"Reflect?" Mother Lu looked at Zhang Shuilian, "What heinous crime has my son Dazhi committed? Do you want to lock him in a room to reflect and not even give him dinner?"

"He..." Zhang Shuilian started, but was interrupted by Mother Lu.

"Even if Dazhi really gets into trouble, it's me, the mother, who will teach him. Why do you lock him up and deny him food?"

Faced with Mother Lu's stern questioning, Zhang Shuilian felt guilty for a while, but she still had to bite the bullet and said: "Our father died early, our eldest brother is like our father, and our eldest sister-in-law is like our mother..."

"I'm not dead yet!" Mother Lu shouted, then pushed Zhang Shuilian away and strode towards the backyard.

Zhang Shuilian became anxious and stood on the spot, stamping her feet and scolding: "My family is going to suffer from the northwest wind. I asked him to write a letter to his adoptive parents to say a few nice words and borrow some money by the way. What's going on?

"

"He refused to listen to us, couldn't understand our family's current difficulties, and even contradicted us. Is it wrong for us to lock him in the room and reflect on it? There is nothing wrong with that!"

Mother Lu turned around and looked at Zhang Shuilian angrily: "The two hundred taels of silver given by the Luo family were all spent by the two of you. Now you want Dazhi to borrow money from the Luo family. Do you think we are

A beggar? Dazhi is a scholar!"

Zhang Shuilian walked up to Mother Lu, blushed and said, "What about the scholar? Scholars also want to eat, drink, and have diarrhea, right?"

"Mom, you are getting older now, and your body and bones are not as good as before. Apart from doing some housework, you can't do any other work. You have to rely on me and Daqiu to support you."

"Except for the youngest brother and the youngest, who can earn dozens of pennies a day, the rest of the younger brothers and sisters in the family are just free earners."

"The third child and the fifth child will get wives in the future, and the second child and the others will get married. This is both a betrothal gift and a dowry. Which one does not fall on the shoulders of Daqiu and I, the eldest brother and sister-in-law?"

"Mom, you can't do anything, so don't make trouble there. Now we can still open the lid of the pot. If you have a mouthful of food, you can eat it. Don't worry about other things."

"When some time passes and we don't have enough to eat, our family will be sold and our daughter will be sold!"

After saying these words, Zhang Shuilian turned around and returned to the dining hall.

Seeing the other brothers-in-law and sisters-in-law at the entrance of the dining hall, all looking towards this, Zhang Shuilian's face fell and she yelled at these half-grown children.

"What are you looking at? Go back and eat. A bunch of people are eating for free, but they still have to meddle in things. You really think of yourself as a big figure, how shameless are you?"

The half-grown children shrank back with a loud bang. Everyone lowered their heads and ate quietly, not daring to make any noise.

In the yard, Mother Lu froze on the spot.

She knew that the eldest daughter-in-law's words were referring to Sang Shuhuai, and she was the one with the big face...

Daqiu was also standing at the door of the house. He glanced at his mother standing in the yard, and then looked at his dark-faced wife in the dining hall who was picking up food for his son.

Da Qiu mustered up his courage, moved his steps and leaned towards Mother Lu, gently tugged on Mother Lu's sleeves and whispered: "Mom, let's go back to the house to eat..."

With red eyes, Mother Lu glanced at her eldest son, who was a head taller than herself, and said in a hoarse voice: "I won't eat, so give my share to Dazhi!"

Da Qiu was anxious, "Mom, how can this be done? You are not in good health and you can't do it without eating..."

Mother Lu shook her head, "Mom is old and can't do any work. She can't help you. Your brother has different ambitions. He is growing taller. We can't let him starve. He has to study at night..."

Just as Da Qiu was about to speak, Zhang Shuilian's scolding came from the dining hall: "Da Qiu, are you dead? The food is cold. If you don't want to eat, just tell me early and I won't beat your rice next night."

, it’s not shameful to act pretentious at your age!”

Even a fool can tell that the second half of this sentence was meant for Mother Lu.

"Da Qiu, give your brother your mother's share, please? I beg you, mother..."

Mother Lu took Da Qiu's hand and begged in a low voice.

Big Ball looked embarrassed, twisting his body, with an expression on his face as if he was constipated.

"Mom, Shui Lian is still angry. I, I, I don't dare..."

Mother Lu's heart suddenly brightened up.

Such a submissive son is simply a replica of himself back then, and he was the same with his husband back then.

"Lu Daqiu, what are you talking about? Do you want to eat or not?"

Zhang Shuilian rushed to the door of the canteen with a bowl of rice and yelled curses.

Big Ball was so frightened that he trembled.

Mother Lu let go of Da Qiu's hand and said, "You go back to the house to eat, and I'll go see Da Zhi."

After saying these words, Mother Lu walked towards the backyard sadly.

Behind him, Zhang Shuilian's yin and yang voice came, "Go, go, go, go see your scholar son, persuade him not to be stubborn, write a letter early, get the money early, and our family will buy rice and grain early, otherwise we will have to

Stop studying and go out to find a job to support your family!"

After walking around from Lu's house, Yang Ruoqing and Luo Fengtang returned to the inn where they stayed.

She didn't even bother to take a shower and just lay down on the bed.

"I walked around the Lu family and saw the family's lifestyle, the mother-in-law and the daughter-in-law, and that useless piece of double-sided tape. I felt so panicked!" Yang Ruoqing raised her eyebrows.

He lightly beat his chest with his hand and said.

Luo Fengtang poured a bowl of hot water over and said, "Drink some water and moisten your throat. This night is like watching a movie all night. It's really tiring."

Yang Ruoqing sat up, took the bowl he handed over and took a few sips, "The big ball doesn't matter. Zhang Shuilian is not a good wife. The whole family has to rely on the two of them even when they are young."

"Dazhi Niang, I almost didn't recognize her before." Yang Ruoqing continued.

"She is only eight or nine years older than my eldest brother. I am twenty-five, and she is only thirty-something. Looking at her tonight, she is about the same age as my mother."

"My mother doesn't have as many gray hairs on her head. It's only been eight years since we last met. How come she's so old!" Yang Ruoqing shook her head.

Luo Fengtang said: "In the past eight years, it has not been easy for a woman to support a large family of children and marry Daqiu."

"Marrying a rubbish wife will not only help you share the burden, but will also make the family uneasy. It's better not to marry her!" Yang Ruoqing muttered.

Luo Fengtang smiled bitterly, "So, this is the principle of marrying a virtuous wife."

Yang Ruoqing said: "With such a sister-in-law, Da Zhi's life is not easy. We gave them so much money from the Lu family, and they only lighted a candle when they read at night. It hurts their eyes."

Luo Fengtang could only smile bitterly again: "This is his own choice. Since we have discussed it, let's wait for the result tomorrow and see how he chooses!"

Yang Ruoqing nodded, rubbed her sore arms and walked to the bathroom.
Chapter completed!