Song Nianchu returned home. Mu Yongnian and Mu Haoxuan were cleaning the yard, and the water tank was full.
Their clothes were hanging on the rope above the yard.
"Sister!" Hearing the noise, Mu Haoxuan immediately dropped the broom in his hand and ran over.
"You've cleaned the house so well," Song Nianchu said with a smile, patting him on the head.
"Right? I've been doing a good job of looking after the house," Mu Haoxuan said, tilting his head up, looking eager for praise.
"Good boy," Song Nianchu said, then took out two White Rabbit toffees from her pocket. "A reward!"
"Thank you, sister!" Mu Haoxuan took them with a surprised look on his face.
"Sister-in-law, you don't have to buy us candy every time," Mu Yongnian said, stepping forward.
He knew that the family was short of money now, and they should avoid wasting it.
"It's okay. I can still afford a few candies. Come on, let's cook and eat," Song Nianchu said with a smile and walked towards the kitchen.
"Sister, I'll help you," Mu Haoxuan gave Mu Yongnian his toffee and then quickly caught up.
Looking at the toffee in his palm, Mu Yongnian didn't know why, but even before eating it, he felt as if his whole heart was soaked in honey.
In the end, Mu Yongnian didn't eat it. He endured the craving and carefully put the toffee in his trouser pocket.
Song Nianchu stewed a pot of fish head soup that night and also put in the tender tofu she bought at the market.
After a while, a large basin of steaming fish head and tofu soup was on the table.
"Hurry up and eat. Fish soup is very nutritious. You're still growing, so you need to eat more to grow taller," Song Nianchu said, picking half a fish head for Mu Haoxuan and Mu Yongnian each.
Actually, she herself quite liked eating fish heads. The meat of the fish head was fresh and soft, and there were no bones, so it was very enjoyable to eat.
"Thank you, sister," Mu Haoxuan picked up his chopsticks and quickly started eating.
"Thank you, sister-in-law," Mu Yongnian also thanked her in a low voice.
"Eat quickly," Song Nianchu said with a smile and picked up a whole fish head for herself.
She wasn't the kind of person who only drank the soup and let the kids eat the meat. Her body also needed to be well-nourished.
After all, one shouldn't treat oneself badly.
After dinner, Mu Yongnian and Mu Haoxuan washed the dishes, while Song Nianchu carefully put away the ingredients.
Then she boiled water for a bath, and the three of them went to bed before it got dark.
Life without entertainment was just so regular, working at sunrise and resting at sunset.
Early the next morning.
Song Nianchu got up and prepared breakfast for the two kids, then she carried the ingredients on her back and went to the village office.
As soon as she entered the room, she saw that Aunt Wu and the others were all there. Not a single one of the five was missing.
"Why are you all here?" Song Nianchu was a bit surprised. It wasn't time to start work yet.
"Uncle Zhengui told me that you have to send the dishes to the restaurant before lunch. I thought I'd come over early with Sister Hua to help. Who knew that as soon as we got here, the others also came," Aunt Wu explained with a smile.
"You don't know. After I got home yesterday, I told my father-in-law and mother-in-law that I got five work points in just one afternoon. They were so nice to me. They didn't even let me wash the clothes, and they brought the food to me," said one of the women, beaming with joy.
She was the first one to draw the marked lottery ticket. Her name was Wang Erya.
"Me too. I've given birth to two daughters since I got married, and my mother-in-law didn't like me at all. But yesterday when I got home, she smiled at me so kindly for the first time," the second woman who drew the marked lottery ticket echoed.
Because they were treated so well at home, they wanted to hold on to this job tightly, so they came here before dawn.
Meng Yingying was still in the same state as before, standing alone in one place, looking dazed, as if nothing around her could affect her.
Song Nianchu didn't ask any more questions. She just glanced at her and then looked away.
"Since everyone is here, let's start working so that we can finish early," Song Nianchu said with a smile.
"No problem. You're in charge here," Aunt Wu said with a big smile.
"Then let's begin," Song Nianchu said, putting the ingredients aside.
She still weighed the ingredients in front of everyone. After confirming that the weight was correct, she started the next step.
The three stoves had dried out overnight and were now very sturdy. They could put the pots on them and start cooking.
Song Nianchu arranged for Aunt Wu and Hua to cook with her, while the others helped wash and cut the vegetables.
At first, Song Nianchu did the cooking, and Aunt Wu and Hua watched from the side.
After Song Nianchu finished cooking one pot, she let the two of them start.
Because they were afraid of wasting the ingredients, Aunt Wu and Hua were extremely careful. They almost asked Song Nianchu about every step.
Although it took a little longer, the quality was guaranteed.
Song Nianchu answered every question and explained every step to them in detail.
She wasn't afraid that they would steal her cooking skills. After all, Aunt Wu and Hua were the people she trusted the most. Otherwise, she wouldn't have saved these two spots for them.
Even if someone really did steal her skills, it didn't matter. She had a lot of recipes in her head. If they were stolen, she could just change to another one.
Moreover, Manager Li's connections weren't something that just anyone could get through.
The whole morning, the village office was filled with an enticing aroma.
Aunt Wu and the others were so hungry that their stomachs were growling.
After Hua's stomach growled again, she couldn't help blushing.
"Nianchu, I'm really sorry. My stomach keeps growling. I can't control it," Hua said anxiously, looking at Song Nianchu.
She didn't want Song Nianchu to think that she was a glutton, with her stomach growling while cooking.
It was really because there was no oil in her stomach. Now that she smelled such delicious food, her stomach was really acting up.
Song Nianchu naturally understood this and didn't show any sign of blame. She even picked up a piece of cumin squid from the pot with her chopsticks and put it to Hua's mouth.
"Help me taste if it's salty enough," Song Nianchu found a reason that Hua couldn't refuse.
"Then... I'll taste it?" Hua was really hungry and finally couldn't resist the temptation. She opened her mouth and ate it.
The other women were looking at her longingly, swallowing their saliva frantically.
"How is it?" Song Nianchu asked.
"Too... too delicious!" Hua felt as if she was about to swallow her own tongue.
Hearing this, the other women felt their stomachs growling even louder.
Wang Erya even tightened her belt to make her stomach quiet down a bit.
"Let you all taste it too. Remember the taste," Song Nianchu wasn't partial. She let everyone taste a piece of each dish.
After everyone ate, they felt even hungrier.
It was like a person who had been thirsty for a long time suddenly saw an oasis and wanted to bury their head in the water and drink to their heart's content.
But they also knew that this food was to be sent to the state-owned restaurant. It was already very generous of Song Nianchu to let them have a couple of bites under the pretext of tasting the saltiness.
"Nianchu, are you going to set off for the county town now?" Aunt Wu wanted to change the subject and ignore her growling stomach.
"Not yet. We can't leave now," Song Nianchu said with a smile.
"Is there still something to do?" Aunt Wu asked.
