Reborn in a small village in the 1990s

Zhu Yufeng retorted indignantly, "Am I trying to cause trouble? I'm standing here peacefully, and it's clearly Cheng Jinxiao who's throwing a tantrum. Look, she's run off and is probably off having some fun somewhere, leaving us to do all the chores like the New Year's Eve dinner. Can't I even voice my opinions?"

Zhu Yufeng became more and more convinced of her own reasoning as she spoke, and even touched Cheng Jinxi's hand. "Jinxi, don't you think our mother is biased? She has always favored Jinxiao since we were little, and she still is now. Jinxiao said she doesn't want to find someone to marry for the time being, and our mother lets Jinxiao do that. It's the New Year, and we should all give our mother red envelopes, but she doesn't want Jinxiao's red envelope. Even when you two were arguing about borrowing money, Jinxi, when you asked Jinxiao for money, our mother sided with Jinxiao and advised you not to borrow so much money from Jinxiao."

Zhu Yufeng had overheard Wang Shi, Cheng Jinxi, and Cheng Jinxiao's conversation, so she knew some of it.

Cheng Jinxi shook her head in disagreement. She admitted that Zhu Yufeng had some truth to her words, but she and Jinxiao had reconciled before and talked all their conflicts out. She now had a happy family and her son was about to get married, while Jinxiao was divorced and had no children. It was understandable that her mother was worried that Jinxiao might favor her.

“Sister-in-law, if Jinxiao hasn’t had any intention of getting married in the past few years, then let her not get married. It’s good to let her go out and work for a few years to save some money. If a woman doesn’t have some money, she will easily be looked down upon when she marries into her husband’s family. Besides, Jinxiao is divorced now and has no children. It’s understandable that our mother is worried about her and is biased towards her. I’ve already talked to Jinxiao about the loan. It’s not that Jinxiao is unwilling to lend me money, but that she is willing to lend me a large portion of the money and keep a small portion for herself.”

Cheng Jinxi spoke well of Cheng Jinxiao, while secretly wondering whether she should ask Cheng Jinxiao to persuade her later.

Hearing these words, Zhu Yufeng was so angry she didn't know what to say. She said irritably, "I'm trying to speak up for you, but you're thinking about Cheng Jinxiao. I think you're completely infatuated with Jinxiao, beyond saving. Besides, what woman doesn't get married and have children? After the New Year, I'm definitely going to find Cheng Jinxiao a husband!" So she won't get in her way anymore!

Zhu Yufeng didn't say the last sentence. She was already very disgusted by Cheng Jinxiao's return to the Cheng family. If he stayed at the Cheng family's house for a long time, wouldn't that be taking up a room? There were only three rooms in the house: one for her and Rongguo, one for Wang Shi, and one for her two sons.

When her sons get married, these two rooms will have to be empty, or a new house will have to be built. But a new house will cost a lot of money, and she has two sons, so she will have to prepare a lot of dowry money. It will take at least 10,000 yuan to settle her two sons' marriage.

She knew Wang's health; she might not live much longer. But Cheng Jinxiao was different. If she wanted to stay here, she, as the eldest sister-in-law, could only talk the talk but couldn't actually drive Cheng Jinxiao away. If she did, she would probably be cursed to death by the gossip in the village, and her reputation wouldn't be good. It might even affect her son's chances of finding a wife. It would be better for her to marry out so that she could save trouble and maybe even get a dowry.

But for some reason, Zhu Yufeng felt inexplicably irritable. To be honest, she shouldn't have done this. She hoped that Wang Shi could live a little longer. After all, Wang Shi had been good to her before she became paralyzed. Was she being too heartless by thinking like this?

Zhu Yufeng was annoyed and didn't want to pay attention to the other two people in the kitchen. She decided to focus on making the New Year's Eve dinner first.

Cheng Jinxi hesitated, wanting to say something but unsure how to proceed. If she spoke up for Jinxiao again, she might annoy her sister-in-law and cause the opposite of what she intended.

Both Zhu Yufeng and Cheng Jinxiao were angry with each other. Cheng Jinxi didn't know who to talk to for a moment. If she went to Jinxiao, she felt it wouldn't be good to leave her sister-in-law hanging. If she went to talk to her sister-in-law, she was afraid that Jinxiao would overthink things and have a problem with her.

"Nothing's right," Cheng Jinxi could only sigh, "Why is making a New Year's Eve dinner so difficult!"

Finally, Cheng Jinxi blamed Cheng Jinxiang, saying, "Why did you bring up the family photo for no reason? If you hadn't brought it up, we would still be happily preparing the New Year's Eve dinner. There wouldn't be so many problems."

