Forced to marry a disabled man in the countryside? I'll repay you tenfold!

Uncle Ding and Gu Yuan, wearing thick cotton-padded coats, braved the wind and snow to go out and shovel snow. Liu Shuqing was also busy in the afternoon; having just finished dealing with Su Wanqing's matter in the morning, she organized the whole team to clear snow in the afternoon. They even had to climb onto the roofs to push the snow, otherwise the snow would be too thick and the houses could collapse.

Su Wanqing wasn't idle either; she took a stroll around the kitchen.

Someone picked all the vegetables in the yard yesterday—bok choy, Chinese cabbage, garlic, and the tomatoes and peppers that Director Wang gave us had also ripened and were piled up on the ground. There were still various vegetables in the cellar. She immediately started pickling sauerkraut and kimchi, and also pickled a lot of garlic and radish strips. The next few months will be filled with blizzards, so she couldn't afford not to stock up on pickled vegetables.

However, she didn't want to go through the trouble of making them herself. She would take a little of everything, get ten times the return, and then put them into the craftsmanship grid for processing. She would do one thing a day, saving time and effort.

She glanced at Lin Tingting, who was cracking sunflower seeds on the kang (heated brick bed), and handed her a bucket of soaked beans: "Tingting, the whole family is busy, so don't be idle either. Go grind the beans; we'll have hot pot with tofu for dinner tonight."

Lin Tingting, cracking sunflower seeds, rolled her eyes: "I'm not going..."

Qin Xue immediately chimed in, "Oh my, what time is it and you're still acting like a pampered young lady? Even Sister Su is pregnant and still working. No wonder Brother Zhou doesn't want you, and neither does my brother. You're as lazy as a donkey."

Lin Tingting turned her body away: "Anyway, I'm not doing any work."

Su Wanqing smiled slightly, not angry at all: "From now on, whoever does the work will get to eat, and those who don't do the work won't get to eat dinner."

Qin Xue's eyes lit up at the mention of "tofu hot pot," and she jumped up, exclaiming, "Sister Su, I'll have it! Give me a generous portion tonight!"

Upon hearing there would be no dinner that night, Lin Tingting immediately snatched the bucket: "Fine, I'll do it! Honestly, all you do is threaten people with this!"

Su Wanqing snorted and turned back to the kitchen.

She just couldn't stand Lin Tingting's carefree and leisurely attitude. Looks like she'll have to find her more things to do every day from now on, so she doesn't just freeload!

It's called hot pot, but it's really just a big stew. But even a big stew has its tricks; to make it delicious, you need the right space.

Since a butter broth wasn't available, Su Wanqing substituted a three-delicacy chicken broth. She made clear-broth chicken with oyster mushrooms, shiitake mushrooms, and dried apples—no need to actually cook it, just gather the ingredients and toss them into the "Craftsman's Grid" (a hot pot processing center). She'd get a tenfold return on her investment once a whole pot of hot pot was made, meaning she could enjoy hot pot every few days this winter. One effort, and everything else would be ready-made—it was incredibly satisfying.

There are so many ingredients for hot pot: sweet potato slices, potato slices, radish slices, eggplant slices, cowpeas, dried vegetables, noodles, rice noodles... and tofu, fried tofu, dried tofu, and bean curd sticks that you can order after the soybeans are ground.

There was plenty of meat: pork belly, ribs, meatballs, rabbit meat, as well as oysters, river shrimp, and snails raised in the backyard.

There aren't enough ingredients for hot pot yet. I'll make some pure pork sausages and luncheon meat in a couple of days. They're both great for hot pot.

In short, cook all the ingredients in one big pot, and leave the rest to the chef's skill—eat whatever is produced.

Before Zhou Yanshen and Qin Xiao had even finished building the wall, they smelled the delicious aroma of chicken soup wafting from the kitchen, and their mouths watered uncontrollably.

Qin Xiao swallowed hard: "What is your sister-in-law making now? This smells so good, it's making me hungry again."

Zhou Yanshen smiled and quickened his pace: "It smells like stewed chicken, but not quite. Let's hurry up and finish it, we'll know tonight."

