To please others? It's better to please yourself.

But "Sister Aqing" is from southern Henan!

The locals believe that "eating donkey meat will trigger old ailments." These "old ailments" refer to chronic illnesses. They say that if you have any old injuries or ailments, even if they have been healed for many years, it's best not to eat donkey meat, as it's believed to easily trigger them. The reason is that the locals consider donkey meat a "trigger food."

This is recorded in "Sui Xi Ju Diet Manual," a book on diet therapy and health preservation written by Wang Shixiong, a famous physician in the Qing Dynasty: "Donkey meat is sour and neutral but poisonous, and can cause wind. It is incompatible with catnip; if it is consumed, it can be fatal."

A daughter-in-law praised by everyone for her filial piety makes her mother-in-law eat donkey meat every month, which shows that she is full of hatred for her mother-in-law.

Back in the archives, Wu Sufeng was sewing shoe soles. This kind of work is usually done when the weather is cool.

But Wu Sufeng has a large family; her husband and four children are all waiting for shoes! Moreover, her children are being cared for by her parents, and every year, besides buying things, she also makes two pairs of shoes for her parents by hand. The shoes she buys aren't what the elderly are used to wearing.

She has to work during the week, so she can only sew shoe soles when she has time. In this hot weather, her hands get sweaty in no time. She wipes them on her clothes and continues.

"Sister Su-Fen," Xu Jing-An said, pushing a teacup filled with mung bean soup towards Wu Su-Fen.

"Hurry up and drink something, then rest for a while."

Wu Su-fen took the mung bean soup and drank several mouthfuls.

"Ah~" She let out a comfortable sigh.

"But it saved my life." Wu Su-fen leaned back in her chair, waving her hands.

"Is it your turn to go down to the workshop today?"

"That's right! When we went to Workshop Two, Sister Aqing even sang a section of 'Mulan,' and you know what, it was really good!"

"Of course! Even someone as good as her, her mother-in-law just can't stand her."

"You said Sister Aqing bought donkey meat for her mother-in-law, how long has her mother-in-law been eating it?"

"It's been around for quite a few years."

Xu Jing'an: "Having eaten donkey meat for so many years, her mother-in-law doesn't even say a good word about it?"

"Or just say, 'Sister Qing is wasting her time!'"

After exchanging a few more casual words, Xu Jing'an turned back to attend to her own business.

Now, 77 years later, she is still hesitating about whether or not to take the college entrance examination.

I now have an urban household registration, a good job, and a happy family life, so I feel that I don't need to go to university for four years and then work.

Although the decision wasn't finalized, it wouldn't stop her from studying. She hadn't put down her textbooks for the past few years, reviewing them whenever she had a spare moment. She already had a solid grasp of high school material, so for now, she just needed to maintain that foundation and consolidate her knowledge.

As soon as October arrived, I heard that "Sister Aqing's" mother-in-law had fallen ill.

Xu Jing said with relief, "He's here," just as she had guessed.

……

Liu Qing listened to the cries of "ouch, ouch" coming from her mother-in-law's room and remained silent with her head down.

Old Mrs. Chen was quite beautiful when she was young. She fled famine to Chen Village and married her husband there.

But one day, her husband was captured by the Japanese and taken away to build a pillbox. He never came back.

She raised her two sons alone, enduring countless hardships. She was always the last to water the fields; and before going to bed at night, she always kept a kitchen knife under her pillow.

The mother doesn't dare let her son get into arguments with others when he goes out, because she's not capable enough to stand up for him.

As she gets older, whenever she feels unwell, she feels it's because she neglected her health when she was younger.

Ever since I heard from my neighbor that donkey meat is nutritious, I've been pressuring my eldest daughter-in-law to buy her donkey meat to eat these past few years.

Liu Qing took out the donkey meat he had asked someone to find for him from his cloth bag, went into the kitchen to start a fire, stew the meat, and add some soaked dried oyster mushrooms.

The series of movements were skillful and swift.

"Hey sister-in-law, Mom's sick, and you're not even there to take care of her. How can you call yourself filial?" Qian Shanxing leaned against the doorframe and sneered at Liu Qing.

In the Chen family, Liu Qing was always at the bottom.

"Is the meat ready yet? Are you deliberately waiting for me to die?" Old Mrs. Chen was getting impatient.

As soon as the meat was cooked, Qian Xing brought her only son, Chen Qingshan, to the pot.

Liu Qing quickly ladled out a bowl and brought it to his mother-in-law.

After their sister-in-law left, Qian Xing, Chen Xia, and Chen Qingshan, as a family, finished off the rest of the meat.

"Mom, should we go to the hospital to get it checked out? It's not good to keep eating meat whenever you feel unwell!" Liu Qing advised Old Madam Chen.

"What? You can't even bear to spend a little money on meat?" Old Mrs. Chen knew immediately that her eldest daughter-in-law was reluctant, and she glared at her anxiously.

Upon hearing his mother-in-law's complaints, Liu Qing quickly defended himself, "Mom, that's not what I meant!"

"That's not what I meant. I think that's it. What, you want to be my home now?"

"Mom, I don't dare. Whatever you say goes!" Liu Qing lowered her head, wiped away her tears, and came out. She took two cornbread buns and went back to the house with her daughter to eat.

The neighbor peered over the wall to watch the commotion.

Liu Qing hadn't seen his daughter all day, and the first thing he did when he got home was to ask about her. "Xiangxiu, have you done your homework?"

"Mom, I finished writing at school. Don't worry about me, you should rest!" Xiangxiu quickly replied.

Mom was exhausted after a long day, and when she came home, the whole family did nothing but wait to be waited on. She felt so sorry for her.

"Mom, how about I help you with the laundry, tidy up the house, and cook? I'm all grown up now, I can manage!"

"No need, Xiangxiu, listen to your mother. You can learn the housework when you're older. Just focus on your studies now and don't lift a finger. Once you start, you won't be able to do anything else." Xiangxiu nodded quickly, seeing how serious her mother was.

"I know, Mom. I just feel sorry for you."

"Mom understands, my daughter is filial to me. But you have to understand, these people are always taking advantage of us. You're your father's only son."

"Didn't you eat enough tonight? Have some more." Liu Qing took out two boiled eggs from his waist.

"Mom, you eat too."

"Mom can't eat this; I'm allergic to eggs. You eat it!"

Even after eating meat that evening, Old Mrs. Chen kept groaning and complaining.

Liu Qing lay in bed listening to the sounds coming from next door, and found them quite pleasant!

Liu Qing was originally from southern Henan. Back then, the two brothers, Chen Dong and Chen Xia, came to Liu's family to work as long-term laborers to make a living.

The Liu family had an excellent reputation in the area. They were known for their loyalty—Liu's father had always helped anyone in need; and for their kindness—for generations, they had always collected 30% of the rent. Otherwise, they wouldn't have taken pity on the Chen brothers and taken them in, since they were from out of town.

But two years later, these two men, along with bandits, robbed the Liu family. The fire they set burned the Liu family home to the ground overnight.

The fire burned all night. Despite receiving so many years of kindness from the Liu family, not a single person came to lend a hand. Not only did they not put out the fire, but they didn't even bother to call for help, or even shout for assistance! No one!

That night was deathly quiet from beginning to end.

That afternoon, Liu Qing sneaked off to play in the mountains and accidentally sprained her ankle. By the time she slowly made her way back, leaning on a cane, it was completely dark.