Transmigration: The Evil Mother-In-Law Is Actually Innocent!
Chapter 143: Know the Boundaries_1

Chapter 143: Chapter 143: Know the Boundaries_1

Zhulan smiled, "It’s getting late, I’ll lend a hand and help you cook."

Lady Li hurriedly waved her hand, confident because of her grandson’s progress, but clear about the separation of duties, "I can do it myself."

Zhulan was satisfied deep down, as she was testing the waters. Her smile grew deeper, "I’m bored on my own, so I’ll help with lighting the fire and we can chat."

Lady Li responded, "Okay."

Lady Li worked efficiently. With two pots in the kitchen, she prepared two dishes at once. While stewing one dish, she readied the remaining side dishes. In just over half an hour, the food was ready, just waiting for the steamed buns to be ready to eat.

Lady Li was in a good mood, and the dishes she cooked smelled even better than usual.

Zhulan called the children to wash their hands, and when Lady Li brought the dishes out to the front yard, Zhulan also had the dishes in the back yard set up.

Winter fish is a rarity. Since moving to Pingzhou, Zhulan had only enjoyed fish for the second time. The Zhou children had their eyes glued to the stir-fried eggs with chives and the fish, no longer craving meat despite having chicken soup and meat available every day.

Ming Teng ate his chives hungrily, "Grandma, the chives are delicious. Can we grow them at home?"

Zhulan had chives in her backyard, but she really wasn’t sure about growing vegetables in the winter; it wasn’t her expertise, "It’s not the season; we can’t grow them at home."

Ming Teng looked unconvinced, pointing at the chives, "If we can’t grow them, how did you manage to buy them, Grandma?"

Lady Li explained with a smile, "These are chive roots saved by some farmers. They’re grown indoors during the winter to earn some extra silver coin to supplement the family income. However, it uses a lot of firewood, and the supply is limited, which is why they are expensive."

Lady Li had contemplated the idea herself in the past, but sadly she had no space for it, and it would have used too much firewood. Buying firewood also cost a fair amount of silver coin, and after harvesting the chives once, the return was too small to be worth the effort, so she abandoned the thought.

Zhulan, never having encountered winter-grown chives before, marveled once again at the wisdom of the ancients, which should never be underestimated.

Zhulan urged Wu Ning to eat up, noticing that after spending time with Xue Han, the little girl had become quite familiar with her, though she was still a bit shy to help herself to the dishes. Zhulan signaled her daughter with her eyes, and promptly Xue Han put some spare ribs on Wu Ning’s plate, "Eat up, don’t be shy, and just treat this like your own home."

Wu Ning had beautiful eyes and a soft voice, "Thank you, Sister."

She genuinely liked her new sister, who didn’t look down on her, never probed too deeply, didn’t scorn her clothes, and even held her hand. It wasn’t an act; Wu Ning could see clearly that her sister liked her a lot.

She felt no envy towards her sister’s nice clothes or jewelry. Since the death of her parents, she had learned to be grateful and content. Her sister was her first friend!

Xue Han felt happy inside. People are often drawn to others instinctively, and she really liked Wu Ning. The eyes are the windows to the soul, and even though Wu Ning’s circumstances were not as good as hers, she didn’t act shallow at all. Her speech was kind, and her smile reached the heart. Wu Ning was different from her sister and resembled the sister she had always imagined.

Zhulan, seeing her daughter constantly offering food to Wu Ning, knew the girl must be quite good to have won her daughter’s approval.

Lady Li was also pleased. As a working woman, she had seen plenty, including the daughters of officials and merchants. It was precisely because she had seen so much that she paid extra attention to her granddaughter’s education — to be polite, proper, and open-minded. She was very successful in her education; her only granddaughter was a bit timid from not going out much, but that would improve with more outings.

In the front yard, since Wu Ming was only fifteen years old and Zhou Shuren didn’t drink much, it didn’t take long after the back yard finished their meal for the front yard gathering to conclude as well.

After helping her grandmother clean up, Wu Ning and her family left.

After washing up for the night, Zhulan asked Zhou Shuren, "What do you think of Wu Ming?"

Zhou Shuren praised, "If it wasn’t for my experience over two lifetimes, I wouldn’t be able to match him. This child, whether in wisdom or understanding of the world, is top-notch. Chang Zhi is already very talented, but compared to Wu Ming, Chang Zhi is still a child who hasn’t grown up."

Zhulan looked down at Zhou Shuren, who was resting his head on her lap. This man really knew how to climb the ladder — just look at how naturally he had laid down while they were talking!