Reborn in a small village in the 1990s

Chapter 267

Early in the morning, when Zhao Da'e got up to eat breakfast, she noticed that Cheng Jinxi had quite heavy dark circles under her eyes and seemed a bit listless. Zhao Da'e obediently went over to help Cheng Jinxi cook porridge and also fry an egg.

"Auntie, why don't you go and rest for a bit? I'll take care of things in the kitchen."

Zhao Da'e helped Cheng Jinxi to rest on a stool nearby. Cheng Jinxi didn't refuse and sat down. Looking at Zhao Da'e, who was so young but so well-behaved, she felt a surge of satisfaction. "Da'e, I wish you were my child, so I could have peace of mind."

Zhao Da'e laughed, "Auntie, what are you saying? We're family, why are you making such a big deal out of it?"

Zhao Da'e first fetched a basin of water, washed the garlic sprouts and chili peppers, then cut them into shreds and put them in a basin on the side for later use.

Seeing that everything was almost ready, Zhao Da'e added some firewood to the stove, took out a few freshly laid eggs from the henhouse, took out a lard jar, scooped a spoonful into the pot, and after the pot was heated, the solidified lard melted. Seeing this, Zhao Da'e broke five eggs.

The eggs sizzled as they were fried in oil. Zhao Da'e flipped the eggs over with a spatula, sprinkled them with salt and pepper to make them more flavorful.

Once the eggs are almost cooked, use a spoon to scoop them up and put them on a plate.

Next, Zhao Da'e scooped a spoonful of lard from the lard jar and heated it in the pan. After the lard melted in a short while, he threw the prepared garlic sprouts and chili peppers into the pan and stir-fried them with a spatula. Soon, the flavors were released. He added salt and soy sauce, stir-fried them a few times, then threw in the fried eggs and stir-fried them a few more times before putting everything into a plate.

After placing the stir-fried dishes on the table, Zhao Da'e took out five bowls, washed them in a basin of water, and then used them to serve porridge. Once the bowls were placed on the table, it was time to start eating.

This meal was pretty good; the garlic sprouts were grown at home, so they were fresh vegetables. There were also some pickled vegetables.

The others woke up and prepared to eat.

When Cheng Jinxi saw Zhou Chunwen, who was the first to come in, she couldn't help but scold, "Sleep, sleep, all you do is sleep. Why don't you get up earlier to help me? Look at your cousin, she not only gets up early, but she also helps her aunt with the housework."

Zhou Chunwen was inexplicably rebuked. Looking at Cheng Jinxi's haggard and short-tempered face, Zhou Chunwen didn't dare to talk back, lest she provoke Cheng Jinxi and get scolded again. She just muttered to herself that her mother must have taken the wrong medicine today.

When Zhou Chunhong, who arrived later, saw the food on the table, especially the fried eggs, she shamelessly wiped her mouth, her mouth watering so much that she wished she could go up and shovel a few mouthfuls of rice right now.

Seeing Zhou Chunhong's pathetic state, Cheng Jinxi didn't hold back in criticizing her, "Eat, eat, all you know is eating. You've gotten so fat, I wonder how you'll ever get married."

Zhou Chunhong was completely bewildered by the unexpected rebuke. She turned to look at Zhou Chunwen, only to see him shaking his head helplessly, clearly unaware of the reason for Cheng Jinxi's anger.

When Zhou Tianfu came in, Cheng Jinxi looked at her son's silly grin, seemingly still immersed in the joy of getting married soon. Cheng Jinxi wanted to say something but didn't know how to start, and finally sighed deeply.

My family only has so much money, we can't possibly afford the dowry the Ma family wants. If my son can't get a wife in the end, it's my and my husband's fault.

Zhou Tianfu clearly didn't notice anything amiss with Cheng Jinxi, continuing to drink his porridge and eat his eggs. Zhou Chunwen, on the other hand, couldn't bear to watch any longer; Cheng Jinxi's brows were furrowed, and her face was full of worries.

"Mom, what's wrong? Is something bothering you?" Zhou Chunwen asked.

Even Zhao Da'e looked over and said, "Yes, Auntie, you look so haggard. You must not have slept well last night."

Cheng Jinxi didn't want to hide it from the children, so she sighed and said, "I'm so worried, I'm really worried. Your older brother is getting married, but the Ma family is asking for a dowry of five thousand yuan, but our family can only come up with a thousand yuan at most. We don't know how to raise the remaining four thousand yuan. If we can't raise the dowry, how will your older brother get married? Sigh!"

When Zhou Tianfu heard Cheng Jinxi nagging like this, he was stunned for a moment. His enthusiasm for getting married seemed to have been doused with cold water, leaving him feeling completely chilled.

He asked hesitantly, "Mom, is it really true that our family can only come up with a thousand yuan?"