Cheng Jinxiang also looked regretful. She sighed repeatedly and said, "Tell me what happened. Why don't you go and persuade your sister-in-law, and I'll go and persuade Cheng Jinxiao?"

After much thought, Cheng Jinxiang came up with this solution.

Looking at the food in the pot, Cheng Jinxi said, "What about the food in this pot? It'll burn if we don't cook it soon. And it's already four o'clock in the afternoon. If we don't cook the New Year's Eve dinner soon, it will be too late."

Cheng Jinxiang was also very annoyed. "Forget it, let's finish cooking the dishes first, and then we can go and talk to them about it later."

There was nothing that could be done now, so Cheng Jinxi could only sigh and say, "For no reason at all, these two can start arguing. It's really something."

No matter how much you feel, you still have to work.

She decided to have some meat and make a stewed goose in an iron pot. They hadn't eaten much meat at home in a long time, so it was Chinese New Year and she wanted to treat herself.

The advantage of making this dish is that I have a few geese at home. Since I don't have to spend money buying them, that's the best thing.

Before that, she had to prepare the seasonings and set them aside for later use, so that she wouldn't be caught off guard if she couldn't find them later.

Scallions, garlic, ginger, and star anise are just the usual ingredients used in rural areas. Dark soy sauce is not usually necessary, but adding it changes the color and makes the dish look more appetizing. After that, Cheng Jinxi preferred to add light soy sauce when cooking.

Cheng Jinxi went to the yard and grabbed a goose at random. The meat of the home-raised goose was better and more delicious than that sold outside.

First, knock the goose's head unconscious with a cleaver. This is essential; otherwise, when you slaughter it, the goose will resist due to the stimulation of being slashed by the cleaver, and it will be much harder to kill it.

After slaughtering the goose, Cheng Jinxi filled a large bucket with hot water and put the goose in. She was going to start plucking the feathers, which was time-consuming and laborious, but Cheng Jinxi had been doing this since she was a child and was quick and efficient, so she finished in no time.

Next, take the duck meat to a cutting board and chop it into large square pieces. Soak it in clean water for about half an hour to remove the blood.

Halfway through the process, Cheng Jinxi suddenly sighed, turned to Cheng Jinxiang and said, "Tell me what's going on here. A while ago, Jinxiao and I argued about the bride price, and now Jinxiao is arguing with my sister-in-law again, this time about the family photo. Is it really necessary?"

Cheng Jinxiang sighed and said, "Both sides have their reasons, and we can't really say anything. My sister-in-law has indeed taken good care of our mother these past few years. Jinxiao married far away and only came back after her divorce. It's normal for my sister-in-law to dislike Jinxiao."

The more they talked, the more helpless Cheng Jinxi felt. She shook her head, quite resigned.

Cheng Jinxiang didn't want to talk about these two anymore; it just made her feel annoyed. So she changed the subject to Wang Shi.

"Why did Mom suddenly want to take a family photo? It's strange. She never thought about it before, but suddenly she did today, and she insisted on taking it in the next few days."

Cheng Jinxiang felt something was off, but she couldn't quite put her finger on it.

Cheng Jinxi didn't think anything of it. "I think it's normal. Isn't Fang's daughter from the next village successful? She found a good job in the city and made money. Before the New Year, she hired a photographer to take a family photo. Fang has been bragging about it all over the village. Mom must have heard about it and wants to take a family photo too. It's just that she got upset today and brought it up. What's the big deal? If Mom wants to take a family photo, she can. It's not like we're not allowed to. It's just that it's the New Year, and everyone is busy. Besides, I don't have much money right now. It's better to wait a few months until spring."

Cheng Jinxiang nodded in agreement, finding it quite reasonable. These days, who doesn't like to compare themselves to others? If one family has a TV, another family will want to buy one too, and others will follow suit and install TVs in order to show off.

"Alright, alright, let's just take a family photo. The three of us sisters can chip in, so it won't cost much. But it'll make Mom happy and show our filial piety. We can't let her get too upset. There was a sixty-something-year-old in the next village who died because he was upset by his children. So let's try to make Mom happy, and we can talk about everything else."

Cheng Jinxi said, "Well, it's good to make Mom happy, but the conflict between Jinxiao and my sister-in-law... sigh! Never mind, let's finish preparing the New Year's Eve dinner first before we talk about other things."

Then Cheng Jinxi put the goose pieces into a pot of cold water, added cooking wine, ginger slices, and knotted scallions. After waiting for about twenty minutes to bring it to a boil, he skimmed off the foam with a spoon, took out the goose pieces, and rinsed them with clean water to remove the fishy smell.

The iron wok was heated, and a jar of lard was taken out. A large spoonful of lard was scooped into the wok and put in. Cheng Jinxi felt that it was not enough, so she scooped in another spoonful of lard. She wanted more lard so that it would be more fragrant.

