Yang Cuihua was chatting with Xu Niannian in the main room, and she didn't bother to keep their voices down.
She wasn't afraid her son would hear them.
Thus, their opinions about their children were clearly heard by Xu Zhicheng, who was outside helping to chop firewood, as well as Xu Zhiqiang, who was busy in the kitchen.
Xu Duoyu also heard, but he didn't understand the meaning yet.
Xu Zhiqiang, expressionless, cooked the meal, letting Xu Duoyu play nearby without really asking him to help, his eyes betraying no emotion.
The young boy had already learned to endure and keep his feelings hidden.
However, Xu Niannian's made-up dream was spoken so softly that, except for Yang Cuihua, nobody else heard it.
Before long, Xu Zhiqiang had prepared and brought out the meal.
The so-called meal was nothing but the coarsest of coarse grains.
Rice bran porridge, boiled with a few green vegetables, and a dish of dark, salty pickles.
Rice bran was something that, even in the remote rural areas of later generations, no one would eat—it was feed for pigs.
Yet in the Xu family, it was the staple food.
Because the Xu family only had two people capable of working, Yang Cuihua and Xu Zhiqiang. Xu Dawei was lame, unable to work, always in pain, and there were five mouths to feed at home.
The food earned from just two people's labor was never enough for the family.
So every year, when grains were distributed, Yang Cuihua would exchange finer grains like sorghum and corn for even coarser rice bran.
Because not many people ate rice bran, one pound of sorghum or corn could be traded for five to six pounds of rice bran.
Yet even though the family was this poor, Yang Cuihua and Xu Dawei still ensured that Xu Niannian could eat somewhat better food every meal.
For instance, now, while the entire family was eating rice bran porridge, only the bowl in front of Xu Niannian contained white rice porridge.
White rice was a rare fine grain during this era; an ordinary rural family could only get about 15 to 20 pounds of it per year.
But precisely because it was so rare, poorer families couldn't bear to eat it, often trading it for coarser grains like sorghum and corn.
Thus, the overly diluted white rice porridge in front of Xu Niannian was indeed enviable.
Xu Niannian genuinely couldn't stomach rice bran, as someone accustomed to eating white rice, switching to the dirt-colored rice bran would certainly be unpalatable.
But seeing that everyone in her family was eating rice bran, while she alone had white rice porridge, she really couldn't swallow it.
She didn't have much affection for this family presently, since she was only reborn, and these people weren't her true relatives.
But to completely disregard them, she also couldn't bring herself to do that.
Besides, she craved family affection more than anyone, and given this opportunity presented before her, how could she willingly give it up?
Therefore, she was determined to treat this family well.
To make them her true relatives.
"Niannian, why aren't you eating? Is it because you're not feeling well?" Yang Cuihua asked when she saw Xu Niannian hadn't touched her food, thinking she might be unwell.
Xu Niannian quickly replied, "I'll eat, I'll start right now."
Xu Duoyu was sitting to her left, along with Xu Zhiqiang at the table, eagerly staring at the white rice porridge in her bowl.
Seeing his innocent gaze, Xu Niannian's heart softened a great deal.
"Duoyu, do you want to try some of my porridge?"
As soon as Xu Niannian asked, Yang Cuihua glared fiercely at Xu Duoyu, "What are you thinking, you rascal? Coveting your sister's food again?"
"Mom!" Xu Niannian shouted, wincing, "I can't eat that much."
Catching her daughter's look, Yang Cuihua held back her dissatisfaction with her younger son and said no more.
In fact, her daughter having that dream made her a bit uneasy; for her daughter's safety, she still decided to endure it for a while.
Duoyu's tiny heart trembled as he was yelled at by Yang Cuihua. He held Xu Zhiqiang's waist with his little hands, his tiny lips pursed in a way that seemed he was about to cry but wasn't.
Xu Zhiqiang set down his chopsticks and soothed him, "Duoyu, be good."
Dawei also disapproved of Niannian giving their son the white rice porridge—it was such a small amount of fine grain, and Niannian didn't have enough for herself.
However, he usually sided with his wife's opinion. Since she hadn't stopped their daughter from sharing, he didn't say much.
Niannian picked up Duoyu's bowl and poured rice bran porridge into the pot—he hadn't yet eaten. Then she shared half of the porridge from her own bowl with him.
Xu Zhiqiang gave Niannian a meaningful look, and Niannian just pretended she didn't see.
Let them suspect. She had already said what she needed to say. Letting her continue to be as arrogant and bullying as the original owner, tormenting younger children, was out of the question.
Having received the white rice porridge, Duoyu gulped it down eagerly, almost too fast to swallow, devouring it.
This sight made Niannian feel a pang of heartache.
Yang Cuihua, on the other hand, reluctantly pursed her lips, unwilling to part with that bit of fine grain.
Seeing Duoyu eating so happily brought a smile to Niannian's face, and the salty pickled vegetables in her dish didn't seem so hard to swallow after all.
She swore she must change this family's living conditions.
Things were really too austere.
She couldn't get involved in other people's lives, but since she had been reborn into this family, she couldn't let her own family live such a hard life.
After dinner, the family soon went back to their rooms to sleep—there wasn't much entertainment in this era, and everyone went to bed early.
It was only then that Niannian realized that the room she was staying in was the largest in the house.
The room of Yang Cuihua and Dawei was not as spacious as hers.
Not to mention Xu Zhiqiang and his brothers' room.
Moreover, the three brothers shared one room and had only one bed.
Niannian had just sat down on the bed when there was a knock on the door.
"Who is it?"
Niannian looked at the door suspiciously. Who would come to see her at this time? Could it be Yang Cuihua?
As this thought crossed her mind, she heard Xu Zhiqiang's cool voice from outside: "It's me!"
Xu Zhiqiang? What did he want with her? She remembered that this younger brother rarely initiated contact with her unless it was necessary.
But what could possibly require his attention at this time?
After entering the room, Niannian bolted the door, having to get up to answer it.
As she opened the door, she saw Xu Zhiqiang, unsmiling, carrying a basin of water inside.
"Here, wash your feet."
Seeing Xu Zhiqiang carrying in the foot basin, Niannian remembered—the original owner never washed her feet outside; she always had Xu Zhiqiang bring the water inside for her wash, which was sheer laziness.
And because she couldn't stand this younger brother, the original owner always did things to insult Xu Zhiqiang while washing her feet.
Like rubbing her feet on his face, shaking water onto his body, or wiping her feet on him, using his clothes as a towel.
Sitting on the bed when this thought crossed her mind, Niannian's slippers were already being removed by Xu Zhiqiang, who was about to put her feet into the basin.
Niannian shivered, sharply pushing Xu Zhiqiang away: "No need, I'll do it myself."
Xu Zhiqiang hadn't expected her to push him and was unprepared—he ended up sitting on the ground…