Looking at Zhou Tianfu's disappointed expression, Cheng Jinxi felt even more guilty towards her son. She dared not tell him the truth. She had already built a new house and didn't have much money to begin with. Now, with the famine, if the crops didn't grow well, where would she get any income?

But Cheng Jinxi still insisted, "Son, you don't need to worry about these things. Mom will figure out how to handle the bride price."

If all else fails, we'll just borrow; we'll borrow as much as we can.

Zhou Tianfu felt very uncomfortable. Although he wanted to get married, he didn't want his family to become impoverished because of his marriage. He quickly said, "Mom, if we could afford the bride price... then let's forget about it. I'll talk about getting married again in a few years."

Upon hearing her son's words, Cheng Jinxi shook her head in disapproval. "Silly boy, what are you saying? What man doesn't get married? You'll get married sooner or later. Besides, if you wait a few more years before talking about getting married, all the good girls around will have been taken. Just keep eating. I'll figure out the dowry. We'll talk about it again if it doesn't work out."

Zhou Tianfu said nothing more upon seeing this, but he was clearly also very frustrated.

Zhao Da'e listened but didn't say anything. The problem was, Zhao Da'e didn't have much money... A few thousand yuan wasn't a huge amount, but her family still needed to build a house, so they were definitely short of money. However, since she was staying at her aunt's house all the time, it wouldn't be good if she didn't contribute something. But she didn't have enough money right now, and taking on too much was definitely not an option. Besides, this was just the bride price; there was still the cost of renovating the house, buying furniture, and jewelry and rings—it would be difficult to come down to less than ten thousand yuan.

Where can I get some more money?

After lunch, Zhou Chunhong stayed behind to wash the dishes, while Zhao Da'e went back to his room to think about how to make money.

Currently, her only source of income is selling water, which might only earn her a thousand or so yuan a month. But this is not a long-term solution. She can sell water, and so can others. She is not quite sure how Xiangzi and the others are doing with their water-selling business. She will ask them when she has time.

After racking his brains without success, Zhao Da'e decided to wait a few more days and see if he could come up with any money-making ideas by then. Besides, there were very few ways to make money in the village.

Zhou Chunwen grabbed Zhao Da'e's hand and quickly said, "Da'e, come with me, we need to go to Uncle's house."

"My uncle's house?" Zhao Da'e was a little confused. Why would he go to his uncle's house for no reason?

Seeing Zhao Da'e's silly look, Zhou Chunwen couldn't help but laugh out loud, then reached out and flicked Zhao Da'e's forehead, "Silly you, didn't Mom say yesterday that we're going to Uncle's house today to discuss Aunt's matter?"

Zhao Da'e immediately realized that she had been so engrossed in thinking about ways to make money that she had forgotten she needed to go to her uncle's house today to discuss how to bring her aunt back.

An hour later, at the Cheng family home.

When Zhao Da'e arrived, a large family had already gathered there.

There are his maternal uncle Cheng Rongguo, his aunt Zhu Yufeng, his mother Cheng Jinxiang, his paternal aunt Cheng Jinxi, his cousins, his maternal grandmother Wang, and others.

As soon as Cheng Jinxiang saw Zhao Da'e coming over, she called him over, while she was holding Zhao Xiaojuan in her arms.

Zhao Xiaojuan is now a little over a month old. She no longer looks wrinkled like she did in the hospital. On the contrary, she looks tender and cute.

When Zhao Xiaojuan saw Zhao Da'e coming over, she immediately grinned and waved her hand, as if she wanted to grab Zhao Da'e's hand.

When Cheng Jinxiang saw Zhao Xiaojuan's appearance, she couldn't help but laugh and said, "Xiaojuan was so happy to see her sister come over. She's not that close to other people, but she's like this only to Da'e. Look, she's not only smiling, but she also reached out and grabbed Da'e's hand, wanting to hug it."

Zhao Da'e felt very happy and couldn't help but reach out and tease his younger sister.

Seeing that almost everyone had arrived, Madam Wang spoke up, "A few days ago, your younger sister Jinxiao sent me a letter saying that she's getting a divorce and wants to come back. I called you all here to discuss this matter with you."

Cheng Jinxi spoke first, "If Jinxiao wants to come back, let her come back. We can't let outsiders bully the women of the Cheng family. Besides, I've watched Jinxiao grow up since she was a child. I haven't seen her for several years since she married far away to Qiqihar."

Cheng Jinxiang had no objections. She was currently living at her parents' home and had suffered a lot of grievances at her husband's home. Therefore, she could understand Jinxiao's desire to return to her parents' home.

"Mom, my eldest sister is right. Let Jinxiao come back. We can't let her be bullied outside."

