CH 130

Zhulan knew that the words of last night had spread, and the jealous Wang Lao Shi was naturally willing to add fire. For a while, Wang Ru must not dare to go out. She can be honest for a while, and said in a cheerful tone: “It’s getting late, you go to make lunch too, and make a simple gnocchi soup at noon.”

Li Shi knew that Mother and Father would not spare the Wang family lightly, but she didn’t expect that when she struck, she would be ruthless. Now she was even more afraid of Mother, “Okay Mother.”

Zhulan put down the needle and thread in her hand, yes, she is embroidering. She felt bored, so she asked Zhao Shi to teach her to embroider some simple patterns. Not only that can calm her mind but also temper her temper. After embroidering for a while, she packed up her sewing basket, put on her shoes, and went to the granary.

Zhulan found an empty bag, and Zhou Shuren’s suggestion made sense. It would be too troublesome to portion out the meals one by one. However, Zhou Shuren’s proposal of giving seven days’ worth of food at once wasn’t feasible. Even if they wanted to cultivate Li Shi’s management skills, it had to be done gradually. Providing seven days’ worth of food all at once was too much. After thinking for a while, she decided to take out three days’ worth of food instead.

She carried it to the kitchen in one breath and handed it to Li Shi, “These are three days’ worth of food. There are radishes and vegetables in the cellar. I’ll give you a piece of meat, about a catty, and fifteen eggs. You have to make nine meals for these three days. You can weigh them yourself.”

Li Shi felt flustered. She was used to following her mother-in-law’s commands ever since she got married. Whatever her mother-in-law instructed her to do, she would obediently comply, even when her mother-in-law went to Pingzhou, Zhao Shi was still there to supervise. In the past, she used to try to contend with Zhao Shi, but now she only wanted to take care of herself. Suddenly, she was burdened with this responsibility, and her heart was in a state of panic.

“Mother, what have I done wrong again? Please don’t punish me like this. If you want, you can punish me by making me learn how to read too!” Li Shi pleaded, hoping to divert her mother-in-law’s attention away from the current situation.”

Zhulan, “…….”

How did your brain think I was punishing you? This was a sign of letting go of power!

After the New Year, Li Shi hadn’t lost any weight; instead, her face seemed even rounder, resembling a wrinkled baozi. Zhulan found it a bit comical and said, “I didn’t mean to punish you; I wanted to help you grow. Don’t scare yourself unnecessarily.”

Li Shi stared with wide-open eyes, this was scarier than making mistakes. Thinking back to how her father-in-law trained her husband, she was afraid. She should not be like her husband who not only had to learn arithmetic but also memorizes essays every day. Shaking her head like a rattle, “Mom, I have no brains. Yes, don’t train me, dìmèi is smart, you train dìmèi!”

Zhulan, “…….”

Li Shi also knew that she was not as smart as Zhao Shi, it was not easy.

Zhulan would like to let Zhao Shi take care of it, but it was a pity that she can’t.

She didn’t want to use her brain, it was tiring to read and write. Her father-in-law was not at home. She just had a happy morning, so how can she turn from extreme joy to sorrow in a blink of an eye?

Zhulan walked to the door and paused, “By the way, the quality of the food in these three days cannot be reduced. You must weigh it. Don’t end up with insufficient food and no food. If you do a good job during these three days, there will be rewards, but if not… well, we’ll see.”

Li Shi, “……”

Mom left with a sneer!

Having someone else take care of the meals for the past three days, Zhulan felt considerably relieved. She realized that planning and preparing three meals a day for the entire family was not an easy task. It required thinking about nutrition and accommodating the preferences of the whole household, which could be mentally taxing.

Feeling in high spirits, Zhulan enjoyed her lunch and even had two extra bowls of hand-pulled noodles to satisfy her appetite.

Li Shi, who ate the most every day, only drank a bowl, her small eyes were tangled up, thinking about what to make for dinner!

Before dinner, Zhulan didn’t even come out of the bedroom. She didn’t put on her shoes until her daughter called her to eat, and she saw the food on the table at a glance, a sauerkraut stew, a fried spicy cabbage, the staple food was cornbreads, and there were leftovers. The two bowls of gnocchi soup that she asked to make were left because Li Shi didn’t eat much at noon.

The gnocchi soup was distributed to two granddaughters. Zhulan had enough sauerkraut. After eating it all winter, she especially missed the off-season vegetables in modern winter. She had a bad feeling. When she took care of the food, she tried not to cook sauerkraut twice a week. Li Shi may make it every day for three days. Zhulan felt cheated. Why didn’t she wait until summer to train Li Shi!

For dinner, Zhulan didn’t eat much, and everyone thought it was because of Zhou Shuren. No one could have guessed that the reason for her reduced appetite was due to the issue with the sauerkraut served in the meal.

In fact, Zhulan wasn’t actually preoccupied with Zhou Shuren. On the contrary, it was Zhou Shuren who had his mind back at home after dinner. He wondered how Zhulan was doing and whether she had eaten well. He wished the exams would finish early this year, but unfortunately, there were five stages in the county exams. The thought of the upcoming tests made him unconsciously rub his hands, which had been frozen throughout the day. It was truly a challenging ordeal!