News of the Song family's division of property spread quickly. The details remained unclear; all they saw was that Song Xin had moved Xu Shengnan into the Song family's old house. The courtyard had three rooms, but they were all dilapidated, leaking and drafty. However, this couldn't be interpreted as the Song family mistreating Xu Shengnan, because her substantial dowry had been moved there without her taking a single penny; in fact, the Song family had given them a considerable amount of grain and household items.
From this perspective, the Song family didn't take advantage of Xu Shengnan; on the contrary, they divided the family property fairly. When asked why, the Song family members all remained silent with sullen faces; some frowned, others wore cold expressions. Everyone immediately imagined the scene of Xu Shengnan causing a scene. After all, the Xu family divided the family property precisely because of Xu Shengnan's antics! She's an expert at this kind of thing!
The day after Xu Shengnan's wedding, she became famous again. She caused a scene at both her own and her husband's families, leading to their separation. Both families despised her; it was undeniable that this woman was selfish, vicious, and of terrible character. Only then did people sympathize with the Song family. They gained nothing and lost a son. In those days, able-bodied men were the guarantee of food; the Song family had suffered a loss!
Liu Xia couldn't help but run to the Fifth Team to find Xu Shengnan, telling her to live a good life and stop causing trouble all the time. But Xu Shengnan was in a good mood at the moment, so of course she wouldn't listen and impatiently told Liu Xia to stop meddling in her affairs.
To her now, Xu Dajun and Liu Xia are just elderly people who need to be supported. She just needs to give them money regularly, and she doesn't care about anything else.
Liu Xia walked back sadly. This scene was seen by Song's mother, who immediately tried to attract several women to come and see. Soon, the news that Xu Shengnan had made her own mother cry spread again. A person who is not even filial to her own parents will be despised wherever she goes. The villagers of the fifth team personally experienced Xu Shengnan's wickedness and only then did they truly begin to hate her.
Later, when Song Xin was working, he pretended to sprain his wrist. The doctor at the clinic, who was practically an incompetent doctor, didn't realize he was faking it and prescribed medicine and told him to rest as usual. Of course, he couldn't work!
Everyone felt sorry for him. Even the captain patted him on the shoulder and sighed. They all thought that he was in a bad mood and that's why he was distracted and hurt himself. They readily granted him leave.
Song Xin left everyone's sight, smiled happily, and ran to Xu Zifan's house to find him. As soon as he saw him, he asked with a smile, "Grandpa Xu, have you heard about what happened to my family?"
Xu Zifan nodded with a smile, "I've heard about it. You're quite shrewd, kid. You haven't let your family get any bad reputation."
Song Xin belatedly realized the identity of the person in front of him, scratched his head and said, "Grandpa Xu, don't be angry. Xu Shengnan... I just feel that my family has been wronged, so..."
Xu Zifan waved his hand dismissively, "It doesn't matter. Even if she becomes a rat crossing the street, it has nothing to do with this old man. What happened to your hand? Did you really hurt it?"
"No, I was faking it," Song Xin raised her wrist and moved it to show him. "I was doing it to deal with her, not to torture myself. Why would I do it for real? Come to think of it, I haven't felt this relaxed in a long time, not having to do anything. I'm not used to it. But Xu Shengnan is going to weed, which makes me happy. The sun is shining brightly today!"
Weeding is considered light work compared to other jobs, earning 4 work points a day, but it's still very hard work, especially bending over and pulling weeds under the scorching sun. You'll be drenched in sweat and have a sore back in no time. It's not so bad for others, but Xu Shengnan absolutely couldn't stand it.
Both men disliked Xu Shengnan and stopped mentioning her after a few words. Seeing Xu Zifan washing eggs—he'd already filled a small basin—Song Xin asked curiously, "Grandpa Xu, what are you washing eggs for? And so many?"
"I washed them clean. I'm making these to pickle salted eggs. I've never done it before, so I'm planning to give it a try." Xu Zifan glanced at the five methods for pickling salted eggs listed on the virtual screen, hesitating about which one to use.
To everyone's surprise, Song Xin said, "I know how! My older sister married into the farm next door and is in charge of pickling salted duck eggs. I've watched her do it several times, and I know exactly how. Grandpa Xu, I'll do it for you."
"That's great, you do it, I'll watch and learn too." Xu Zifan put down the eggs, stepped aside, and happily watched Song Xin prepare them.
[Shaohua, remember to record it. If it marinates well, I'll record it next time. Also, scan and record the amounts of eggs, marinade, and water.]
[Shaohua: Good host.]
Song Xin rolled up his sleeves and got to work with great enthusiasm, while Xu Zifan chatted with him from the side, watching intently.
His mission in this world was simply to enjoy his retirement, be a happy old man with nothing to do. But the original owner desired longevity, so he still had at least twenty or thirty years to live. He couldn't just be a lazy bum every day; that wasn't his nature.
Xu Zifan thought it over and over, and realized that the thing he found most difficult to get used to when he transmigrated to the beastman world last time was the food. He had a space, and now that the space had turned into a pastoral area, he could live comfortably anywhere, but when it came to food, he couldn't very well have the chef cook a huge amount of food and store it in the space for later use, could he? That could only be used for emergencies, and there was no way he could store enough for a lifetime.
So after some deliberation, he decided to improve his cooking skills.
Now that he's fifty-eight, learning anything else wouldn't be convenient, and the hard work wouldn't align with the original owner's mission of enjoying a carefree life. Learning cooking is the most suitable option. He can learn leisurely, and the delicious food he learns will bring him happiness, which doesn't conflict with his mission at all. So, Xu Zifan set this as his goal for this life.
