Crossing the famine, I am a poor fish, and my descendants have to work hard

mother-in-law?

There are only two families who can call themselves mother-in-laws.

The Qian family and the Li family. The Qian family is currently in Beijing and it is impossible for them to come all the way here. So these are Li Zhijuan’s parents, the Li family?

"you are?"

Zhao Yuanzhen still needs to confirm it.

"The mother-in-law is me. I am Li Dagui, Zhijuan's father."

It's really him.

"Zhijuan's father, what's wrong with you?"

Not only is he unkempt, but he also does such sneaky things.

"Oh, it's a long story, mother-in-law, I haven't eaten for three days, please take me to eat something."

Zhao Yuanzhen frowned. She looked so full of energy and it didn't look like she hadn't eaten for three days.

Zhao Yuanzhen did not expose him. She called Lan Ying back and took him to the restaurant next door.

"Zhijuan's father, take a look, what do you want to eat?"

"Waiter. Bring me one portion of crystal pork elbow, one pot of stewed beef, one roast chicken, and one braised fish. And this, this, and one portion of each of these two cakes. And 20 steamed buns. That's all for now. Make two portions of each. Serve one and take one away."

Li Dagui ordered a lot of meat dishes in a domineering manner, and even asked for double portions to be packed away.

Zhao Yuanzhen glanced at him and said nothing.

"Okay, wait a moment, sir. I'll make it for you right away."

"Well, hurry up, I'm starving, give me another pot of the best tea."

"Okay, wait a moment, sir."

Seeing that Zhao Yuanzhen didn't say anything, Li Dagui thought about ordering more to take back for his son and grandson.

His eyes kept rolling around, sizing up Zhao Yuanzhen.

This mother-in-law looks much younger and more beautiful than before. The clothes she is wearing are made of silk and satin!

I can't even wear linen, but she wears silk and satin.

Look at the hairpin on her hair, it is actually golden. This must be a golden hairpin.

And the bracelet on her hand is obviously very valuable.

When Zhao Yuanzhen saw Li Dagui staring at her with greedy eyes, she knew that this man had bad intentions.

"Zhijuan's father, what are you looking at?"

"Mother-in-law, I envy you for wearing gold and silver, silk and satin. You are not like me, who is hungry one day and hungry the next, and can't even have a full meal every day."

Silk and satin could only be worn by people with honors and titles. This widow whose husband had died could not stand the loneliness, so she married a master with honors and became his concubine.

Li Dagui thought maliciously.

"I remember the imperial court gave subsidies and farmland to those who returned home. How could they be hungry?"

The imperial court gave them silver and land for resettlement, and exempted them from taxes for three years, so they would never starve to death.

Unless you don’t farm.

"That little bit of money is not enough for my son's education. I have sold my land a long time ago. I have to support my son's education."

As a farmer, sell your land?

Isn't this killing the goose that lays the golden eggs? They have sold all the things they need to make a living, no wonder they are doing such sneaky things.

"What about Zhijuan's mother?"

No one knows where this family went when they fled the famine, or when they returned.

"I'm at home, taking care of my daughter-in-law. Zhijuan's sister-in-law is pregnant."

She remembered that Li Zhijuan's elder sister-in-law had given birth to three children, three girls. The youngest one was only three months old when they fled the famine.

"Well, congratulations indeed."

"Mother-in-law, don't just say it, you have to show some respect. I see you are wearing gold and silver now, you must be living a good life. Isn't Zhijuan's eldest brother your half son? Your daughter-in-law is pregnant, you can't help but show some respect, right?"

Her half son?

She doesn't need a half son.

"Zhijuan's father is joking. I don't have enough time to take care of my three sons, so how can I have the time to recognize other sons?"

Li Dagui curled his lips.

Having three sons is amazing.

"It's okay if you don't acknowledge your son, but you should at least show some appreciation for this gift."

"Then pack up the second portion you ordered and take it home. Consider it as me helping Zhijuan and her sister-in-law to replenish her body. I have something else to do, so I'll leave first."

Lan Ying asked quietly.

"Madam, is this bill still due?"

"Well, let's get married."

After all, they are Li Zhijuan's parents, so I can still treat them to a meal.

But next time, there will be nothing.

The two paid the bill and left.

"Mother-in-law, please don't leave. I don't even know where you live. How are we going to get around in the future?"

Li Dagui chased out, then thought of his dishes, went back, asked his son to pack them up, and he would come get them later.

Then he chased after her again.

Zhao Yuanzhen and the others had already gone far away, but they could still be seen.

Li Dagui thought, why not just follow her secretly to see where she lived and which mansion she was a concubine of.

"Madam, the Second Young Lady's father is following us."

"Don't worry about him. Tell the property management not to let him in."

"Yes, ma'am."

After following for a long time, I saw Zhao Yuanzhen wandering around and entering Zhangjiazhuang.

"Stop, no outsiders are allowed to enter."

The person guarding the gate stopped Li Dagui who wanted to enter.

