Travel to the mountains and make a fortune in silence

"Mom, shepherd's purse is so delicious, much better than lamb's quarters or noodle greens." Most wild vegetables have a slightly bitter taste, but shepherd's purse is very sweet.

Wang Cuiying, however, disagreed, saying, "Oh, we use this to feed pigs."

Wang Qing'er said helplessly, "Mother, that's such a waste. Shepherd's purse can not only be stir-fried, but also made into dried plum vegetables. The ones I cooked this afternoon were for drying into dried plum vegetables, and they are especially delicious when used to make dumplings."

Wang Cuiying exclaimed in surprise, "There are so many ways to eat it?"

"Hmm. You'll know once you try it." The mother-in-law and daughter-in-law chatted idly. Wang Qing'er poured the shepherd's purse into the oil and stir-fried it. She felt there wasn't enough oil, so she scooped a few spoonfuls of rabbit meat soup into the pot. Before taking it off the heat, she added some minced garlic, giving the dish a unique flavor.

A large bowl was filled with shepherd's purse. Wang Qing'er then scooped a ladle of water into the pot, sat down next to Wang Cuiying, and said softly, "Mother, the food is ready. You can call us to eat now."

"Alright!" Wang Cuiying shouted at the door in a booming voice, "Dinner's ready!"

Not long after, Mu Nan rushed into the kitchen like a gust of wind to serve the dishes.

Mu Xiao followed suit, "Ah! It smells so good! Mother's cooking skills are getting better and better!"

Wang Cuiying took a bowl out of the cupboard to serve the rice, and said with a smile, "It was your sister-in-law who cooked today."

"Wow, sister-in-law is amazing! The dishes you make are not only beautiful in color, aroma, and taste, but they also smell wonderful." Wang Qing'er was a little embarrassed by her brother-in-law's praise.

Not to mention that Mu Xiao is better at coaxing girls than Mu Nan, her own wooden husband would never utter a sound unless she spoke to him.

Several children also came in, craning their necks to look at the large bowl of fragrant rabbit meat on the stove, swallowing hard and licking their lips.

Mu Yao wasn't even as tall as the stove. Even when she stood on tiptoe, she couldn't see anything. She was so anxious that she scratched her ears and cheeks like a little monkey.

Seeing this, Mu Xiao picked her up and said, "Uncle is holding you so you can see."

Mu Nan reminded the little ones, "Make way, I'm taking this out."

Immediately, the children, like well-trained soldiers, spontaneously made way for each other.

Wang Cuiying served two bowls of white rice. "Mu Xiao, quickly take them out to your grandmother and your father."

"Alright!" Mu Xiao, carrying the white rice, dashed out like an arrow.

Wang Cuiying served several more bowls of white rice.

Wang Qing'er came to her mother-in-law's side and said, "Mother, I'll serve myself."

Wang Cuiying handed her the spatula, and Wang Qing'er magically pulled out several pieces of sweet potato from the bottom of the pot, then mixed them with the rice and pressed them down with the spatula.

After repeating this several times, the sweet potato and rice stuck together tightly, and Wang Qing'er served herself more than half a bowl.

She has loved this kind of meal since she was a child. Whenever there are sweet potatoes, she will definitely serve them like this, and then pour on the fragrant soup. The taste is simply divine.

Wang Cuiying watched from the side and thought the food was quite good. "Qing'er, give me a bowl of this too."

"Sister-in-law, I want one too!"

"I also want!"

...The children all pounced on it like hungry wolves.

In the end, only Zhou Shi, Old Man Mu, Mu Nan, and Mu Xiao ate plain rice, while the other children, like Wang Qing'er, ate sweet potato rice, and they all ate with great relish.

Looking at the bowl of white rice in front of her, which was as big as a small mountain, Zhou thought to herself, "Does this mean we don't want to live anymore? Eating white rice for no reason, and it's not even a festival. As for the rabbit, well, it won't fetch much money even if it dies, so we can just eat it."

"We'll need at least two catties of refined rice tonight. One catty costs twenty-five coins, so two catties will cost fifty coins. That's terrible! Fifty coins can buy five catties of unpolished rice, enough for six or seven meals of porridge. I think I need to find a time to remind Wang Cuiying." Zhou thought to herself that she should have a talk with her daughter-in-law.

"Big brother brought sister-in-law up the mountain today, and it's really different from usual. He brought back so many good things, and even rabbits to eat." Mu Xiao teased his brother and sister-in-law with a smile while eating.

Mu Nan gently kicked her younger brother, Mu Xiao, who cried out in pain, "Big brother, why did you kick me?"

Wang Qing'er blushed deeply, keeping her head down as she ate. Her rosy face resembled a ripe apple, turning red all the way to her ears.

Mu Nan put a few pieces of rabbit meat into her bowl.

Seeing the young couple so affectionate, Zhou and Mu felt as sweet as if they had eaten honey.

Seeing that her father was only serving meat to her stepmother, Mu Yao stared at them pitifully. Wang Qing'er, who was eating with her head down, felt as if a burning gaze was constantly scorching her.

She looked up and immediately saw Mu Yao staring intently at her. Wang Qing'er quickly picked out some boneless meat and mushrooms for her and said softly, "Yao'er, eat more meat so you can grow tall."

Then he ladled a few spoonfuls of soup over her rice, carefully mixed it, and said gently, "Eat up!"

Then, thinking that children should also eat some vegetables, I picked out a few tender shepherd's purse leaves for her and instructed her, "Eat slowly, and chew them thoroughly before swallowing."

Yao'er nodded obediently, like a gentle little lamb, and gave Wang Qing'er a bright smile like spring flowers. Her little face with dimples as white as pear blossoms was so cute that it was intoxicating.

She couldn't help but mutter to herself, "Sigh, this body is not even an adult yet, and I've already become someone's stepmother. Being a stepmother has never been easy, from ancient times to the present! It seems I must treat Yao'er better in the future, and I must not be branded as a wicked stepmother."

Those at the dinner table who witnessed the interaction between the two felt genuinely gratified.

Zhou and Mu's husband thought to themselves, "Qing'er has really had a hard time. She has to become a stepmother after marrying into the family."

After everyone had eaten and drunk their fill, Old Man Mu took out a money bag and placed it on the table, saying loudly, "Mother, this is the money I earned this morning from selling vegetables, eggs, and pheasants."

"The vegetables sold for a total of one hundred coins, the eggs for twenty coins, and the pheasant was quite plump today, selling for fifty coins. The total is one hundred and seventy coins. Please keep this."

Zhou carefully tidied up the money pouch and put it in her pocket, saying, "Okay, I'm going to sell vegetables tomorrow, so I'll take that rabbit with me. Mu Nan said she'll keep the others for now."

Old Man Mu replied, "Alright, that rabbit should sell for forty or fifty coins."

Mrs. Zhou continued, "We still have some vegetables to sell during this period, which brings in some income. But after a while, we won't have any vegetables left to sell, so we'll have to be more careful with what we eat."

Wang Cuiying naturally understood her mother-in-law's unspoken meaning. She was clearly dissatisfied with the fact that white rice had been cooked that evening and was giving her a reminder.