Rebirth in Famine: She Thrives by Lucky Space

Li Yunqiang was just chatting idly with everyone.

Seeing him full of vigor, bawdy words slipped out too.

Sho Wen and the two others also came over to say hello, calling her ’Auntie.’

Actually, this is quite good. They are already grown up; expecting them to call her ’Mom’ is unrealistic. As long as they get along peacefully, it’s fine.

Yue Lanfeng also chatted with them with a smile, which seemed alright.

The educated youths were secretly observing Yue Lanfeng. They had their thoughts about an educated youth marrying someone who had remarried. They felt that this female educated youth might be someone vain.

But looking at her expression, it didn’t quite seem so.

Yue Lanfeng didn’t care about others’ gazes at all, thinking they could look if they wanted to.

Today’s work was splitting the cotton stalks, which wasn’t easy.

”You go to work; I need to go to the county to deliver eggs.”

”Okay, be careful.”

When the couple talked like this, a few newcomers familiar with Li Yunqiang made a fuss.

”Can you come back by noon?”

”I can. But you’ll have to cook; I won’t be back early.”

Yue Lanfeng nodded.

”Shu Wen and they know the grains in the house. Both can cook; they’ll help you.”

When the time came, Li Cunshan led everyone to the fields.

Yue Lanfeng was a capable person. She was also strong-willed. Even though she wasn’t feeling well, she didn’t slack off or play tricks.

The village women looked at her and liked her behavior.

They whispered that Yunqiang married the right person this time.

Li Cunshan also looked very satisfied at her. It wasn’t just for show; she was genuinely quite capable.

The educated youths felt even more discomforted, seeing that she was much more competent than them.

At noon, when work was over, Shu Wen and Shuxin followed behind Yue Lanfeng, and the three went home together.

All three felt quite awkward and didn’t know what to say.

Once home, they busied themselves with cooking, and it became less awkward.

Yue Lanfeng saw a large basin of dough, ”How about we make a pot meal? Back at my parents’ house, because we had to calculate everything, it saved firewood, and it was actually quite tasty.”

The two had no objections. They had never had a pot meal with steamed buns.

Yue Lanfeng deftly cooked the potatoes first, then started preparing the dough rolls, placing them flat over the potatoes, with a circle around the edge of the pot.

”I’ll tend to the fire. If it’s too hot, it’ll burn.”

The two brothers went to the vegetable garden to pick cucumbers. They peeled a bunch of scallions, washed, and placed them on the table.

Li Yunqiang seemed to arrive just as planned, right when Yue Lanfeng turned off the stove. He was home.

Smelling the aroma of home-cooked food, he was happy inside. Today, he was actually earlier than usual because he was eager to get home.

No longer needing to make his own meals after coming home, just smelling the food, he knew he wouldn’t have to eat his sons’ half-cooked and poorly-flavored meals anymore.

”You’re back. Sweating so much, don’t use cold water, and don’t drink it directly.”

Hearing his wife’s advice, Li Yunqiang’s smile broadened.

The family of four gathered to eat.

”Eating like this is pretty good.”

”In my own home, meals are cooked like this to save fuel.”

The two kids were quite satisfied with Yue Lanfeng’s cooking skills as well.

Teenage boys eat their parents out of house and home, and they finished every bit of food from the pot.

The afternoon work started at two, giving everyone an hour and a half to rest.

Originally, Li Yunqiang wanted to do something, but seeing his wife fall asleep quickly on the pillow, he held back and didn’t have the heart to wake her.

In the afternoon, the couple went to work together too.

”Feng’er, how about making a brick house? Let’s build five rooms.”

”Won’t that cost a lot? I still have three hundred yuan on my own.”

”No need for yours. Keep it for yourself.”

No matter her intentions, her words made Li Yunqiang satisfied.

Yue Lanfeng knew about building the house, so she was even less inclined to shirk. She also knew the credits in Li Family Village were valuable. So she wanted to earn more, as after building the new house, new furniture would be needed; money was needed everywhere.

She decided to save the two sets of bedding prepared by her aunt and the ones from Li Yunqiang for when they moved into the new house.

Li Cunshan beside Li Yunqiang said, ”Your wife seems pretty good now.”

”Yes, I also feel she’s genuinely good. Truly good.

Brother Cunshan, you know, she said she had money when she found out I was building a house and wanted to give it to me.”

Seeing Li Yunqiang’s proud look, Li Cunshan was happy for him too.

”Yunqiang, you shouldn’t just act on impulse anymore. You’re at the age, still with a childlike temperament, treating her with utmost care when it’s good. Thinking of divorce when it’s not. Have you considered the four kids?”

”Yes, I understand.”

”In the future, even if your wife does something wrong or displeases you, try teaching her slowly.”

”Okay, I definitely will this time.”

”What can I say about you? You know the downsides of marrying an educated youth, stopping Xiang Dong from having such ideas, yet you married one yourself.”

”Brother Cunshan, it’s different. Don’t worry, even if that day comes when she wants to leave, I wouldn’t allow it.”

Li Cunshan shook his head, ”Just live your life properly.”

Actually, Li Yunqiang didn’t need to work in the afternoon to get a full workday credit. Working in the afternoon only earned him half.

He was motivated by his wife. If a new wife could work hard to build a house for the family, what excuse did he, a man, have?

In the evening, the family ate handmade noodles. Cold noodles were rarely eaten because they were labor-intensive and wasteful.

There was tomato and egg stir-fry with minced garlic mixed with pickled vegetable cubes.

Yue Lanfeng was already familiar with the Li family’s meals. This village ate fine grains, unlike her uncle’s house, which mainly had sorghum and corn; this one mainly had white flour.

”Our village’s farm needs a lot of corn. It even requires purchasing a lot from outside. This year, the village has opened a distillery too, so the sorghum isn’t enough either.

So everyone eats white flour. Next year, they’ll try planting rice.”

Listening, Yue Lanfeng was envious. Everyone envying the life in Li Family Village had its reasons too.

After dinner, the two kids tidied up very diligently, clearly used to it.

Actually, even if they did nothing, Yue Lanfeng wouldn’t boss them around; that’s the difficulty of being a stepmother.

After washing up, the two kids went to their room. That night, Li Yunqiang was quite satisfied. Youthful energy is good.

Xiang Dong returned from out of town; hearing his dad came looking for him, he tidied up and went home.

A month had nearly passed since he married Li Yunqiang, and September was almost here.

Because the farm work was light in Li Family Village, the kids still attended school.

Xiang Dong returned home to discover many changes but didn’t give it much thought.