Giving Han-laotaitai a blistering piece of her mind left Lin Lan feeling as utterly relaxed as if she had just enjoyed a full-body spa treatment. She dusted off her hands and walked away, humming a cheerful little tune. Why stick around? To wait for everyone else to return so she could watch the old lady put on a theatrical pity party?
Han-laotaitai slumped on the brick bed, completely unable to get up. Pointing a trembling finger at Lin Lan's retreating back, she shook like someone with Parkinson's.
Lin Lan flashed a smile at the dumbstruck dasao and ersao. "Ersao, take your time eating that steamed bun. Don't choke on it."
Stepping out of the room, she saw Erwang poking his head around the doorway, while Maisui was leading Xiaowang and looking in from the courtyard entrance. The children of the first and second branches were looking at her with completely different eyes.
Wow, someone actually dared to scold mama!
Seeing her own children, a surge of warmth rushed into Lin Lan's heart. "It's nothing, let's go home and make pancakes to eat."
Only after leading her children out of the courtyard gates did a twinge of guilt set in. She couldn't help but wonder—would Han Qingsong try to fight her once he found out?
Forget it, who cares about him!
As long as he didn't get physical, a hundred clumsy-tongued Han Qingsongs tied together wouldn't be a match for her in an argument.
Erwang, sharp-eyed, spotted Dawang behind the haystack and called out to him, "Dage, what are you doing hiding there?"
Dawang cursed, "Are you blind? I'm not a thief, why would I hide? I'm catching cicadas." He scrambled up the nearby parasol tree, scaring away all the cicadas that had been loudly chirping.
Lin Lan: "..."
She looked up. Dawang was hiding in the branches, refusing to show his face. She called out, "Dawang, let's go home and eat."
A muffled sound came from the tree; it was unclear whether he was agreeing or not.
Lin Lan didn't want to push the child too hard. "Where's Sanwang? Did he go swimming again? Dawang, keep an eye on him. Don't let him go to the big southern ditch by himself; it's too dangerous."
This brat, anywhere with water was his niang. He was completely oblivious to the chaos turning their home upside down.
On the way back, Maisui smiled, "Niang, my dage is just feeling awkward."
Erwang curled his lip. "He's just feeling guilty."
"Don't speak about your dage like that. Your dage is a good boy. He was the one who carried our wok back."
Xiaowang smiled, "And the cornmeal too."
Lin Lan mused to herself, was Dawang coldly observing her changes from the sidelines? This kid!
Upon arriving home, she discovered half a wine bottle of cooking oil on the stove, along with two eggs and a small basket of assorted vegetables.
Lin Lan looked outside but didn't see Han Qingsong, though he was undoubtedly the one who procured them.
"Pancakes! We're having pancakes!" The children jumped up in joy.
Lin Lan smiled. "Today, I'll make scrambled eggs with chives, and bake some flatbread on the side of the wok."
It was rare to have such fresh, tender chives in this season; scrambling them with eggs was their ultimate destiny.
Although her culinary skills in her past life weren't outstanding, she still knew how to whip up a few snacks to coax children.
She chopped the chives finely, cracked the two eggs into them, added a pinch of salt, and stirred the mixture evenly. Then, she heated the wok and added a small spoonful of oil.
Since there was too little oil to even coat the bottom of the pan, Lin Lan simply put down the spoon, picked up the bottle, and poured it in generously.
All the children: "!!!"
Every single one of them had their mouths hanging wide open.
Xiaowang climbed up onto the stove to peek inside. "Look, guys! The oil can actually reflect a shadow!" He widened his eyes and bared his teeth at the small pool of oil in the wok.
Maisui yanked him away. "Don't drip your drool into it."
"Niang, this amount of oil is enough for my daniang to cook for half a year." Erwang perfectly embodied the look of absolute, stunned bewilderment. It was simply too shocking.
Han-dasao never used oil when cooking; boiling things in saltwater and adding a few drops of oil for flavor was her standard method.
