Reborn in the 90s, I traded my ex-husband for eight apartments.

"These candies, biscuits, and glutinous rice strips are all for you, Wenbin. Take your younger brothers and distribute them. One pack of each, three packs for each person."

The eldest nephew, Bai Wenbin, is from the eldest brother Bai Chenglei's family and is already eleven years old. There is also a younger brother named Bai Wenxuan, who is seven years old this year.

The second brother, Bai Chengxiang, has only one son, Bai Wenjie, who is eight years old this year.

The three children each carried a bag of candy, a bag of biscuits, and a bag of glutinous rice strips, and they were overjoyed.

My aunt used to bring them food every time she came back, but not as much as she does now, even more than during Chinese New Year.

"Thank you, Auntie! Mom, Mom, Auntie's back!"

"Mom, my aunt is here."

Hearing the noise, Liu Fang, the eldest sister-in-law, and Xu Yin, the second sister-in-law, both came out of the house with smiles on their faces. When they saw the food in their son's hands, their smiles became even brighter.

"Pearl is back."

"Why did you buy so much stuff? You just spoil these brats."

Bai Zhenzhu continued rummaging through the snakeskin bag, laughing as she said:

"I need to trouble you with something, eldest brother and second brother. Eldest sister-in-law and second sister-in-law, each of you can have one of these pig legs, and each of you can have a pack of cigarettes."

"One can of malted milk powder per household, and two catties of brown sugar per household."

"The rest of these belong to Mom and Dad."

Seeing Bai Zhenzhu taking things out of the snakeskin bag one by one, Li Xiufen's face changed:

"You silly girl, you're back now, why did you buy so much stuff? Xiangyang doesn't earn much money working outside, and you have to take care of the whole family at home. You really don't know how to manage a household."

Seeing that there were still two cans of malted milk powder, a large piece of pork belly, so many ribs, two bottles of liquor, a pack of cigarettes, and two kilograms of brown sugar left in the bag, Li Xiufen felt a chill run down her spine:

"How much money will this cost? If your mother-in-law finds out, she'll start finding fault with you again. You won't be able to live a normal life anymore. You don't need to worry about your family."

Sister-in-law Liu Fang weighed the large pig leg in her hand, estimating it to be almost ten pounds.

"That's right, Pearl, why are you buying so much stuff when it's not a holiday?"

The cigarettes cost 2.5 yuan a pack, but a carton was 1 yuan cheaper. This adds up to a lot; the huge bag of stuff my sister-in-law brought back cost well over 300 yuan.

Bai Zhenzhu smiled and said:

"The busy farming season is coming soon, so I'll give my dad and brother some nourishing food."

The Pei family had a large number of members and a considerable amount of land, but only Pei Xiangyang's father and Bai Zhenzhu actually did the work.

Every year during the spring planting and autumn harvest, the Bai family father and his two sons would go to the Pei family to help after finishing their own work.

Thinking of all the sacrifices her parents and brothers had made for her over the years, Bai Zhenzhu's eyes welled up with tears.

She quickly lowered her head and took out the malted milk powder from the snakeskin bag, not daring to let Li Xiufen see her unusual behavior, otherwise the whole family would not be able to have lunch.

"Pearl knows how to care for people." Second sister-in-law was straightforward and didn't stand on ceremony: "Mom, didn't Pearl say she had something to say? Hurry up and let Pearl come in and sit down, and ask her what it is."

He called out to his son, Bai Wenjie, and told the children to go to the fields and call the men back.

The three boys, with candy and rice strips in their pockets, ran off like monkeys, hopping and skipping.

When her daughter returned, Li Xiufen asked her two daughters-in-law to help with the cooking, and the whole family ate lunch together at the old couple's place.

The Bai family's courtyard, shaped like the Chinese character "冂", had Bai Chenglei's family living on the left and Bai Chengxiang's family on the right. The main house was inhabited by the elderly couple and their third son, Bai Jingsi, and his wife.

Bai Jingsi is a math teacher at the town's middle school, and his wife, Zhang Minmin, is the principal's daughter and teaches English.

The couple has a house in town, but the elderly couple only left them one bedroom. If they come back to the village on holidays, they eat with the elderly couple.

Once her two daughters-in-law started cooking, Li Xiufen wanted to pull Bai Zhenzhu into the main room to talk.

