Zhulan immediately thought of Fourth Wang’s family. The house rented by Wang Laosi’s family has not been lived in for a long time. “It should be Wang Laosi’s house!”
Li Shi was stunned for a moment, then with a gleeful disregard for the seriousness of the situation, she said, “Fourth Wang’s family is really unlucky. Mother, I’ll go take a look.”
Zhulan didn’t bother to care about Li shi, but she didn’t agree that Fourth Wang’s roof collapsed because of bad luck. How could a real countryman like Fourth Wang not know the importance of cleaning the roof of the house when there is heavy snow? Most probably, he didn’t do it because he had no money in hand.
Zhou Shuren had been away from home for half a month, and Fourth Wang’s family had been buying kimchi for a while. Wang Ru was amazing; she sold the kimchi the next day. Although she didn’t make any money, she kept his capital. Seeing the cash money for selling kimchi, Wang Zhang shi has not stopped in the past half a month. She did all kinds of tricks just to get money, and then there were others from the village who took advantage and joined in. This was the first time Fourth Wang had so much money in his hand. This got to his head and in a moment of impulsiveness, loaned out quite a lot of money to fellow villagers.
Zhu Lan heard a lot of information from Li shi’s mouth. It started with everyone praising Fourth Wang, but then rumors spread about him being stingy. Fourth Wang’s reputation was deteriorating, and Zhulan knew that he didn’t have much money left. She never held a high opinion of Fourth Wang’s character. Deep down, he was like other Wang family members, selfish and arrogant but he kept an outward appearance of being friendly and helpful.
Zhulan went to Zhao shi with the rabbit skins in her arms. She learned from Zhao shi how to make shoes for a while, but she still needed her help to make boots, and she couldn’t do it by herself.
Zhulan really liked modern cotton boots with big heads, but Wang Ru didn’t know how to make them, so she didn’t introduce them into this world. Hence Zhulan had to make ancient boots.
In Zhao shi’s room, the eldest granddaughter huddled on the kang to warm her feet, whose shoes were already soaked.
As soon as Zhulan said that the new boots will not get wet as cotton shoes, the eldest granddaughter Yushuang ran over happily.
“Grandma, do I have them too?”
Zhulan was in a mess when she heard the voice of the little milk girl, “Yes, everyone in the home will have them. There will be one pair per person.”
Yushuang was very happy, “I can play outside now, and I am no longer afraid of wet shoes.”
Zhulan touched her granddaughter’s little head, she was so cute. Pinched her face for a while, and touched her ears for a while, the little girl was itchy, giggling, and Zhulan went crazy with her After a while, the little girl was sleepy, and fell asleep.
Zhao shi said in a low voice, “Mother the skins are ready.”
Zhulan picked up the small leather and said, “Make it for the children first.”
Zhao Shi felt sorry for her daughter’s red and frozen feet. Looking at the size of the shoes, she could tell they were made for her daughter. With a gentle smile, she replied, “Okay, Mother.”
Zhulan is very satisfied with the way she gets along with her now. Ever since she knew Zhao’s disguise, Zhao rarely cried in front of her, but the disguise had penetrated her bones, and sometimes she couldn’t help it. Zhulan also understood. As for asking about the process of Zhao’s escape from famine, Zhulan never planned to ask. Fleeing from famine was a memory that Zhao shi did not want to recall.
Shoes were hard to make, especially cotton boots with thick soles. It took Zhulan and Zhao a day to make two pairs of children’s shoes, one pair of Yushuang, and one pair of second grandson Mingteng.
Even though the shoes weren’t very aesthetically pleasing, they kept the two little ones warm and dry. Zhao shi even took them outside to play in the snow for a while. When they returned, she was pleasantly surprised to find that the shoes were truly waterproof. They became precious treasures, and she insisted on placing them in a visible spot, constantly gazing at them without blinking.
For dinner, they made dumplings. The white flour was not mixed with cornmeal at all. The dumpling wrapper made of pure flour was not pure white, and it turned yellowish.
While making dumplings, Li shi talked about the bustle of Fourth Wang’s family. The house was cleaned up in a day, but there was no way to live in it. Fortunately, no one was injured, but a lot of things were ruined, and many people who came to help secretly took advantage of it.
Zhulan asked, “Where will Fourth Wang’s family live at night?”
Li shi shook her head after watching the whole day’s excitement, “I don’t know. At first, I thought that after cleaning up, they could clean up a house to live in, but they didn’t expect the house to become unhabitable. When I left, they hadn’t decided yet!”
Zhao shi was worried, “Mother, when Fourth Wang had money at hand, he had offended a lot of people recently. And the others who were not offended, won’t want to associate with Fourth Wang’s family. They won’t come to our house, right?”
The action of Zhulan rolling the skin paused, and according to Fourth Wang’s brain circuit, it was really possible, and said with a lack of confidence: “Probably not!”
Zhao shi really didn’t want to touch idiots, especially those with a sick mind, “Mother what if they come?”
Just then, Boss Zhou shouted from the yard, “Second, Fourth Wang is looking for you.”
Zhulan, “…”
Li shi blamed Zhao shi, “Dimei, you have a crow’s mouth!” (1) (2)
Zhao shi was clutching her chest. She told herself repeatedly not to take the words of this idiot to heart, but the idiot was too irritating. What kind of crow’s mouth, it was clearly analyzed. Her eyes were red when she got angry, and tears fell, “Sǎozi, you are wronging me.” (3)
Li shi felt very proud. Zhao shi was close to her mother-in-law these days and was more considerate than her, but now she had caught the opportunity. The second daughter-in-law was an unlucky person. Mother must be far away from the second daughter-in-law this time, “Hmph, see, as soon as you mention Wang Laosi, trouble follows. Don’t you know that everyone is avoiding Wang Laosi’s family?”
Zhulan, “…”
She especially wanted to say that the kitchen was not soundproof at all, especially since Li shi’s voice was very loud, and the door was open. The people outside the door listened really, and Li shi pulled up another wave of hatred.
Fourth Wang blushed and didn’t wait for Second Zhou to come out. He glared in the direction of the kitchen, “If it is so annoying, we will leave.”
Zhulan looked at Li shi with a smile, “Good job.”
Li shi, “Mother, what did I do?”
Zhulan, “…”
Don’t get angry with idiots!