Lin Lan felt a bit embarrassed. Having been accustomed to spending freely in her past life, she couldn't change her habits overnight. She figured that along with being known as a shrew, she would soon earn the notorious reputation of a glutton. Nevertheless, she had to defend herself: "Scrambled eggs don't taste good without enough oil. Rather than eating a hundred flavorless meals, it's better to eat two truly flavorful ones."
The children burst into laughter, all chiming in that they wanted the flavorful ones.
Erwang, however, was worried. Would their household drain the oil jar as soon as it was filled, leaving them to salivate hungrily for the rest of the year, ending up as miserable as those families in the village with gluttonous wives?
Heavens, just thinking about it sent a shiver down his spine. He quickly volunteered, "Niang, let me help you cook from now on."
Maisui assumed he wanted to cook so he could sneak bites of food. She hurriedly interjected, "Since when do grown men cook? I'm a girl, so naturally, I should be the one to do it."
Lin Lan, however, thought Erwang cooking was a great idea. Who dictated that only girls should cook?
Remembering how terribly vain Maisui had been in her previous life—refusing to study or strive for anything, only caring about dressing up gorgeously to bask in the admiration of boys and the jealousy of girls—Lin Lan felt a headache coming on. She realized she needed to start "brainwashing" her daughter from a young age and constantly correct her mindset.
"My sweet girl, there is no rule stating that girls must be the ones to cook and do chores. For a girl to study hard and learn self-respect and self-love is more important than anything else."
Maisui didn't understand. "But in our village, the women always cook."
Erwang also mocked, "Mama says that if you're lazy and only care about eating, you'll never find a husband's family."
Lin Lan clicked her tongue. "Your xiaogu is lazier and greedier than anyone, so why doesn't she say the same about her? Let me tell you all: whatever kind of person you want to find, you can find them."
Maisui laughed brightly. "In that case, I want to find someone whose family has endless white flour, endless oil, and endless coupons to spend!"
Erwang retorted, "Have no shame. Just because you look for them doesn't mean they'll want you."
"So what?" Lin Lan said. "Ambitions should be set from a young age. Let me tell you, if you want to find a certain kind of person, you first have to become that kind of person yourself. For example, if you don't want to cook but still want to eat delicious food, you need to cultivate a refined palate, so you can find someone who will cook those delicious things for you. If you want endless white flour and oil, you need the vision and capability to interact with people who have those things. If you don't study, you'll spend your whole life interacting with the people in this village and the local market; the best you could hope for is to marry a driver or a butcher. But if you study hard, get into high school, then you can work in the city. Put in more effort and get into a normal college, a university, or even a prestigious university? Hah! Now that would be something incredible. The people you interact with would be upper-class, your social circle would be full of educated intellectuals, and a bit of rice, flour, and oil would be completely trivial. So you see, everything depends entirely on yourselves!"
Lin Lan tapped the tip of Maisui's nose. "For example, if someone is clearly in high school but lacks ambition and only cares about dressing up, keeping their eyes glued on the hoodlum sons of minor officials in their class—what use is that?"
Realization dawned on Maisui. "Niang, you're talking about my xiaogu, aren't you?"
Lin Lan thought: I was obviously talking about you!
Xiaowang chimed in, "Niang, I want to hear the best-sounding voice!"
Lin Lan kissed his little forehead. "Then you, my sweet, first need to train a pair of discerning ears that know how to listen."
Xiaowang immediately tilted his head, listening intently. "Niang, it's burning!"
Lin Lan: "Oh my god, I got too caught up talking nonsense with you lot. Hurry up!"
After a flurry of frantic activity and the sizzling of the oiled wok, the scrambled eggs with chives were finally finished.
Lin Lan first scooped out the scrambled eggs, letting the children have a taste to satisfy their cravings. Then, using the remaining oil in the wok, she added half a ladle of water, tossed in the washed string beans and eggplants, added some farmhouse sauce, and stirred it all together. Next, she shaped the kneaded cornmeal dough into flatbreads, pressed them flat, dipped them in saltwater, and stuck them to the sides of the wok above the stewing vegetables to bake.
Xiaowang and Erwang scrambled to help press the dough.
Xiaowang pressed his little hands into the dough a few times, leaving little paw prints before letting his niang stick them to the pan.
