Transmigrated Leftover Woman in Rural Style

The atmosphere at the dinner table was somewhat awkward. Father Li couldn't sit for long and went back to his room to rest. Madam Su ate her meal without informing the old lady or Madam Chen. Xiao Yang took a large bowl, filled it with a few dishes, and went to eat in the courtyard.

The old lady glared at Li Xiaonuan with a stern face, then at Su Shi. Chen Shi picked at the vegetables with a look of disgust, trying to speak several times but being stopped by the old lady's glare. Helpless, she could only vent her dissatisfaction on the food.

Unable to bear it any longer, Li Xiaonuan spoke up: "Fifth Aunt, who would dare to eat the food after you've mixed it like this? Is this how you eat at home? Is this how your parents taught you?"

Chen was just waiting for a chance to speak, so she blurted out without thinking, "Oh, Xiao Nuan is really something, lecturing her elders. I'm telling you, this kind of dish would never be served in our house. What are you keeping that money for? You might as well lend it to me and your fifth uncle to start a business."

Upon hearing this, Li Xiaonuan retorted sarcastically, "Fifth Aunt's family lives a really good life; they don't even eat pork. It's clear they're not short of money. Unlike our family, even though we have some money, we still have to be frugal. We're lucky if we can eat pork two or three times a month."

Upon hearing this, Chen was displeased and retorted, "Who said we don't lack money? Our family simply doesn't have any, otherwise we would have gone into business with Fourth Uncle long ago. I'm not saying this to be mean, but your cooking is terrible. You might as well stew a chicken; the soup would be better than these colorful dishes."

Li Xiaonuan chuckled. You can't reason with someone who doesn't understand. So she said directly, "Fifth Aunt, these vegetables are common wild vegetables. Although they're not anything precious, they're good for your health."

"Besides, I really think it's quite delicious, much better than when I went to your house and they just boiled it in water and served it. Oh, look, this soup has minced meat in it, it tastes very sweet and delicious, no worse than chicken soup. Also, this wild bitter wheat is stir-fried with pork, it tastes so refreshing."

As soon as Chen heard this, she knew that Li Xiaonuan was mocking her, so she retorted, "Pah, with your pig feed, you don't even deserve to be fed to dogs like a guest. If there weren't a few pieces of meat, who would bother to turn over the food?" As she spoke, she poked the plate of food, making a "shaking" sound.

Su was already angry, and upon hearing this, she put down her chopsticks, picked up the plate of bitter lettuce that had been overturned and was now splattered with vegetable juice, and poured it all out with a "whoosh" outside the courtyard gate.

Seeing this, the old lady, with a stern face, moved the only dish on the table that hadn't been ruined—stir-fried eggs with chives—to her right, preventing Chen from getting any. However, she didn't say anything to stop Chen's unreasonable behavior.

Seeing this, Su poured the leftover rice from her bowl into the soup bowl, along with the cold purslane salad. After finishing, she instructed Li Xiaonuan, "Your mother-in-law's dog is about to give birth, take this dish to feed the dog."

Li Xiaonuan agreed and poured the rice from her bowl into the dish. Xiao Yang strode in from outside, picked up the dish, and left. Madam Su cleared the table of dishes and chopsticks and also left the main room. Li Xiaonuan followed, leaning on her cane.

In the main room, only the dumbfounded old lady and Chen remained. Chen poked at the rice in her bowl, which she had only eaten a couple of bites of, and complained, "I haven't even had a few bites yet, and you've already fed the food to the dog?"

The old lady carefully ate the stir-fried eggs with chives, saying, "It's all your own fault, who can you blame?"

Mrs. Chen was furious, but when she thought of the dish, she said, "There was meat in that dish, and the soup had a lot of minced meat in it. This family is so wasteful. They must have money now, they don't even care about meat anymore." At this moment, she forgot who it was that said those dishes were not presentable.

Seeing the old lady eating stir-fried eggs with chives by herself, Chen smacked her lips and asked, "Mother, can you put the eggs in the middle? I'll eat some to help with my meal."

The old lady poured all the eggs from the plate into her own bowl and placed the plate in front of Chen. Chen, seeing the scattered egg crumbs on the plate, was so angry she almost threw the plate at the old lady's face.

After the meal, the old lady stood outside the courtyard and gave Su and Li Xiaonuan a thorough dressing-down before leaving with a smug Chen.

After packing her things, Li Xiaonuan returned to her room, exhausted. Just as she was about to lie down and stretch her back, she discovered that the room had been ransacked. She instinctively looked at her pillow and found that the small box containing household silver was gone.

Without even thinking, Li Xiaonuan knew it was Chen who was behind it. She couldn't help but sneer. If she wasn't taught a lesson, it seemed others would really think she was easy to bully.

"Xiao Yang, come quick! A thief has broken into my house and is stealing things. Go quickly and ask Uncle Village Head to accompany you to the city to report to the authorities."

Li Xiaoyang ran into Li Xiaonuan's house and asked nervously, "Sister, what's missing?"

Li Xiaonuan had checked before and said, "We lost over forty taels of silver and that copy of the Tao Te Ching. You should hurry over there. If you can catch up with Grandma and the others, tell them in front of them that you're going to report it to the authorities."

Upon hearing this, Xiao Yang's eyes lit up. He grinned slyly and said, "Sis, I know what to do." Then he dashed off in a flash.

At the village entrance, several women were discussing Zhao Wangchuan's return. The old lady stopped and joined in the conversation with Chen. Chen was quite content; forty-odd taels of silver would last them a long time.

Just as they were talking animatedly, the matchmaker Jin suddenly gestured for everyone to be quiet and whispered to the old lady, "You know, Zhao Wangchuan and your Xiaonuan used to be incredibly close. I wonder if your Xiaonuan can rekindle their romance this time?"

Upon hearing this, Chen laughed and said, "Hmph, someone like Xiao Nuan, even the old widower wouldn't look at her. I bet that Zhao something-or-other has already forgotten about her."

At home, the old lady naturally wouldn't show any kindness to her family. But outside, she wouldn't tolerate her family members slapping her in the face. Therefore, she angrily scolded, "You pig-headed troublemaker, if you can't speak properly, then shut up. What about Xiao Nuan? Does your aunt know anything about her? You're always spouting nonsense. You should be divorced by Lao Wu."

Upon hearing the old lady's outburst, Chen quickly admitted her mistake, though she didn't know what she had done wrong. "Mother, please don't be angry. It was your daughter-in-law's fault. I won't say another word, okay? Please don't let his father divorce me."

Seeing that Chen's attitude in admitting her mistake was sincere, the old lady's expression softened slightly. However, she still said in a harsh tone, "Hmph, if you admit your mistake, then stay out of the way. Don't say a word unless I tell you to."

Chen walked to the side with a wronged expression, watching the old lady chat with the other ladies. But when she felt the heavy little box in her sleeve pocket, Chen cheered up again. "You little rascal, I won't take it myself if you don't give me money!"

Just as he was feeling smug, Li Xiaoyang followed behind the village headman, hurrying towards the village entrance. The women, seeing him, asked him why.

Li Xiaoyang looked anxious and said loudly, "Aunties and grandmothers, my house has been robbed. My sister's silver, which she kept by her pillow, has been stolen. I was just about to go to the yamen with the village head to report it to the authorities."