when a small figure sneaked in quietly. Without lifting her eyes, she asked directly, “Are the dishes washed?”
“Mom, they’re washed.”
Zhou Xiaohui raised her head at this moment, glanced at her eldest daughter, and was instantly stunned.
Xie Chunjuan’s face was clean, with a delicate and beautiful hairstyle. Gone was the usual messy look, now she looked even better than their neighbour’s second daughter.
The neighbour’s second daughter was the youngest daughter of the Zeng family. Her parents pampered her more, so she usually dressed better than other girls in the village.
“Mom, Auntie helped me with my hair.”
“She also gave me a boiled egg, and I shared half with my sister.”
Xie Chunjuan’s voice was timid, as if she was afraid of her anger.
Zhou Xiaohui’s mouth moved, but in the end, she didn’t say anything.
At noon, the Xie family had their meal. The men didn’t come back, so Mother-in-law Sun Mei asked Xie Second Daughter-in-law to take lunch to the men.
The women in the family did light work in the production team in the morning, earning a couple of points, and then came back to take care of household chores. They also had lunch at home at noon.
The eldest sister-in-law, Qin Xiuying, was the most efficient worker, able to earn five or six work points in a day. The third sister-in-law, Zhou Xiaohui, was pregnant now, so she didn’t do much work. The second sister-in-law, Xu Yanlan, was used to slacking off and would go home as soon as she finished her work.
“Call everyone to come and eat.”
Actually, people in this era didn’t need to be repeatedly called to come and eat. As soon as it was mealtime, everyone would rush over to wait for the meal.
The three children from the eldest family, one from the second family, and two from the third family, totalling six children, were all gathered around the long table.
While the other children remained quiet, one six-year-old boy kicked his legs and loudly complained, “Grandma, I’m hungry! When are we going to eat?”
“Be patient, grandson.”
“Grandma, I’m so hungry! I’m going to starve!” The boy continued to loudly protest.
Sun Mei comforted her beloved grandson beside her.
Her favourite was the second son in the family, her second son, who was also the most educated in the family. He graduated from junior high school and was now a teacher, which made her feel dignified. As a result, the children from her second son’s family were also her favourites.
Their second son was a scholar, and the children he produced were smart and clever, much better than the two troublemakers from the eldest family.
The other children sat there silently.
“Why hasn’t the food been brought over ye?”
“It’s coming, it’s coming.”
Today, the meal was prepared by the eldest sister-in-law. The dishes were very simple, even crude. She first brought out a bowl of pickled vegetables, a large pot of greens, and a bowl of vegetable soup. The green colour made people anxious, and there was no sign of any oil.
Following behind, the second sister-in-law, Xu Yanlan, came out. She carried a bowl of scrambled eggs, drizzled with soy sauce and chopped green onions on top, emitting a particularly strong aroma. Several children couldn’t help but salivate at the smell.
Behind her, there was also a bowl of stir-fried radishes, with a few scattered pieces of meat inside, which was today’s extra meal for the men on the mountain.
Sun Mei picked up the bowl of scrambled eggs, scooped a large spoonful into the bowl, and handed it to her beloved grandson, Xie Yaozu. Xie Yaozu happily lowered his head to eat the eggs. Sun Mei then said to Xu Yanlan, “Daughter-in-law, you’ll go to the mountain later to deliver the food. Walk faster on the way, so the food won’t get cold.”
“Okay,” Xu Yanlan replied.
Sun Mei asked Xu Yanlan to take the remaining bowl of scrambled eggs and the bowl of stir-fried radishes, and she separately picked out the fatty meat and placed it on top of the golden pumpkin rice. She also poured a large pot of vegetable soup.
“No eating on the way,” Sun Mei warned.
Xu Yanlan smiled and joked with Sun Mei, “Mother, you can trust me to do things properly.”
“I only trust you when you’re doing things,” Sun Mei responded.
The eldest sister-in-law, Qin Xiuying, who had just sat down after being busy for most of the day, lowered her head slightly and let out a barely audible “hmph,” secretly mocking: Not sneaking a bite would be strange.
These were all things that the Xie family understood very well.
The privileges of the second family.
Carrying the food, Xu Yanlan looked up and down at Su Xiaoman, who was not far away, and sarcastically elongated her voice, “Oh, look who finally decided to come out and eat.”
Su Xiaoman ignored her, leaving Xu Yanlan feeling embarrassed. She glanced at Su Xiaoman triumphantly before leaving.
Because she was the daughter-in-law most favoured by her mother-in-law, Sun Mei, she always held herself in high regard in front of her sisters-in-law. She liked to use Sun Mei’s authority to suppress Qin Xiuying and Zhou Xiaohui, always coming out on top.
She enjoyed showing off herself and her son’s superiority in front of Qin Xiuying and Zhou Xiaohui, relishing in their envy. Now that Qin Xiuying and Zhou Xiaohui no longer dared to compete with her, life had become comfortable but boring. With Su Xiaoman’s arrival, Xu Yanlan was determined to make her suffer and show her how high her status was in the Xie family.
Su Xiaoman sat quietly without saying much, and whenever the children swallowed their saliva while looking at the scrambled eggs, they would glance at her face.
