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

Chapter 23 A thief broke into the house?
Whoosh! Almost simultaneously, an arrow shot out.

The wolf's ears twitched, and it did a beautiful 360-degree spin in the air.

Four large claws landed steadily on the ground, along with specks of blood.

The arrow grazed the wolf's ear, leaving bloodstains clearly visible on its silver-gray fur.

It bared its teeth, roared a few times, then turned and left.

Daya was so scared she was almost out of her mind, her mouth trembling, "Wolf...I...I've never encountered a wolf on this mountain before."

Li Ruru quietly put the hunting rifle back into her spatial storage and hugged her daughter.

"Are you alright?" A familiar figure appeared in the woods.

"Xiao... Yishan?" Li Ruru exclaimed in surprise, "What are you doing here? Did you shoot that arrow just now?"

“Yes, I’m going up the mountain to hunt.” Xiao Yishan pointed to the broken bow and arrow in his hand.

Xiao Yishang noticed the konjac in their baskets and warned, "It's poisonous."

Li Ruru chuckled, "I can make it non-toxic. Come over for dinner tonight."

They did save their lives, so treating them to a meal is really nothing.

Xiao Yishan pulled a furry little creature out of his basket.

"Wow, it's a rabbit!" Daya exclaimed.

Her uncle once hunted a wild rabbit; her cousins ​​ate the meat, but she didn't even get a sip of soup.

Grandma said that women shouldn't eat rabbit meat, or they won't grow tall.

Li Ruru stared at the chubby rabbit, swallowed hard, and said, "Um..."

She wanted to buy the rabbit, but didn't know how much to offer or whether the seller would even sell it.

"Here you go." Xiao Yishan tossed the rabbit directly into Li Ruru's basket.

"Huh? You gave it to me like that?" Li Ruru asked incredulously.

Xiao Yishan didn't answer, and left on his own with his bow and arrows.

Daya stroked the chubby rabbit. "Mom, how are we going to eat this rabbit?"

Li Ruru blinked her eyes with anticipation, "Braised rabbit should taste good, and spicy rabbit head is delicious too."

"Mother, have you ever eaten rabbit?" Daya asked with a puzzled look. Her mother seemed to know so much about rabbits.

"It's getting late, let's hurry up and dig out this konjac." Li Ruru changed the subject.

Although konjac is a vegetable, its root is very thick and difficult to dig.

The mother and daughter went through a lot of effort to dig up two of them.

As soon as he returned to the dilapidated house, Pan Dayan was already waiting for him.

"Hey girl, you can take this knife and these basins."

Li Ruru was touched; Aunt Pan was such a good person, helping her in every way.

But she couldn't keep taking advantage of good people forever, so after thinking for a moment, she asked, "Auntie, would you like to do business with me?"

Pan Dayan waved her hand, "How could I steal your business? I'm just helping out with a small favor."

Seeing that she refused, Li Ruru took her hand and said solemnly, "My business is actually quite profitable, but digging and processing konjac is really too time-consuming."

If you'd like, have Tie Niu and Tie Zhu help me with these.

In return, I'll give them 20 coins a day each. What do you think?

"What? 20 coins per person?" Pan Dayan's eyes widened. "How are you going to make money then? This is your livelihood, we can't let you suffer a loss."

They go to the county town to carry heavy loads for people, working from morning till night, and the wages are only 20 coins a day. They only help with processing konjac. How can they take so much money from them?

"It's not a loss; I'll even make a profit. It's settled then."

Pan Dayan smiled and said, "Okay, then I'll take this konjac back and process it. I'll have my son bring it to you when it's ground up."

It would be foolish not to make money, and besides, she was helping Li Ruru.

"Also, I'd like to buy these konjacs. I'll give you 10 coins per konjac. Auntie, could you help me spread the word?"

"You want to buy this thing?" Pan Dayan's eyes widened again, and after a pause, she tentatively asked, "Then... can I have Tie Niu and Tie Zhu dig it up and sell it to you?"

"of course."

Pan Dayan stomped her feet happily. Her two sons could earn 40 coins by helping to grind konjac. If they dug up a few more konjacs, wouldn't they make a fortune in one day?

After her initial joy, she worried that Li Ruru's business would fail, so she returned home alternating between happiness and sighs.

She had just put down her basket when she told her two sons the good news.

Tie Niu and Tie Zhu were incredibly excited. They were both of marriageable age, but unfortunately, they hadn't been able to raise enough money for the bride price. Earning 20 coins a day at home—where else could they find such a good deal?

"Don't tell anyone, keep it a secret." For the first time in her life, Pan Dayan felt that this news couldn't be told to anyone else.

