Born in the 1980s, she was remarried and became a stepmother; a cold, rough man doted on her, pinchi

Chapter 12 These days, there are still people who go to their brother-in-law's house to freeload!

Upon hearing this, Shi An's eyes widened in surprise.

"really?"

Qin Yishen patted Shi An's hair and said, "Of course it's true. Do you like this mother?"

"Of course I like her." Shi An's eyes lit up when she thought of Jiang Man. "She cooks delicious meals, braids my sister's hair, makes sure we wear clean clothes to school, and gives us new schoolbags. My sister and I both like her very much."

The happier Shi An was when she mentioned Jiang Man, the sadder Qin Yishen felt inside.

He never imagined that Shi An and Shi Ning would live worse lives under his own elder brother than the children in the village who grew up eating food from many families.

"Big brother and sister-in-law, I've brought Xiu'er with me!"

Upon hearing Xu Laosan's voice, Jiang Man finished braiding the last strand of hair for Shi Ning and then led her out the door.

This was the first time she had met Xu Laosan's wife, Xiu'er. She had heard that Xiu'er had been sick recently and was not in good health.

When Jiang Man first saw Xiuer, he was slightly surprised, not because she was ugly, but because she was too beautiful.

She looked somewhat frail and sickly, and when she made eye contact with me, she shyly looked away, indicating that she was easily embarrassed.

"Xiuer, this is your sister-in-law, isn't she beautiful?"

Xu Laosan pushed his wife forward a little, and Xiu'er nodded: "She is pretty. Sister-in-law, you can just call me Xiu'er. I'm from the Wang family in the next village. My name is Wang Xiu."

"Okay, then come in and give me a hand. Let the men play with the kids in the yard."

Jiang Man, being rather outgoing, led Wang Xiu directly into the kitchen.

She had never met Wang Xiu in her previous life, so she didn't know what happened between her and Xu Laosan.

But judging from how much Xu Laosan dotes on her, the outcome probably won't be too bad.

"Sister-in-law, what are you doing?"

Do you know how to make shredded pork with garlic sauce?

Wang Xiu shook her head honestly. Jiang Man liked her at first sight, so he put the eggs in her hand and asked, "How about persimmon scrambled eggs?"

"This meeting!"

Wang Xiu finally heard about a dish she could cook. Her overly fair face flushed slightly, and she skillfully cracked the eggs.

While Jiang Man was cooking, she kept an eye on Wang Xiu.

I discovered that although her health wasn't very good, she did everything very quickly, and most importantly, she was very clean, and there was a pleasing quality to her appearance.

Most importantly, she's very smart. She just demonstrated how to choose the sauce for shredded pork with garlic sauce, and Wang Xiu immediately learned it.

"You learn so fast?"

Faced with Jiang Man's surprise, Wang Xiu smiled sheepishly.

"I don't have any strengths, maybe I just learn things quickly, but that's not very useful, I don't even know how long I'll live with this body."

Hearing Wang Xiu belittle herself like that, Jiang Man grasped her hand: "Don't say that. Being able to learn quickly is already a talent that many people long for."

"really?"

This wasn't the second time she'd heard something like this. The first time was when her third brother said it to her, but at the time she just thought he was trying to comfort her.

But now that Jiang Man is saying the same thing, she's starting to believe it a little.

"Of course it's true. Why did I lie to you?"

Jiang Man poured the sauce into the pot, making a "chua" sound, and the aroma wafted out.

"Maybe you're just not suited for farm work. Perhaps you can unleash your potential elsewhere." Wang Xiu's gaze fell on the stir-fried shredded pork with garlic sauce. Its vibrant color and enticing aroma made her mouth water just from the smell.

"This shredded pork with garlic sauce smells so good. If I could sell it, I could definitely make a lot of money."

Jiang Man smiled. Xu Laosan in the yard had been drooling with anticipation. As soon as he heard Jiang Man shout "Out of the pot!", he immediately ran into the kitchen to bring out the dishes.

Sun Meifen and Zhou Meihui, who were sitting at the entrance of their own courtyard, craned their necks to peer into her yard.

"It smells so good, what are you making?"

"Aren't you their sister-in-law? Go ask her!"

Zhou Meihui encouraged Sun Meifen, who was also irresistibly drawn to the aroma, but was too embarrassed to admit it.

"Mom, what's this smelling so good? I want to eat it too!"

Qin Hua came out of the house, his nose twitching. Sun Meifen put down the sunflower seeds in her hand and deliberately scolded, "You little brat, you want to eat everything! You're so greedy! Wait, Mom will go and beg your second uncle and aunt to give you some food!"

Sun Meifen finally had a reason to start making a fuss, and her voice was so loud that even the two neighboring households could hear her.

"What is Sun Meifen yelling about?"

"She's probably up to her old tricks again. These young couples are doing so well, and she just has to interfere. Doesn't that cause them a lot of trouble?"

“I don’t think that Xiao Jiang is someone to be trifled with. Sun Meifen hasn’t gotten away with anything from her yet. Just you wait and see, if Sun Meifen keeps making trouble like this, she’s sure to fall into the hands of Qin Yishen, her new wife.”

Qin Yishen brought out the two stewed fish, and then it was time to officially start the meal.

"Here you go, you two hurry up and eat so you can do your homework. I'm going to check it later!"

Jiang Man gave Shi An and Shi Ning a red bean bun each. Since there weren't many red beans at home, she only made about five buns, and the rest were white flour steamed buns.

Shi An and Shi Ning ate their steamed buns, taking bites of meat with each bite of their chopsticks—it was incredibly delicious.

Seeing how dependent the two children were on Jiang Man, Xu Laosan knew that his task of helping his elder brother take care of the children had officially come to an end.

"Sister-in-law, my brother is a good and ambitious man. It's just that he's been dragged down by his relatives all these years. If you marry my brother, you can expect to live a life of luxury!"

Xu Laosan had drunk some wine, and two faint blushes appeared on his dark face.

"It's my good fortune to have married your sister-in-law."

Jiang Man placed her left hand under the table and suddenly felt a large hand grasp hers. She knew without guessing that it must be Qin Yishen's.

Upon hearing Qin Yishen's words, Jiang Man's face flushed red, a rare occurrence for her.

She had never heard that phrase in both of her lives combined.

Lin Yanqing would only tell her to work harder every day so that she could earn money for his business.

Lin's mother only knew how to torment her, saying things like, "If I hadn't married you, my son would have had a better life."

She never received a single word of recognition.

No one said that marrying him was his good fortune.

Jiang Manhui squeezed Qin Yishen's hand, and Qin Yishen felt the warmth, his eyes softened even more.

"Oh, Xu Laosan is here too? I've come at just the right time, just in time for your meal."

When Xu Laosan saw that it was Sun Meifen, he immediately launched into a sarcastic tone: "Who do we have here? It's my sister-in-law!"

"Hey? You're carrying a basin! What's up, here to freeload off your brother-in-law?"

(End of this chapter)