Because the newly arrived young aunt at home is good-looking, the aroma of the scrambled eggs is too enticing for them to resist, so they can only admire the beautiful aunt to distract themselves.
People who are good-looking are always pleasing to the eye.
Su Xiaoman’s gaze swept over several children. In the eldest family, there were two boys and one girl. The eldest boy, Tiedan, was thin and had a dark complexion. There was a dark birthmark on his face, which could be somewhat frightening if not paid attention to. His younger brother, Heidan, had a long face with snot hanging from his nose. As for the little sister, Xiaohua, her face and hands were covered in dirt, and she came to eat without washing her hands.
In the third family, there were two daughters. Xie Chunjuan smiled at Su Xiaoman and held hands with her younger sister, Xiajuan, a two or three-year-old who reached out to pull her sister’s hair.
All of these children were extremely skinny, wearing tattered clothes. The eldest family’s children had numerous black mould spots on their clothes, both front and back, which couldn’t be seen clearly.
Only Xie Yaozu from the second family stood out among the children, wearing a new blue outfit, with a circle of soy sauce stains around his mouth.
Su Xiaoman thought to herself that Sun Mei was truly biased.
Weren’t the other children also her grandchildren?
Su Xiaoman scooped a spoonful of “pumpkin rice,” lowered her head to take a bite, and immediately felt nauseous.
She had never imagined that pumpkin could be cooked so unappetizingly, with half of it tasting slightly bitter and the other half mushy, making it truly revolting.
The eldest sister-in-law’s cooking skills were extremely poor, despite being efficient. The pots and bowls were definitely not cleaned properly, and today’s food had a stale odour.
The others didn’t say anything, perhaps accustomed to it.
Su Xiaoman tried several other dishes, her complexion getting worse and worse. In the end, she only picked up a piece of pickled ginger from the plate of salted vegetables, the only appetizing dish on the table.
“Early this morning, I went to the chicken coop to collect eggs and found that two eggs were missing. Either the hens didn’t lay them today, or someone stole them. If I catch whoever it is, they’ll see how I deal with them.”
As Sun Mei ate, she mentioned something with a pointed tone, warning the three daughters-in-law present.
The lips of the third sister-in-law, Zhou Xiaohui, twitched but she didn’t say anything. However, the eldest sister-in-law, Qin Xiuying, pointed at Su Xiaoman and accused, “I saw Su Xiaoman eating boiled eggs this morning. If eggs are missing from the house, it must be her who took them.”
Sun Mei immediately glared at Su Xiaoman.
Su Xiaoman reluctantly ate two bites of rice and said, “I haven’t even been to the chicken coop. The eggs I ate this morning were brought by my brother.”
Sun Mei also knew it was unlikely that Su Xiaoman took them. After giving Zhou Xiaohui a slight glance, she continued to stare at Su Xiaoman. She had long wanted to deal with Su Xiaoman and questioned, “If your brother brought them over, then they belong to our Xie family. You should contribute to the household. Your mother didn’t teach you how to be a proper daughter-in-law?”
Su Xiaoman replied, “What about Second Sister-in-law? Why doesn’t she contribute when her family sends things over? If we contribute, everyone can share.”
Sun Mei and Su Xiaoman confronted each other, while the eldest sister-in-law and the third sister-in-law sat quietly, suppressing laughter.
“You, can you compare yourself to your Second Sister-in-law? She works so hard. While you sit here eating, she toils in the fields to deliver food to the men.”
When Sun Mei said this, the eldest sister-in-law and the third sister-in-law felt uncomfortable. Clearly, they were the ones doing all the work at home, and yet, the new daughter-in-law was being praised for simply “delivering food.”
“Alright, how about this? Tomorrow, I’ll go deliver the food,” Su Xiaoman said unexpectedly. “Second Sister-in-law works so hard, as a new daughter-in-law, I should learn from her.”
Sun Mei was furious. “What nonsense are you talking!”
“Elder Sister-in-law, Third Sister-in-law, how about we take turns delivering the food? We’re all daughters-in-law of the family, it’s only right to share the responsibility. How can we be lazy at home?”
“What do you think about taking turns?”
Sun Mei was amused by her question. “Taking turns? How many people do you think are willing to go? Eldest daughter-in-law, Third daughter-in-law, do you want to take turns?”
The daughters-in-law from the eldest and third families never dared to defy her wishes.
Su Xiaoman was truly overstepping her bounds. She actually thought others would listen to her. How ridiculous.
The eldest daughter-in-law, Qin Xiuying, opened her mouth but didn’t say anything.
Meanwhile, Zhou Xiaohui suddenly recalled what she had seen a few days ago. Every couple of days, Sun Mei would give Xie Yaozu an egg or two to eat. Sometimes, it was even two eggs. Xie Yaozu didn’t particularly like egg yolks, so he had eaten one egg that day and played with the other egg yolk by stepping on it.
Zhou Xiaohui closed her eyes and looked at Chunjuan and Xiajuan. Then, she spoke in a firm tone, “Let’s go. From now on, we’ll take turns.”
Sun Mei was stunned.
The eldest daughter-in-law was also stunned.
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