Chapter 452: She Just Wants to Order Qiao Xiaomai Around


    As for the millennia-old puzzle of mother-inw and daughter-inw rtionships, Qiao Xiaomai didn’t have any good solutions.


    The only idea she could think of was, “Soldiers are met by generals while the water is held back by the earth,” a Chinese proverb.


    The fact that Mrs. Zhang came over to ask for sour plum soup was somewhat ridiculous when said aloud.


    But if she refused, it would be even more ridiculous.


    As she was younger, considering Tong Sang’s case, she decided to do it!


    Qiao Xiaomai agreed to do so, and Mrs. Zhang still had a gloomy face, drenched with worry.


    She had been disciplined by Tong Xingda that morning, but he hadn’t hit her hard.


    The first reason was that Tong Sang restrained him and second, if he beat her and made a mess of things, then it would surely result in costly repairs and lose one moreborer.


    Therefore, she was mostly hurt superficially. By midday, Tong Tiehu ordered her to return to cook lunch.


    Without a choice, this family was ustomed to the good life. When they had to work, they were either in pain or itching here or there, so they were extremely inefficient.n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om<div>


    Tong Sang, on the other hand, worked very quickly, faster than the entire familybined.


    However, this did not coincide with Tong Tiehu’s original intention of making the family work, so he specifically instructed Tong Sang to slow down.


    Tong Sang slowed down, making the others appear even slower. After a morning had passed, only half an acre of sweet potato seedlings had been nted.


    This was not eptable. After nting the sweet potatoes, they needed to be watered. If things go at this pace, a day’s work could get postponed to three days.


    So, Tong Tiehu got angry and forbade the family from returning home for lunch. They were only allowed to return when they finished nting on two acres ofnd.


    As they were forbidden from returning for lunch, they had to bring their food. Therefore, Mrs. Zhang and Zhu Hongyun—the mother-inw and daughter-inw—drove an ox-cart back to the vige. Both wore worried looks.


    By the time they got back home under the zing sun, the worries visible on their faces magnified.


    During the summer, food storage was difficult, so the meat they bought a few days ago was all consumed.


    Also, just so happened that the ground flour was finished too.


    If they needed to cook, they could only grind some wheat into flour with a stone mill and then make the meal.


    Both the mother-inw and the daughter-inw hadbored all morning. Tired, thirsty, and hungry, they found even making a meal to be a tedious affair. Zhu Hongyun’s eyeballs started rolling—the idea came to her to coax Mrs. Zhang into soliciting Qiao Xiaomai’s help.


    Honestly, the rtionship between Qiao Xiaomai and Tong Sang was quite apparent to anyone from their vige who wasn’t blind.


    There were three notable public disys of affection: once when Qiao Xiaomai fainted due to menstruation, a second time when Tong Sang carried her to Dr. Wu’s house after she cut herself during Tong Tiehu’s sixtieth birthday, and a third time when he carried her home after she was bitten by a rabid dog during the Spring Tax Festival.


    Despite the absence of verbal exchanges—Tong Sang merely helping Qiao Xiaomai—the actions spoke louder than words!


    In addition to these three obvious instances, there were countless times the two were seen together, not to mention the variety of foods Tong Sang had shared with her.


    Even though the barriers between men and women were no longer strict, it was clear to see the nature of their rtionship.


    That’s what Mrs. Zhang and Zhu Hongyun were thinking. Since Qiao Xiaomai was going to marry Tong Sang, it would only make sense for her to try to please her inws.


    “Mother, I’ll take some wheat to a neighbor and trade it for some ground flour. You go talk to Qiao Xiaomai, exin our situation. If she is serious about marrying into our family, she should be more than willing to make sour plum soup or even other food for us,” Zhu Hongyun suggested.


    Qiao Xiaomai’s cooking skills had gotten better and better, making their own meal seem barely ptable. Both exhausted and hungry, they longed for a meal cooked by Qiao Xiaomai more than ever.<div>


    Zhu Hongyun’s proposal was approved by Mrs. Zhang.


    The hungrier they got, the more they craved for the food cooked by Qiao Xiaomai.


    So, while Zhu Hongyun took wheat to another family to exchange for ground flour, Mrs. Zhang came to Qiao Xiaomai’s ce.


    <div>