Divorce with three kids? I'll build a house and eat meat, driving my in-laws crazy.

Chapter 21 This is what your grandmother hid.

When I rushed into the yard, I found that the grass, which was once as tall as a person, was completely gone.

It was a bare area with a few haystacks piled up.

The haystacks were steaming, and their mother, Li Ruru, was holding a sickle and watching them with a smile.

"Mother? Is it on fire?" Er Ya asked.

"No, I'll cut these grasses and burn them so that we can plant something on this land."

"Mother, did you cut all these grasses by yourself?"

Daya was almost speechless with surprise. She looked at the sun; they hadn't slept for very long.

How did Mother manage to cut all the grass in the yard in such a short time?

Although the house was dilapidated, the yard was really big, a full 500 square meters, or about half an acre.

Er Ya looked down and saw that the grass had been cut close to the ground, leaving only short sections, and the height was too uniform.

"Mother, did you really cut this off by yourself?"

Does Mother have some kind of superpower? There's so much grass; even if Tie Niu and Uncle Tie Zhu came, they'd be busy for half a day.

Feeling guilty, Li Ruru changed the subject, "You all wash your hands and get ready for dinner in a bit..."

How could she have cut so much grass all by herself?

She used the space's lawnmower; the children were sleeping, and she chose the quietest one.

God knows how nervous she was just now, but thankfully the children were exhausted and slept soundly.

The house was secluded and rarely visited, which ironically made it easier for her to cheat.

Er Ya was also hungry, and as soon as she heard there was food, she happily ran to wash her hands.

The kitchen was large but dilapidated. Li Ruru spent a long time cleaning it up, and it was finally usable.

She took out the broken pot she had gotten from the Chen family and placed it on the stove. She then found a stone slab, cleaned it, and put it on the fire to heat it.

This way she had two pots: a broken pot for steaming rice and a stone slab for stir-frying vegetables.

Li Ruru had already cooked the rice, so now all she needed to do was stir-fry a few dishes.

To make it easier for her to cheat, she simply herded several children into the yard.

"You guys stay here and watch the fire. Once it's burned out, bury it with soil, or it'll burn down our house."

The three girls nodded; they felt this task was both honorable and important.

They had to keep a close eye on the fires, lest they burn down their house.

Li Ruru took out a few eggs from her spatial storage and then gathered some scallions from the backyard to stir-fry together.

She quickly cooked three dishes.

There was no table at home, so the group ate their meals directly around the stove.

Not having enough bowls, Li Ruru found a few bowls in her spatial storage, smashed each one with a few chips, and then used them.

"Eat up." Li Ruru wiped her sweat.

"Mother..." Daya spread her fingers, looking somewhat embarrassed, "Don't you have chopsticks?"

Li Ruru slapped her forehead; she had been so focused on making those fake bowls that she had forgotten to bring chopsticks.

Since there were no chopsticks available, she thought for a moment, then took a sickle and went to the backyard.

There were mountains not far behind the house, so she broke off a few tree branches and brought them back.

"It'll do for now. Tomorrow, Mom will go to the market and buy a few more pairs of chopsticks."

The three children accepted the chopsticks made of twigs without any sign of disdain.

Da Ya exclaimed in surprise, "There are eggs!"

Fearing she would be exposed, Li Ruru quickly said, "This is what your grandmother hid, but I found it."

Er Ya suddenly exclaimed, "What is this yellow thing? It's crunchy and delicious!"

Li Ruru asked in surprise, "Don't you recognize this? It's a potato."

Er Ya and Da Ya shook their heads at the same time, "Potatoes? What are potatoes? I've never heard of them before."

Li Ruru realized she was in trouble; she had fabricated a non-existent species.

Who would have thought that potatoes didn't exist in this dynasty?!

Li Ruru felt as if she had been fabricating things at every turn, but had somehow managed to slip up in a small ditch.

But since the food had already been cooked, she could only bite the bullet and explain, "This is something Mom dug up in the back hill today and buried in the ground. Mom calls it potatoes."

Daya and Sanya took another bite, looking very satisfied. "Delicious, these potatoes are really good."

