Qi Zhi crawled on Qi Shuyan 's bed and stared at the bowl of porridge while gulping down his saliva. Even Qi Mei walked to the corner of the room to help Lin Jing and Su Wan who was ' temporarily ' fixing the roof of Mother Lin's room. As Qi Shuyan was going to sleep here today, they couldn't leave the room as it was and wait for the foreman to bring his subordinates tomorrow and fix it. Thus, the two of them were temporarily stuffing thatched straw mats in the roof to block the cold winds.
After eating a few bites of the savoury porridge, Qi Shuyan looked at his siblings. Qi Zhi was staring at the bowl of porridge in their godfather's hand piteously while swallowing his drool even Qi Mei was shooting furtive looks as she looked at Lin Jing who was climbing down the table after fixing the roof.
Qi Shuyan smiled and raised his hand to rub his little brother's head and said" I am full, you two can eat the rest -"
Qi Zhi immediately shook his head like a sensible child and hurriedly spoke up " elder brother we have already eaten. Sister in law cooked delicious minced meat porridge and fat swamp eels, it was really delicious. I am full, you should eat more lest you wake up hungry in the middle of the night "
Qi Shuyan was the eldest child of his family, as the eldest son, it was his responsibility to take care of his little siblings. Even when they were at home, He would always give the largest share of anything good to his two siblings and eat the smallest one himself. After doing it for so many years, it became his habit - thus even with this delicious chicken porridge in front of him, he refused to enjoy it alone without giving a share to his siblings.
Su Wan who saw the stalemate smiled before intervening to end it " Shuyan you should eat the porridge yourself. I have cooked enough for everyone to enjoy, Ah Mei, Ah Zhi come follow sister in law, I will serve a bowl of porridge for everyone and then you two can distribute it to everyone in the family, will that be okay ?"
Qi Zhi immediately cheered up and jumped off Mother Lin's bad before following Su Wan like a little tail.
Qi Shuyan only resumed eating when his siblings brought two bowls for each one of them and gave the remaining two bowls to Mother Lin and Father Lin. Eating the warm and delicious porridge, Qi Shuyan felt that his entire body was being warmed up and he felt comfortable all over his body.
The Lin brothers house was full of comfort and warmth while the old Lin family house was thrown into trouble once again.
Originally, Grandma Lin didn't want to go to the Lin brothers house because of Lin Heng. However, by the time evening dawned and the sky turned a sinful black, her stomach started to ache. She hoped that when her daughter would return she will bring a basket full of wild vegetables but the second Lin Zhi returned all her hopes were broken.
" where are the wild vegetables ?" shrieked Grandma Lin as she pointed at Lin Zhi, her chest heaved up and down " why didn't you harvest the wild vegetables for the family to eat ?"
Lin Zhi who had just returned after cleaning the weeds in their family fields felt her already sour mood drop even further as she threw the water basin in which she was washing her hands and face, then shouted at her mother even more furiously " what do you mean ' why didn't I harvest the vegetables '? Am I the man of this family or your precious son is? I already worked in the fields from noon to evening and now you want me to even harvest the wild vegetables? Then why don't I become the head of the house and you name everything after my name !"
" What nonsense are you talking about !" Lin Ze who was already upset upon hearing Father Lin's return felt as if his little sister was questioning his male pride and his expression immediately darkened " you are just a woman what do you know? How dare you ask for a share of the family property when you are nothing but just a woman! Have you eaten all your respects for rules and morals ?"
" Hah! Elder brother it's better if you don't speak about rules with me " sneered Lin Zhi with a mocking curl of her lips " the rules also say that women should stay in the house and take care of the family and men should go out and earn. But did you go to the fields and ploughed it? Did you sow the seeds? Did you clean the weeds? No, you didn't! While you were enjoying your wonderful nap in the afternoon, I was slaving away in the fields. Neither of you cleaned the weeds while you all said that I only need to be responsible for sowing the seeds while you will take care of everything later on. Instead, what I saw today was nothing but a field full of weeds, is this how you take care of things? If I didn't clean the fields then our crops would have been destroyed and yet you have the face to scold me? At least I was working what were you all doing? The five of you couldn't even harvest a basket of vegetables !"
Lin Zhi already heard the news of her elder brother's return thus she knew that her mother wouldn't dare to find trouble with her nephews today. Though she didn't know whether or not Lin Ze was related to her elder brother's disappearance, she had some doubts about it after all she had heard Lin Ze's story and knew there were many loopholes. With her elder brother's capabilities as an excellent fisherman, he couldn't drown just like that - so she was more or less suspicious towards her second brother.
Thus, she knew that with her family's little guts no one would go and find trouble with her nephews, She also knew that her mother and brother were extremely lazy and the same could be said about the rest of the family - Lin Zhi knew they wouldn't harvest the vegetables but that didn't mean she will harvest it for them! The only reason she cleaned the weeds in the fields today was all because she wanted to earn some money from it. After all, she was the one who sowed it so it goes without saying that she should have a share in it, that was the only reason she was willing to clean the fields as for harvesting the wild vegetables - sorry she wasn't as stupidly filial as Zhao Lan, if her family disliked her for that then let them scold her - let's see if they can scold her to death!
In the end, she harvested some wild vegetables and berries, and with the new technique of catching fish that spread around the village she was able to have cooked a good lunch and dinner, even though it wasn't extremely delicious and sumptuous - it was filling and nothing was more important than that.
Thus, Lin Zhi who was full and completely comfortable had no qualms in fighting with the old Lin family who was nearly dying of hunger. Humph, it would be better if they all died of starvation at least her ears would be relieved!
This might teach them a lesson about how it feels to be starved!