Cheng Ying couldn't help but laugh; this was eavesdropping on a couple's fight. In Cheng Ying's eyes, her grandmother was flawless in every way, even condoning the old woman siding with her man against his wife.

It was all for the sake of their future life together, after all. "Yingzi, quickly ask Uncle Shenglin to come inside and sit down!" Yang Zhi called out.

Cheng Ying finally understood; this man was from the same generation as her father, so he must be Cheng Shenglin. This was the good thing about the countryside—everything was organized by generation, and names followed suit.

Furthermore, the Cheng surname was a major family in this village. Cheng Ying opened the door.

"Grandma, it’s cold outside. Let’s go in.

Uncle, why don't you stay for a bit too?" Uncle Shenglin was honest, but he knew going inside meant enduring another long lecture from the old lady, so he quickly waved his hands. "No, no, Uncle won't stay.

Yingzi, don't mind your auntie's words." "I won't, Uncle. Do stop by another time!" Saying that, she helped her grandmother inside.

"Grandma, why didn't you take me with you? It’s so cold out." "Grandma isn't cold!

Grandma's forehead is sweating buckets!" Even though it was dark, Cheng Ying could clearly see the tiny beads of sweat on her grandmother's brow. She must have been scolding with such vigor that she broke a sweat.

Cheng Ying had her grandmother sit on the kang and retrieved a few honeysuckle flowers from her spatial storage, brewing them with boiled water to soothe her throat. Scolding was hard work; otherwise, why would Grandma be sweating?

Her throat must be dry too. She needed to prevent her grandmother from overusing her voice.

Honeysuckle was excellent. Her own mother had said it could be drunk as tea—it was anti-inflammatory.

As a loving granddaughter, Cheng Ying was absolutely determined to protect her grandmother's golden voice. Cheng Ying held the green enamel mug, blowing on the hot water to cool it down.

"Grandma, take a sip of water." With that action and expression, coupled with her flattering little face, it looked entirely like the behavior of a sycophant. The old lady took it, glanced at the flowers, and said, "Why use this?

These are precious things that your mother saves for herself." Clearly, the grandmother assumed her granddaughter had taken something belonging to her mother. Cheng Ying thought, This is perfect; I don't even need to explain where these came from; Grandma just made up an excuse for me.

"It's fine, Grandma. Mom said she prepared too much and told us family members to drink some." The old lady didn't say anything more, gulping down the warm water.

She must have been truly thirsty. Her granddaughter was so considerate.

Yang Zhi finished cooking and peeked through the door curtain to seek the old lady's opinion. "Mom, time to eat." The old lady glanced at her daughter-in-law.

"Wait for them, the two of them." The reluctance in her tone was clear, which perhaps only Cheng Ying could detect. Cheng Ying thought that her grandmother’s heart had softened.

It seemed inevitable that her stepfather would win the old woman over sooner or later. Chi Yong’s effort in maintaining appearances had paid off handsomely.

But land and trees would be allocated after the New Year. Her family would receive allotments for five people.

The thought alone made Cheng Ying happy. Even if her stepfather left, she would still benefit; at least they were ahead in terms of population count.

Thinking of that, she naturally thought of her own mother. Her biological mother must not be having an easy time.

Cheng Ying looked at her stepfather again. If he could avoid leaving, that would be best.

Her own mother was still so young. It was truly difficult for a woman in the countryside to manage without a man.

Finding another understanding and considerate stepfather like this one would be hard. Cheng Ying started to worry.

Her stepfather looked like a scholar; she wondered if her biological mother was literate. She had to bring the two closer.

It couldn't be that the stepfather would be reciting poetry gazing at the moon while her mother was thinking about sesame seed cakes. This was a problem that absolutely had to be solved.

The crucial thing was that Cheng Ying didn't even know her biological mother's baseline level. Cheng Ying’s mind raced at high speed, but in an era where young men and women blushed just passing each other on the street, Cheng Ying truly had no idea how to improve her parents' relationship.

After all, sometimes good intentions could lead to bad outcomes. Chi Yong and Chi Wu returned shortly after.

Yang Zhi and Cheng Ying set the table together. Chi Wu washed his hands and helped out as well.

For some reason, Cheng Ying had noticed these past couple of days that Chi Wu seemed to be washing his hands constantly. She didn't know what sort of strange idea had possessed the boy; the water must be so cold in the middle of winter.

"You haven't frozen your hands, have you? Later, I'll ask Mom to prepare some herbal soak for your hands.

I heard if your hands get frostbitten, they'll itch terribly every winter." Chi Wu’s movements froze momentarily. He turned away with an unnatural expression.

"None of your business!" Cheng Ying felt like her kindness had gone unrewarded. Why was this boy acting so awkward?

Still, she decided that the next time Chi Wu went to wash his hands, she would soak some honeysuckle for him too. In Cheng Ying's view, honeysuckle, with its anti-inflammatory properties, was versatile—suitable for both internal and external use, like the ubiquitous 'dog-skin plaster' sold on the roadside.

It was universally applicable. During dinner that day, Cheng Ying was exceptionally attentive to her grandmother.

Even though there were only two pickles on the table, Cheng Ying actually added two extra small mouthfuls for her grandmother. Yang Zhi frowned.

"Yingzi, Grandma is old; she shouldn't eat things so salty." She completely missed the point of her daughter’s actions. Chi Yong, who was drinking congee, nearly lost his composure.