As dusk approached, the wall was completed. Uncle Ding and Gu Yuan also finished the snow-shoveling task assigned by Liu Shuqing, and the whole family gathered around.

A large iron pot was brought to the table, and each person had sesame paste, vinegar, soy sauce, minced garlic, and chili oil in front of them.

Qin Xue's mouth watered as she looked at the enormous pot. It was worth the afternoon she and Lin Tingting had spent grinding beans; her hands were still sore. The pot was brimming with ingredients, mixed with a bright, clear broth, including her favorite sweet potato chips, mushrooms, bok choy, and leafy greens, as well as tender tofu and meatballs. Dozens of ingredients were neatly arranged!

Su Wanqing was also very satisfied.

Today, I not only got a huge pot of hot pot for free, but also nine large iron pots from rural stoves. From now on, whenever I want to eat, I can just bring out a big pot, enough for ten or twenty people.

Zhou Yanshen touched Su Wanqing's hand; it was soft and warm, and he was relieved to find it wasn't cold. "Wanqing, you've worked hard. That's such a big pot; you must be exhausted."

Su Wanqing: No way. I just throw the ingredients into the space to process them. If I really wanted to cook it myself, just making chicken soup would be a skill in itself.

She smiled and said, "I enjoy cooking for everyone the most. Seeing you all eat well makes me not tired at all."

Zhou Yanshen's heart softened; his little wife was simply too wonderful.

Zhou's mother was already starving: "Are you all back? Eat up, eat quickly! It smells delicious."

A group of people at the table picked up their bowls, dipped their chopsticks into the pot, and took a bite with the broth in their bowls... Outside the window, snow was falling heavily, while inside the house, the hot pot was bubbling with a rich aroma.

Each person also had a large bowl of sweet soy milk in front of them.

Su Wanqing ate with her eyes half-closed in bliss. Zhou Yanshen kept piling food onto her plate, afraid she wouldn't be able to reach it—chicken wings, ribs, meatballs… he piled them into her bowl one by one. The food from this space was indeed delicious!

Qin Xue picked up a slice of oyster, her eyes lighting up: "Sister Su, are these the oysters you raised in your backyard? They're so tender and plump! So delicious!"

Su Wanqing smiled. She still had quite a few crayfish in her space, but hadn't had a chance to take them out yet. She planned to secretly put them in the pond in the backyard in a few days, and when everyone found out, she would pretend not to know. Then she could enjoy spicy crayfish and sour crayfish.

I was very satisfied with the meal.

Gu Yuan, as usual, conscientiously cleared away the dishes. Zhou's mother glanced at Su Wanqing, hesitated for a moment without speaking; then she glanced at Uncle Ding, sighed; then she glanced at Zhou Yanshen, shook her head; finally, her gaze fell on Qin Xue, then slid over to Lin Tingting, nudging her: "Tingting, your uncle's hands were all red from shoveling snow this afternoon. You're a good girl and you wash the dishes well, go wash them so your uncle can rest."

Lin Tingting's eyes widened. She pointed to herself, then looked around. "Auntie! I spent the whole afternoon grinding soybeans for milk, my hands are almost broken! Why didn't you let Su Wanqing do it?"

Zhou's mother said matter-of-factly, "I also wanted your sister-in-law to go, but she's pregnant. If something happens to her, I'll be the one who's guilty. No one else is suitable, you're the most suitable."

Her mind raced with calculations: instruct Su Wanqing? Forget it, it's her own son who's suffering. Yan Shen spent the whole night freezing in the snow yesterday, and today he's been building walls; he needs a rest. But she couldn't bear to see Gu Yuan suffer—so what to do? Tingting is still the most suitable.

Uncle Ding snorted, got up, and left. Gu Yuan hadn't even entered the house yet, and his little sister was already acting like this; he couldn't be bothered to look. There was still a ton of work to do in the backyard: adding coal to both sides of the kang (heated brick bed), and then cleaning out the ashes after it was burned. That's how it is in the countryside—there's work everywhere, and you can't stay idle for a single day.