The government was sending out wives, and I ended up with a princess from the previous dynasty!

The Jia Daoshi family and the Jia An family were separated by a small path and a small ditch.

Although they live close by, the two houses are worlds apart.

Jia Daoshi's house had six rooms and a large courtyard, but it had become dilapidated due to years of neglect. Four of the rooms were no longer habitable, leaving only the kitchen and the room where Jia Daoshi was currently living, which were still barely usable.

However, if another blizzard hits this weather, then this winter will be tough. Some of the roof beams that are almost completely eaten away by insects may even collapse and develop holes.

Jia An's house also has six rooms, but all of Jia An's rooms are newly built, and the roof tiles are brand new.

This was all built with money funded by Jia An's father, Jia He!

Back then, because of building a house, he borrowed ten taels of silver from Jia An's uncle, Jia Quan, and has not yet paid it back!

Now, Jia He and his wife also live with Jia An.

Living with Jia An makes me feel proud and confident!

Originally, Jia An's wife didn't like living with the elderly.

But Jia An said they had long hair but short wits and no brains.

After Jia He moved in, he hired people to help with household chores, such as farming and cleaning, and he paid for the work himself!

Moreover, Jia He also had a daughter named Jia Lian.

Jia Lian married into a good family; they were a prominent family in the neighboring village, and they treated Jia Lian very well.

Jia Lian would bring gifts and money to visit his parents almost every month.

Now that Jia He and Jia An are living together, wouldn't everything Jia Lian brought back be his?

Jia He arranged for people to do the housework, and every month Jia Lian would bring back gifts and money from her husband's family. Such a life couldn't be more comfortable!

The woman who gave birth to twins for Jia An was named Li Xiuqin. She was a scheming, mean-spirited, and very gossipy woman.

Jia Daoshi, who lived next door, became the target of her complaints and ridicule!

Moreover, she was hoping that Jia Daoshi would be exiled to the army because he couldn't pay the poll tax!

Then, she can easily buy Jia Daoshi's house with just a few coins.

Although Jia Daoshi's house was dilapidated, it occupied a large area!

It's twice the size of their house!

At this moment, Jia An's twin sons were crying and fussing because they wanted to sleep!

After coaxing one person, Li Xiuqin went on to coax another, feeling somewhat exhausted.

Just as she was strolling around the yard with her baby in her arms, she suddenly smelled a fragrance.

The aroma was so enticing that Li Xiuqin sniffed it several times.

This tastes like pork cracklings!

At this hour, where is that smell of pork lard coming from?

Am I hallucinating?

Li Xiuqin took another deep sniff, and she was certain that it was pork cracklings!

And the flavor is incredibly strong!

It seems there must be quite a lot!

After the aroma wafted into her nose, Li Xiuqin couldn't help but swallow a mouthful of saliva!

In her mind, a large bowl of pork cracklings and the fragrant lard, glistening with oil, had already appeared!

No matter what dish it is, adding a little lard makes it incredibly fragrant when cooked!

Whose family is so rich that they can buy so much fatty pork?

Based on past experience, such a strong aroma indicates at least ten kilograms of fatty meat!

You should know that in the market, fatty pork is several times more expensive than lean pork!

Jia An receives a monthly salary of fifty coins, so he wouldn't dare buy so much at once!

Let alone more than ten kilograms, I wouldn't even be willing to buy a single kilogram!

Especially this year, since winter began, Jia An hasn't bought any meat properly!

This year has been a troubled one. The fields have suffered from famine, resulting in poor harvests. Poor harvests mean poor tax revenue. The promised salary of fifty coins has only been paid out at thirty coins per month. They said the rest would be made up during the New Year, but there has been no news since.

They said there was no harvest in the fields.

Salary, salary has been drastically reduced.

With so many mouths to feed at home, Jia An had no choice but to live frugally.

It's been almost a month, and we've only bought lean meat once, and it was just a small piece!

This made Li Xiuqin feel very uneasy in her stomach!

Even the baby's breast milk became as thin as water.