Liu Guimei wore a look of contempt.
She was obviously taking advantage of her pregnancy to get whatever she felt like eating.
Did she really think she was the only one who had ever been pregnant before?
If it was a daughter again in her womb this time, everything she ate would be for nothing.
"Wait here, I'll go to the kitchen and make you some."
A pregnant woman eats for two.
Seeing that her third daughter was thin as a skeleton, Madam Song really couldn't bear seeing her go hungry.
She could only hope that she could give birth to a son after filling her stomach.
She took out a plate of spicy stir-fried bamboo shoots, stir-fried eggs with chives and a fragrant pot of hot corn paste.
She said precautiously, "Let's have lunch in advance. If you get hungry later on, drink as much water as you want to fill your stomach. There's no more food at home."
She said that in case her daughters mistook it that the food at her house was truly never-ending.
Liu Guihua and Liu Guimei did not take her words seriously at all.
Which time did she not say that?
They would just go ahead and eat first.
"Mother, you're so biased towards Guihua. Why didn't I get to enjoy such treatment just now?' Liu Guimei wore a look of envy.
As compared to what her mother had offered her to eat just now, this was obviously much better.
"Did you really think I'd forget to include your share of the food? Are you the kind of person who would miss out on the good stuff?" Madam Song said, clearly unhappy.
Will she finally shut her mouth, now that it will be busy with food?
Liu Guihua picked up her chopsticks and coughed. Her three daughters, who had been playing nearby, rushed to her side with impressive speed and coordination.
It was clear that they had undergone extensive training to achieve such precise and seamless teamwork.
Liu Guimei rolled her eyes.
Her third sister was the best at such matters.
Seeing the food on the table, the children swallowed their saliva and said, "Granny, I'm not full yet. I'm so hungry."
"Granny, your cooking is really good."
"Granny, your cooking smells so good. I smelled it immediately."
They fired out compliments that were as sweet as honey. These made Madam Song laugh.
"Alright, alright, alright. Everyone will get to eat. Granny will get a bowl for each of you."
Though Madam Song often complained that they came over way too often to take advantage of her, she still doted on her three granddaughters from the bottom of her heart.
Seeing this, Liu Guimei was worried that she wouldn't be able to get a share later. Hence, she quickly scooped a big bowl of food for herself.
She even agilely picked up a large piece of egg and placed them in her own bowl. She started to gobble up her food.
She knew all too well how these three nieces ate.
It was akin to bandits entering the village and sweeping the villagers clean of their belongings.
In short, they acted like the reincarnations of a hungry ghost.
See?
In the blink of an eye, the plates and pot on the table were instantly emptied.
All of them started to eye her bowl of food covetously.
Liu Guimei did not give them any chance to snatch her food. She emptied the bowl of food into her mouth.
She deliberately made the gesture of emptying the bowl obvious and showed them at the end that her bowl was indeed empty.
Only with that, did they eventually disperse.
Madam Song was already used to it.
She had never expected any of them to think of her or to save her some food. It was already a bonus for her to be able to smell the fragrance of the food.
"Mother, let me clean up. You sit down." After eating, Liu Guihua stood up and prepared to clean up the dishes. She appeared to be very diligent.
Liu Guimei couldn't be bothered to clean up and would slack off if she could.
Whoever wanted to show off their diligence could do so.
However, even before Madam Song had warmed her seat, Liu Guihua suddenly cried out an 'Ouch!' and held her large belly with difficulty.
"Guihua, what's wrong?"
This shocked Madam Song greatly.
Is the baby coming?
Liu Guihua waved her hand leisurely and said, "It's fine, Mother. The baby kicked me probably because I was moving too much. It's fine."
Looking at her big belly, Madam Song guessed that the baby would probably arrive in the next few days.
Madam Song was really worried that any sudden movements by Liu Guihua might induce the birth of the baby.
Please don't give her any more trouble.
"No, no. Guihua, you should sit down and rest. I'll clear them myself." Madam Song stood up and took over the work from her.
She would do it herself.
"Mother, it's fine. I can do it." Liu Guihua insisted on working.