Bai Zhenzhu said there was no rush, and she would help her sisters-in-law cook.

At this time, my second sister-in-law, Xu Yin, was also pregnant with her second child, but she was still in the early stages of pregnancy and her pregnancy wasn't showing yet.

Bai Zhenzhu took the cleaver from Xu Yin:

"Second sister-in-law, you go and rest, I'll chop the ribs."

Xu Yin is a person who loves to joke:

“When a married daughter returns to her parents’ home, she is treated like a precious guest. Mom, it’s Pearl who wants to do the work herself, not because I, her sister-in-law, don’t care about her.”

Li Xiufen gave her a reproachful look:

"You talk too much. Hurry up and start the fire to cook rice. There's an old pumpkin at home. We'll make pumpkin rice for lunch. Add more rice."

Xu Yin continued:

"Mom, I see you have a lot of eggs in your basket. How about making some scrambled eggs with chili peppers? I've been craving spicy food lately. The baby in my belly is definitely a beautiful little girl like her aunt."

Li Xiufen loved to hear this; the whole family wanted a little girl.

With a flourish of his hand:

"Fry it, fry as much as you want."

Bai Zhenzhu deftly chopped up a whole rack of ribs, while her sister-in-law Liu Fang prepared to cut the meat.

"Pearl, how do we eat this meat?"

Bai Zhenzhu is a master chef; the same ingredients taste different when she cooks them. She usually takes charge of the main dishes.

"Let's cut it in half and make braised pork."

Liu Fang felt a little sorry for him: "This pork belly is good quality, not too fatty or too lean. Isn't half too much?"

Bai Zhenzhu scooped water to wash the ribs and said with a smile:

"Not much. I bought it to eat, because it's too hot to keep it fresh."

Li Xiufen also said, "Let's listen to Zhenzhu and let the children eat their fill."

Despite saying this, Li Xiufen was very worried inside.

My daughter is behaving very strangely; something serious must have happened. Worried, I put the two cans of malted milk powder and the other half of the pork belly back into the snakeskin bag, intending to have Bai Zhenzhu take them home for her grandson.

Thinking that the Pei family didn't grow many potatoes, they should all be gone by now. Since Bai Zhenzhu's bicycle was empty, they decided to fill a bag with potatoes for her to take back.

Bai Zhenzhu was actually very happy.

She was the only daughter in her family and was pampered from a young age. Even her twin brother, her third brother, spoiled and indulged her like the other brothers.

But in her past life, she never did anything for them. She couldn't help when her family was in trouble, but she worked like a slave in other people's homes without complaint, and died young.

It's just a little meat; she'll buy them even more meat in the future and take them to eat delicacies and live in big houses.

Lunch was quite lavish: a pot of glistening braised pork, a pot of spicy and fragrant braised pork ribs with potatoes, a large plate of stir-fried eggs with chili peppers, a large plate of stir-fried sweet potato tips, and a pot of loofah and egg drop soup.

Although it only consists of four dishes and a soup, the portions are large.

People no longer go hungry, but they can only eat meat to their heart's content during holidays; those who have suffered hardship are used to being frugal. Plus, with Bai Zhenzhu's return, everyone was happy, and everyone ate with great relish.

Seeing that everyone had almost finished eating, Bai Zhenzhu asked Bai Wenbin to take his younger brothers out to play.

She glanced at her parents, brother, and sister-in-law, and said with a firm look in her eyes:

"Dad, Mom, eldest brother and sister-in-law, second brother and sister-in-law, I'm divorced."

The Bai family: "..."

Xu Yin was the first to react, but she couldn't believe her ears:

"Pearl, what...what did you say? Divorce? Is it that kind of divorce?"

Bai Zhenzhu continued:

"Pei Xiangyang came back this morning with a woman. He wants a divorce, and I agreed."

As soon as he finished speaking, the usually taciturn Old Man Bai stood up abruptly, followed by Bai Chenglei and Bai Chengxiang. The three of them, with grim faces, were about to leave.

Bai Zhenzhu rushed over and knelt down in front of Old Man Bai with a thud:

"Dad, don't go. I don't want that beast anymore. He's not worth you hurting him."

Finally realizing what was happening, Li Xiufen rushed over and hugged Bai Zhenzhu tightly, bursting into tears:

"That damned Pei Xiangyang, my Pearl, your life is so miserable!"