A fierce wife enters the house: She helps up a house full of spineless people.

The next day, just as dawn was breaking, Wang Jinzhu opened her eyes.

The courtyard was quiet, unlike usual, when her mother-in-law, Chen Yuxiang, would have been up and busy long ago.

Today it's the second wife's turn to cook.

Wang Jinzhu listened intently. There seemed to be some rustling sounds coming from the second room, but the kitchen was completely silent, without even the crackling of a fire.

She sneered, knowing exactly what was going on.

This is an attempt to intimidate her, deliberately delaying the process and letting the eldest son's family go hungry.

She wasn't in a hurry and just lay there. Chen Tianfang was a light sleeper, and she woke up as soon as she moved.

"What's wrong?" he asked in a hoarse voice.

"It's nothing, I'm just waiting for dinner," Wang Jinzhu replied lazily.

Chen Tianfang understood immediately and frowned. He was about to get up when Wang Jinzhu pressed him down.

"Lie down, what's the rush? Whoever cooks today should be in a hurry. If we get up first, it'll make it seem like we can't live without their food."

She's going to keep at it and see who can outlast whom.

Sure enough, after a while, Old Mrs. Chen's booming voice finally rang out in the courtyard: "Second son's wife! What time is it? Why aren't you up and cooking? Do you want our whole family to starve to death?!"

Immediately following were Chen Xiufen's hesitant responses and the clanging of pots and pans.

Wang Jinzhu then slowly sat up and got dressed.

When she and the rest of the family finished washing up and slowly made their way to the main room, breakfast had not yet been served.

Both Old Mrs. Chen and Old Mr. Chen looked very unwell. Chen Shuyan's face was even darker, clearly he was starving.

Wang Jinzhu found it amusing but remained silent. She pulled over a small stool from the corner, sat down gracefully, and then beckoned to Chen Tianwei and Chen Tianrun, "Come, sit here with your sister-in-law."

The two children timidly moved over.

Looking at their thin figures, Wang Jinzhu had an idea. She lowered her voice and said to Chen Tianrun, "Tianrun, your sister-in-law wants to ask you for a favor. Go to the kitchen and see if your second aunt is making something delicious. If you see it, come back and tell your sister-in-law, and she'll give you candy."

Although Chen Tianrun was young, children from poor families mature early, and he was already quite adept at reading people's expressions. He knew that this new sister-in-law was genuinely kind to them, unlike his grandmother and second aunt.

His eyes lit up at the mention of candy, and he nodded vigorously before slipping out of the main room like a little mudfish.

Wang Jinzhu pulled Chen Tianwei aside and chatted casually, but in reality, she kept an eye on the movements of the second wife's side out of the corner of her eye.

Not long after, Chen Tianrun ran back, his face flushed with excitement.

He leaned close to Wang Jinzhu's ear and whispered in a barely audible voice, "Sister-in-law, I saw it! Second Aunt secretly cooked rice porridge in the small pot behind the stove, and she also hid an egg!"

A cold glint flashed in Wang Jinzhu's eyes.

Well, it's true what they say, old habits die hard. After causing such a commotion yesterday, they dare to outwardly comply while inwardly defying you today.

She patted Chen Tianrun's head, took out a piece of malt candy that she had prepared beforehand from her sleeve, and stuffed it into his hand: "Be good, go play with your sister, don't tell anyone about this."

Chen Tianrun got the candy and ran off happily.

After waiting a while, Chen Xiufen finally came out of the kitchen carrying a large earthenware basin. The basin contained a dark, mushy mixture of grains, with a few wilted wild vegetable leaves floating on top.

She slammed the ceramic pot down in the middle of the table and said irritably, "Dinner's ready!"

As she spoke, she prepared to turn around and go back to the kitchen.

"Second Aunt, wait a minute," Wang Jinzhu suddenly said.

Chen Xiufen stiffened and turned around impatiently: "What is it now?"

"The food's already served, why is Second Aunt still running to the kitchen? Is there some kind of delicacy hidden there, something special for your Shuyan?"

Chen Xiufen's face turned deathly pale, her eyes darting around in panic: "You... what nonsense are you spouting! There's no such thing as special tutoring!"

"Oh? No?" Wang Jinzhu stood up and walked towards the kitchen. "Since there isn't any, that's perfect. I'll get the dishes and chopsticks for you."

"Don't go in!" Chen Xiufen cried out anxiously, reaching out to stop her.

The more she acts like this, the more it proves that something is amiss.

Wang Jinzhu pushed her aside and walked straight into the kitchen.

The Chen family's kitchen was small and dark, with a mess on the stove. Wang Jinzhu's gaze swept across the room and landed precisely on the small stove that was still steaming.

She walked over and lifted the pot lid.

A pot of thick, fragrant white rice porridge sits beside a small bowl, with a peeled, white, and tender boiled egg.

The perpetrator was caught red-handed.

Chen Xiufen followed in and saw this scene, and thought to herself that she was in trouble.

Old Mrs. Chen and her second wife's family also came over, and their expressions varied when they saw the pot of white porridge.

"Wang Jinzhu! How dare you touch Shuyan's breakfast!" Old Mrs. Chen was the first to react, pointing at her and about to start cursing.

Wang Jinzhu ignored her completely, picked up the bowl of porridge and egg, and walked out of the kitchen.

She walked into the main room and, to everyone's astonishment, handed the egg to the youngest child, Chen Tianrun.

"Tianrun, eat."

Chen Tianrun glanced at his parents, then at his domineering sister-in-law, quickly stuffed the egg into his mouth, chewed it, and swallowed it in two bites.

It's so dry, but it smells so good too! It's so great to have a sister-in-law; from now on, he'll do whatever she says.

Wang Jinzhu picked up the bowl of porridge again and gave it to Chen Tianwei.

"Tianwei, drink. Look at you, you're even older than Shujie, yet you're so thin and small. How can this be?"

Under the watchful eyes of her second wife and grandmother, Chen Tianwei shakily finished the porridge, barely tasting it.

"Alright, let's eat. From today onwards, whatever's in the pot in this house, everyone eats. No one is getting special treatment."

She stared at Chen Shuyan, whose face was ashen, and said, word by word, "Chen Tongsheng, if you feel wronged, then earn your own money to buy yourself a better meal. Isn't it possible to copy books in town? Your father-in-law is the owner of the bookstore; he'd be willing to give you some work to do."

Chen Shuyan was so angry that he was trembling all over. He was being asked to go to the Liu family's study to borrow books and copy them. What would the Liu family think of him?

Chen Xiufen was heartbroken to see her son starving and tears streamed down her face, but she was intimidated by Wang Jinzhu's ruthless and fearless attitude and dared not utter a single word.

Old Chen sat at the head of the table, puffing on his pipe. The smoke obscured his expression. But he didn't utter a single word from beginning to end.

"Did you all hear what I said?" Wang Jinzhu continued, "No one in this family is special. If I find anyone else secretly getting special treatment..."

She paused, her gaze like a cold knife, scraping across Chen Xiufen and Old Lady Chen's faces.

"...Then next time, it won't be as simple as just not having anything to eat."