Cheng Rongguo shared the same thought, after all, she was his younger sister. But just as he was about to speak, Zhu Yufeng patted him on the shoulder. Zhu Yufeng gave Cheng Rongguo a look, signaling him not to speak carelessly. Then, feeling somewhat dissatisfied, she said to Wang Shi, "Mom, the letter also says that Jinxiao's return to her parents' home is not as simple as it seems. She wants a divorce. A divorce, you need to think about it carefully. For example, what will people say about Jinxiao when she returns to the village? Divorced women never have an easy life."

Zhu Yufeng started nagging, talking about the downsides, the most important of which was, "After the divorce, Jinxiao will go back to her parents' home, and where she will stay will be a problem. Don't you think that's right?"

The Cheng family had two rooms for living; one was where the couple slept, and the other was where the mother-in-law, Wang, slept.

Cheng Jinxiang is now sleeping with Wang Shi. Zhu Yufeng knows that Cheng Jinxiang is not divorced. Anyway, he will only stay here for a few months, so it doesn't matter.

But now that Cheng Jinxiao has returned after his divorce, he intends to live in the Cheng family home permanently. If he stays there every day, Zhu Yufeng will have objections.

So, in addition to taking care of her entire family, including her mother-in-law, she also had to take care of her sister-in-law.

Cheng Rongguo wanted to say something, but Zhu Yufeng grabbed his arm and glared at him, as if warning him not to say anything out of line.

Wang Shi understood Zhu Yufeng's meaning. She tremblingly patted the table and said coldly, "What if you don't want to?"

Due to her excitement, Wang suddenly started coughing violently. Cheng Jinxi, who was sitting next to her, quickly patted her mother's back. She glanced at Zhu Yufeng and said with some reproach, "Sister-in-law, please say less. Look how upset you are with Mom. She's not in good health to begin with and can't handle any kind of stimulation."

Even Cheng Rongguo nudged Zhu Yufeng, agreeing that she hadn't done a good job. "Yufeng, say less. No matter what, Jinxiao is my little sister. As her older brother, it's only right for me to bring her back. There's nothing wrong with that."

Zhu Yufeng was nearly furious when she heard Cheng Rongguo say that. She laid her cards on the table and said, "Mom, it's not that I don't want Jinxiao to come back, but the Cheng family really doesn't have enough room for Jinxiao to stay. Jinxiang sleeps with you at the Cheng family's house, but she can go back to the Zhao family's house. However, Rongguo and I have several children, and the house is only so big. When the children grow up and get married, the house won't be big enough. It's okay for Jinxiao to come back to the Cheng family's house for a while, but it's really impossible for her to stay for a long time."

Upon hearing Zhu Yufeng's words, Cheng Rongguo also felt that this was a problem. He had initially wavered in his decision to bring Jin Xiao back, and suddenly realized that Jin Xiao's return was not necessarily a good thing.

Even Cheng Jinxi nodded in empathy. The problems Zhu Yufeng mentioned were all things she was going through. Her family also didn't have enough space. Once her eldest son got married, they would have to give her a room. Although the marriage wasn't officially settled yet, her son still had to get married, and that was a problem she had to face.

The daughters are all grown up now, and it's not right for them to sleep with their parents. But besides our own home, where else can they sleep?

This is also what Cheng Jinxi is worried about, but what she is most worried about now is how to raise the money for the bride price.

Cheng Jinxiang pursed her lips and remained silent. She suddenly realized that she had no right to speak here. She was also a daughter living at her parents' home. Seeing her sister-in-law say this, Cheng Jinxiang felt somewhat dissatisfied. Did Zhu Yufeng have been dissatisfied with her for a long time?

For the first time, Cheng Jinxiang felt so uncomfortable staying at her parents' house. When she was younger, she didn't think much of it, but now that her older brother Cheng Rongguo was married, all the rooms in the house belonged to her nephews and nieces, and she could only stay there temporarily.

Thinking of this, Cheng Jinxiang felt a pang of sadness, even a little wronged. People really need to have their own home, a home that can accommodate her and her children.

Zhu Yufeng realized she might have gone too far earlier, making her seem cold and heartless, so she suggested, "It's not a problem to let Jinxiao come back, she can even stay at the Cheng family's house for a while. But I have to make this clear beforehand, the Cheng family doesn't have any extra beds for Jinxiao to sleep in. After all, there are still children in the house, and children need rooms when they grow up. I think, how about letting Jinxiao stay at Jinxi's house? Doesn't Jinxi have two girls at her house? They can't sleep together."

Zhu Yufeng was clearly planning to push things away completely. She didn't really want Cheng Jinxiao to go back to her parents' home, at least not for too long. She was divorced; who knew how long she'd have to stay! What if she couldn't find a husband for three or five years? She'd have to stay there forever.