Wang Lingling's crazy look scared many people and even made several children cry.
Zhao Jun opened his mouth, wanting to say something but didn't. He fell silent. This silence made sense. Many people sighed. His wife pushed his own mother to death. No matter where he went, it was outrageous.
The captain arranged for the militia to come and send Wang Lingling directly to the town police. He also had to collect the body of Old Lady Zhao and wait for the people to come and question her tomorrow.
Perhaps Wang Lingling had foreseen her own fate, and before leaving, she did not forget to leave a big surprise for Zhao Jun.
"Brother, don't think that the division of the family was my idea. Your third brother told me about it on the phone."
Her eyes were full of malice: "He said you were useless and couldn't even take care of your own wife and children. But he had no obligation to raise your children. If he hadn't said that, how could I have wanted to separate the family? Think about it, he felt that no one would take care of his children, so he had to keep the family together. Later, he thought that if he married me, I could take care of his children, so he couldn't bear you anymore."
Zhao Jun's voice was filled with icy coldness: "Wang Lingling, it has come to this, and you still want to stir up trouble."
Wang Lingling laughed particularly happily. Why couldn't she? She was not someone who could hold back her grievances. After living two lives, the biggest grievance she had suffered was at Zhao Jun's side. She had to look after his children and take care of the family. She also had to be on guard against him, bullied by his mother, and quarreled with his sisters-in-law.
Zhao Jun just walked away without caring about the family affairs. He didn't even bother to help the two children improve their relationship, but instead he was a maggot to make trouble for them, making them blame him as their biological father when they were wronged...
Wang Lingling: "Zhao Jun, I finally understand why Wang Ying doesn't want you anymore. You look like a normal person, but you are actually the most disgusting person."
Wang Lingling was taken away by the militia, she shed tears. She didn't know what the future held, but she felt as if she had made the wrong choice again.
Wang Lingling left, but the words she left behind still created a rift between the Zhao brothers.
Zhao Jun opened his mouth to explain, but he didn't know where to start.
Of course, what Wang Lingling said was false. Even though Zhao Jun had selfish motives, he still cared about his brothers and parents. Otherwise, he wouldn't have kept the family together in his previous life, and he wouldn't have brought his brothers along when he became rich.
But... But...
Zhao Jun recalled that in his previous life, the reason he did not split up the family was because there were no conflicts in the family.
After Wang Ying came in, she managed everything in an orderly manner. She never said anything about the two children, nor did she complain about Old Lady Zhao and her sisters-in-law. Even Zhao Jun told the children at that time, just like in this life, that if their stepmother wronged them, they could call their father.
Wang Ying should have known about it, because Zhao Jun heard his son tell Wang Ying about it when he came home one day. But Wang Ying did not quarrel with him about it, but treated the two children better.
Because things at home were comfortable, Zhao Jun devoted all his energy to his career. Naturally, he had no selfish complaints. He worked hard in the army and was diligent and hardworking after his demobilization.
The only time Wang Ying raised a question was when he returned to the county town after his career change and became a small director of a supply and marketing cooperative. Wang Ying asked him when he could take her and the child to the county town.
Zhao Jun no longer remembered how he answered at that time, he only knew that Wang Ying did not get what she wanted that time.
He never thought there was anything wrong with it. Isn't it normal for men to work outside and women to take care of the children at home
Zhao Jun always felt that he was perfect as a man.
He never messed around outside, never hit anyone, and gave Wang Ying living expenses on time every month. At first, everyone said that Wang Ying was marrying down, a high school graduate who was good-looking, and was sold to Zhao Jun by her uncle and his wife who were not human.
But later, others began to talk about how lucky Wang Ying was. She married such a capable man and lived a good life.
I don’t know how many young wives in the brigade regretted missing Zhao Jun back then.
Zhao Jun thought of what Wang Lingling had said just now. She said Wang Ying married Xu Shuang, and that Wang Ying was also reborn like her...
Zhao Jun was very puzzled and he couldn't figure it out.
Since Wang Ying was reborn, why would she marry someone else
Zhao Jun thought about it more and more, and didn't even explain it. In the eyes of his brothers, it almost proved the truth of Wang Lingling's words.
Zhao Jun came to his senses and was about to speak again, but was interrupted by his brothers.