He has a lot of wild eggs now, so he'll start by pickling them. Song Xin did a really good job, explaining the details to him as he cooked, and telling him the tricks to getting the oil out.
Xu Zifan quickly understood and praised him several times, truly feeling he had made the right choice in befriending this child. At the same time, he felt sorry for the original owner of this body.
This child has a good heart, but unfortunately, in the original owner's life, he passed away before Song Xin became successful.
At that time, Song Xin and the second wife were both in the county. They didn't know much about the original owner's life in the village. After all, the Song family also lived in the village, and he wouldn't pay special attention to whether his wife's grandfather was happy or not unless something happened.
If the original owner had lived a little longer, Song Xin would have definitely taken her to the county to live a better life once he realized she was unhappy. He was even willing to take care of Xu Shengnan. What a pity.
After Song Xin finished pickling the eggs, he followed Xu Zifan into the mountains. He saw Xu Zifan shoot a pheasant with a slingshot, and he tried it out himself, but his aim and strength were not good enough, and he couldn't catch anything.
Xu Zifan held up the slingshot and demonstrated it to him, "Use this angle, pull it back to this extent, and the force will be the greatest, without much effort. When hunting, remember to target weak points: eyes, neck, stomach, groin—shoot wherever it hurts. Just like in a fight, if you aim for the spot that hurts, one hit is more effective than ten hits on a hard bone."
Song Xin nodded seriously, "I understand, Grandpa Xu, I'll give it a try."
After they finished hunting a pheasant, they weren't in a hurry. They used the rest of the time to let Song Xin practice, and in the end, he actually managed to cripple a rabbit! However, the rabbit still darted away very quickly, and they couldn't catch it.
Song Xin slapped his thigh in regret, while Xu Zifan laughed and said, "Don't rush, practice slowly. You have plenty of time anyway. You might as well find something to do and save yourself from getting upset over others."
Song Xin laughed happily and said, "Yes, Grandpa Xu, following you is much more interesting than working in the fields. I think you are so capable, you can do everything. Maybe before I drive Xu Shengnan away, I can learn a skill and then I will never go hungry."
Xu Zifan chuckled and said, "You've got a sweet tongue, kid. If you want to learn, fine. I won't charge you tuition. Just find out what cooking or pickling methods you can teach me. It has to be delicious. It can't be bad. I'm old and don't care about anything else but food."
"No problem, leave this to me. I guarantee I'll get you all the best food from the surrounding area!" Song Xin excitedly patted his chest and assured him. He had never seen such a capable person before. He felt that Xu Zifan had a very wise air about him, and following Xu Zifan would definitely be a good choice!
The father and son returned to the courtyard, and Song Xin volunteered to scald the chicken feathers and stew it. His cooking was so-so; his family usually ate stews, which he only knew how to make a few of, nothing particularly delicious, but not bad either. Xu Zifan even took out some liquor and drank a couple of cups with him.
When someone passed by, Xu Zifan would tell him to go inside and hide. At first, Song Xin was quite nervous, afraid that someone would see that his wrist was not injured. Later, he found that Xu Zifan was much more vigilant than him and never missed anyone passing by, so he gradually relaxed.
However, he admired Xu Zifan even more and became more determined to follow Xu Zifan, respecting him as his master from the bottom of his heart.
He ate and drank well at Xu Zifan's place, listening intently to Xu Zifan's insightful stories, completely forgetting everything else. Xu Shengnan, on the other hand, was miserable. She spent the whole morning weeding, and whenever she wanted to rest, someone would call her name and ask what she was doing. She didn't understand why these people hated her so much and couldn't stand to see her doing well.
The scorching sun made her feel uncomfortable all over, but thanks to drinking the spiritual spring water every day, she was in good health and didn't feel dizzy at all. Also because of the spiritual spring water, her skin was incredibly delicate; her palms were red and slightly swollen from pulling weeds.
She finally made it home after work and hurriedly hid in her room to drink some spiritual spring water. When she came out and looked around, she couldn't find Song Xin anywhere.
She went to the Song family's house but couldn't find him. She then asked the neighbors and Song Xin's friends, but none of them knew where Song Xin was. Everyone assumed that Song Xin was probably unhappy to see her and had gone off to keep quiet, and they all looked at her with a hint of schadenfreude.
Especially for women, so what if she's beautiful? So what if her dowry is bigger than theirs? If she has bad character, she'll still be disliked.
While she was weeding, a group of women were watching her. They really hated her. She had so ostentatiously arranged a dowry of several hundred yuan and didn't even ask for a bride price. Wasn't that breaking the rules? What were they supposed to do?
Those families with good husbands are fine, but some mothers-in-law look down on their daughters-in-law and use Xu Shengnan to belittle them, saying that they are inferior to Xu Shengnan in every way, and that they have no other merits except being obedient and able to do some work. If they can't even do these two things well, what are they good for?
How could they not hate her? Xu Shengnan has become the enemy of all women!
Xu Shengnan hadn't realized it yet. She was only angry that Song Xin had run off without saying a word. She was exhausted after a long day, and when she got home, she couldn't even get a sip of hot water or a bite of food. Was she supposed to cook for herself?
She stormed home in a huff, refusing to cook. She didn't want to go to work in the afternoon either, but the women working nearby came looking for her, banging on her door and yelling at her to come to work. They were acting crazy, why were they all staring at her?!