After the arranged marriage, she farms and survives under the tutelage of the villainous boss.

Jiang Zhiyun came out of the house, and Zhang was already in the kitchen preparing the meal.

Although she didn't see any food, she did see a pot of all sorts of things cooking, and a fire was burning.

But at this moment, Zhang's face was covered in soot, and she looked extremely disheveled.

Jiang Zhiyun: "..."

"Mother, what are you doing up so early? Is this for the ducks?"

Yunniang thought she should explain to her mother that the ducklings could just peck at the corn; there was no need for such elaborate food, and she should cook some mixed grains for them.

To everyone's surprise, Zhang was somewhat embarrassed and stood there at a loss for words: "This is... cooked for us to eat."

"I learned your method of cooking porridge, thinking that if I got up earlier today, you wouldn't be so tired."

Jiang Zhiyun wanted to comfort her now, but it was too late. The words had already been spoken.

Looking at the mess in the pot, she realized that Zhang's claim of poor cooking skills was not an understatement.

Yunniang had heard Zhang mention before that they ate grass roots on the road to exile. At that time, she thought that since there was no way to cook, they would eat whatever they could.

Nowadays, even if there's delicious food, they don't know how to cook it.

No wonder Yang Ge'er saw Jiang Zhiyun and immediately started asking her what she ate every day; he became obedient as soon as he saw food.

Jiang Zhiyun scooped out the mixed grains and then put fresh water back in to boil.

Then I used the dough that had been proofed last night. The flour here isn't pure, so it takes a long time to rise.

It was originally intended for making noodles, but now I'm taking some out to knead and make steamed buns, which is also quite good.

Jiang Zhiyun unceremoniously chopped the pork she bought into minced meat, then added chopped green vegetables, mixed them together, and added salt and homemade seasonings. Jiang Zhiyun used this mixture as a meat filling.

She spread out small lumps of dough in her palm, then put the meat filling inside, wrapped it up, and finally shaped it into a pretty shape.

Zhang glanced at it a few times and felt that she should be able to do it too, so she started wrapping them on the side.

At first, the shape wasn't very nice, and she was timid and lacked confidence. But Jiang Zhiyun didn't say anything bad about her; she patiently taught her and showed no disdain.

Then Zhang began to fuss over herself in a serious manner, and the mother-in-law and daughter-in-law exchanged a smile.

The water in the pot was boiling, and the fire was blazing hot, so everything was done in one go. For these kinds of buns, the crispy outer layer is very important.

Jiang Zhiyun placed the steamer basket on the ground and then put the wrapped dumplings in one by one.

Soon, the steamer was opened, revealing plump, white buns, none of which were too complicated in design; otherwise, the flaky crust would be ruined.

Therefore, even those dishes that Zhang made that didn't look very appealing still tasted delicious after steaming.

Their openings are slightly open, revealing a glimpse of the filling inside. If you pick them up and shake them, the meat juices inside will flow down from the opening.

Eat it while it's hot; the crust is crispy, soft, and fragrant, and combined with the savory meat filling and broth, it melts in your mouth.

At first, Zhang felt it was too hot, but after taking a bite, she wanted to finish it quickly: "Yunniang, this bun is amazing, I've never eaten anything like it before."

"This is called a 'broken crisp bun.' It's actually a local delicacy from our southwestern border region. I imagine you've never tried it before, but if I make it in the future, you can enjoy it at home more often."

"it is good!"

“We’ll take two with us on the way to pick mushrooms. The rest will be put in the steamer. I’ll tell Yang Ge’er later to have Xie Shuheng feed the ducks. And you can take these buns yourself.”

"Okay!" Zhang nodded and quickly packed her basket, following behind Jiang Zhiyun.

With Yunniang by her side, she felt much more confident.

Jiang Zhiyun picked up her small crowbar, while Zhang followed behind with a sickle. They both followed with small, quick steps, their previous elegance still evident even as they climbed the mountain.

It had just rained, and the ground smelled strongly of mud, which covered their feet.

If the two encountered rocks, they would wipe the mud off their cloth shoes onto them so they could continue climbing.

When we were about halfway up the mountain, we met Aunt Hong and many other villagers.

Of course, Jiang Zhiyun also saw her mother, Zhao Guifen, busy not far away.

Aunt Hong greeted from afar, "Yunniang!"

"Aunt Hong, have you found anything?"

Aunt Hong shook her head: "With so many people, I only picked some green-headed mushrooms, just two or three. I'm afraid they wouldn't even be enough for one plate. Everyone's gathered here, and I haven't heard anyone find any termite mushrooms."

This is the place where Jiang Zhiyun found the termite mushrooms that day. Everyone heard that she carried most of a basket on her back, and they have been guarding it for the past few days, waiting to take away any termite mushrooms she finds.

Jiang Zhiyun knew that the mushroom nests of this kind of termite mushroom only grow once a year, so it was not advisable to stay here indefinitely.

I was about to suggest they check out other places when...

Zhao Guifen walked over and pointed at her, saying, "You brat, where exactly did you pick those termite mushrooms that day?"

"Tell me about the mushroom farm, I'll go look for it."

"You brought your mother-in-law to the mountains to pick mushrooms again? Are you just thinking of eating them all by yourself and not caring about your own mother?"

Not only did Jiang Zhiyun find these words unacceptable, but even Aunt Hong thought they were outrageous.

"Guifen, how could you, as Yunniang's mother, utter such vile words?"

"Everyone knows you're biased. Do you think that's something to be proud of?"

"Isn't this mushroom nest of Yunniang right under your feet? What are you trying to do now, deliberately bullying your own daughter? I've never seen a mother act like this before."

Others around also chimed in:

"Exactly! I've wanted to say this for a long time. Even though your daughters are getting married on the same day, you're still so biased. I think you're not even as good as Renyun's mother-in-law!"

"To be honest, Yunniang's mother-in-law is no pushover either. How does she manage to live like this? I heard she's not in good mental condition. Anyway, none of us want to get close to her."

"Me too."

The people around them stood a little further away.

Zhang stood there somewhat awkwardly, holding Yunniang's hand, already a little nervous.

"Yunniang...shall we go look further away?"

Jiang Zhiyun had originally planned to say a few words to Zhao Guifen before leaving, but seeing her mother-in-law's condition, which indicated she was indeed unwell, she said, "Then let's go a little further away."

Before leaving, she looked at Zhao Guifen and said, "By the way, Zhao Guifen. It's okay to be brainless, but it's troublesome if yours is full of water."

"As for all you neighbors and aunties, how Yunniang lives is my own business. There's no need for you to belittle my family while worrying about me."

Zhao Guifen rushed over and pointed at her: "What do you mean? Aren't I family? You've only been married for a few days, and you're already a member of the Xie family. You ruined your family like this at the homecoming banquet, how dare you show your face in front of me!"

Yunniang grabbed her fidgeting hand and said coldly, "Are you worthy of being my family?"

"The homecoming banquet was your own fault. Now, do you want me to expose all the shameful things in your family?" Jiang Zhiyun asked seriously, promising to do it immediately if she asked.

"..." As expected, Zhao Guifen backed down, and for a moment she was a little scared and dared not speak.