Stepmother in charge: Making a fortune through farming and raising her children to fight back

Zhuzi was reluctant to eat the remaining half of the hawthorn, so he carefully took it home and handed it to his mother, Ding Yun, the village chief's daughter-in-law. "Mom, this is the hawthorn made by Qin Nan's mother. Can you make me one according to her recipe? I really want to eat it!"

Before Ding Yun even took the hawthorn, she smelled a cloyingly sweet aroma. She picked it up, licked it, and immediately muttered, "What a spendthrift old woman! She actually put sugar in a hawthorn! It's fine if she just put sugar in it, but why is she coating it so thickly? How can she possibly make ends meet?"

"She only cares about today and not tomorrow. No wonder the old lady of the Qin family said she was a spendthrift. She was right."

Zhuzi looked at his mother eagerly: "Mom, it's really delicious, can you make it for me..."

"Eat, eat, eat, that's all you know!" Ding Yun slapped Zhuzi on the back of the head. "It's good enough to have something with sugar on it, but you're still complaining about this and that. How can we even live like this? Do you think you're a young master from an official family?"

After saying that, she slapped his butt again and said, "Hurry up and fetch me a bucket of water. Are you going to eat dinner tonight?"

After saying this, he clutched the remaining half of the hawthorn in disbelief. Has my wife really changed now? She's even willing to give the child something as precious as candy.

I can’t even bear to let go of my own children, it’s really strange!

Yun Zhenzhen quickly washed all the dirty clothes in the house and hung them up. The children in the family only had two sets of clothes, so they had to wear them tomorrow after washing them today.

Qin Li walked in and put down the backpack. He was lucky today. The basket was full of small wild vegetables and a few mushrooms.

When he walked over and was about to pour some water, he saw four bowls of water on the table, obviously one bowl for each person. Qin Li didn't think much about it, picked up the bowl and drank it in one gulp.

It didn't matter that I drank it. The next second I felt a lot more energetic and all the fatigue of the day was relieved. I quickly covered my mouth with my hand, afraid that I would leak a drop.

Is this... sugar water? Where did our family get the sugar? I didn't see my stepmother buying any at the market that day. Could it be...

The next second, Yun Zhenzhen strode in.

"This sweet soup..." Qin Li pointed to the three remaining bowls on the table.

"Is it delicious? I made it myself," Yun Zhenzhen looked at him with pride and anticipation.

"You mean, you made this yourself? Do you know how to make sugar?" Qin Li pointed at the bowl on the table, his voice trembling.

"Yes." Yun Zhenzhen nodded and handed the frosting over with a smile: "Try this and see how it goes."

Qin Li carefully dipped a little with his finger, put it on the tip of his tongue, and kept smacking it in his mouth for a long time, reluctant to swallow it.

"It's very sweet. I bought it when my father was still home. It cost 70 cents per pound."

Qin Li shifted his gaze from Tang Shuang to Yun Zhenzhen's face, with a hint of eagerness in his eyes.

Seeing the hope in Qin Li's eyes, Yun Zhenzhen couldn't help but pour a basin of cold water on him.

"You should have tasted it too. The texture of this candy is a bit rough. It definitely won't sell for that much."

"It's okay. As long as the price is right, there will always be someone who will buy it."

"I just don't know if it's easy to find the raw materials for this candy." Qin Li said and subconsciously looked at Yun Zhenzhen.

After saying it out loud, I realized something was amiss. Everyone would hide this method of making money. I was just being too rude.

Yun Zhenzhen seemed to be unaware of the value of this thing and told it everything.

"It didn't cost much. It was just the vegetables we brought back that day. The underground roots can be used to make sugar."

Then he added, "I discovered it by chance while cooking today."

"Is it a dish of shame? I've been eating it for so many years and I didn't expect it could be used to make sugar." Qin Li murmured to himself and nodded thoughtfully.

"There's a market the day after tomorrow, and I can go to town with you."

"Okay." Yun Zhenzhen agreed readily.

The topic turned from sugar making to going to the market. Yun Zhenzhen and Qin Li brought the food from the kitchen to the table and ate while chatting.

I had a greasy meal at noon, and ate hawthorn to stimulate my appetite in the afternoon. I wanted to eat something light in the evening. I stir-fried some green vegetables and made some cold bracken for dinner.

The staple food was thin porridge, and the rice bought in town would be gone after two meals if we didn't save it. There was no other way, the family was too poor, so we had to find a way to make money.

For dinner, people in the village usually eat old millet mixed with various grains to make multi-grain steamed buns. There are not many families who can afford to eat rice.

The whole family drank the fragrant and soft porridge, accompanied by various cold dishes, which was delicious and refreshing.

Then, the pit toilet at home suddenly became insufficient.

Eating meat for two days in a row will irritate your stomach and intestines, which have not tasted meat for a long time. It would be strange if it doesn't cause constipation.

Yun Zhenzhen also reminded the children, but seeing them eating meat with big mouthfuls even though they hadn't seen meat for a year, she couldn't bear to stop them.

It’s okay to eat more, your stomach will get used to it later.

After saying that, his stomach suddenly started to rumble. He couldn't take it anymore. He hadn't eaten meat in a long time, and he couldn't bear to eat too much. He quickly ran over and joined the squatting army.

After a long time, the family came out of the toilet with bent legs and hunched backs.

Yun Zhenzhen looked at the children lying on the ground carelessly, and then she remembered that she hadn't taken a bath in two or three days.

Not to mention when was the last time he took a bath.

No, the whole family must take a bath tonight and smell nice.

Yun Zhenzhen dragged out a large wooden barrel covered in dust from a corner, and then asked Qin Li to go to the wellhead and fetch two buckets of water.

The water wells in the village are all public. During the two years of severe drought, only two of the four wells were still producing water. My family was lucky because there was a well only twenty meters away from our home, making it very convenient to fetch water.

He poured cold water into the wooden barrel, then added hot water. When the water temperature was suitable, he carried Qin Nan into it and said, "Let's take a bath."

"Yeah, yeah!" Qin Nan fluttered happily in the bucket.

She took a piece of cotton cloth and rubbed her whole body. There was no bath towel, and the friction of ordinary cloth was too small. It took a lot of effort to remove a layer of mud.

After washing, the two brothers took a shower. Yun Zhenzhen carried Xiaonan into the inner room. The eldest brother was fourteen years old, only a few years younger than herself. In ancient times, he was old enough to get married, so they had to avoid suspicion.

After the whole family finished cleaning up, it was already completely dark. The family members took a bath one by one, and everyone looked much whiter.

That night, Yun Zhenzhen fell asleep quickly. Before falling asleep, she was still thinking about her Simmons mattress... her big quilt...