After the family split up, my stepmother and scumbag father begged me to come home.

The Lin family, the eldest branch of the family, has returned.

Lin Guozhong took his wife and children to his father-in-law's house to help with farm work for a few days. As soon as the work was finished, his mother-in-law, unwilling to feed them any longer, subtly told them to get out of there. The family sheepishly packed their things and hurried back to the village through the night.

"Mom, why did Grandma send us back without even letting us have a meal?" Lin Guozhong's second daughter, Lin Xiaorou, complained as she walked, her stomach practically sticking to her back from hunger. "I'm starving to death."

"That's right, that's right," the youngest son, Lin Yuxuan, muttered along.

"Alright, alright, are you all reincarnated starving ghosts?" Wang Hehua was also angry, but she couldn't scold her own family in front of her child, so she could only suppress her anger. "I'll go to the kitchen and see what else we have to eat."

She didn't even bother to change her clothes before rushing into the kitchen.

The stove and pot were cold. The stove was wiped clean, not a single grain of rice was left.

Wang Hehua's face darkened instantly. She slammed the pot lid down with a loud bang, and the bowls and chopsticks clattered together as she vented all her frustration on these inanimate objects.

In the west wing, Ding Yuxiang peered through the crack in the door, listening to the sounds. She cracked melon seeds while pouting, her disdain undisguised: "The Wang family is outrageous. They're busy, so they call people over to help with chores, and then send them back as soon as they're done, without even providing a meal—they want to come back and eat at the Lin family's house, they're really playing a clever game."

Lin Guozhong didn't like hearing this, and frowned as he said, "This has nothing to do with us, so shut up."

Upon hearing this, Ding Yuxiang exploded, throwing a handful of sunflower seed shells at him: "How can it not concern me? I get a share even before the family splits up! It's unacceptable that they benefited!"

Seeing that Lin Guozhong couldn't utter a sound after a long time, Ding Yuxiang kicked him twice more in anger.

"What can I do?" Lin Guozhong shrank back and said in a muffled voice, "That's my older brother."

Inside the main room, Old Mrs. Lin had already heard the commotion outside. She wasn't asleep either, sitting on the edge of the kang (heated brick bed), her face grim. The Wang family's actions—sending people back so late at night without even providing a meal—were a slap in the face to the Lin family.

Wang Hehua, on the other hand, comes back and starts throwing things around. Does she even have the nerve to talk back?

"Don't eat anything, there's nothing left." Wang Hehua came out of the kitchen, spreading her hands, her tone curt.

"How can there be nothing?" Lin Xiaorou exclaimed anxiously. "Then what are we going to eat? We only had a bowl of thin soup this morning, and we didn't have any lunch. And tonight—"

Lin Yuxuan also started crying and fussing, hugging Wang Hehua's leg and shaking it: "Mom, I'm hungry! I don't care, go find Grandma and ask her for food!"

Wang Hehua glanced towards the main house. It was completely dark, without a sound. With the whole family making such a racket coming and going, how could the old lady not know?

They're clearly hiding.

She gritted her teeth, steeled herself, and walked to the door of the main room, raising her voice: "Mother, is there any food left? Yuxuan is starving."

There was a moment of silence in the room before Old Mrs. Lin's voice slowly drifted out: "What's wrong? Didn't the Wang family provide food?"

Wang Hehua smiled ingratiatingly, "I was in a hurry to get back, so I didn't eat."

Old Mrs. Lin cursed inwardly: "Bullshit. It's clearly your stingy family who can't bear to part with food."

"Even if you're in a hurry, you still have to eat," Grandma Lin said calmly. "We didn't know you were coming back today, so we only cooked for the few of us at home."

Wang Hehua choked for a moment, then held back her tears and continued to smile apologetically: "Mother can take it, but I can't... How about you get me some rice and I'll cook some porridge?"

Lin Guozhong chimed in, "Yes, Mother, Yutang is still growing, and Yuxuan is still young."

After dawdling for a while, Grandma Lin reluctantly got up, opened the cupboard, and scooped out a bowl of brown rice. The bottom of the bowl was flat, not even a tiny bit peeking out.

"That's all, just make do with this."