"Third brother, our father just fainted from anger. I will go back to look after him first, and you should also go back to look after the children. We will discuss how to bury Mom tomorrow."
Just as Zhao Jun was about to say he was going to go see his father, his eldest and second brothers had already turned around and took the whole family to settle down.
Zhao Jun knew very well that the relationship between his brothers could never be restored.
Zhao Dong was sniffing his nose, and Zhao Xi was tired of crying and was nodding his head like a chick pecking at rice, ready to sleep.
Zhao Jun had no choice but to carry the two children back home. Zhao Dong twisted uncomfortably in his arms. Although he always talked about his father, he was a complete stranger to his father. From the time he was born to now, he had only spent less than three months with his father.
Zhao Jun carried the two children into the house and was shocked when he entered.
There were actually several grain bags scattered around the room, with a lot of corn and wheat kernels spilled out, and even two bags of refined flour.
Zhao Jun put his little daughter in jail, grabbed his son and asked, "Where did all this food come from?"
Zhao Dong was a little scared, and shrank his shoulders before saying, "My stepmother bought it."
Zhao Jun frowned. The amount of money he transferred to Wang Lingling was limited. Even if it was to buy food, it would be impossible for him to buy so much with the soaring food prices now!
Zhao Dong whispered, "My stepmother hid some in the kang hole and the cellar. She wouldn't let my sister and I eat it."
Zhao Jun went down to the cellar and dug open the kang hole. He was completely dumbfounded.
All these grains, added together, looked to weigh at least 400 kilograms.
You know, even a member with full work points would not get that much food in a year. Moreover, it was a period of famine.
Zhao Jun felt like his brain was going to explode. What was Wang Lingling trying to do? Was she going to blow up his life
Zhao Dong squeezed his way to his father's side and said, "My stepmother said she would exchange these for money and use the money to buy candy for me and my sister."
Of course, it wasn't in the last few days, but a few days ago. When Wang Lingling still treated Zhao Dong and Zhao Xi as treasures, she let out a few words.
Zhao Jun figured out the key point with almost no effort.
Yes, only Wang Lingling, a fool who knew her past life, would do such a thing. She must be planning to take advantage of the famine to stock up at low prices and sell at high prices.
Zhao Jun took his son to ask about every detail of Wang Lingling, fearing that Wang Lingling had done something extraordinary besides food.
Zhao Dong told him everything, and Zhao Jun quickly sorted out everything.
It is a fact that Wang Lingling hoarded food. She hoarded 300 kilograms of food, an amount that was enough to cover the money I gave her. The extra part was brought back from her parents' home.
Zhao Jun learned from Zhao Dong that Wang Lingling's family had problems. Although Wang Lingling had not told them, the incident between Wang Yongshun and Li Chunjuan was a big deal, and Wang Yaozong's tomb robbery was a big case known to several nearby communes. So Zhao Dong also knew something about it.
Zhao Jun put aside the affairs of Wang Lingling's parents' home and turned his attention to food.
Zhao Dong said that Wang Lingling had only transported the grain back in the past few days, so this was basically impossible. Even though Zhao Jun had no experience in this field, he knew that the reason why the stockpiled grain was sold at a high price was because you bought it at a low enough price.
Wang Lingling definitely did not start harvesting grain recently. If she wanted to do it, she must have started two or three months ago.
There were two deep grooves between Zhao Jun's brows.
If Wang Lingling was just hoarding, then that's nothing. After all, according to what the children said, Wang Lingling hasn't sold anything recently. Since she was just buying and not selling, then it can't be considered as reselling or speculation.
But what if Wang Lingling was in partnership with someone, or if Wang Lingling was careless and the matter became known to others
Then this matter needs to be taken seriously.
The more Zhao Jun thought about it, the more he felt something was wrong. He asked his son again and again, and finally confirmed that Wang Lingling must have an accomplice.
Zhao Jun was still in deep thought, but Zhao Dong already felt aggrieved.
Dad came back, and the bad stepmother was driven away, but this time when Dad came back he didn't bring him a gift, nor did he buy him candy or toys. He just pulled him aside and questioned him.
The child became emotional and started crying after a while.
Zhao Jun was still thinking about what to do when he was suddenly interrupted by his son.