Stewed goose in an iron pot isn't exactly a rare dish. We sometimes eat it during the Lunar New Year. Sometimes when we're short on money, we stew some chicken or duck; when we have money, we stew a whole goose. Anyway, they're all raised at home, so it doesn't really matter.

Rural areas were still very poor back then; people couldn't have meat at every meal, and just being able to make ends meet was a struggle. However, life was much better than before, which made many people content.

The purpose of life is simply to eat three meals a day. Only when people are well-fed can they have hope and something to strive for. If people can't even get enough to eat, life loses much of its meaning.

It's Chinese New Year, so eating something good is naturally the best. Since our family's resources are limited, we only have so many seasonings available, so we just added a few simple condiments, and that's good enough. We added a little bit of everything, like Sichuan peppercorns and star anise.

After finishing all that, Cheng Jinxi tasted the broth. It was delicious, and Cheng Jinxi nodded in satisfaction. She then added an appropriate amount of salt and chicken bouillon, making it even more delicious.

Time quickly passed and evening arrived. After playing outside, Zhao Da'e returned to the kitchen and found that only Cheng Jinxi and Cheng Jinxiang were working there, but the table was already full of dishes, which smelled delicious.

Zhao Da'e felt that something was wrong. Cheng Jinxiang seemed to have something on her mind. But before long, Zhao Da'e's eyes were drawn to the dishes on the table. Zhao Da'e couldn't help but swallow. She really wanted to eat right now. She had only eaten sticky rice cakes for lunch and hadn't eaten much at all. She had also eaten frozen pears in the afternoon, but these couldn't compare to the big fish and meat dishes.

When Cheng Jinxiang saw Zhao D'e's expression, she couldn't help but smile. "What are you standing there for? Come and help wash the dishes, and then call your uncle and cousin over for dinner."

After realizing what had happened, Zhao Da'e could only reluctantly withdraw her gaze from the dining table and then go over to help wash the dishes.

Cheng Jinxiang and Cheng Jinxi nodded to each other in tacit understanding. The two went their separate ways: Cheng Jinxiang went to find Zhu Yufeng, and Cheng Jinxi went to find Cheng Jinxiao. It was almost lunchtime, and it wouldn't hurt for the two of them to keep bickering, especially since they were going to eat together soon.

The New Year's Eve dinner should be enjoyed in a lively and festive atmosphere; it's not good to have conflicts.

Cheng Jinxi saw Cheng Jinxiao behind the courtyard. She was sitting alone on the steps, her brows furrowed, clearly preoccupied.

Cheng Jinxi walked over and said, "Jinxiao, what have you been doing here? The food is ready, aren't you going to eat?"

Cheng Jinxiao lowered her head and said dejectedly, "Big sister, you guys eat first, don't worry about me, I want to be alone for a while."

Cheng Jinxi smiled helplessly, came over and patted Cheng Jinxiao's shoulder, "You're still angry with your sister-in-law, so don't take what she said to heart."

Mentioning Zhu Yufeng made Cheng Jinxiao feel uneasy. "Eldest sister, what my sister-in-law said wasn't just in anger. She clearly had a lot of complaints about me. Look at what she said. Besides, all I did was make a request. What's wrong with the four of us siblings splitting the cost of the family photo? Why should my sister-in-law not have to pay? It wasn't her decision; it was clearly my brother's. But she turned around and blamed me, saying I was unfilial and that I should pay for the family photo!"

"Yes, my sister-in-law has worked very hard to take care of our mother all these years, but that's what she should do. She got the house and used most of Mom's savings to build a new house. Mom also helped her take care of the children. Now it's her turn to take care of Mom, isn't that what she should do? I've had a hard time in my husband's family all these years since I married far away. Li Jin is very wary of me, afraid that I will steal money and run away with someone else. I can't send money home to support my family. Now that I'm divorced and have returned to my parents' home, my sister-in-law still finds fault with me."

The more Cheng Jinxiao talked, the more aggrieved she felt. "This house is no longer a home. I can't even go back to my parents' home. This house has become Zhu Yufeng's house alone. I am a married sister-in-law. I am not worthy to come back home. After this New Year, I will not stay in this house. I will go to the city to work."

Cheng Jinxiao's eyes reddened, and it was clear that she was quite aggrieved. Cheng Jinxi felt bad for her as well. Cheng Jinxiao was right about one thing: once a woman is married, she becomes a guest when she returns to her parents' home. The home is no longer a home; it has become her older brother's home.

But what could be done? My older brother had also gotten married and had a son. The house was only so big; there wasn't enough room for him. There was nothing we could do about it.