"Hello, brother. Um, I want to ask, who were those two people just now?"

"That's our boss, what are you going to do?"

Just now, Lan Ying, the maidservant beside the lady, said that this person was not allowed to enter the manor. Sure enough, it was obvious that he was not a good person.

"Your boss?"

It turns out that this woman was married to the owner of Zhangjiazhuang as a concubine. No wonder she was dressed so well, it turned out that she had married into a wealthy family.

He had heard that the owner of this farm was a wealthy family from the capital, and there was an entire street of shops alone.

There are tens of thousands of people in the village, and there are tens of thousands of acres of farmland, which is almost half the size of Xiaoshan County.

Li Dagui wandered around the gate of the manor for a while, his eyes rolling around, looking like he was in a very bad mood.

Then he trotted back to the restaurant.

I took the food that the waiter had packed and went home quickly.

Their home is in the southeast corner of the county town. There are only four rooms in the house, and it is not in very good condition. Many places need to be repaired.

Li Dagui and his family heard about the subsidy announcement issued by the imperial court relatively late, and by the time they returned to Xiaoshan County, all the good houses had been gone.

They only had this one house, and the county magistrate gave money for its renovation, but it was all spent by this family.

Li Dagui started shouting as soon as he entered the yard.

"Qiangzi's mother, come quickly, look what I brought back."

Carrying two extra-large food boxes, Li Dagui walked into the yard with a smile on his face.

"Dad Qiangzi, you're back. What did you do today? Why did you get such a big harvest?"

He usually steals small amounts of money and doesn't make much, but today he actually brought back two large food boxes. Did he make a big profit?

"Someone else bought this for me. Guess who I saw?"

He is still keeping it a secret.

"Who?"

Li Zhijuan's mother opened the lunch box without even raising her head and took out food one by one.

Oh my God, this is all meat, pork elbows, roast chicken, beef, fish, as well as snacks and big white steamed buns.

There are two portions each, so this may be enough for two extra meals.

"Qiangzi's wife, come out quickly, your father has brought back some delicious food.

Li Zhijuan's brother, Li Zhiqiang's wife, listened to her mother-in-law's shouting and curled her lips. What delicious food could there be?

It's either dry biscuits or leftovers.

With a bulging belly, she slowly moved to the main room and casually called the two maids to eat.

"Daya! Erya is coming over for dinner."

When we moved to the main room, we found that what was placed on the table was not just leftovers, but also large pieces of meat, such as huge crystal pork elbows, fragrant roast chicken, and big white flour buns.

There were actually eight plates of dim sum.

God knows how long it has been since she had a good meal.

His eyes popped out of her eyes and her saliva was oozing out of her mouth like crazy.

"Dad, did you do something big today?"

These things would cost at least ten taels of silver.

If this wasn't a big deal, how could he spend so much?

"No, I met someone today and she treated us to a meal."

"Who?"

Li Zhiqiang's wife asked curiously, "Did my father-in-law meet a noble person?"

"That's Zhijuan's mother-in-law, our mother-in-law."

Zhijuan?

My sister-in-law?

I thought she died while fleeing.

"How does she have so much money?"

Although her family had a decent life before, after all, they had a bodyguard who could earn a lot of money every year, but, didn’t her husband die?

She remembered that Zhao Yuanzhen was a very stingy woman. She had asked for 5 taels of silver as a dowry but she refused to give it to her no matter what.

In the end, she only got 3 taels of silver, and she, a good girl, married Zhang Xinnian just like that.

"I'm telling you, you'd never have guessed that Zhijuan, the mother-in-law, was restless and remarried to become a concubine of the old owner of Zhangjiazhuang."

It turns out that rumors are spread with just one mouth.

"The owner of Zhangjiazhuang? That's not rich. I heard that the owner of Zhangjiazhuang is a wealthy family from Beijing. They are very rich."

"Yes, I heard them say that, too."

"That's right. I followed them to the farm, but the gatekeeper wouldn't let me in. I asked who she was, and the gatekeeper said she was their boss's concubine. What could she be if not a concubine?"

"She is so shameless. She remarried so early. It's a shame that she married a rich man."

Li Zhijuan's mother sat down and bit the roast chicken in her mouth hatefully.

"Mom, let's save one for Zhiqiang."

Seeing so many delicious foods, Li Zhiqiang's wife would definitely save some for her husband.

"Okay, keep the lunch box for Zhiqiang. Zhiqiang will be home tomorrow."

Li Zhiqiang studies and lives in Yanshan Prefecture. He has a holiday today and will be home tomorrow.

"Okay, mother."

Two skinny little girls walked in from the small door in the backyard. The older one looked about 12 or 3 years old, and the younger one was about 10 years old.

He walked timidly to the table.

I didn't dare sit down, so I stood a little further away from the table.

"There is no bran or vegetables today, so you should eat something good."

Li Zhijuan's mother took the leftover chicken bones from their meal and gave them a steamed bun, broke it in half and gave one piece to each of them.