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

Old Man Lin flung the curtain and entered the room, causing the paper windows to tremble with a "buzz".

"What time is it? The stove is still cold?"

He glanced at the cold pot and the remaining water, his face turning as black as the bottom of the pot.

Grandma Lin shrank back, not daring to utter a sound, then turned and yelled into the yard, "Wang Hehua! What are you doing? Start a fire!"

Wang Hehua pouted as she went to gather firewood, her eyes still fixed on the direction next door—the aroma of the glistening pork belly seemed to still linger in the air.

Lin Xiaohua glared at her: "Stop looking. Do you think they'd deliver it to you?"

Wang Hehua glared back, gritted her teeth, and said, "No matter how capable Lin Qianqian is, she still came from this family. Eating all the food herself? Aren't you afraid of choking?"

"Then go ask for it," Lin Xiaohua sneered.

Wang Hehua opened her mouth, but didn't say anything.

Old Mrs. Lin was humiliated. That brat never fought back when hit or scolded; she thought she had bullied her whole life, only to find out she was a thorny one.

"She won't be smug for long." Her voice was low, but each word seemed to be squeezed out from between her teeth. "Once those few acres of land are all cleared up, let's see if she'll be begging the Lin family for help."

"Grandma, I want to eat meat!" Lin Yuxuan suddenly shouted.

"What are you eating for!" Old Mrs. Lin slammed her hand on the table. "Go find your mother!"

Wang Hehua's expression changed: "Mother, why are you taking out your anger on Xuan-ge? He's still young! He just wanted some meat, what's wrong with that?"

"I want to eat meat! Will you give me some?"

"Where would I get money?" Wang Hehua's voice rose. "All the money has been handed over to the public funds! Where's the cash? Tell me yourself, didn't it all go to the National Security Bureau?"

"You—" Old Mrs. Lin glared angrily at Wang Hehua.

"Alright!" Boss Lin pulled his wife aside, his voice low but simmering with anger, "Say less."

Wang Hehua shook off his hand: "You're just a coward!"

Old Man Lin slammed his pipe on the table.

The room fell silent instantly.

"We'll buy meat tomorrow." His voice wasn't loud, but no one dared to respond. "Our family isn't at the point where we can't even afford a piece of meat."

Grandma Lin's lips moved, but she didn't say anything more.

Wang Hehua turned her face away, her chest still heaving.

The fire in the stove finally caught fire, casting swaying shadows all over the yard.

But those shadows looked like they were arguing.

The Lin family's dinner was a complicated affair.

Brown rice porridge, hard flatbread, potato soup, and pickled vegetable strips.

Lin Xiaohua took a bite of the pancake, felt a burning sensation in her throat, put the pancake down, and threw down her chopsticks.

"What's wrong? Not eating?" Old Man Lin asked in a low voice.

"I can't eat." She stared at the thin porridge in the bowl, her mind filled with images of Lin Qianqian's greasy little trotters.

Grandma Lin also lost her appetite, and after drinking one bowl of porridge, she put down her chopsticks.

Wang Hehua and Ding Yuxiang, however, could eat. They were craving it, but their stomachs wouldn't wait. If they didn't eat, they'd be the ones going hungry.

Lin Yuxuan frowned, poking at the pancake in the bowl with his chopsticks, not daring to cry or make a fuss—last time he cried, he was slapped so hard he didn't make a sound for a long time.

No one spoke at the table. The clattering of bowls and chopsticks sounded like stones hitting stones.

"Mother," Wang Hehua suddenly spoke, "I'll go to town to buy meat tomorrow."

Grandma Lin looked up and slowly glanced at her.

There was no emotion in that glance, but Wang Hehua felt a chill run down her spine.

"Is there no work to do at home?" Old Mrs. Lin's voice was soft. "Do you all want to shirk your responsibilities and relax? Everyone's going to the fields tomorrow. Eldest daughter-in-law and second daughter-in-law, take turns cooking for a day."

Ding Yuxiang paused with her chopsticks, but remained silent.

Wang Hehua's lips moved, but she didn't dare to retort.

"Xiaohua, come to town with me tomorrow."

Lin Xiaohua's eyes lit up: "Okay, Mom."

She smiled at her two sisters-in-law.

That smile was as sweet as honey smeared on a knife.

Wang Hehua lowered her head and drank her porridge, the rim of the bowl obscuring half her face. In her heart, she cursed, "That old hag, so biased."

Ding Yuxiang didn't say anything, but simply broke the pancake into small pieces and put them into her mouth one by one, chewing very slowly.

She wasn't without complaints; her sister-in-law's laziness and gluttony had been going on for a long time.

The kitchen quieted down, with only the sounds of chewing on flatbread and the occasional dull thud of porridge bowls hitting the table.