My former father-in-law treated my eldest brother as his own father and was foolishly filial to my mother, believing almost everything she said.
My uncle always says that if there are any good things at home, we must offer them to him.
When the imperial court was recruiting soldiers for the war with the barbarians, originally each family only needed to send one person, but what happened in the end?
Her family gave birth to two sons in place of her eldest uncle and fourth uncle, and as a result, she became a widow before even having her wedding night.
Even so, she still didn't get any comfort. After her husband died, they were still talking nonsense behind her back.
Today, the father-in-law's words made both girls' eyes tear up.
"Why are you crying again?"
"I am happy." Yang Zhaodi said.
"I am happy too." Zhang Xiao'e sobbed.
Zhao Zheng couldn't figure out what they were thinking, so he went to the cellar, took out a bunch of money, and handed it to Yang Zhaodi, "You keep this money, and you will be responsible for your daily expenses."
"So much money?" Yang Zhaodi was stunned. She had never handled so much money before. "Father-in-law, you are the head of the family. Just come."
"I'm in charge of the outside affairs, and you're in charge of the inside affairs. You have the final say on family matters." Zhao Zheng smiled and stuffed the copper coins into her hand. "Ask me for more when you run out. Buy what you need. There's no need to be frugal. But be low-key and don't let others know."
Yang Zhaodi held the money in her hands, feeling indescribably happy. This string of money represented both acceptance and recognition, and it represented that she had truly become a member of this family and the 'hostess' of this family.
Zhang Xiao'e was also secretly happy for her.
Then, Zhao Zheng took out another hundred yuan and handed it to Yang Zhaodi again, saying with a smile: "This is your pocket money. You can spend it however you want. You will get it every month from now on. Don't save it for me."
"Father-in-law, how come you still have so much money?" Yang Zhaodi couldn't help but ask.
"To be honest, I went to Jinji Mountain to cut firewood a few days ago and ran into a wounded blind bear. I sold it for some silver."
Zhao Zheng lied, "Otherwise, how could I afford to buy you meat and cloth?"
When they heard that Zhao Zheng had encountered an injured blind bear, the two women were shocked.
Only then did I understand why my father-in-law was so generous.
"My father-in-law is so awesome." Zhang Xiao'e was both happy and admiring. To be honest, who isn't afraid of a blind bear? Didn't you see that the hunter Ma and his family suffered a great loss? It turns out that her father-in-law is awesome.
Even if it's a wounded blind bear, it's not something that one person can handle.
While Yang Zhaodi was happy, she couldn't help but worry, "Father-in-law, please don't take risks again in the future."
Zhao Zheng nodded. "There's a shortage of food in the mountains right now, and the bears have started killing each other. I was lucky enough to pick up a dying bear. If I were to hunt a living one, I wouldn't be able to do that."
As he spoke, he went into the cellar again and took out the bear paws, bear bones, bear gall and bear skin from the warehouse.
The two women were stunned as they watched Zhao Zheng carry out the goodies like magic.
"That furry paw, could it be... a bear paw?" Zhang Xiao'e said with difficulty.
"Yes, it's bear paws." Zhao Zheng said with a smile, "And I didn't sell this bear skin either. Zhaodi, make two fur coats out of it, one for you and one for Xiao'e. That way you won't be afraid of the cold anymore."
Yang Zhaodi said, "This bear skin is very complete. I can make a leather coat and leather pants for my father-in-law. If there is more, I can make a pair of leather boots. This way, he won't be afraid of the cold when he goes out."
Zhao Zheng waved his hands repeatedly, "No, leather boots are too conspicuous. If others see them, won't they be jealous to death?"
"Then make three dresses, one for each of us?"
"You are the master, you have the final say." Zhao Zheng said with a smile.
After receiving a positive answer, Yang Zhaodi was secretly excited.
Zhang Xiao'e was also happy. "I've never worn clothes made of bear skin before."
Zhao Zheng smiled slightly and immediately asked the two women to deal with the bear paws. The weather was cold, so there was no need to worry about them being spoiled in a short time.
Yang Zhaodi hid all these things in the cellar and prepared to clean them up at night.
Since my father-in-law didn't sell them at first, it means that he kept them for his enjoyment.
While other families were still eating corn porridge and wild vegetable cakes, and some families had started eating tree bark powder and Guanyin soil, they had rice and eggs for every meal, and now they would soon be able to eat bear paws.
She wouldn't even dare to think so in her dreams.
Zhang Xiao'e even whispered in her ear, "Sister-in-law, what does bear paw taste like? Is it better than stewed meat?"
The best thing she had ever eaten in her life was stewed meat, and the second best thing was rice with toppings.
She couldn't think of anything more delicious than these two.
"Of course. This is a delicacy that only dignitaries can enjoy. It must be better than stewed meat." Although Yang Zhaodi had never eaten bear paws, it was definitely better than stewed meat.
After dinner, Zhao Zheng prepared a seasoning packet and said, "Let's stew two bear paws tonight and try something new!"
I haven't eaten meat for two days, and the taste of bird has faded from my mouth. The chicken leg I ate last night doesn't count, it was just a snack at most.
When it got dark, the two women cleaned the bear paws, added some other ingredients, and stewed them in a clay pot for more than an hour.
Just as Zhao Zheng was lying on the bed humming a song, Zheng Chunmei knocked on the door, "Uncle Zhao, I'm here to massage your feet."
Hearing this, Zhang Xiao'e's face in the kitchen fell immediately, "Why is Widow Zheng here again?"
Yang Zhaodi gently pushed her and said, "Don't just stand there. Go ask your father-in-law if he can open the door."
Zhang Xiao'e didn't want to open the door, but she was afraid that her father-in-law would be angry, so she reluctantly walked to the earthen kang and asked, "Father-in-law, do you want to open the door?"
Zhao Zheng smiled. It seemed that the dog was hungry and came to look for food again.
"Open it. It's not easy for her to leave her family behind so late at night." Zhao Zheng said.
"oh!"
Zhang Xiao'e responded, pushed the door open, walked out and opened the yard door. Without even saying hello to Zheng Chunmei, she walked back with a stern face.
Zheng Chunmei closed the door and just walked into the yard, she smelled an indescribable fragrance.
"Meaty smell, definitely meaty smell!"
Zheng Chunmei was shocked. She never thought that Zhao Laosan would hide at home and eat meat late at night.
She secretly regretted that she shouldn't have taken Qiao's things these past two days.
She originally wanted to leave the old man Zhao Laosan alone, thinking that she still had Ma Dazhu to support her. Although she couldn't eat enough, at least she had wild vegetable cakes to eat, and she could also have half a bowl of porridge at home, so she wouldn't be too hungry to have any strength.
As a result, not only did Ma Dazhu not help her in the past two days, he even came to her secretly today to ask for food.
He patted his chest and said that he would be able to eat meat, but in the end he didn't get to eat the meat and even had to pay for it himself. How could such a good thing happen?
She was so angry that her chest hurt.
It was all Ma Dazhu's fault. She had only eaten a bowl of rice bran porridge for the past two days. She was so hungry that she felt dizzy and had to breastfeed the baby and do housework.
I was so hungry that I could only drink water to fill my stomach.
My chest is getting flatter day by day.
If this continues, she will not only not be able to raise her child, but she will also starve to death.
Therefore, she could only place her last hope on Zhao Zheng.
She doesn't ask for meat, just egg pancakes, and she will be satisfied even if she has half a bowl of rice with crusty rice.
But now, she was excited. "Rice with rice crust is nothing. Maybe I can eat meat tonight!"