Chapter 23: Chapter 23

Lan Hui had specially prepared this pot of autumn pear soup for Wei Luan. It was perfect for this season.

However, Lan Hui also knew that if she gave Qiu Li soup to Wei Luan alone, Wei Luan might not drink it as he was afraid that the villagers would talk nonsense.

Hence, Lan Hui cooked a big pot and prepared to give it to the others in the wheat field first. When everyone else drank it, Wei Luan would definitely not reject it.

When she thought about how she would be able to talk to Wei Luan again, a sweet and expectant smile emerged on her face.

However, Lan Hui did not usually do much work. When cooking the autumn pear soup, she had to keep the fire burning and stir it from time to time. Lan Hui became impatient after standing in front of the stove for a few minutes.

At this moment, Lan Hui saw her second sister-in-law’s two daughters carrying two baskets of pig grass into the house. Lan Hui immediately shouted, “Come and help!”

Lan Hui usually had a very high status at home, so her second older brother’s two daughters did not dare to disobey Lan Hui. They immediately put down the stuff and went to the kitchen.

“Eldest Niece, go and start the fire. The fire can’t be too big, understand? Second Niece, look after the soup in the pot. Don’t let it dry up. I’ll go and sleep for a while. All of you, be more serious. Don’t be lazy.”

After Lan Hui gave the orders, she stretched and returned to her room to sleep.

The two little girls were six or seven years old. One of them was watching the fire, and the other was cooking soup. Not long after, Lan Hui’s second sister-in-law, Chunxiu, returned.

Chunxiu was eight months pregnant. As soon as she entered, she smelled the smell of stewed pears. She hurriedly went to the kitchen and saw her two daughters cooking a pot of pears.

“What are you doing? Who asked you to cook all the pears?” Chunxiu looked at the pot full of pears and felt bad about cooking them.

In the countryside, pears were also rare commodities. Usually, people could not bear to eat them. After plucking pears, they would send them to town to be sold for money. No one would waste them by cooking them.

“Aunt asked us to cook it.”

“Where’s your aunt?”

“She went to bed.”

Upon hearing her daughter’s answer, Chunxiu became even angrier! Her two daughters had gone out early in the morning to pick pig grass, but as soon as they returned, Lan Hui ordered them to work.

Lan Hui was 18 years old this year. How could she have the cheek to let two six or seven-year-old children work for her while she went to sleep?

“Mother, the pears are so fragrant. I want to try them too.” The second niece smelled the fragrance of the pears and was about to drool. However, Lan Hui was not around, so the two of them did not dare to secretly eat them. Now that their mother was back, the second niece mustered her courage and raised this idea.

Chunxiu looked at her thin and small daughter and felt sorry for them. She immediately took out two bowls from the side. “Drink up. You cooked the soup, so it’s fine to drink some if you like!”

The girls’ eyes lit up. They came over and were about to take a bite of the bowl filled with autumn pear soup when a sharp voice suddenly sounded. “Put it down! Who asked you to drink it secretly!”

Lan Hui walked into the kitchen with a bag of rock sugar and snatched the bowls from her nieces’ hands. “You did not work hard, yet you’re all gluttons. Fortunately, I caught you. Go and work as you’re told!”

Lan Hui glared fiercely at her nieces. After scolding them, she looked at Chunxiu and said unhappily, “Second Sister-in-Law, why didn’t you stop your daughters from secretly drinking the soup?”

Hearing Lan Hui’s words, Chunxiu was so angry that her hands were trembling. “What do you mean by secretly drinking? Isn’t this autumn pear soup for the family to drink? They helped you make the soup. Why can’t they take a sip?”

“Don’t we feed them? Do they have to eat everything they see? Wouldn’t it be embarrassing if word got out? I’m going to make this soup for someone else. What if it isn’t enough?”

Lan Hui rolled her eyes. Seeing Chunxiu actually dared to refute her, she instantly found her nieces annoying. She said mockingly, “You gave birth to two stupid girls instead of sons. It’s already good enough that the family is willing to support them. Do you still expect them to eat and drink good food? Dream on!”

Chunxiu was the second daughter of the village chief. Her status was actually not bad. However, after Chunxiu married into the Lan family, she gave birth to two daughters in a row but no sons. Therefore, Chunxiu had always been despised by Lan Hui’s parents. Her status in the Lan family got increasingly lower, and her two daughters did not have a presence in the family.

This year, Chunxiu was pregnant with her third child. It would be fine if this child was a boy, but if it was a girl again, Chunxiu might not even be able to raise her head in the Lan family in the future.