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

Grandpa Meng glanced at his son and grandson, then closed his eyes.

"People should have a bottom line. The peace we have today was won by the older generation who fought hard. No matter what you do, if you disrupt the peace, it is unacceptable."

“Mingxuan, you will kneel here until tomorrow morning. You will stay here with him.”

The old man selected Meng Mingxuan and Meng Qihui, and was then helped into the room.

In the living room, Meng Mingxuan remembered something and was kicked by Meng Qihui again: "Kneel down properly for me."

"Do you still want your grandfather to help you get into Flying Eagle? Now that you've angered your grandfather, you can forget about him helping you."

Upon hearing this, Meng Mingxuan could only obediently kneel to the side.

Joining the Flying Eagles was his lifelong dream, and he was determined to get in no matter the cost.

He just kneels for one night, and he kneels.

Meng Qihui couldn't leave either. He turned around and was about to sit on the sofa when the old man's guards appeared.

"Commander, the commander said that you should stand."

Meng Mingxuan immediately laughed, while Meng Qihui glared at him, and the father and son stared at each other.

Inside the room, Old Master Meng sighed. What the future held for the Meng family depended on what Meng Mingxuan did.

It was the next day in a blink of an eye.

Xu Manman met with Commander Gao and Lin Miaomiao, received three thousand yuan in royalties, and a whole bunch of receipts.

These were the receipts she requested; they were all things she needed right now, including cloth ration coupons, cotton ration coupons, and some rarer ones.

The cultural troupe offered good benefits, so Gao Qiuyue had saved up quite a bit on her own, and then asked others for some more. This stack of receipts was truly substantial.

That should be enough for Xu Manman.

Subsequently.

The two also reached an agreement: Mr. Bai Zi will give priority to Gao Qiuyue when he has scripts in the future.

With the receipts in hand, Xu Manman made some purchases in the county. As the weather grew colder, she visited the county town less and less in the future.

Some of the purchased items were left for the old man and Zhou Lei, and the rest were pushed back on a cart under the cover of night.

Even though she hadn't been back for a day, Xu Manman felt as if a long time had passed. Looking at the dilapidated house, she felt an immense sense of warmth.

She felt much more at ease once she got home. Fei Huainan took advantage of the night to install the coal stove and chimney.

After the stove was lit, the whole room became much warmer.

Xu Manman discussed with Fei Huainan: "Let's have Uncle Lin and Brother Lin come over tomorrow to help us repair the house!"

This collapsing isn't a solution either.

Fei Huainan nodded.

Xu Manman slept very well that night.

The next day, Fei Huainan brought back an aluminum pot from outside, and Xu Manman then realized that there were craftsmen in the village who made aluminum pots.

These days, owning an aluminum pot is a very prestigious thing.

In the morning, Uncle Lin and Brother Lin came to help. Xu Manman provided lunch, and each person was paid one yuan a day.

Uncle Lin and Brother Lin refused, so Xu Manman gave the money to Fei Huainan and asked him to pay.

She's not good at this kind of thing.

Fei Huainan didn't know what he said, but both of them accepted it.

When Uncle Lin returned home, he couldn't help but sigh, "Huainan is starting to look like a place where people can make a living now."

Previously, when he looked at Fei Huainan, he seemed lifeless, but now he has clearly improved a lot.

Aunt Lin nodded: "To be honest, it's all because of Manman. This man knows how to manage a household after getting married. Look at the two of them now, they're living a really good life."

Uncle Lin nodded, then gave the money to Aunt Lin, who immediately started cursing.

"You're helping Huainan out, how can you ask for money!"

Uncle Lin explained, "Take it! Keep in touch with them more often in the future. That kid from Huainan is promising, and I think his wife is quite capable too."

Today, he saw that Fei Huainan's house had an iron stove installed. Not only was that expensive, but it also required a ration coupon. Only the village chief's family in the whole village had one.

There were also aluminum pots, which even the village chief's family didn't have, but Fei Huainan managed to get some.

He could tell that the couple had connections.

Upon hearing this, Aunt Lin put the money away.

She makes the decisions on small matters, but the old man makes the decisions on big matters in the family. Since he said he can accept it, then he can accept it.

It took three days to repair the roof. By mid-September, Xu Manman asked Aunt Lin to help her make cured meat.

Aunt Lin asked Xu Manman to make sausages.

In rural areas, sausages are made by boiling them with some salt and then smoking them dry.

Xu Manman makes sausages in several flavors: sweet and spicy, numbing and spicy, salty...

Aunt Lin tasted it and found it incredibly delicious, so she simply asked Xu Manman to help her make it.

Xu Manman didn't refuse. Aunt Lin wanted three catties of spicy sauce, and the rest had to be salty.

Xu Manman bought 20 jin of meat last time.

Aunt Lin cured them all, along with two chickens and two ducks.

Speaking of which, the village slaughtered the New Year's pig and other animals yesterday. Xu Manman and Fei Huainan knew that the village chief wouldn't give them any, so they didn't go.

Zhou Lei has already ordered all the pigs, cattle, and sheep he wanted, as well as chickens, ducks, and geese, all purchased from other brigades. Xu Manman will take as many as they have.

The cured meat can be kept until next summer without spoiling.

However, Aunt Lin couldn't grill these; they had to grill them themselves.

With so much meat, it would take several days to roast. Roasting it at home wouldn't work either, the smell would be too strong and could waft far away.

There's been a lot of cured meat around these past few days, so it's not very noticeable. But in a few days, when it's just their family's cured meat, the smell will definitely be eye-catching.

Fei Huainan fell into deep thought.

Xu Manman glanced at the mountain behind her and said quietly, "How about we go up the mountain to make cured meat? There's no one up there."

Because there are wild wolves and boars in the mountains that have injured people, villagers only dare to wander around outside; no one dares to go inside.

Xu Manman didn't dare to go before, but now that someone is protecting her, she's become bolder.

Upon hearing this, Fei Huainan nodded in agreement.

Before going to get the cured meat, Xu Manman first took some cloth and cotton to Ding Huiying. A cotton-padded coat cost three yuan, and a cotton quilt cost two yuan.

Xu Manman asked for four sets of cotton-padded clothes and two cotton-padded quilts.

With some fabric left, Xu Manman made two more jackets, two pairs of pants, and some small undergarments.

Grandma has already made the cotton shoes and bags. She has two pairs, and Fei Huainan has two pairs. That should be enough for them.

With the clothes ready, all that was left was firewood. Xu Manman had saved up quite a bit beforehand, and Fei Huainan had already organized it all while he was at home.

If I have time, I'll prepare some more, since we'll need them in winter anyway.

Before heading up the mountain, Xu Manman also prepared the hawthorn preserves, with more than a dozen jars neatly arranged in the house.

When Lü Ming came over, Xu Manman told him to take his things with him.

Lu Ming brought the canning jars from home himself.

These days, when people eat canned food, they even save the jar to store other things.

The bottles that Lü Ming was holding were the only snacks his mother had bought for him when he was sick as a child, even though she had to grit her teeth.

Lu Ming still remembers how sweet that canned food was. He hugged the bottle with a look of deep appreciation and ran back to show it to Ding Huiying.

Ding Huiying looked at the canned goods, her eyes filled with guilt.

It's her fault; she can't provide her son with a good life. Other children can at least eat some snacks, but her son has never had any.

Lu Ming didn't notice his mother's unusual behavior and was still looking at the canned fruit. His little face was full of joy: "Mom, I'll put them away first. Sister Xu said they'll taste even better if we leave them for a few days."

Ding Huiying nodded, feeling grateful to Xu Manman, and became even more attentive to her clothes.