Traveling through ancient times, I led my family to prosperity

"Mr. Third's family, your lives have become much better since you separated. You have never been short of meat these days." Shen deliberately stretched out her voice.

"Second aunt, don't you know why we split up? When we split up, it was agreed that my family would be given a year's food ration of one pound of grain per person per day. But when my father went to get the grain, he only gave my family 500 pounds of beans and 500 pounds of millet, without any oil, salt, sauce or vinegar. Fortunately, my grandmother and her family felt sorry for my family and left us some money for heating the kang, allowing us to buy whatever we needed. Otherwise, we would have been lucky enough not to starve to death." Xiao Lan said loudly on purpose.

When Xiaolan's family split up, she was able to get oil and salt from Cui during the few days when Zhang Shanfeng came. But when her grandma and grandpa left, they could no longer get oil and salt. Xiaolan deliberately took this opportunity to talk about these things.

"You lazy woman, why are you just talking nonsense instead of feeding the pigs and chickens? You are jealous of other people's lives, so I will divide you up too! I'm afraid you don't have a capable family!" Cui pointed at Shen and cursed.

Shen was met with a cold shoulder, and then fell silent. Xiaolan turned around and walked back into the house.

After the dumplings were wrapped, Sheng Xuan sat by the stove to light the fire while Zhang cooked the dumplings. After adding water twice, the dumplings were cooked.

Xiaolan and her two siblings were busy carrying bowls of dumplings. Before they started eating, Zhang asked hesitantly, "Do you want to send a bowl to your grandfather?"

"Mom, my grandpa and his men almost killed me. They wanted to arrange a ghost marriage for me to make money. Should our family still have any contact with them?" Xiao Lan stopped Zhang. Xiao Ting and Xiao Wen were also unwilling to do so.

"Didn't you hear your second aunt say that our family is making dumplings? The implication is that if our family is divided, life will be better. If we don't send some to your grandparents, she doesn't know how she will promote us in the village."

"After what my grandfather and his family did, they still have the nerve to eat our dumplings!" Xiao Lan said angrily, "Second aunt is a gossip. Mom, even if this matter is spread out, our family is still right. She didn't even think about why our family was divided in the first place. Besides, every time the eldest aunt's family came back, they were wearing gold and silver, and I never saw them share anything with everyone."

Zhang and Sheng Xuan were both silent.

Xiao Lan didn't want the family to be unhappy. In this era, filial piety is more important than anything else, so she took a bowl of dumplings and went out. In her heart, she didn't really care about the dumplings, but she didn't want Sheng Xuan and Zhang to be unhappy because of this little thing.

The upper room was also having lunch, and there were still two tables, two dishes, stewed eggplant and green onions with soybean paste, and the staple food was still steamed bread and bean porridge. Xiao Lan brought the dumplings to Grandpa Sheng, "Grandpa, my dumplings, try them."

"Just send one bowl over?" Shen said dissatisfiedly.

"That's enough. Even eating can't stop you from eating." Old Master Sheng stopped Shen.

Old Master Sheng tried to decline, "Your family just separated, it wasn't easy, so if you make good food in the future, you don't have to give it away, just keep it for yourself to eat more."

Xiao Lan nodded, went back with a smile, and conveyed Mr. Sheng's words.

"Come and sit down, let's try some." It turned out that the whole family hadn't started eating yet, waiting for Xiaolan to come back. After all, they were still a family, and Xiaolan's unhappiness about the dumplings being delivered gradually dissipated.

After dinner, Sheng Xuan planned to take the children out to collect firewood. As soon as he walked out of the house, he ran into Shen Shi walking over here. "Xiao Lan, the dumplings you made are so delicious. Are there any left?"

"Second aunt, my family only made a few dumplings, and we're not full yet, so there's no way there would be any left." Xiao Lan said with a smile.

"Why are there so few dumplings? Why don't you cut more meat and make more dumplings? My little Liang is crying for more."

Xiao Lan thought, it seems that Mr. Sheng didn't eat the dumplings alone, but shared them with everyone. But how many dumplings can there be in a bowl? It's good enough if everyone can get one.

"Second aunt, if you really love Xiaoliang, just eat less snacks. The few taels of silver you save will be enough to buy half a pork. These can be used to make as many dumplings as he wants, enough for him to eat his fill." Xiao Lan said with a serious face.

"Hey, kid, how can you talk like that? You even control whether I eat snacks or not. You don't even care about the third brother." Shen refused to give up and complained to Sheng Xuan.

"Second aunt, I'm sure you'd like to know how much you spent on snacks." Xiao Lan suddenly made the final move.

Shen suddenly lost her momentum and turned away angrily.

"Xiao Lan, you're awesome. This is how you deal with people like Second Aunt-in-law." Xiao Ting expressed her support for Xiao Lan's approach.

"Yes, we can't spoil her." Xiaowen also supported it.

Sheng Xuan remained silent, and then the four of them set out to Nanshan to collect firewood.

The weather was clear and cool in autumn. The four of them had a full lunch and were full of energy. This time they carried more than last time.

When we returned home in the evening and saw the firewood pile getting higher and higher, the whole family was very happy, because the gradual increase in firewood meant more warmth in the winter.

The dumplings soup we had in the evening soaked the steamed bread. After dinner, Zhang said, "The mushrooms and fish were dried last time, so I put them away."

"Well, let's not rush to eat the chestnuts mom brought back this time. I plan to make some food and sell it in town." Xiao Lan said.

"Second sister, what kind of food are you planning to make? Let me go with you to sell it." Xiao Wen said.

"Okay, let's wait until it's colder. Dad and I have to go to the mountains a few more times now, otherwise we won't be able to go when winter comes."

Sheng Xuan tasted the sweetness of carrying so many things back from the mountains this time, "Xiao Lan, when shall we go again?"

"The day after tomorrow, let's collect firewood for the whole morning and rest at home in the afternoon. We still have to set out early and avoid people."

Sheng Xuan nodded.

It is getting colder day by day. Xiaowen and Xiaoting go to Nanshan to collect firewood every day. Xiaolan and Shengxuan also go to collect firewood as long as they don't go into the mountains. They are afraid that in winter, there will be less firewood in the mountains, and there will be nothing to burn at home, which will be a big problem. In this era, freezing to death is not news.

Besides, the rations given by the old Sheng family were few, so they had to go to the mountains to find more food, otherwise the whole family would really starve. Xiao Lan was also a little worried. No one's body was made of iron. She and Sheng Xuan went to the mountains so frequently, which was too damaging to their bodies. Her father was the strong laborer of the family, and he couldn't afford any mistakes. But if they didn't go to the mountains to find food, they couldn't support the whole family. This was a vicious circle.

The next morning after breakfast, Sheng Xuan took the three children to Nanshan. Zhang was at home, and it was not good to leave an adult at home to look after the things that were drying. This time they collected two loads of firewood and then returned.

"Combine work and rest. Sister, you and Xiaowen shouldn't carry too much this afternoon. We can't afford to get sick."

"Okay, we won't pick them up anymore since we are tired." Xiaoting nodded.

The meal at noon was very sumptuous. Zhang stewed four fishes at once and added a lot of mushrooms. The staple food was still steamed corn bread. The family was very satisfied with the meal.