This was exactly how flatbreads were baked for the modern dish, "farmhouse earth-pot chicken." In the future, she would definitely find a way to get some meat and make a pot just like this for the kids.
Meat simmering in the pot with flatbreads baking on the sides—it went without saying how heavenly it would smell.
Just thinking about it made her swallow her saliva along with the children. After sticking all the flatbreads to the sides, she covered the pot and let it simmer.
Very quickly, a mouth-watering aroma wafted out.
"Niang, what delicious food are you making that smells so good?! I smelled it from miles away!" Sanwang ran back from outside, wearing nothing but a pair of shorts, carrying a wooden stick over his shoulder with his clothes and straw sandals slung over it. He couldn't wait to rush into the house. Seeing the earthenware basin of scrambled eggs with chives on the table, his eyes immediately lit up, and he reached out to grab a handful.
Smack! Erwang slapped his hand away. "You goof around in the water all day long, so why don't you catch a few fish to bring back?"
Sanwang patted his small chest. "No problem! I'll go catch some this afternoon."
Lin Lan hurriedly instructed him, "Stop soaking in the water all day long, you have no idea how dangerous it is. There are leeches in the water—what will you do if one bites you?"
Sanwang was dismissive. "They won't."
"You say they won't, but once you get bitten, it'll be too late. Also, you are forbidden from going to the large southern ditch; you're only allowed to play in the western river."
Deep water and shallow water were vastly different beasts.
Sanwang still wanted to argue, but at that moment, Han Qingsong walked in from outside.
Catching sight of him, Sanwang did something unprecedented and actively greeted him. "Die, hurry and come eat the scrambled eggs with chives, it's super delicious."
He hadn't even managed to snatch a bite yet, but was already declaring it delicious. Erwang couldn't help but chuckle.
Han Qingsong washed his hands and came in. Seeing that the oil in the wine bottle was nearly gone, he remarked, "We should plant some peanuts in front of and behind the house in the future."
Peanuts yielded a lot of oil and could serve as a good supplement; otherwise, they could only wait for the production team's distribution at the end of the year.
The countryside was not like the city; they couldn't just buy rations on a monthly basis.
Lin Lan studied his expression. He probably didn't know about her cussing out his niang, right? As long as he hadn't heard it with his own ears, she could just deny it if others relayed the story, claiming they were adding oil and vinegar to exaggerate. She could insist she merely went over to discuss the family division.
However, Han Qingsong looked entirely unbothered, acting as if nothing had happened; he likely had no idea.
Lin Lan simply stopped dwelling on it and whispered to Han Qingsong, "What good will planting a few stalks ourselves do? Are there any other avenues to get some grain and oil... or something? The small amount we're distributed isn't nearly enough to satisfy our cravings."
She felt a little guilty. Instigating Han Qingsong to use his connections to secure supplies was considered making a political error in these times.
Erwang was still fretting on the side—was being this gluttonous really not a problem?
Who would have thought that instead of getting angry, Han Qingsong merely nodded. "I will think of a way."
Relying solely on the distributed rations was fundamentally insufficient to feed a large family; this much was glaringly obvious.
Before the separation, the old lady controlled everything, and everyone starving was one thing. But now that they had split off and were in charge of their own household, they naturally had to ensure the children ate better.
Not to mention, the Han family had been supporting the xiaogu and xiaoshu who earned zero work points, forcing the entire family to tighten their belts and suffer hunger all day long. It was no wonder the children's daily state of being was a constant chorus of, "Niang, I'm so hungry, when are we eating?"
Now that they had divided the family, Han Qingsong's top priority was to ensure his wife and children could eat their fill and no longer have to endure daily starvation.
Seeing Han Qingsong agree so readily, Lin Lan was slightly astonished. She had originally assumed that a man as highly principled as him would surely scold her for pursuing crooked paths, warning her that they would get their "capitalist tails cut off."
Since his attitude was so agreeable, Lin Lan decided to press her advantage. "Since we've divided the family, shouldn't we ask the production brigade to split our household registration as well?"
