Transmigrated into a Prosperous Farm Wife, Pampered, Beautiful, Strong, and Tragic Prime Minister

"Sister, we've come to see you."

Lin Hongwen wiped the sweat from his brow; his face was flushed from the sun. He grinned at Lin Shuyun, revealing a set of white teeth.

Li Shi's face was also flushed from the sun, and she smiled gently as she lifted the lid of the basket.

“You’ve always loved our apricots. I saw that one of the trees is already ripe, so I brought you two baskets.”

The bright orange apricots in the basket made one's mouth water, and Lin Shuyun immediately took one.

The apricots split open easily when squeezed, and tasted both sour and sweet.

"Mother, elder brother, please wash your faces and come inside quickly. It's getting hot."

There was water drying in the yard, and the three of them washed their faces before going inside.

"Mother-in-law, elder brother, Hongwen, my apologies." Jiang Changtian greeted the three of them from his seat.

Madam Li hurriedly said, "Son-in-law, you just lie down. Hongzhi, you keep me company and talk to me."

There was only one stool in the room, not enough for everyone to sit on.

Lin Shuyun was busy in the kitchen, and Madam Li followed her out, letting her two sons talk to Jiang Changtian.

Old Xu saw Madam Li come in from the kitchen and greeted her.

"Sister-in-law, you've come to see this girl?"

Li looked at the old man sitting under the stove, tending the fire, completely bewildered. "This...this is..."

Old Xu sighed, "I'm a distant relative of the Lin family. In terms of social status, you and your husband should call me elder brother. We haven't been in touch for so many years, it's normal that you haven't met me."

"Hey, big brother, what's wrong with you...?"

Ms. Li wanted to ask what was wrong with her being there, but then felt it wasn't appropriate.

Old Xu started speaking himself, “My children are unfilial, so I came out to clear my head. I just arrived yesterday. Seeing that this girl is having a hard time, and since she is my niece, I came to help her out.”

Lin Shuyun rolled her eyes so hard they almost reached the sky as she ate the apricots. This old man really knows how to make things up.

But surprisingly, Ms. Li believed such outrageous claims.

"Get up, old man. There's no reason for you to start the fire. I'll do it."

He didn't forget to turn to Lin Shuyun and criticize her, "You silly girl, your uncle is so old, how can you let him do chores?"

"No need, my children at home would complain, but I feel very comfortable here. I love making fires."

As he spoke, Old Xu added another handful of firewood to the stove.

Feeling bad about making her relatives do the work, Li turned around and saw Lin Shuyun still eating apricots, so she gently patted her hand.

"You silly girl, you've forgotten again. Peaches can be plentiful but apricots can be harmful. Even if you like them, you can't eat too many."

Upon hearing this, Lin Shuyun stopped eating and asked Madam Li, "Mother, are there many apricots in the village?"

Lin Hongzhi appeared at the kitchen door with a simple and honest smile. "Little sister, you forgot? Our village is called Xinghua Village. We don't have much else, but we have apricots."

"Could we sell that for money?" Lin Shuyun thought of a way to make money.

“These kinds of things are only good for our own family to eat. Who would want them?” Madam Li said gently. “They’re just starting to ripen now, so it’s a novelty. But in a while, the ground will be covered with fallen apricots, and nobody will bother to pick them up.”

"However, almonds can be sold for some money after being crushed. Some clinics buy them, but not every year."

Lin Shuyun nodded to indicate that she understood, and said to Madam Li, "I'll take you back after we finish eating. I'll pick some apricots to cook with then."

As for what to cook, she'll have to think about it.

The aroma of pheasant and mushroom soup filled the kitchen, and a loud rumble came from Lin Hongzhi's stomach as he stood at the kitchen door.

Lin Hongzhi blushed slightly. People in the countryside don't eat breakfast, so he hadn't eaten before leaving. He was a big guy and was starving.

The aroma made me even hungrier.

"Big brother, are you hungry? Have a pancake to tide you over." Lin Shuyun picked up a pancake and handed it to him.

It was the same pancakes Old Xu made this morning.

