Chapter 71: Right, I Made My Mom Angry
The next morning, when Yun Qinghuan woke up, she noticed something was off between her mother-in-law and Bai Naihan.
Usually, although there wasn’t much conversation between the mother and son β mostly Yun Qinghuan talked to her mother-in-law, with An’an chirping non-stop β the atmosphere between the Bai Naihan and his mother was warm and harmonious.
But this morning, the atmosphere between the mother and son felt stagnant.
Like now, Liu Yuzhi was drawing well water to wash up, and Bai Naihan wheeled his chair over.
Normally, she would have drawn another bucket of well water and poured it into a basin for her son to wash, but now, she acted as if she didn’t see Bai Naihan. After washing up, she directly threw the wooden bucket back into the well and walked towards the kitchen.
During this time, she didn’t say a single word to her son, Bai Naihan.
When it was time for breakfast, she still didn’t speak to Bai Naihan.
Even if Yun Qinghuan wasn’t very observant, she noticed something was wrong. Even An’an curiously asked Liu Yuzhi, “Grandma, you and Uncle are acting so strange.”
It was so strange that he didn’t dare to make a sound.
Liu Yuzhi stroked her grandson’s hair with a kind smile. “What’s so strange?”
“You and Uncle aren’t talking.”
Liu Yuzhi laughed. “There’s no need to talk. Your uncle made me angry, so I’m deliberately ignoring him.”
“It’s like when you make your mother angry, your mother doesn’t want to pay attention to you either. It’ll be fine in a little while.”
“Oh.” The little guy seemed to understand. He ran to the man, looked up at him, and blinked his big eyes. “Uncle, did you make your mother angry?”
Bai Naihan looked up at his own mother. Liu Yuzhi had a stern face and a cold expression. He pursed his lips, looked down at his bewildered nephew, ignored the curious gazes from the side, and said with a wry smile, “Right, I made my mom angry.”
An’an looked at him sympathetically and patted his hand. “Little Uncle, you should coax Grandma nicely. Grandma has a soft heart, she won’t be angry with you for long.”
Usually, he would also make his mother angry, but as long as he observed her expression and said some nice things, his mother would be amused and wouldn’t be so angry anymore.
Yun Qinghuan had been paying attention to Bai Naihan’s situation and knew that he had really made her mother-in-law angry. A big question mark hung in her mind.
She didn’t understand why her mother-in-law, who usually doted on her younger son, was angry. However, although curious, she didn’t ask much. It was a matter between the mother and son.
The family had just finished eating when Yun Qinghuan, carrying a basket, was about to go cut pigweed, and she even asked Bai Naihan to go with her.
Her mother-in-law, Liu Yuzhi, suddenly said, “Qinghuan, from now on, you can go cut pigweed by yourself.”
Yun Qinghuan: “???”
She looked back at her mother-in-law in confusion.
It felt like she had a thousand pounds on her shoulders. If she went to cut pigweed by herself, how long would it take?
She knew that usually, the bulk of the pigweed was cut by her younger uncle.
Liu Yuzhi looked at her daughter-in-law’s slender arms and legs and seemed to realize that what she had said was inappropriate. “Forget it, Qinghuan, you don’t need to go cut pigweed. Let Naihan go. He’s a grown man, and he’s just idle at home anyway.”
Yun Qinghuan realized at this moment that her mother-in-law wanted to separate her and Bai Naihan?
Were there more rumors about the two of them in the village?
Or had her mother-in-law believed what the villagers were saying?
But she pursed her lips and didn’t ask.
She only said, “Mom, why don’t I go cut pigweed instead?”
Carrying the basket and holding Bai Jin’an’s hand, she prepared to leave.
This was her own task, the work she had asked her mother-in-law, Liu Yuzhi, to help her with. She couldn’t just not do it because she was tired and push it onto her injured younger uncle.
Liu Yuzhi watched her daughter-in-law step out of the courtyard and felt a bit annoyed. Her actions had been too obvious.
Could her daughter-in-law have become suspicious?
She glared at her son and quickly went out to stop her daughter-in-law. “I was just angry with Naihan just now. You two should still go cut pigweed together today, otherwise, it will be too hard for you to cut pigweed alone.”
She gave her son a look, signaling him to hurry up and follow.
Bai Naihan obediently wheeled his chair and, carrying the basket, stepped out of the courtyard.
Yun Qinghuan looked strangely at her mother-in-law’s series of actions.
Liu Yuzhi was beaming, her face no longer sullen. “Hurry up and go.”
She even waved her hand.
Yun Qinghuan: “…”
When Bai Naihan passed by his own mother, the smile on Liu Yuzhi’s face disappeared, and she gave him a warning look. When Yun Qinghuan looked back again, she instantly put on a smiling face. The speed of her change in attitude made even her own son, Bai Naihan, feel numb.
As usual, after cutting the pigweed, it was still early. Yun Qinghuan suggested going up the mountain to take a look, not going too deep, so there wouldn’t be any danger.
The main reason was to find some green Sichuan peppercorns to cook with at noon.
Because it was difficult for Bai Naihan to maneuver his wheelchair on very steep places, Yun Qinghuan chose places that everyone often walked.
Coincidentally, when they were coming down the mountain after picking the needed green Sichuan peppercorns, they saw elm leaves near a cliff not far away. She had eaten them in her childhood. They looked tender and delicious, so she couldn’t resist picking a small half-basket before heading back.
She planned to cook the chicken blood at noon and also make elm leaves wrapped in flour as the main dish. It would definitely be especially delicious!
Just thinking about it made her mouth water.
Yun Qinghuan was also very proactive. She went straight home and started preparing the base for the chicken blood. This meal would definitely use a lot of oil and flour, but delicious food often required a lot of seasonings.
She prepared a lot of chopped dried chilies, then put scallions, ginger, garlic, bay leaves, cinnamon, and other spices in hot oil and simmered them over low heat. Once the aroma came out, she directly added the dried chilies and green Sichuan peppercorns, then poured in two or three ladles of water. When the water boiled, she cut the chicken blood into pieces and put them in, then added side dishes such as greens and cabbage hearts, and also washed some vermicelli and put them in.
It wasn’t even ready yet, and Bai Jin’an, who was playing in the yard, ran in, sniffing and looking into the pot. “Mommy, what are you making? It smells so good!”
The smell was so good that he didn’t even want to play anymore.
Yun Qinghuan smiled. “Spicy chicken blood and vermicelli soup. We can eat it when it’s ready.”
Elm leaves were also steaming in the big pot, and they smelled very fragrant too.
At noon, a strong wind suddenly blew, carrying the aroma of the Bai family’s cooking to the nearby people.
Among them was Yang Guihua’s family.
After finishing her work in the morning, she hurried back to cook, as her man at home needed to be served.
He had lazed around outside all morning and would run home when he was hungry.
If her meal wasn’t ready, she would definitely be met with her husband’s fists and kicks.
Even though she worked in the fields to earn work points, and her husband idled around, eating and waiting to die, she still had no confidence.
Having finally finished cooking, Yang Guihua breathed a sigh of relief. Not even having time to eat, she quickly packed a portion of food to take to her mother-in-law, who had finished working in the fields and was now resting under a tree in the hot weather.
Her family relied on two women working to earn work points to support so many people, so they were actually very poor. For lunch, it was usually cornbread and porridge, with a stir-fried green vegetable dish that was more like boiled in plain water, without even a few drops of oil, so it was naturally bland and tasteless.
The only luxury was an egg cooked for her husband.
After all, her husband was her mother-in-law’s only precious son, and she dared not neglect him.
Xoxo π€ππ€