Zhao Dong sobbed, "Dad is so mean. I'm hungry, but you won't give me anything to eat. My sister hasn't eaten since this afternoon. We are both children without anyone to take care of us."
Zhao Jun then realized that it was already evening, the oil lamps were not lit at home, the grain bags were scattered on the floor, and his son and daughter had not eaten yet.
"Don't cry, Dad will cook for you."
Zhao Jun also felt a little ashamed, but he was not the kind of person who could say sorry to his son. He said this in a stern voice and went to the kitchen to cook.
Zhao Jun cooked dinner under the oil lamp, and he didn't know where everything was. It took him a long time just to light the stove. There was only one egg in the house, so he boiled it and gave each of the two children half.
The stove was even still dirty. Wang Lingling didn't wash the pot after eating the noodles, so he could only frantically busy himself, busying himself with this and that.
I finally made two bowls of mixed noodle porridge, but both children thought it was unpalatable and refused to eat it.
Zhao Jun took a bite and found it unpalatable. But it was food, so he ate more than a bowl, and then he found some sesame oil, dripped a few drops of the remaining food, and let the two children eat it.
After such a messy meal, Zhao Jun stuffed the two children into the quilt without washing them, and slept on the kang all night.
Early the next morning, he made up his mind.
Wang Lingling’s food must be handed over!
He was not a fool like Wang Lingling. Even in the old society, he would be arrested for dumping food during a famine, let alone in the new society.
In fact, the so-called crackdown on speculation in recent years has focused on cracking down on speculation. What is speculation? Buying at a low price and selling at a high price, taking advantage of information asymmetry, and exploiting both sides. This is speculation.
If Wang Lingling didn't hand over the food she had hoarded, she would be punished to the maximum extent if it was discovered later. He would also be punished.
Zhao Jun got up, fooled the two children, and then hurried out to find the team leader. It is better to confess early than late, since it was all done by Wang Lingling alone and it was none of his business.
Ignoring the aggrieved looks of the two children, Zhao Jun was in a hurry to go out.
As soon as he reached the door, his second brother was standing there holding a gourd ladle.
"Third brother, I came to borrow some food."
The second son of the Zhao family stared at his younger brother.
Zhao Jun was immediately overwhelmed: "Brother... I can't lend it to you. The grain needs to be handed over."
The second son of the Zhao family: "Third son, I have one last question for you, would you like to lend me the grain?"
Zhao Jun said stubbornly: "I really can't lend it to you, brother. The grain will be delivered soon..."
His second brother did not listen any further, but just laughed sarcastically: "Third brother, third brother, I misjudged you. Well, don't worry, even if I am not ambitious, I will still raise my wife and children. I will never rely on you again!"
After saying that, he turned and left.
Zhao Jun called him from behind, but he ignored him.
Zhao Jun rubbed his head in frustration and asked himself for the ten thousandth time, what is the point of being reborn!
Parents are not parents, brothers are not brothers.
Zhao Jun forced himself to go to the team leader, who knew that the matter was serious and he could not make the decision. He reported the news to the commune, and a leader from the commune came directly to handle the matter together.
One was to prosecute Wang Lingling for pushing Old Lady Zhao to death, and the other was to prosecute Wang Lingling for hoarding grain for resale.
Before Wang Lingling could be brought to the police station for questioning, she was accused of reselling and hoarding grain.
She confessed everything and directly gave the name of the Li family.
The commune leader gave a look and the militia went out to Li's house to arrest people.
Wang Lingling told the whole story, including how the old lady of the Li family formed a partnership, how she cheated her, why they compromised, and how the grain was divided.
After everything was confessed, all members of the Li family were arrested.
As soon as Mrs. Li saw Wang Lingling, she started cursing. There was nothing she could do because she was afraid.
She hasn't talked to Xie Yuejin about this yet. She is just waiting for a few days, when the grain supply in the county is at its highest, and then she will talk to her future son-in-law so that she can negotiate the price.
As a result, before she could make any move, something happened to Wang Lingling.
The hundreds of kilograms of grain in the Li family's wing became evidence, directly pushing the Li family into an abyss of no return.
When the time came, Mrs. Li made up her mind almost instantly. She pushed all the blame onto her daughter-in-law and tried her best to get her sons out of the way.
