Zhang Mu looked up and saw her in-laws' unpleasant expression.
She had already heard from her daughter about the things that had happened these past two days.
Hu Hongju's family was relatively well-off in the production team, not only because her husband was the team accountant, but also because her father was the accountant for the Wang Er production team. Every time she returned from her maiden home, she brought back bags and bags of goods.
After her daughter broke off her engagement with Li Zhengguo, she had racked her brains to marry her daughter into the Li accountant's family. Young men from the Kùshān area were indeed hard to marry off; otherwise, Hu Hongju would not have agreed to this engagement.
Her gaze swept over the people surrounding her daughter. She raised her finger and pointed at them, "It's all their fault. When Fangcao was falling backward, not only did they not reach out to help, but they all stepped back, causing Fangcao to fall."
The women gathered around were indignant. They would absolutely not take the blame.
"Bah! Your daughter was standing next to you, chatting and laughing, and you suddenly reached out and pushed her, pushing her so hard that she couldn't help but fall backward. Why should anyone else be obligated to catch her? Luckily, no one caught her; if they had stumbled, the blame would have been firmly placed on your head."
"Exactly, why don't you look at your daughter's character? Who would want to go near her? Even touching her feels unlucky."
"You pushed her yourself, and now you're blaming others for not catching her? Why don't you talk about why you pushed her?"
"That's right, we saw you and your daughter-in-law talking to her, and suddenly you turned hostile. What was going on?"
Zhang Mu retorted, "It's your fault. If you had reached out a hand, nothing would have happened!"
Hu Hongju rubbed her chest, the anger of the past two days a heavy burden.
Now that her in-laws could utter such shameless words, she understood the saying, "Like mother, like daughter."
"Shut up. You pushed Fangcao yourself and then blamed others for not catching her. Only your Zhang family could say such shameless things. I feel ashamed just hearing it. How could I have been so blind back then? Aiguo, quickly come and carry your wife over to Doctor Yang's place."
Hu Hongju saw her younger son pushing his way through and quickly called out to him. These women were wasting time with their arguments, but looking at the amount of blood, she probably couldn't keep the baby.
...
Li Zhengguo hurried home with the pork, completely unaware of what had happened behind him. Even if he had known, he wouldn't have stopped his steps homeward.
In the Li family kitchen, pumpkin was being steamed. The pumpkin, which had been accelerated by Tian Jing's wood element ability, had a fragrance that made one's mouth water.
Leaning against the steam rising from the pot, Li Min inhaled deeply. It was too fragrant, like yesterday's wild vegetables. The aroma of the food seemed stronger than usual.
She couldn't quite describe it, but it was very, very fragrant, and she wanted to eat it.
Li Zhengguo entered the kitchen with the pork and saw his sister's ravenous look. He also smelled the rich pumpkin fragrance, more so than he remembered.
His gaze fell on Tian Jing, who was examining the pork. His original plan had to change. "Tiantian, is there a lot of pumpkin steamed in this pot?"
Li Min became anxious when she heard this. "Not much, not much, only two were steamed."
Steaming only two yet she called it "not much"? But smelling the aroma, Li Zhengguo knew why his sister said that. He would probably be eating quite a bit later.
"Then cut two more and steam them. I have a use for them."
"Okay." Li Min left the kitchen to get the pumpkins. As long as her elder brother didn't take hers from this pot, she was fine.
Li Zhengguo whispered in Tian Jing's ear, "The captain said we don't have to hand over the pumpkins anymore. I originally wanted to give two away, but this fragrance..."
"It's fine, you decide."
Li Min came in with the pumpkins. Li Zhengguo changed the subject and pointed at what he was carrying. "Do these need to be cut?"
"Mmm," Tian Jing nodded. "You don't need to cut these. I need ingredients."
"Tell me."
"Sichuan peppercorns, star anise, soy sauce, ginger, scallions, garlic, a little white wine. Grab a pumpkin and go borrow them."
Tian Jing knew that the people who had these ingredients were either the captain's family, the butcher's family, or the accountant's family.
The accountant was their paternal uncle, and after what had been said yesterday, they definitely couldn't borrow from him. In fact, they should be returning something. She needed to remind Li Min about this.
"Okay." Li Zhengguo went out to borrow the items.
Li Min came in with the second pumpkin, cut it open, and carefully collected the seeds.
"Sister-in-law, if we plant these seeds next spring, do you think we'll get pumpkins this big? Will they have such a fragrant taste?"
"I don't know." Tian Jing's eyes darted. "Li Min, after the autumn harvest in Kùshān, do you not plant anything else?"
"No. Even though the weather is good now, as soon as it rains, it will get cold immediately," Li Min said, her hands never stopping. "Are you thinking of planting pumpkins?"
"Yes," Tian Jing nodded.
Li Min poured cold water on her. "Stop dreaming. The pumpkins and loofah in summer and autumn only produce small buds. We watch them anxiously, but they just don't grow. It's even more impossible in winter."
"But I still want to try. If I don't try, I won't be convinced. Besides, I don't plan to plant them outside; I want to plant them indoors."
When Li Zhengguo returns, she'll assign him some work. His carpentry skills are quite good; she should be able to get a few wooden boxes from him, right?
"Planting indoors?" Li Min's work finally stopped. "How do you plant them indoors?"
"I'll ask your brother to help make something this afternoon. After it's done, you can watch and see how I do it." Tian Jing didn't want to explain.
"Alright, then I won't be polite. I'll learn as much as I can from you."
Since her sister-in-law asked her to watch, Li Min knew she was being allowed to learn the trade.
Li Min scooped the pumpkin from the bamboo steamer in the pot into a basin. She added water under the steamer, placed the washed pumpkins on the steamer, and covered it with the lid, adding firewood.
"Let's go, sister-in-law. We'll eat, and then we'll work. We'll be even busier this afternoon. I'm full of energy."
Li Min, holding the basin, called out to Tian Jing. She couldn't wait to eat. There was a lot of work this afternoon, and she was in a hurry.
"Be right there."
Tian Jing inverted a clay pot, which she used for mixing dough, onto the board covering the meat and pork liver. This was to prevent wild cats or dogs from stealing them.
Not having a courtyard wall was inconvenient. She should ask Li Zhengguo to build one. And this kitchen, which was drafty everywhere, how would they cook in winter?
When Li Zhengguo returned after borrowing the items Tian Jing needed, he found that his family had already started eating. No one was willing to wait for him; the pumpkin was too fragrant.
The two large pumpkins, each weighing over ten catties, would shrink after steaming, but they would still weigh at least twenty catties.
A basin, which was a regular-sized wooden basin for washing vegetables, was filled to the brim with steamed pumpkin, and the four of them finished it all, not even leaving the rind.
Li Min patted her belly. "I'm so full. I haven't been full in many years."
Tian Jing took the opportunity to mock her. "You've heard so many compliments for so many years, yet your stomach is still empty?"
"Sister-in-law, I was wrong. Can you give me some face?" Li Min had figured out Tian Jing's temperament; she was soft but not hard.
"Alright, hurry up and get to work, and I won't mention it again."
"Okay, I'm full now, and I have the energy."