Er Ya tilted her head and asked, "Mom, what do potatoes look like? Can I see them?"

"Yes, here!" Li Ruru hurriedly grabbed two potatoes from the corner. "Mom, why aren't these potatoes covered in dirt?" Er Ya asked again.

Li Ruru: "Mom's all cleaned up. Now, let's eat."

Sanya picked up a piece of green vegetable, her eyes lighting up. "Mom, is this purslane? How come the purslane you stir-fried tastes so good?"

Li Ruru just smiled and didn't say anything. She used lard to stir-fry it, how could it not smell good?
Was it easy for her to make these three dishes? She had to be careful not to get caught at every turn.

The ingredients in the three dishes were half real and half fake, which actually fooled the three children.

Having eaten half of the food, Li Ruru suddenly slapped her forehead, "Oh dear, I forgot to take the rice out."

They just ate all the vegetables.

In times when food was plentiful, eating only vegetables was fine, but when children were malnourished from hunger, they naturally couldn't just eat vegetables.

Daya laughed and said, "Mother, it's okay if we don't eat. This is already very good."

They had never eaten scrambled eggs at the Chen family home; they only smelled them when their grandmother cooked them for her three cousins.

"Mother, we don't have much food, so we should save as much as we can," Er Ya said.

She saw it clearly; her mother had only unloaded a small half-bag of brown rice from the oxcart.

"There's food, all you can eat."

Li Ruru lifted the lid of the pot, revealing white rice inside.

In an instant, the three little ones were captivated by the aroma of the freshly cooked rice.

"Mother, where did you get the white rice?" Sure enough, Er Ya liked to ask why, getting to the bottom of things.

Li Ruru: "I found what your grandmother hid."

She pushed everything onto Old Lady Zhao, since Er Ya was unlikely to go and ask her anyway.

"Mother! You cooked so much white rice?" Daya frowned.

Did Mother cook all the last bit of white rice? How will they survive from now on?

Li Ruru comforted her, "Mom has money, don't worry! Besides, aren't we still making money?"

When Da Ya thought about how they had earned 270 coins today, and how her mother had also received 36 taels of silver from her grandmother, she felt much more relaxed.

"Mom, it's delicious! The white rice smells so good!" Sanya's eyes lit up when she saw the food.

Li Ruru scooped three large bowls of rice for the three girls, saying, "Eat slowly, there's more in the pot if you're not full."

The three girls stopped talking and just ate their food with their heads down.

Er Ya couldn't help but peek at Li Ruru while she was eating. Her mother had really changed. Her mother was so good!

Li Ruru thought she was going to ask something again, so she hurriedly added more rice to her bowl.

Eat up, eat more, and shut your mouth that asks a million questions.

For the first time in their lives, the three girls had a full meal, and it was delicious white rice.

Li Ruru steamed too much rice, and even though the three girls were big eaters, there was still some left over.

She scooped out the rice, intending to cook it into porridge for dinner.

While I was washing the pot, I suddenly heard Daya calling from outside.

"Mother, Mother, come out quickly!"

"what happened?"

Li Ruru was still holding a broken bowl in her hand when she rushed out without thinking.

Her first thought was that the Chen family had come to cause trouble.

She touched her nose guiltily. Could it be that they only just realized she had emptied their house?
While moving things in the morning, she secretly put a lot of things into her own space.

She didn't care for those things, but she didn't want to give them to the Chen family.

"Mother, look, that person is staring at us." Daya pointed towards the doorway.

Li Ruru looked up and saw a tall, thin boy of about thirteen or fourteen years old standing there.

His hair was a messy, tangled mess, making his head look big and his body small.

Even from a great distance, Li Ruru could smell a foul odor, the kind that comes from not having showered for many days and fermenting in the summer heat.

"Mother, he's coming this way!" Er Ya exclaimed, retreating behind Li Ruru.

The boy approached step by step, holding a blood-dripping machete in his hand; it was like a scene from a horror movie.

Li Ruru got goosebumps all over. Could this be the jinx everyone was talking about?

What is he going to do? Kill them, mother and children?

(End of this chapter)