Her daughters-in-law are not pushovers either. Who would be willing to take the blame
For a moment, the whole house was filled with the noise of the Li family.
The police knocked on the table, very impatient: "Stop arguing, there are still some things that have not been verified. Who is that? The old lady of the Li family. Let me ask you, Wang Lingling's original words, she threatened you with the fact that your third son Li Qing was a eunuch, so that you agreed to break up the business, is that right?"
Wang Pingping, who had been standing by Mrs. Li to defend her during the dispute, was dumbfounded.
"A eunuch?"
Old Mrs. Li thought something was wrong and was about to run away, but she heard Wang Pingping's shrill scream, and then she felt a sharp pain in her head.
"Fuck! Hurry up and pull them away!"
"So, female comrade, stop hitting me. If you continue, you'll go to jail!"
“Is this family crazy?”
…
The police finally pulled Wang Pingping away, but Old Lady Li and Li Qing had been beaten and bitten, with bruises all over their faces.
Wang Pingping burst into tears. She had been looked down upon and ridiculed for not having a child. Her life was so difficult. In the end, it was all fake!
She sat on the ground like a mad woman and started crying, pointing at Old Lady Li and her family and scolding them harshly, saying that they were black-hearted and rotten-bellied, that they had no eyes for giving birth to a child, and that they would have no descendants and no incense. Anyway, she scolded them for whatever she thought of.
The police officer took a deep breath and went out to ask his colleague for a light.
"I think this matter has been done."
At the end of August, the corn fields in the brigade finally no longer needed to be guarded, and it was time to harvest Wang Ying's private plot.
Wang Ying wore a small straw hat and happily followed Old Lady Xu to pick peanuts. Her family used too much oil, so they had a large plot of land full of peanuts.
Wang Ying would come from time to time to water the peanuts with some spiritual spring water, and a large area of peanuts were growing very well.
Old Mrs. Xu was also surprised: "The peanuts in our field are growing really well."
Wang Ying: “I haven’t pulled it out yet.”
Old Lady Xu: "Just look at the top!"
Sure enough, the peanuts that were pulled out were a big handful, and brought out a large piece of soft soil.
Old Mrs. Xu was very happy: "These peanuts are good. We should save some seeds this year. We can't eat them all."
Such good peanuts should be used as seeds.
Wang Ying broke open a moist peanut. The freshly dug peanuts tasted moist, and the moist peanuts tasted sweet and fragrant when bitten.
Wang Ying: "This thing regulates the spleen and stomach. I'll grind it up and make some small cakes for you later."
It didn't take much time to harvest all the crops on such a large private plot of land.
Wang Ying weighed it initially and found that the peanuts weighed several dozen kilograms.
Old Mrs. Xu was very satisfied: "Take it to the oil mill and press it. It can produce more than 20 kilograms of oil."
After harvesting the peanuts, Wang Ying set her sights on the two sunflower plates in her private plot. She had found the seeds for these two sunflowers with great difficulty, just to grow some sunflower seeds to fry and eat.
But I don’t know if it’s because she planted it a little late, or because her private plot is in a remote location. The peanuts can be picked, but the sunflowers are still far from being harvested.
Wang Ying ran three times a day, fearing that the sunflower heads would be picked by others.
While waiting for the sunflower plate, Wang Ying ate the newly harvested peanuts in many different ways.
First, boil the fresh peanuts with five spices. Wash the fresh peanuts with the shells, without drying them. Then use a small wooden mallet to gently hammer the washed peanuts. This step is to make small cracks and holes in the peanuts, so that they can be easily seasoned. Then add bay leaves, ginger, peppercorns, rock sugar, cinnamon, and chopped green onions. Add a spoonful of soy sauce. More salt is the key. Boil for an hour and then simmer for most of the day. The salted peanuts are ready.
Salted peanuts taste like fresh peanuts. The peanut skin seems to be wrapped in a layer of juice, and the peanut kernel is soft and fragrant.
Xu Shuang cooked a big pot, and Wang Ying and Old Lady Xu put a plate next to them, and they finished eating before they knew it.