To drink millet porridge so gracefully while holding a large bowl with a blue rim was something an ordinary person couldn't manage. Cheng Ying’s heart, which had been struck down by her biological mother’s words, immediately recovered quite a bit.

When her grandmother had returned earlier and saw her granddaughter waiting at the door, she knew the old woman must have heard her shouting in the street. Receiving this kind of treatment made her feel that her granddaughter was sensible.

It was a shame that her daughter-in-law insisted on interfering. To call Yang Zhi bothersome, she wasn't intentionally trying to be.

But if she wasn't intentionally being bothersome, the words were still unpleasant for the old lady to hear. Her granddaughter’s filial piety wasn't something only Yang Zhi, as a daughter-in-law, could comment on.

So, the old lady glared at Yang Zhi, nearly telling her to keep her mouth shut unless necessary. Cheng Ying smiled cheerfully, taking it lightly.

"Grandma, spring is coming, and our vegetables will be ready. I'll cook for you then!

I'm quite good at cooking. From now on, we definitely won't always be eating pickles." Whether Cheng Ying had ever cooked before, she didn't know.

But her own cooking was indeed quite good. As a single woman with little social life, she spent her free time puzzling over recipes.

As she said this, Cheng Ying felt a slight pang of worry. How could she forget that she didn't know anything about this body?

How could she forget to ask if the original owner knew how to cook? She needed to calm her racing heart; getting too excited might reveal her secret.

Fortunately, in her grandmother's eyes, her granddaughter was sensible. Even if she was boasting a little, if the food turned out well, the old lady would be pleased.

Smiling warmly, she replied, "Mmm, my granddaughter is so thoughtful. Grandma will wait." Yang Zhi ruined the atmosphere once again.

"Yingzi, don't go saying things like that everywhere. Even if we grow things in our own yard, it has to be handed over to the production team.

You silly child, why do you tell everyone everything? You can't be so talkative anymore!" Cheng Ying realized her biological mother was simply tactless.

She now understood this point: the yard had grown vegetables before, and they hadn't been handed over to the collective. The old lady glared at her daughter-in-law.

"Don't listen to your mother. I heard from the Third Aunt that they are going to divide the fields in the spring.

Whatever you want to eat, Yingzi, Grandma will plant it for you." The grandmother and granddaughter duo had completely given up on influencing Yang Zhi. "Oh, Grandma, that's definite!" Cheng Ying replied happily.

"Yesterday, I was chatting with Third Aunt, and I heard it too. This time it's real.

I heard some places in the county divided the land plots years ago. After the New Year, it will reach our commune, and if it reaches our village, how far can it be?" Cheng Ying was delighted inwardly.

From now on, if she brought corn or other things from her spatial storage, she would finally have a place to put them—it could be openly displayed as if it grew on their own land. It was just that the corn would be rather small.

A bit shabby. But that didn't matter.

As long as it was edible, Cheng Ying wasn't picky. They would win by sheer quantity.

However, her stepfather's expression seemed a bit subtle—more happy than sad, yet tinged with a strange gloom. This was beyond Cheng Ying's comprehension.

Forget it; she should focus on planning their own little life. After dinner, Yang Zhi cleared the table.

The old lady called all four of them into the room for what was effectively a family meeting. The old lady began, "I mentioned at dinner that the village will be dividing land plots after the New Year.

You all know that land here is scarce; everyone is watching. There's just so much.

As for trees, we don't have many fruit-bearing ones. As for our family, you two have seen it: the old are old and the young are young.

If we really get divided land, men like Wuzi's father are strong but not very effective. I am old, and it might be too much for Yingzi's mother to work the fields alone." Chi Yong, facing the old lady's words with an adult's perspective, wasn't offended at all.

What the old lady said was the truth. If their family received land, they would work themselves to death and still might not yield much profit compared to others.

The old lady was indeed thinking long-term. Cheng Ying thought that if they had modern farming equipment, the amount of land wouldn't be a worry.

But, unfortunately, they didn't. When she saw the plow in the backyard, Cheng Ying felt that her stepfather’s physique wasn't suited for that kind of work.

The one who would likely suffer was her biological mother. Therefore, this issue had to be resolved decisively.

Women really couldn't withstand such grueling labor. Cheng Ying absolutely supported her grandmother's point.

She had heard of people surviving on farming, but those who got rich and noble from farming were the former landlord class or large manor owners, and even they had complete supporting infrastructure. Chi Wu wasn't capable enough, being just a child.

Hearing the old lady's words, his eyes reddened. "I'll go to the fields with Mom; I can do it!" The old lady glanced at Chi Wu but said nothing.

At least the child's current attitude was positive. Yang Zhi and Chi Wu expressed the same sentiment: "Mom, I can do it!" Chi Yong said, "Mom, whatever you think is best, we will listen to you." He was a sensible person.

The old lady sighed. "I'm thinking we should keep a bit of land—just enough for one year's consumption.

Then, I'll talk to the team leader about our family's situation and ask for more mountain acreage instead. If we plant trees on that, they don't require much care.

In ten or eight years, when Yingzi and Wuzi are grown, that will be a substantial source of income." Cheng Ying nodded; this was the concept of 'save a little bit at a time for a large gain.' Chi Yong nodded too. The old lady certainly had foresight.

Even if life was tight now, once the children grew up, they wouldn't have to worry. He glanced at his wife, then nodded.

"We'll listen to you, Mom. Later, I'll go talk to the team leader; we'll ask for more mountain land and less field land when the division happens."

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