In this era, life was not good for anyone in the countryside.
However, having the conditions like Zhang Liushui and Tu Meili, who could still eat porridge and pancakes at night, was considered quite well-off.
Therefore, Zhang Liushui was content with his current life and did not think about his brother returning the money.
"Are you deaf? Didn't you hear me talking?" Wu Gudi slammed his chopsticks on the table and shouted.
"If Third Brother has money, he will return it. You don't need to be anxious," Zhang Liushui drank the porridge in his bowl, put it down, and went back into the house.
Wu Gudi was upset and determined to get back the foreign debt and continue persuading Jiang Qingqing to remarry.
...
"Sizzle!" The pork entered the pot, filling the air with a fragrant aroma.
Jiang Qingqing, holding her daughter's hand, stood by the stove, smelling the aroma of the pork. Both of them couldn't help but swallow.
They couldn't be blamed for being so ungracious; they could only blame the fact that they hadn't eaten meat for three years.
Their stomachs had long been deeply craving meat, and at this moment, seeing meat in the house, their mouths were almost watering.
"So fragrant!" Hua Bao stared intently at the meat in the pot, swallowing.
Jiang Qingqing also kept swallowing, trying not to appear unseemly.
Hearing his daughter's words, Zhang Liunian scooped a small bowl of the rendered fat. "Qingqing, Hua Bao, you two try first. Be careful, it's hot."
Jiang Qingqing's small face turned slightly red. She wanted to say they should wait until dinner, but her daughter's eager gaze made her unable to speak.
After holding back for a long time, she finally reached out to take the bowl for her daughter, and mother and daughter began blowing on the meat scraps.
Even though these meat scraps had no seasoning at all, Jiang Qingqing and her daughter ate them with great satisfaction.
Zhang Liunian smiled as he watched his wife and daughter eat contentedly.
Next door, Tu Meili, who was having sweet potatoes for dinner, suddenly smelled the aroma of meat and immediately lost interest in the sweet potato in her hand.
Her son, Da Tou, rolled on the ground and shouted, "I don't want to eat sweet potatoes, I want to eat meat."
"Wait until your dad gets back, and I'll have him buy you meat."
"I don't want to. I want meat now."
"Eat it or don't," Tu Meili was already in a bad mood and had no intention of comforting her son.
She put down the sweet potato and walked into the yard, sniffing around. Finally, Tu Meili found that the smell of meat seemed to be coming from Zhang Liunian's house.
But that couldn't be right?
She knew Zhang Liunian's situation better than anyone.
In the past four years, it was a miracle they hadn't starved to death, so how could they possibly have meat?
It must be her imagination. Zhang Liunian's family couldn't possibly have meat.
...
"Qingqing, eat more. You have the baby in your belly. And Hua Bao, you eat more too. You need to grow," Zhang Liunian kept putting food on his wife's and daughter's plates at the dinner table.
Jiang Qingqing and Hua Bao also put food on Zhang Liunian's plate, and the family of three ate dinner harmoniously.
After dinner, their daughter went to her room to play. Zhang Liunian took out the things he had bought and handed them to his wife.
Seeing another table full of things, Jiang Qingqing felt both joy and worry.
"Liunian, let's pay off the debts first!" Jiang Qingqing owed debts for several years, and what she wanted most now was to pay them off.
Hearing this, Zhang Liunian pulled her into his arms and said, "Tomorrow, I won't buy anything unnecessary."
"Okay," Jiang Qingqing nodded slightly, thinking that paying off the debts was the most important thing now. Once the debts were paid, things would be better.
"Here's the extra nine yuan and fifty cents from today, for you." Zhang Liunian took the money out of his pocket and placed it in his wife's hand.
Seeing the nine yuan and fifty cents, Jiang Qingqing's lips curved upwards. "Liunian, how much did you earn this time?"
"25 yuan."
"Liunian, you're amazing! You can earn fifty yuan a day.
Then, will we be able to pay off the debts in half a month?" Jiang Qingqing was a little excited but immediately thought of the heavy debts on her body, feeling a sense of suffocation.
"Are you satisfied with fifty yuan a day? Don't you want to earn a hundred yuan a day?" Zhang Liunian rubbed his wife's small face and tempted her.
Jiang Qingqing shook her head. "Fifty yuan a day is enough.
You don't know that in the past four years, I haven't saved even one yuan. It's practically a dream to pay off the debts.
Now that you can earn fifty yuan a day, I'm truly happy and excited."
As Jiang Qingqing spoke, she hugged Zhang Liunian's neck.
What she had just said was not an exaggeration. Fifty yuan a day was equivalent to a month's salary for a worker in Jiangcheng.
If she were not satisfied, she would be truly greedy.
Seeing his wife eagerly wanting to pay off the debts, Zhang Liunian had the idea to increase his efforts, but he needed manpower. Thinking of this, he reached out and cupped his wife's hips, pulling her closer.
Jiang Qingqing was startled by his action and dared not move.
"I can make you even happier, Qingqing," Zhang Liunian said in a low voice, not noticing his wife's flushed face, but met her watery eyes.
"Damn, why are you looking at me with such seductive eyes?
I've been a solitary old man my whole life, and I have no resistance to your temptation."
"It's getting late, I'll go help Hua Bao take a bath." Jiang Qingqing quickly broke free, seeing the change in her husband's demeanor, and fled as if escaping.
Zhang Liunian smiled at his wife's retreating figure, thinking that there would be plenty of time in the future.
The next day, before dawn, Zhang Liunian began practicing his punches and kicks at the doorstep, then discarded the shrimp shells and went down to the lake to catch shrimp.
By the time his wife and daughter woke up, shrimp porridge had already been cooked in the pot.
"I've already eaten, you two eat quickly!" Zhang Liunian brought the woven bag into the main hall, then took off his shirt, revealing his fair upper body.
Just as Jiang Qingqing was about to start eating, she saw her husband boldly taking off his clothes in front of her. The masculine aura hit her, and she uncomfortably lowered her head and turned her face away.
"It's delicious, Hua Bao wants more!" Just then, Hua Bao, who had finished a bowl of porridge, spoke up.
Hearing this, Zhang Liunian put down his clothes, walked to Jiang Qingqing's side, took the bowl, and said, "Dad will serve Hua Bao, Hua Bao eat more."
Jiang Qingqing looked at Zhang Liunian's sturdy physique, her small face blushing even more.
"Hua Bao wants to grow up quickly and help Dad with the work," Hua Bao said seriously, patting her small chest.
Zhang Liunian was amused by her and reached out to rub her head. "Dad doesn't need Hua Bao to work. Dad just wants you to be safe and happy your whole life."
Hua Bao tilted her head, not quite understanding her father's words.
Jiang Qingqing, after hearing this, raised her reddened eyes. "Liunian, you..."
Before she could finish her sentence.
Zhang Liunian understood what she meant. Since Jiang Qingqing had brought Hua Bao back, he hadn't shown much happiness, nor had he truly treated Hua Bao as his own daughter.
But that was because he had always thought she was born to another man.
Now that he understood, it wasn't like that, and he naturally wouldn't treat Hua Bao the same way as before.
However, his transformation over the past two days was too great, and Jiang Qingqing must have been wondering about it.
"You've always wanted our family to live a good life. I can understand your feelings now and want to live well with you both, okay?" Zhang Liunian put his arm around his wife's shoulder and his daughter's small body, asking softly.