Compared with the Zhao family, they eat better and dress warmly.
Zheng Chunmei was even more envious of having such a father-in-law who loved his daughter-in-law.
If her old woman was like this, she would still be filial to her even if she didn't have enough to eat, wasn't warm enough to wear, and life was difficult.
Zhao Zheng didn't want to show his kindness in front of outsiders. "It's cold outside. You two should go take a nap on the kang."
"No need, father-in-law, we are not sleepy." Yang Zhaodi shook her head, wiped away her tears, and took Zhang Xiaoe to the back of the house to make adobe bricks.
She also wanted a dry toilet, and preferably a chicken coop so that she wouldn't have to worry about others stealing her chickens.
"Get to work." Zhao Zheng glanced at Zheng Chunmei and started busying himself.
"Hey, here I come." Zheng Chunmei is also a good worker, or rather, she is eager to show off in front of Zhao Zheng.
They worked until the evening, and the yard was already full of adobe bricks. Zhao Zheng decided to dry these bricks inside the house, otherwise they would be ruined by frost and ice.
Zheng Chunmei was also exhausted and sweating all over. "Uncle Zhao, I have no strength left. Can you give me something to eat? That way I will have the energy to massage your feet tonight!"
"Two meals a day, do you really think my family is a landlord?" Zhao Zheng waved his hand, "That's all for today, you can go home."
Zheng Chunmei looked at Zhao Zheng with some resentment. She didn't believe that Zhao Zheng only ate one meal a day. She had come here so many times, and many times they had dinner at night.
I dare not say that Zhao Laosan's family eats two meals a day, but the frequency is definitely not low, and they definitely live better than other people in the village.
Although she was unwilling, she had no choice but to go back.
As I walked to the gate of the courtyard, I saw Yang Zhaodi handing Zhao Zheng a steaming hot pancake.
Gurgle!
"Omelette!"
Zheng Chunmei kept swallowing her saliva and said that there was no food and he didn't want to give her any food at all.
"No, I have to get Zhao Laosan to accept me. Otherwise, I won't have enough to eat. The occasional meal I have is also given to me by him."
Zheng Chunmei steeled herself, looking at her clothes covered in dirt. "I must take a shower and wear clean clothes these two days. His two daughters-in-law are home anyway, so I'm not afraid that Mr. Zhao will go too far!"
"I not only want to eat the rice crust from Zhao Laokou's house, I also want to eat his meat!"
...
After dark, Zhao Zhengzheng was about to close the gate, but Xu Youde came.
"Uncle Youde, what's the matter with you coming so late?"
Zhao Zheng quickly invited him in.
"I won't go in and sit down. I came to talk to you about something." Xu Youde sighed and said, "My family does have some responsibility for your brother's affairs, and I won't shirk it. But your mother asked your sister-in-law for fifty taels of silver. If I had that much silver, I would have left the countryside and settled in the city long ago."
"Uncle Youde, you are right."
"You are the only one in your family who is more reasonable. I came to your house today for no other reason than to ask you to persuade me. You can't come up with fifty taels. I don't even have five taels."
"For the sake of our fellow villagers, two hundred coins is the maximum I can offer. But if I accept this money, they won't come to me to cause trouble again. I'm old and can't afford it!"
Zhao Zheng sneered in his heart. As the village elders of a small mountain village, it was easy for the Xu family to get ten taels of silver.
Don't be fooled by the Xu family's appearance of being poor, as they only eat corn porridge twice a day.
But everyone in the village was so hungry that they looked pale and skinny, only the Xu family had rosy complexions. Was that because they were eating corn porridge?
Who would believe that?
But given his status, even if others knew, they wouldn't dare say anything, not to mention that the Zhong family is behind him.
He only took out two hundred coins because he was afraid of the villagers gossiping behind his back.
"Uncle, you know my family's situation. If I could persuade them, I would just let them go to the Ma family and would definitely not let them bother you."
"If you can handle this matter well, I'll owe you a favor." Xu Youde said in a low voice.
You old man are quite cunning.
Zhao Zheng would never agree to such a thing. At least in front of outsiders, he would report it to the Zhao family.
"Uncle, please don't embarrass me. I'm not involved. If this money passed through my hands, my eldest brother and the fourth brother would think I accepted a lot of benefits from you."
Xu Youde agreed when he heard this. Zhao Zheng had already fallen out with them, so asking him to be the middleman was definitely not a wise choice.
"That bastard Ma Dazhu is the quickest to run off to Zhuzui Mountain to hunt tigers."
After cursing in his heart, Xu Youde talked to Zhao Zheng for a few more words before leaving.
After closing the gate, Zhao Zheng sneered and decided to just sit back and watch the show.
The next day, Zhao Zhengze started digging a dry toilet, and let the three women do the work of making the adobe bricks.
After working for a whole morning, Zhao Zheng dug a hole. It was not too big, but it was definitely enough.
The top is covered with wood to prevent people from falling into the pit. Three-quarters of the cover is on the inside, and the remaining quarter is left outside to facilitate scooping out the manure.
However, in order to prevent the manure from seeping into the soil, Zhao Zheng took advantage of the three women's inattention and bought a waterproof film, and then covered it with soil. In this way, there was no need to worry about it seeping into the ground.
He squatted there for a while and finally breathed a sigh of relief after making sure there were no safety issues.
At noon, Zheng Chunmei went home to breastfeed her baby. This time she did not ask Zhao Zheng for food.
When he came to work in the afternoon, he also brought the latest information.
"Your old lady took three hundred coins from the Xu family. Aunt Qian thought it was too little, but she finally agreed."
"Grandma Xu also promised the old lady that after Ma Dazhu comes back, she will call all the Ma family members to discuss compensation. If they have money, they will be compensated with money, and if they don't have money, they will be compensated with food. If they don't even have food, they will have to work for Uncle Zhao's family frequently in the future."
Zhao Zheng didn't say anything, but sneered after listening.
The Ma family is already in a state of panic. Someone died, and the people in Xiaomiao Village are still looking for trouble with them.
Zheng Chunmei also sighed. Now, Ma Dazhu is completely unreliable.
As she was speaking, Zheng Chunmei felt dizzy and sat down on the ground.
Yang Zhaodi was startled and hurried over, "Sister Chunmei, what's wrong with you?"
"I'm dizzy from hunger." Zheng Chunmei fell into Yang Zhaodi's arms, with stars flashing before her eyes. "It's okay, I'll be fine after a while."
Zhao Zheng also frowned, "Your old lady won't give you anything to eat?"
"My family only has half a bowl of rice bran porridge a day, which is not enough to fill us up," Zheng Chunmei said weakly.
"Xiao E, go get her a bowl of sugar water."
Zhao Zheng could still tell the difference between pretending to be dizzy and being truly dizzy.
Zhang Xiao'e was also afraid that something might happen to Zheng Chunmei at home, so she hurried to get a bowl of sugar water.
This candy is refined sugar, which was also brought back by my father-in-law. In addition, there is something called milk powder, which is fragrant and sweet and delicious.
But that was what their father-in-law gave them to nourish their bodies. I heard that a small jar cost two or three hundred coins.
They were so distressed that they didn't want to drink it, but their father-in-law forced them to drink it every day and scolded them if they refused.
Bring the prepared sugar water to Zheng Chunmei's mouth.
Zheng Chunmei tasted the sugar water and drank it like sweet rain.