Reborn as a Landlord-Chapter 1679 - 857: Devoted Love

"That’s right, it was still her who brought it to me. I was even touched for a moment, thinking at least she was serving me during my postpartum confinement. That pork knuckle, I just took one bite and it was so salty I couldn’t eat a second. " Lady Zhang nodded, "I was naive back then, but vaguely figured out that she didn’t want me to eat it. So I straight out said I wouldn’t eat it. She even scolded me a bit for being picky. Before she took the bowl away, she said, don’t go saying that she didn’t give me anything to eat, it was my own unwillingness... Your father wasn’t around then, he was out working. Old Master Lian was in the Upper Room, I just couldn’t face him. If I could have, I would have invited Old Master Lian to taste it, see what she would do. I was really foolish back then!"

"She must have known you wouldn’t face him," Lian Manman said. A father-in-law usually avoids his daughter-in-law’s postpartum room, not to mention, Old Master Lian has always stayed out of Lady Zhou’s issues with the daughters-in-law. Lady Zhang was someone who cared for her honor and was particularly honest, so she wouldn’t call Old Master Lian to come over.

"I still remember this," Lady Zhao said, "The old lady had me tending the fire, and right in front of me, she added salt once. Then she sent me away, and I secretly watched her add salt again, tasting it as she did."

"So who ended up eating that pork knuckle later?" Lian Manman asked.

"Who else could it be, it was your Old Auntie. She added some vegetables to the pork knuckle and secretly gave them to your Old Auntie. This was kept from the Old Master too," Lady Zhang said, "In truth, the old lady didn’t need to do all this. Even if the pork knuckle was cooked properly for me, I wouldn’t have eaten it alone. When providing for your brother, I ate what your Old Auntie ate, though your sister was left out, and I had to sneak her some from my bowl. For the poached egg, I’d add a spoonful of sugar for mine and had to add another for your Old Auntie."

"During that whole postpartum period, I lost weight while your Old Auntie gained a whole round," Lady Zhang sighed.

The longer Lady Zhang was away from the oppressive days of Lady Zhou, the clearer she could see her past life with a more normal perspective.

"I bet my grandma wouldn’t say anything good about you," Lian Manman said.

"You’re absolutely right," Lady Zhang nodded, "She said she didn’t take even a bite. What was given to Xiuxiu to eat was because I was so willing, according to her. Xiuxiu was just a child, what could she understand."

"As for Lady He, even if I didn’t see it, I could guess what was happening, it was definitely the same as back then. Everything was so salty, and while I was worried about nursing your brother, I’d take one bite and stop. At that time, we could afford to buy fine grain if needed. But if I didn’t have enough milk, wanting to stew some millet porridge for your brother was simply out of the question. Nobody would give it to you. With not enough milk, your brother would go hungry. I couldn’t bear it... As for her, she loved tasty things, and no matter how salty it was, it was meat, something not commonly eaten. She definitely ate it all."

Lady Zhao nodded, she remembered those times.

"The old lady added so much salt, she never intended for her to eat it. The fact that she did eat it all, the old lady was surely unhappy. Afterward, she’d definitely make her life hard, give her less food, not enough firewood, which was unbearable. Yue Keke’s child, without having enough, would really be gone just like that," Lady Zhang spoke, her eyes slightly reddened.

"Yue Keke’s child is local dialect from the tenant farmer families of Thirty Mile Camp, referring to children not yet a month old, and sometimes broader to children within a hundred days."

"When I gave birth to our Yeye, there was even less. Nobody from my family sent things, and other relatives, whatever the village gave to boost milk supply, the old lady said it was to maintain social relationships and put it all away. I didn’t even get to eat a single egg," Lady Zhao wiped her moist eyes with her sleeve, turned to Lian Yeye, "Yeye, you must remember your fourth aunt’s kindness, if it hadn’t been for her secretly cooking me an egg, who knows if we would still be here today."

"Mom, Fourth Aunt..." Lian Yeye began to cry.

This really was something. Lian Manman held her forehead, not knowing how the topic turned into the two sisters-in-law reminiscing about their hardships and calling out how their mother-in-law mistreated them. Lian Manman felt a bit embarrassed, but she didn’t stop Lady Zhang and Lady Zhao. Those days at the old house were spent steeped in hardship for both of them. Voicing it out was beneficial for their mental and physical health. Also, she was somewhat curious about how many other ways Lady Zhou found to torment the daughters-in-law.

"As for that old lady, she understood what she was doing. She treated her own daughter like a treasure, but when it came to us, she was so harsh," Lady Zhang said to Lady Zhao, "As if only her daughter was born from a mother, and we were just brought by the wind."