Madam Song insisted for her to sit down, cleared the dishes and brought them into the kitchen to wash them.
Liu Guimei pursed her lips in disdain.
She was tired of seeing Liu Guihua's same old tricks.
"Guihua, you're always using your children to take advantage of Mother." Liu Guimei couldn't help but be sarcastic.
"That's because Mother cares about me. Sigh, I can only blame myself for not having the luck like you to marry into a kind in-laws' family. That's why Mother has been continuously worried about me."
Each time she spoke, her sentences were filled with laments and whines of self-pity.
Liu Guimei's head buzzed from her whining and her head started to hurt.
She had thought that she was the best at lamenting, but Guihua was better than her at it.
"Alright, that's enough. Guihua, it's useless for you to whine to me. You should save your tears. It might be more useful to use those on Mother."
That made sense.
Her little sister was a stingy miser. She would not expect to get anything from her with her tears and whines.
Liu Guihua immediately wiped her tears dry.
"Guimei, didn't your mother-in-law just give birth to a daughter? Why are you back here instead of staying there to help take care of her?" Liu Guihua couldn't help but gossip.
This news had already spread to all the villages within a radius of ten miles from Liu Shan Village.
Logically deducing, the entire Fu family should be busy. How did she still find time to come back to her parents' house?
"I feel my anger rising at the mention of this. She's already so old and with grandchildren, yet she still insisted on having another child at this age. How embarrassing is that?"
At the mention of Fu Xing'er, Liu Guimei was furious. "Now, the entire family is revolving around my newborn sister-in-law, Fubao. Everyone is treating her like some precious treasure."
Liu Guimei was unhappy, but Liu Guihua was overjoyed.
"The Fu family had been having only sons for a few generations. Now that they have a daughter, they will definitely adore her like a treasure." She said gleefully, "Unfortunately, you gave birth to a son in that family. That's pretty much useless, just like how I had given birth to three daughters in a row in my family."
Liu Guihua gave a stab to Liu Guimei under the table.
Liu Guimei had the tendency to keep showing off in front of her sisters, saying that she was the only one amongst them who could give birth to a son.
However, that was only because she was lucky enough to marry into the poverty-stricken Fu family whose only specialty was that they only gave birth to sons.
Otherwise, she would have been exactly the same as them.
She knew that they had been unable to give birth to a son no matter how much they tried, yet she still rubbed salt into their wounds with every opportunity she got.
Liu Guihua had long waited for the opportunity to make a comeback like this.
Now that the Fu family finally had a daughter, Liu Guimei's son would seem pretty insignificant.
Liu Guimei grew furious when she heard that. "That's different. My son could at least carry on the Fu family's lineage. Unlike you, Guihua, you can't even fulfill this most basic wish of your in-laws."
You want to hurt each other?!
Let's do that, then!
That stab went pretty deep.
Liu Guihua turned red with anger and her fetal movements became more frequent.
Liu Guimei said nonchalantly, "I guess different people do indeed have different lives. Look at Fubao. She's treated like precious gold in the family. Whereas for your daughters, they are treated like trash.
If this child in your belly happens to be a girl too, I'm afraid you'll be kicked out by your in-laws very soon."
"Trash? You can't even give birth to 'trash' like mine, even if you wanted to.
Besides, look at your attitude. You have a son, yet you're still so lazy. Will you really be able to save enough to build him a big house for his family in the future?
Fubao is indeed lucky. She might get all the inheritance of the Fu family in the future. I bet your son won't even have a chance," Liu Guihua retorted with her big belly.
It was infuriating, cursing her to have yet another daughter.
"You better pray hard. As the saying goes, it will be a son if the mother likes sour food, and a daughter if the mother likes spicy food. You seemed to like the spicy bamboo shoots a lot just now. Let's see how your mother-in-law would interpret this." Liu Guimei was ruthless.
Liu Guihua was so taken aback that her face turned pale. She clutched her belly in pain.
She felt something warm trickle down her leg, and looked down to see a puddle on the ground. She screamed, "Ah! My belly hurts!"