She could tell the old lady's intention was to divide the family in name but keep the household registration intact, meaning the ration booklets for grain, oil, and subsidiary foods would remain firmly in the old lady's grasp. If that happened, she still wouldn't have any real control.
Only with an independent household register would they be issued their own ration booklets. That was the only way their work points would truly belong to them, allowing their share of the autumn harvest to be directly distributed to their own home.
If Han Qingsong dared to say "we'll talk about it later," she would just go and do it herself!
Yet, surprisingly, Han Qingsong nodded again. "I will go speak to them after lunch."
Lin Lan: He's being this obedient?
Could it be that he had been thoroughly chilled by the old lady's actions? Thinking back to the original plotline, he was supposed to have his heart broken by his wife, but now it seemed his biological mother had broken his heart instead.
This was rather amusing. Lin Lan couldn't help but feel a deep sense of schadenfreude.
Lin Lan looked outside. Dawang still hadn't returned. When she asked about him, Sanwang reported that he had taken some flatbread from mama's house and was out running wild with Zhuzi.
Sanwang had never been one to hold back when selling out his eldest brother.
Lin Lan turned to Han Qingsong. "Dawang running wild outside all day isn't a long-term solution. Shouldn't we discuss this with the old Party Secretary and the principal, and send all the kids to school?"
Once they were in school, Dawang wouldn't be able to go out and mix with the wrong crowd, and Sanwang wouldn't be able to soak in the water all day.
At the mere mention of school, Sanwang displayed intense resistance, immediately starting to play dumb and mumbling nonsense to dodge the topic.
Seeing the child's lack of interest in attending school, Han Qingsong recalled how she used to say that only crazy people with too much energy to burn at home would bother going to school. Now that she had made such a drastic U-turn and wanted them enrolled, he feared the children wouldn't be able to accept it right away.
He said, "Let's wait and see. Let's eat first."
Although Han Qingsong was a man of few words, wasn't good at joking, and usually maintained a stern demeanor, it didn't dampen the children's spirits in the slightest. Having divided from the main family and eating on their own, combined with the genuine effort Lin Lan put into cooking, made the meal taste exceptionally delicious to them.
"Niang's baked flatbread is even more delicious and makes me even happier than eating New Year's dinner in the past!" Sanwang was so thrilled he bared his bright white teeth in a wide grin.
Maisui teased him, "Even more delicious than dumplings?"
Sanwang spread all five fingers wide and declared dramatically, "Of course! When we had dumplings, I was only allowed to eat five! It just left me craving more. How could that compare to eating the flatbread niang made, not to mention the scrambled eggs with chives?!"
Erwang pointed at his face. "You alone eat enough sauce for a whole family. No wonder mama refuses to let you have any."
Every time Sanwang ate soybean paste, he would get it all over his face. The old lady would scold him, but he never changed his ways, so she simply stopped letting him eat it altogether.
Xiaowang promptly raised his piece of flatbread, trying to dip it into the sauce smeared across Sanwang's face.
Lin Lan quickly held him back. "That's dirty, eat from the bowl."
"Niang, how can you think I'm dirty! I wash so thoroughly every day that even lice won't crawl on me. There isn't a single person in the whole village cleaner than I am!"
Right then, the two little ducklings wiggled their bottoms at the threshold of the main room, quacking and poking their heads in curiously.
Lin Lan retorted, "Those two soak in the water every day as well."
Pouting, Sanwang used his finger to wipe the sauce off his face and happily ate it himself.
Maisui and Lin Lan immediately recoiled at his gross habits, bombarding him with a chorus of demands to go wash his face. The entire room was filled with joyous laughter.
For a moment, Han Qingsong sat there, utterly mesmerized by the scene.
Right at that moment, Han-dage and Han-erge pushed open the door and walked in. Han-dage smiled and said, "Having your meal, I see."
Han-erge, however, let out a sarcastic, passive-aggressive snort. "Well, look at you, laosan. Now that the family's divided, you're living quite luxuriously. What delicacies are you enjoying here, and why haven't you sent a bowl to niang first?"
The moment she saw them, Lin Lan immediately tensed up. Could the old lady have sent them over to pick a fight?
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