Dreaming of Lion Rock: Recipe in Hand

Before she arrived, she heard Old Lady Wen's hysterical curses: "You are such a heartless person, you have lost all moral integrity, you are a money-loser that no one wants, if you want to find a man you can go find someone else, why do you have to come and harass my third child?" Then she started to speak in a series of unbearable words like a whore.

Chunni saw Old Lady Wen cursing outside Li Shuhua's yard. No matter how dumb she was, she knew who she was cursing.

Outside the yard were many villagers who were eager to watch the fun. As soon as Chunni arrived, she learned the whole story from them.

It turned out that the third son of the Wen family had told his parents that he wanted to marry into the Li family. Although the Wen family was poor, they would not let their son marry into the Li family. After all, a son who married into the Li family would be like a daughter who was married off, and would no longer be a member of the Wen family. Before the Wen family's parents could say anything, the old lady Wen was furious and came to the Li family to curse.

"Li Shuhua, you have a life but no one to take care of it. Don't you look at your family? Even the long-legged mosquitoes are female. You don't even take a piss and look in the mirror. Are you worthy of my third son? You are a slut whose father doesn't discipline you and your mother doesn't care about you. Don't you see how old you are? You come to seduce my third son when no one wants you..." Old Mrs. Wen continued to curse.

The door of Li Shuhua's house was tightly closed, and Chunni couldn't get in even though she wanted to.

The third son of the Wen family had gone somewhere, and the old lady was left to curse like a shrew.

Speak of the devil, and here comes the devil. Wen Lao San squeezed in from the crowd. He bent down to help Old Lady Wen and persuaded her in a low voice.

Is Old Mrs. Wen so easy to deal with? She lay on the ground and rolled over.

"What sins did I commit in my previous life that I have unfilial descendants. For a girl, I am willing to risk my life and even follow the example of a poor man marrying into his wife's family!..."

From time to time, there were sneers coming from the surroundings.

"Hey, old lady Wen, you should consider the face of Buddha instead of the monk. Just go back for the sake of your grandson. You are so old and still rolling around. Isn't this ridiculous?" An old lady couldn't stand it anymore and came out to speak a fair word.

"It's none of your business!" Old Mrs. Wen cried and rolled away, retorting.

Seeing that Old Lady Wen was stubborn and unyielding, the old lady didn't plan to persuade her anymore and just wanted to watch the show.

The third son of the Wen family was so angry when he saw his grandma making such a fuss outside his sweetheart's house that his face turned red. He endured it again and again, knelt down and said: "Grandma, please stop making trouble, okay? I'm kneeling down for you. I beg you. Go home."

He secretly thought that it was difficult for him to marry a wife because his family was poor, and if he married into the family, it would reduce the burden on the family, and his family would probably agree. But he didn't expect that his grandmother would be so vehemently opposed.

Li Shuhua pushed open the door at this time. She looked at the people outside with a grim expression, then turned to Old Lady Wen and said, "Grandma Wen, you don't have to curse the world and ruin my reputation here. Your family's threshold is too high, I can't afford you. Please go back and take care of your grandson, and tell him not to come to me! Don't worry, even if he is the only man in the world, I will not marry him!" After saying this, Li Shuhua's expression looked better. She seemed not to have seen Old Third Wen, and turned around to close the door.

Chunni quickly followed and squeezed into the yard.

Li Shuhua's words made the people outside the door quiet down, and an old woman tried to persuade Mrs. Wen: "Don't look at Shuhua's young age, she is very sharp-tongued. She said she can't marry you and she doesn't want you to marry her. Don't make a fuss. Look at your grandson like that, don't you feel sorry for him?"

"Yes, although Shuhua is young, she is able to bring her mother and sister out to live on her own and is living quite well. I have to praise her for her ability. Don't look down on her. Don't despise a young person because he is poor!"

"Yes, he is so capable, but he still looks down on you, Third Brother Wen! Be careful or you will regret it later. There is no cure for regret."

Old Lady Wen's face turned pale as she heard everyone talking. She knew her goal had been achieved and didn't want to stay and be laughed at anymore, so she arrogantly dragged the third son of the Wen family away.

After the troublemakers left, the audience also gradually dispersed.

After hearing that most of the people outside had left, Li Shufen spoke angrily: "It's not that my family wants to cling to the Wen family, nor do we want the third son of the Wen family to marry into the family's family. But they have to come and make trouble for us. They think we are easy to bully!" As she spoke, Li Shufen started to cry, obviously feeling very aggrieved.

"Sister, why are you stopping us? Otherwise, we would have torn that old hag's rotten mouth apart long ago!" Li Shufang was also very angry.

However, Zhao Xiulan, the mother of the three Li sisters, was crying so hard that she couldn't get out of bed.

Chunni suddenly felt very sorry for Li Shuhua and her sister. Their father had kicked them out of the house, and their mother could do nothing but cry.

Chunni didn't know how to comfort Li Shuhua. Li Shuhua forced a smile that was uglier than crying and said to Chunni: "When we first moved here, Wen Lao San secretly brought a bag of sweet potatoes. I understood his intentions, but I mistakenly thought that the sweet potatoes were asked by the Wen family to bring, and that his family agreed with us." She smiled bitterly and said: "Maybe our fate is a little shallow."

Chunni saw that Li Shuhua was in great pain and knew that she had feelings for Wen Laosan, but now that this had happened, it seemed that there was no chance for them anymore.

Li Shuhua smiled again and said, "In my family's situation, I must find a son-in-law. If he can't do it, there are others. It's hard to find a one-legged frog, but there are plenty of two-legged men!"

Chunni also knew what Li Shuhua meant. She could be sad and upset, but she could not collapse. She could not collapse because she was the pillar of the family.

Chunni felt distressed when she saw Li Shuhua pretending to be strong, so she comforted her: "Shuhua, I believe you can definitely find a man who is hundreds or thousands of times better than the third son of the Wen family."

Seeing Chunni's serious expression, Li Shuhua felt better. She burst into laughter and asked, "Are you here to see me for something today?"

Chunni said: "Yes, I came to ask for your help."

"Tell me what you need help with. I'll help if I can." Li Shuhua agreed readily.

"I'm planning to open a restaurant in the county town, and I'd like to ask you to come and help. I just wonder if you're available?"

"Of course I have time." Li Shuhua knew that farming could only fill her stomach, but it would not save her money. If she wanted to make money and be respected by the villagers, she could not just focus on her own small piece of land. She asked excitedly: "When will the work start?"

"What will happen to your land if you leave in a few days?"

"Sister, you go ahead. Don't worry. My third sister and I will take care of the land at home!" Li Shufen also knew that this opportunity was rare. Only when her sister was well could the whole family be well. She wanted to clear all obstacles for her sister.

Chunni was very happy. Before leaving, she asked the three Li sisters to raise more rabbits so that they could sell them to her as additional income.

The three Li sisters were also very happy. Life was moving in a good direction, wasn’t it?

Chunni also found a kitchen helper named Yang Qianjin in the village, who helped wash and cut vegetables, but the main purpose was to kill rabbits. She liked cooking, but she didn't like killing rabbits and chopping rabbit meat. Yang Qianjin was the son of Yang Ersao, who loved to watch the fun. It was said that Yang Ersao's cooking was not delicious, so she always asked Yang Qianjin to go into the kitchen to help.

Come to think of it, Yang Qianjin still has to call Chunni "Auntie".