Ancestors, I told you to seduce the villains, not to turn evil.

After Xu Manman finished pickling the sauerkraut, she went to Aunt Lin's house to watch her make soybean paste.

Aunt Lin's soybean paste is famous throughout the village for its deliciousness.

When Xu Manman arrived, there was also a woman in her thirties who was asking Aunt Lin about the fermented soybean paste.

Aunt Lin's introduction to Xu Manman.

"This is Ding Huiying, she's a few years older than you."

"This is Xu Manman."

Xu Manman had never met Ding Huiying, but Ding Huiying knew Xu Manman.

She greeted Xu Manman warmly: "I'll call you Manman! I'm Lü Ming's mother. Thank you for the candied hawthorn."

Xu Manman initially thought the woman was overly friendly, but upon hearing that she was Lü Ming's mother, she immediately waved her hand.

“Lu Ming has also helped me a lot; it’s a mutually beneficial relationship between us.”

Aunt Lin also smiled and said, "Manman's candied hawthorns are really delicious. The sugar on the outside is crisp and sweet. My grandson loves them."

Xu Manman made candied hawthorns and sent a few skewers to the Lin family.

Sugar is so precious these days!

Aunt Lin ate two, and saved the rest for the children!

Ding Huiying nodded with a smile, and then brought up a hot topic of conversation in the village.

"The cultural troupe will be performing at the county's grand theater in three days. I heard there will be a whole opera troupe too, it's going to be amazing!"

Xu Manman looked puzzled: "Why is the cultural troupe performing in the county? What are they performing?"

Aunt Lin was completely unaware of the situation. Ding Huiying often did needlework for others, earning a few cents, so she knew about this matter.

"It's supposedly a stage play called 'Bloody River,' and it's even been in the newspapers."

“Our county leaders also went to see it and were greatly impressed, which is why they specially invited them to perform a show in the county.”

"The performing arts troupe agreed, and the stage has been cleared out. Many people want to go and join in the fun."

Xu Manman never expected it to be "Bloody River". Isn't that the team led by Commander Gao?

I wonder what her self-written stage play will be like when it's performed.

Xu Manman felt a mix of excitement and curiosity.

She wanted to go see it.

Ding Huiying saw through Xu Manman's thoughts and, considering that Xu Manman's life wasn't exactly comfortable, kindly offered a reminder.

"You need to buy a ticket to watch the show, it costs 50 cents a ticket."

Ding Huiying herself was struggling financially, and she couldn't bear to spend five cents to buy a ticket.

This ticket is more expensive than a movie ticket, which only costs three cents, and sometimes you can get in for two cents.

Most people wouldn't be willing to spend those two cents.

Xu Manman nodded, taking Ding Huiying's words to heart.

Ding Huiying left quickly, and only then did Xu Manman notice that there were several patterns embroidered on Ding Huiying's clothes.

An ordinary piece of clothing suddenly gained a sense of quality.

"Sister-in-law Ding's dress is quite nice."

Aunt Lin wasn't surprised: "Her mother used to embroider for wealthy families, and her embroidery was very beautiful. Huiying learned her skills from her mother."

"She makes all her own clothes. If anyone needs needlework, they'll ask her to do it. She makes them beautiful and stylish."

"A small fee for the work, or you can exchange it for eggs, is fine with me."

Xu Manman was somewhat surprised: "Then Sister Ding's family must be doing quite well."

Aunt Ding has a skill; these days, anyone with a skill will never go hungry.

Putting aside other things, take the bricklayers in the village for example. During the winter, they can go to the town or county to do odd jobs and earn a few yuan.

Ding Huiying's clothes are really well made; she must be doing quite well.

How come Lü Ming has never even tried candied hawthorn?!

Aunt Lin sighed: "Huiying is also unfortunate. She married a gambling husband who gambled away all the family's money, disappeared, and left behind a lot of debts."

"Huiying can earn some money by making clothes for others, and she is also the most hardworking when she works in the fields. She is one of the few women who can earn full work points."

“She saves a little money every year, but she also has to help her husband pay off his gambling debts. Life is very hard.”

It is said that a woman's husband is her only source of food and clothing.

Marrying the wrong person means you'll never have food to eat, only hardship to endure.

Xu Manman also felt a little sad.

A pair of hands that used to hold embroidery needles were now wielding hoes.

Xu Manman returned from Aunt Lin's house.

He first spoke to Fei Huainan about the stage play.

When Xu Manman spoke, she couldn't suppress the proud little expression on her face. Her eyebrows were raised in a lively and cute manner.

After she finished speaking, she stared at Fei Huainan with a little expression that said, "I'm really amazing."

Fei Huainan's lips curled up, and he gave a very tactful compliment.

"Wow, you've made it into the newspaper and been specially invited to perform. You're going to be famous."

His wife is about to become famous, and he still has to pretend to be disabled.

For the past twenty years or so, Fei Huainan had never imagined that one day he would be living off a woman.

However, I must say, this gigolo is quite delicious.

His wife is good at comic books, good at writing scripts, and good at cooking.

Fei Huainan felt as if a great treasure had fallen from the sky and landed right in his house.

Xu Manman felt even better after receiving the praise.

However, to see a stage play, you need to go to the county town to buy tickets.

The problem is that it's already past ten o'clock, and the only oxcart that goes to the county town has long since left.

If she were to walk all the way to the county town, her legs would be ruined!

Fei Huainan came up with a solution for her.

Tell her to call Zhou Lei and ask him to help buy the tickets.

Xu Manman's eyes lit up; she actually knew the phone number for the street where Zhou Lei lived.

I wrote down the phone number beforehand in case something happened to Fei Huainan, so I could find the old man through the neighborhood committee.

As it turned out, Fei Huainan didn't need it, but she did.

Xu Manman took the money and ran to the village committee to call Zhou Lei.

Upon hearing this, Zhou Lei immediately agreed with a smile.

He wanted to see what was happening.

With Zhou Lei helping them buy tickets, they only need to go to the county town together in three days.

With Zhou Lei's help, Xu Manman slowly made her way back.

When I passed by Li Meng's house, I saw that it was surrounded by people.

Xu Manman couldn't see what was happening in the courtyard, but she could hear Li's mother's screams.

Li's mother had a loud voice, and Xu Manman, who was passing by, could hear it clearly from a distance.

"I don't know which bastard was so heartless that he knocked my son unconscious and stripped him of his clothes, leaving him to freeze outside all night."

"In this freezing weather, leaving someone outside all night is going to kill them!"

Xu Manman looked at the crowd that had packed the Li family's gate, with some even climbing onto the wall to sit and watch the spectacle.

This was the first time she had ever seen so many people.

But it's not surprising.

Now that the farm work is finished, everyone has some free time except for preparing for the New Year.

If someone has a big commotion, the whole village will immediately come to join it.

She peered inside curiously, and finally couldn't resist squeezing in as well.

The women greeted her when they saw her.

"You must be Fei's daughter-in-law! You've come to watch the fun too."

Xu Manman nodded, and the aunt next to her, seeing that she was well-behaved, even took out a handful of melon seeds for her.

Xu Manman, who had gotten a free handful of melon seeds, quietly ate them when she noticed Aunt Lin standing to the side.

It turns out that Aunt Lin also likes to eat melons.