"Mom~" Li Min suddenly felt like she wasn't born of her mother.
"Get away," Mother Li pushed her daughter's tugging hands away. "Don't mess around. Your sister-in-law will be scared away by your and my remarks."
Tian Jing finally understood who Li Min's personality resembled. Mother Li, with her good health and hopeful life, had revealed her true nature.
"Fine, you two must remember what you said today. Li Min, you're not allowed to regret it."
"If there's anyone who doesn't care about the rumors we've spread, you can test them. Anyway, you're all in the same village, so you can't escape serving an aging mother-in-law. As for the younger ones, that's still unknown."
"I will never regret it!" Li Min nodded vigorously. "As for the exchange marriage, I don't regret it either. If it weren't for the exchange marriage, sister-in-law wouldn't have come to our family, and our family wouldn't have changed so much in just a few days."
"By the way, sister-in-law, why did the Tian family arrange the timing separately?"
Fortunately, it was staggered, otherwise, she would have lost the chance to regret it.
"Because, ah~" Tian Jing drew out the sound. "Because I shouted loudly in the yard that the Tian family was exchanging their daughter for marriage, and the next day, Director Qi came to visit..."
Blah blah blah, Tian Jing recounted how she had tricked Director Qi and taken the opportunity to ask for eggs as a warning to everyone.
"In the future, if you encounter Director Qi or the Women's Federation investigating this matter, you must be careful with your words. Just say that they fancied me first, and then the Tian family forced the exchange marriage. Make sure to pin the blame on the Tian family."
Mm-hmm, mm-hmm, mm-hmm.
Mother Li and Li Min nodded repeatedly. Their daughter-in-law (sister-in-law) was too formidable, tricking Director Qi. Uh, no, she was telling Director Qi the truth. Our Li family is willing to provide for our daughter-in-law (sister-in-law), and we'll never dislike her large appetite.
However, her appetite seemed normal these past few days! Is she a big eater or not?
"Sister-in-law," Li Min reached out to put a piece of meat on Tian Jing's plate. "We don't dislike your big appetite, so don't be reluctant to eat."
Tian Jing raised her hand to stop her next move. "Stop picking for me, I'm full. I ate cornmeal flatbreads every day at the Tian family's, and it was half-filling with no oil or water. That steamed egg custard doesn't satisfy hunger as much as this piece of meat."
"I've been at the Li family for four days, and I've eaten my fill at every meal. Even on the first day you were unhappy, I wasn't starved."
Li Min's face showed shame. "My mother said to feed you well so you wouldn't be scared away, but I intended to only give you half a meal."
"What do you mean by half a meal?"
Tian Jing sized up Li Min and Li Zhengguo. Although they were thin, they weren't as emaciated as some people in the village who looked like bamboo poles. Only Mother Li looked sickly. She was thin, but not like a bamboo pole, likely due to emotional stress.
"I can eat five or six sweet potatoes in one meal, and I planned to give you only two or three."
Li Min recalled that she ate black steamed buns on the first night. She quickly changed her statement. "I can eat four or five steamed buns in one meal, and I planned to give you two. Actually, you only ate two that night, and I was secretly happy that there were leftovers. Who knew my elder brother ate them all."
No wonder the Li family was a struggling household in the village! So they were all big eaters?
"It's fortunate you planned to break off the engagement. Otherwise, if you went to the Tian family, a day's worth wouldn't be enough for you to eat in one meal. Old Mrs. Tian would portion everything out every meal, and the porridge, she'd ladle the thick kind for people she liked and the thin kind for those she didn't."
Li Min patted her chest in relief and began to clear the low table. After eating and chatting, only some stewed meat was left. Thinking that even in days of eating meat, there could be leftovers.
She became happy again. "Sister-in-law, I can eat my fill with pumpkins and wild vegetables when I follow you. Hehe, tonight's meat can still be left over. No one would believe it if I said it."
"You don't blame me for stewing ten pounds of meat?" Tian Jing got off the kangs, letting her clear the table, and couldn't help but tease her again.
"I don't blame you. I can only have the strength to endure hunger if I eat my fill."
Tian Jing couldn't help but laugh. "Alright, when the meat is gone, you'll go hungry."
"That won't do," Li Min immediately refused. "Sister-in-law, you've already told me that we won't lack meat in the future, so I won't go hungry. At worst, I'll eat kudzu root noodles every day."
Mother Li watched her daughter-in-law and daughter bicker, her face filled with smiles.
Her daughter had always been doted on and spoiled. Later, when the family encountered trouble, she couldn't do heavy labor, and her daughter had to busy herself with chores both inside and outside.
Now that she didn't want to marry just anyone, and Tian Jing could tolerate her daughter, she would protect her more. Once that plan was put into motion, she would bear all the gossip.
Returning to the west room, Tian Jing asked Li Zhengguo to find the ginseng. She quickly plucked off all the root hairs and then stuffed the ginseng into Li Zhengguo's arms.
"Take this ginseng to the village doctor. We'll need his help with that matter in a couple of days."
Li Zhengguo's heart softened completely. His Sweetie was so good, directly giving away a ginseng to bribe the doctor, showing she truly didn't want Min Min to jump into the Tian family's fiery pit. "Sweetie, this is too much. He probably wouldn't dare to accept it."
"How much is too much? How much do you think this is worth?"
"I estimate it's at least five hundred."
"Then have him keep half, and prepare the rest for us."
Thinking that Old Man Tian had extorted three hundred yuan from Lu Jianjun, which was her suggestion, Tian Jing felt a pang of regret.
"...So, Old Man Tian might ask for three hundred. But we need to approach it from three angles. First, I've already severed ties with the Tian family. Second, we'll threaten to report the Tian family to Director Qi. Third is Li Min's injury."
"We can pay at most one hundred yuan. The Tian family only received fifty yuan in betrothal gifts when Tian Ping married. I'm telling you this so you can carefully consider it. You'll negotiate with Old Man Tian, I'm just a daughter who follows her husband."
With that, she waved her hand, driving Li Zhengguo away. She wanted to wash up and sleep.
Li Zhengguo rolled up the ginseng in his hand. "I'll get you water."
Tian Jing was putting the plucked root hairs into the kang cabinet. She shrugged when she heard him, willing to do it? If you have the ability, persist in doing it year after year. However, if this person could truly persist in serving her like this, perhaps she could even take him as a personal bodyguard later.
Li Zhengguo groped his way in the dark to Doctor Yang's house.
Doctor Yang was already preparing to sleep. When he heard a knock at the door, he thought it was a patient. Upon seeing Li Zhengguo, he asked impatiently, "Are you here to pay for medicine?"
Li Zhengguo pushed him into the courtyard, closed the gate, and then pulled him back into the house. "Light the lamp."
"Don't I have to buy kerosene?"
Doctor Yang shook off his tugging, grumbling, but still lit the kerosene lamp. "Speak, why are you looking for me so late at night?"
Li Zhengguo took out the clothes bundle from his embrace and slowly opened it.
Ginseng?
Doctor Yang immediately held the kerosene lamp closer to examine it. When he saw it was just a bare ginseng root, he raised his hand and slapped the back of Li Zhengguo's head.
"Wasting precious resources, not only rolling it up carelessly but also crudely tearing off all the root hairs, ruining its medicinal properties and its price."
"Not for sale," Li Zhengguo rubbed the back of his head. This Doctor Yang's temper was getting worse and worse.
"Not for sale? Then what are you bringing it for?"
Doctor Yang put down the kerosene lamp, carefully washed his hands in the basin, and after drying them meticulously, picked up the bare ginseng root, examining it while shaking his head and muttering.