This is a secret between her and Li Ruru. What if someone else finds out about this secret and steals her family's business?

After calming down, the two sons also realized that what their mother said made a lot of sense. "Mother, we will definitely not talk nonsense."

"However, I can tell everyone about the konjac acquisition. They can dig if they want, and we can dig if they don't."

Pan Dayan wasn't greedy; she just wanted to earn two salaries.

The three of them immediately got to work in the yard. Pan Dayan washed the konjac and cut it into small pieces, while the two brothers started grinding it with a stone mill.

Just then, a commotion suddenly came from next door.

Pan Dayan shook the water off her hands and leaned against the wall to listen.

Seeing this, the two brothers sighed helplessly. The Chen family was arguing so loudly, did they really need to stand right next to the wall to listen?

The Chen family is now on the verge of conflict.

Wang Shuixia stood in the east courtyard, Feng Yuzhu stood in the west courtyard, and Zhao Shi was sandwiched in the middle.

Wang Shuixia: "Second son's wife, what time is it? You didn't cook breakfast and you're not going to cook lunch either?"

Feng Yuzhu said aggrievedly, "Why should I do it? Why don't you do it?"

Just then, Chen Dagang and Chen Ertong returned from outside. Feng Yuzhu said aggrievedly, "Ertong, my sister-in-law bullied me."

Upon hearing that someone was bullying his wife, Chen Ertong rushed over without hesitation.

"Sister-in-law, what are you doing? Are you taking advantage of my Yuzhu because I'm not home?"

Seeing that her second sister-in-law had someone to back her up, Wang Shuixia immediately called out to her husband, "Are you dead? Hurry up and die here."

Chen Dagang walked over reluctantly. "What is it now? Why are you always so fussy?"

Wang Shuixia felt extremely wronged. Her second sister-in-law's husband could unconditionally support her, but her husband was like a block of wood.

"If no one cooks, what are you going to eat? Who cares? Go ask her what she means by not cooking?"

Feng Yuzhu sneered, "If you don't cook, do you want your parents to starve to death?"

Feng Yuzhu was clever; she directly shifted the blame.

Wang Shuixia couldn't explain herself clearly; she couldn't answer yes or no.

"Mother, what do you suggest we do?" Wang Shuixia looked to Zhao Shi for help.

Zhao said, "What's so difficult about cooking? You can take turns. You can cook for a month first."

Wang Shuixia wanted to retort, even if it was a rotation, why should she start first?

But everyone was starving, and Chen Bingxiao made himself a bamboo pipe, but he just didn't feel comfortable using it.

Hearing the noise again, he shouted irritably, "What's all the noise about? If you're not going to cook, get out!"

Wang Shuixia immediately shut up, not daring to say anything, and went into the kitchen looking aggrieved.

Feng Yuzhu squeezed Chen Ertong's hand, then looked at Zhao Shi, "Mother, it's not that I don't want to cook, it's just that I can't bend over."

Zhao was eager for Feng Yuzhu to give birth to a grandson, so she naturally didn't care about these things. "You can rest. Your sister-in-law can cook by herself."

"Father, Mother, come quick!" Wang Shuixia's startled cry suddenly came from the kitchen.

"What are you looking at? Can't you even cook a meal properly?" Zhao cursed as she entered the kitchen.

As soon as she entered, she sensed that something was wrong.

When did this kitchen get bigger?

Upon closer inspection, she discovered that the large wooden box containing the grain was gone!
That's their entire family's food supply.

“It must have been Li Ruru who took it!” Wang Shuixia said with certainty. “Mother, let’s go find her and get it back right now.”

Just as the two were about to leave, Feng Yuzhu suddenly ran out screaming, "Mother, has our house been broken into? The cabinet in my room is gone!"

Upon hearing this, everyone panicked.

Since Li Ruru left, the eldest and second wives have been going to sit under the big tree at the village entrance to cool off in order to avoid cooking.

Chen Bingxiao went up the mountain to dig bamboo, while Chen Dagang and Chen Ertong escorted Chen Jinbang back to the county town.

The group thoroughly searched the house and finally determined that it wasn't a thief who had broken in, but rather Li Ruru who had entered!
The Chen family's major belongings were all missing: several wardrobes, beds, dressing tables, even Zhao's comb, Wang Shuixia's new quilt, Feng Yuzhu's clam jelly, and two hens were all gone.

Wang Shuixia rolled up her sleeves and said aggressively, "Let's go find Li Ruru!"

Feng Yuzhu said, "Let's report it to the authorities directly."

(End of this chapter)