Next was fried peanuts. Wang Ying urged Xu Shuang to try various frying methods, including making drunkard peanuts with dried chilies and peppercorns, sugar-coated peanuts with a layer of sugar shell, tiger skin peanuts coated with egg and flour batter, and strange-flavored peanuts that were added with all kinds of seasonings and tasted actually quite good in the end.
Wang Ying suggested while eating: "Let's do it again during the Chinese New Year."
Such snacks are perfect for winter.
The last thing is the dairy product that Wang Ying has been longing for for a long time.
Xu Shuang had been building a relationship with the town's animal husbandry station for a long time, and finally, while the weather was still hot and the milk at the animal husbandry station was about to go bad, she used the back door to get half a bucket of fresh milk for Wang Ying.
For this little bit of fresh milk, Xu Shuang almost went to get the milk on time, and after squeezing it out, he rode his bicycle home without stopping. It was really hot in autumn, and if he walked slowly, he was afraid that the high temperature would spoil the milk.
When I got home, I just covered it with the lid and put it in the water tank.
Wang Ying gestured: "Use milk and flour, add peanuts, sugar, black and white sesame seeds as filling."
As soon as Xu Shuang heard it, she felt that it would be difficult for this dish to taste bad.
Old Mrs. Xu was also amazed: "Wow, peanuts, milk, white sugar, and white flour, this tastes delicious no matter how you cook it!"
As a theoretical giant, Wang Ying quickly responded: "In fact, it is better to use glutinous rice flour as the skin. Make the glutinous rice into a snowy skin, add peanuts, sugar and sesame fillings, and add some hazelnuts if conditions permit. Take a bite, and the sugar filling will flow out..."
Xu Shuang thought for a moment and said, "Then maybe adding some starch would be fine?"
Wang Ying nodded vigorously: "That's fine too! It's mainly for the sake of looking good!"
So after Xu Shuang's attempt, Wang Ying not only ate white flour pastries with sugar, peanut and sesame fillings that day, but also small transparent pastries that looked like meatballs. Xu Shuang used potato starch and wheat starch to make a small basket of sweet-filled "shrimp dumplings".
Wang Ying ate two "shrimp dumplings", but finally went for the flour products. The white, soft and milky dough was bitten open, and the sweet filling immediately flowed out.
The sugar melted after heating, the peanuts were crispy, and the sesame seeds were fried. The crispy and chewy texture of the nuts, paired with the sugar filling and the milky outer shell, made Wang Ying unable to stop eating.
I used the remaining milk to make double skin milk. The only pity was that I didn’t have a refrigerator, so the double skin milk didn’t hold up well.
Xu Shuang sprinkled a layer of roasted peanuts on it, and then added some cooked red beans as Wang Ying asked. Wang Ying relieved her desire for dessert and put it aside.
But Old Lady Xu particularly likes this taste: "It's soft, fragrant and sweet."
Xu Shuang ate the leftover Shuangpi milk from Wang Ying, and took out his notebook to write things down. He felt that what he had done was still a little indescribable, and he always felt that he could make more progress.
Just like that, within a few days, Xu Shuang took great pains to get two bottles of milk again. This time the quantity was smaller, but fortunately they were in glass bottles, so she didn't have to do it as urgently as last time.
Xu Shuang fumbled with it for a few more times, and finally made a bowl of double skin milk that Wang Ying also praised.
A period of time passed peacefully, and finally it was the beginning of September.
The beginning of September was not peaceful. News came from the county that two or three grain stations had been closed this month, and people in the city were unable to buy grain even with their grain coupons.
Wang Ying reminded Xu Shuang: "Master, do you want to go and see me once?"
The things sent to Chen Dong last time should have been enough, and Wang Ying took the initiative to add a lot of them, but this mess is still worrying.
Xu Shuang nodded: "Wait until tomorrow, I'll go take a look."
He didn't take anything with him. He went to see how his master was doing first. If things didn't work out, he could always come back and get them.
Wang Ying: "I'll come to see you tomorrow. The brigade has run out of medicine. I'll go to the town clinic tomorrow to buy some backup."
But when Wang Ying went to the town the next day, she was stopped by an unfamiliar person.
Wang Ying looked at the person standing in front of her car in great confusion.
Zhao Jun hesitated again and again, but finally spoke: "Do you have time? I want to ask you something."