Dazhong was forced to drink several gulps of muddy water, his nose was running, and he flailed his hands desperately, his cries for help growing more pitiful.
"Alright, alright, Danyan, don’t end up killing your second brother."
Mrs. Lin quickly interjected, after all, he was her man, the sky above her head. No matter what Dazhong had done, Mrs. Lin would forgive him.
"No way, second sister-in-law, you saw it too; second brother is so dream-ridden he even kisses n. If he doesn’t snap out of it, who knows what scarier things he might do."
The thought of more terrifying things made Danyan shudder, and he tightened his grip even more. Only when Dazhong was nearly breathless was he dragged up.
Dazhong was in a sorry state by now, his hair and face covered with mud, looking like a clay man. He was panting heavily and took ages to co around.
Once he was sowhat cleared up, Mr. Mu scooped so water and poured it over Dazhong’s face, finally revealing his greasy face.
"Dad, what happened to ?" Dazhong asked weakly.
"Hmph, you’re asking what happened? You beast!" Mr. Mu slapped him, hitting him so hard that Dazhong flipped over.
"Dad, have you gone senile? Why are you hitting ?"
Danyan was bewildered; getting hit right off the bat and being called a beast, was his dad losing his mind?
Mu Shuangshuang kindly explained, "Second Uncle, just now you were dream-raving, not only did you hold and kiss Fifth Uncle, but you also... started taking off your clothes..."
When she got to the end, Shuangshuang pretended to be too embarrassed to continue, but what she had said was a bolt from the blue for Dazhong, especially the part about passionately kissing Dazhong.
Dazhong held his chest, feeling so nauseous he wanted to vomit but couldn’t.
"Oh lord, it’s making sick, making sick..."
"Well, second brother, how can you even say that, you’re the one who disgusted , you shaless thing."
Danyan and Dazhong, two grown n, were quarreling uncontrollably on the field ridge, until Mr. Mu wielded his authoritative thods and hit them both with a stick, making them finally quiet down.
Dazhong’s incident quickly passed as a re interlude, and it was rare for Mr. Mu to not show favoritism for once. The morning and afternoon’s work in the fields matched the amount done in several previous days.
It seed that the people of Old Mu Family could indeed do work when they set their minds to it.
...
...
By dusk, the exhausted mbers of Old Mu Family sprawled on the long bench in the main room, waiting for dinner.
All the food on the table was cooked by Mrs. Liu from Fourth House after finishing a full day’s work, while Old Mrs. Mu devoted all her ti to preparing delicacies for Mu Dade.
On the dinner table, a few simple vegetable dishes and a chili stir fry with a few slices of fatty at completely qualified as a balanced al.
Mr. Mu had sent Dazhong early in the morning to weigh two pounds of fatty at from Wang Erma’s house.
at was already expensive, and the fatty at was two wen more expensive than the lean at, so for Old Mu Family, it felt like celebrating a festive occasion, making life a bit more comforting.
Even though there were only a few slices of at in the chili stir fry, it was still much better than having none.
The mont the dishes were served, Zhenzhen swiftly moved her chopsticks, scooping the at from the dish bowl into her own, as if she was the only one dining.
"Zhenzhen, your dad and mom haven’t eaten yet, what are you doing eating on your own?"
Dazhong, who had been beaten in the afternoon and was already boiling with anger, seized the mont to criticize Zhenzhen.
"Why can’t I eat? Didn’t dad and mom buy the at because and Zhuangzi are here? Otherwise, would mom have spared the money to buy at?" Zhenzhen snapped back impolitely and then audaciously asked Old Mrs. Mu right in front of Dazhong.
"Mom, second brother says I shouldn’t eat these few dishes. I feel like I can’t stay in this house any longer; I want to go back. At least at ho, no one says I shouldn’t eat."
The mont Zhenzhen ntioned going back, Old Mrs. Mu’s heart ached.