For lunch, we had pheasant and mushroom soup with flatbread.

When Lin Shuyun was serving the rice, she put four or five pieces of pheasant meat in each bowl.

Madam Li spoke softly, "Hongwen said last time that you fed him meat. We're all family, even if you have money, you should be more frugal."

Li thought that Lin Shuyun had guessed they were coming and deliberately prepared the meat.

Actually not.

"The pheasants and wild mushrooms are from the mountain, and we didn't spend any money."

Lin Shuyun had just finished serving the rice when Coal Ball returned, meowing at her.

Lin Shuyun didn't touch it because it was dirty. "You're quite clever. You knew to come back right around mealtime. You must have come by smelling it. Go wash yourself in the yard before you come in."

Coal Ball meowed twice and actually went over, standing by the water basin to wash its paws.

As for its body, it wasn't washed. Cats naturally hate water, and besides, it's only the size of a lump of coal, not even as tall as a wooden tub. It would have drowned in the water basin.

Mrs. Li was surprised that the cat was so intelligent. "Is this your cat?"

The thought that black cats were unlucky was on the tip of Li's tongue, but she stopped herself.

“You’ve always loved cats and dogs since you were little, but your dad didn’t like them, so you never got any. It’s good that things are like this now. Once your son-in-law’s injury heals, things will get better.”

Lin Shuyun hummed in agreement and casually said, "I'll go to town tomorrow and hire a bricklayer to clean up the broken house and fix it."

Madam Li quickly interjected, "No need to ask, your eldest brother can fix it, and he can even make you a table and chair or something."

She thought her daughter's little courtyard was lacking in everything.

But this is good too; not living with my in-laws and sisters-in-law means fewer arguments.

Lin Hongzhi worked as an assistant in a carpenter's shop in town. He could make simple furniture himself, but he needed to find some wood.

Lin Shuyun carried the bowl out the door and smiled at Lin Hongzhi.

"Then I'll have to trouble you, brother. Eat first, and then help me with the work."

Lin Hongzhi laughed, "No trouble at all. Hongwen didn't mention it when he went back last time. If I had known this courtyard was so dilapidated, I would have come over much earlier."

Lin Shuyun first placed the bowl containing the coal briquettes in a shady place, and then gave the second bowl to Jiang Changtian.

There weren't enough stools in the house, so Madam Li and Lin Shuyun sat down, while Lin Hongzhi and Lin Hongwen squatted under the eaves to eat with their bowls in hand. Old Man Xu also squatted down with them instead of sitting inside.

Despite Li's repeated requests for him not to sit inside, she had no choice but to let him be.

I don't know what seasoning they put in this pheasant soup, but it had absolutely no fishy smell, and it tasted incredibly delicious.

Old Xu took a sip of soup and savored it.

"Hey, chicken stew with mushrooms, it's heavenly!"

After drinking this bowl of chicken soup, it wasn't for nothing that he had shamelessly clung to her. Sure enough, the rabbit head was made by this girl; he truly had a discerning eye.

No, I mean, recognizing people.

Lin Hongwen ate without even lifting his head.

In the few days since his sister got married, he's eaten more meat than in the previous three years combined. Waaah, his sister is so good to him.

"Sis, your cooking skills are amazing."

After finishing a bowl of soup, Lin Hongwen couldn't help but praise Lin Shuyun.

"Eat as much as you like, you're at the age where you're growing."

Lin Shuyun added soup for everyone, since it was a formality and they had to be served soup anyway, and everyone ate until they were stuffed.

After eating his fill, Old Xu couldn't wait to lie down in the yard.

Lin Hongzhi found some usable wood and started repairing the roof by hammering and tinkering.

I must say, after the repair, it looks quite decent, much better than what Lin Shuyun did before. It definitely won't leak next time it rains.

Once the roof was repaired, Lin Hongzhi calculated for Lin Shuyun what she would need, such as tables and chairs, and he would go back and make them and bring them over.

Lin Shuyun suddenly thought of something, "By the way, big brother, can you make this?"