"Oh, my precious daughter, what are you saying? Isn’t dad and mom’s place your ho? Eat whatever you want, don’t mind your second brother, his words are nonsense."
"Mom, you’re too biased; I’m not eating anymore." Dazhong threw down his chopsticks and stood up to leave.
"Then don’t eat, as long as our Zhenzhen is eating well," Old Mrs. Mu sneered before speaking.
"Yep, that’s right, mom. If they don’t eat, give everything to ; I can handle it," Zhenzhen said, stuffing fatty at into her mouth.
After gobbling up several chunks of fatty at, Zhenzhen finally felt so richness in her stomach.
She actually preferred lean at, but she couldn’t say it outright; otherwise, all the fatty at would just benefit her brothers.
"Zhuangzi, you eat more too, treat it like ho," Mr. Mu said to Zhuangzi, who was burying his head in eating.
Zhuangzi nodded and lifted his face full of horizontal at from the bowl, devouring his food in a few bites before handing his bowl to Old Mrs. Mu, "Mom, no sweet potatoes, all white rice."
Old Mrs. Mu was already aware of Zhuangzi’s gluttony. Ever since he ca, all the rice als at ho were his, and even she could only eat sweet potatoes.
"Zhuangzi, rice isn’t as tasty as sweet potatoes. Listen to mom, eat more sweet potatoes, that’ll make you stronger."
As the word "stronger" was ntioned, Mu Shuangshuang, who was munching on a sweet potato, almost choked to death.
This second uncle-in-law probably weighed about two hundred pounds, even fatter than Dazhong. Was Old Mrs. Mu suggesting he was too thin?
Since Zhuangzi ca, Old Mrs. Mu hardly ever had a pleased expression. Every morning, the first thing she did was check how much rice was left in the jar, watching it decrease day by day, she had long been wanting to say sothing to Zhuangzi.
"Mom, I’m already strong enough, besides, I didn’t grow up on sweet potatoes, I can’t eat them if you force to."
Zhuangzi was sowhat displeased. This mother-in-law, ever since wrongly accusing him of stealing her clothes last ti, hadn’t given him a good look, and now she wanted to cut his food portion, no way.
"Oh, then you go to the fields with your dad this afternoon, there’s a mountain of work waiting; you can’t just eat without doing anything."
Just eating without working, that was the truest reflection of Zhuangzi’s routine. Every day, he and Zhenzhen only got up after the sun was high.
After breakfast, they’d sleep, then have lunch, and the entire day was about eating and drinking and nothing else, completely unlike coming to work.
But as the saying goes, it’s easy to invite gods but hard to send them away. Zhuangzi and Zhenzhen were hiding from work back ho, aiming to fatten up here, so how could they start doing anything themselves.
"Mom, why are you always thinking about Zhuangzi working, my third brother and brother’s wife aren’t working either?"
"Zhenzhen, your big brother is preparing for his imperial exams, I don’t have ti," quickly piped up Mrs. Jin who was dining.
Hearing Mrs. Jin’s words, Mu Shuangshuang’s eyes twirled, and she imdiately followed up. "Second Aunt, eldest uncle taking the imperial exam is no trivial matter; auntie is quite precious, she can’t go to work."
Zhenzhen didn’t like her, so anything she agreed with, Zhenzhen would oppose.
Sure enough, the mont Mu Shuangshuang spoke, Zhenzhen got invigorated, determined to drag Mrs. Jin down, making sure she couldn’t have a comfortable life.
"Shuang girl, you’re wrong. My big brother’s exam isn’t being taken by her, why should she rest while dad and mom toil every day, having to serve her too?
Plus, the eldest house’s Ying girl and Dan girl, they’re no official’s wife kids, why are they being raised as ladies?
Eating and dressing isn’t for free, if they don’t have the life, don’t pretend to be wealthy, so as not to be laughed at, losing Old Mu Family’s face."
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