The Prime Minister’s Little Wife

Chapter 42: The Chicken Leg Incident

Some of the stir-fried dishes were served in large bowls, and since they weren’t portioned out, everyone scrambled to grab as much as they could. Some people saved their chicken legs to take home and eat later, focusing on grabbing the dishes from the large bowls to eat on the spot.

The crowd at the banquet ate as if they were starving ghosts reincarnated, devouring the food with gusto. Fortunately, there was plenty of food to go around.

The dishes were prepared by the chef from Drunken Fragrance Pavilion, whom Xu Zhizhi had hired, and they were exceptionally delicious.

The Xu family’s home was livelier than ever, with everyone eating and discussing the dishes at the banquet.

“Hey, the Xu family has really made it big now. These are dishes we’ve never seen before in our village. I heard they’re all signature dishes from Drunken Fragrance Pavilion!”

“Really? Drunken Fragrance Pavilion? My goodness! We finally get to taste such delicious food.”

“This is so extravagant. Which family in our village will be able to match this when their son gets married?”

“Well, there’s Xu Daniu and Xu Erhu!”

“Oh! Your daughter is twelve this year, right? You should find a matchmaker and propose her to Xu Daniu!”

“Haha! Would that be okay?”

“Why not? Your daughter is pretty.”

Everyone ate and drank, and while there was some grabbing, no fights broke out.

Suddenly, a scream came from one table: “Wu Shi, you heartless, wicked woman! You ate the chicken leg? How could you be so selfish? You didn’t even save it to take home for Da Wa and Er Wa?”

“Mother, it smelled so good, I couldn’t help myself. You can ask Third Sister-in-law’s family to give us some more to take home later,” Wu Shi, the eldest daughter-in-law of the Zhao family, replied matter-of-factly.

Old Lady Lü of the Zhao family, seeing that her daughter-in-law not only refused to admit her mistake but also talked back, was so angry that she forgot they were in someone else’s home.

“You wicked woman, how dare you talk back! There’s so much food on the table, yet you had to eat the chicken leg. I’ll beat you to death, you wretch!”

Old Man Zhao, seeing everyone in the courtyard looking over, said sternly, “What’s all this noise? Are you trying to tear down the in-laws’ roof? Do you think this is your own home?”

Zhao Dahai, Xu Chunhua’s fiancé, was utterly embarrassed. He was from the neighboring village, and two years ago, while visiting his aunt in Qili Village, he had seen Xu Chunhua a few times and taken a liking to her.

Zhao Dahai had gone home and told his parents, and after some inquiries, Old Man Zhao had found that Xu Ergen’s (Second Uncle) family had two sons and two daughters. While they weren’t the wealthiest in Qili Village, they weren’t poor either. So, they had sent a matchmaker, and both families had agreed to the match.

Xu Chunhua was supposed to marry into the Zhao family this year when she turned fifteen. Today, her eldest brother was getting married, so the Zhao family had been invited. Since they weren’t from the same village, they hadn’t brought their entire family.

But now, his mother, Old Lady Lü, was publicly scolding his eldest sister-in-law. He had no idea what his fiancée would think!

He had noticed that Xu Chunhua had become fairer and even more beautiful, and he couldn’t wait to marry her.

[Recently, Xu Chunhua had been helping out at her uncle’s house, cooking meals every day. She was diligent and eager to learn, and with the vegetables and delicious food from Xu Zhizhi’s space, it was no wonder she had become so radiant.]

But what if his mother’s behavior scared Xu Chunhua off?

At home, his mother constantly scolded his eldest sister-in-law, second sister-in-law, and nieces. She didn’t scold the nephews, though.

In short, she was a typical example of favoring sons over daughters.

Today, five members of the Zhao family had come: his father, mother, second brother, eldest sister-in-law, and himself.

Normally, they wouldn’t have brought so many people to a wedding banquet, and their gift wasn’t particularly generous. But their family was large and often didn’t have enough to eat. When they heard that the Xu family had hired a chef from town to prepare the banquet, his second brother had insisted on coming to enjoy a good meal. He had persuaded their mother to bring him along, and the eldest sister-in-law, who had given birth to two sons and was usually favored by Old Lady Lü, had also been brought along after some coaxing.

But now, this had happened! Zhao Dahai genuinely liked Xu Chunhua and was worried that his fiancée would be angry.

He quickly put down his chopsticks and went to his mother’s side. “Mother, lower your voice. Everyone’s watching.”

Old Lady Lü had never liked how her son would give anything good to his fiancée to win her favor.

Now, even before the girl had married into the family, he was already defending her, afraid she’d get angry. This was unacceptable.

With her hands on her hips, she began to berate him loudly: “Third Son, you ungrateful brat! What do you know? There’s so much food on the table, yet this wicked woman had to eat the chicken leg. Look around—which woman here isn’t saving food to take home for their children? Even I saved mine to take back for your eldest brother. This wicked woman is so heartless, caring only for herself and not her husband or children.”

Xu Chunhua had been in the room keeping her sister-in-law company when she heard Zhao Dahai’s voice and came out to see what was happening.

She happened to see her future mother-in-law pointing at her fiancé’s nose and scolding him. She wasn’t sure if she should intervene, so she went to ask Xu Zhizhi for advice.

Xu Zhizhi had witnessed the entire scene. She didn’t think Old Lady Lü was entirely in the wrong. In these times of scarcity, the food at today’s banquet was indeed lavish, and saving the chicken legs and pig’s trotters to take home for the children was understandable.

Even in modern rural areas, it’s common for people to pack up good dishes from banquets to take home for their elderly and children.

Old Lady Lü’s anger was justified, but Xu Zhizhi didn’t agree with her publicly scolding her daughter-in-law in front of everyone.

Zhao Dahai kept his head down as his mother scolded him. If he had looked up, he would have seen his fiancée.

He hadn’t eaten his chicken leg either, having planned to secretly give it to his fiancée later. Now, he could only hand it over to his mother, hoping she would stop yelling.

“Sister Zhizhi, should I go over and break it up?” Xu Chunhua asked.

“You shouldn’t go over now. Zhao Dahai would be too embarrassed. Instead, go to the kitchen and pack some food for your future mother-in-law. That way, she won’t be so angry.”

The argument had escalated, and Old Lady Lü, in her rage, didn’t care about the onlookers. She continued to rant about her daughter-in-law’s selfishness…

The villagers in the courtyard whispered among themselves, some siding with the mother-in-law, others with the daughter-in-law. Everyone had eaten their fill, and not even the soup was left on the tables.

Xu Chunhua packed a large bowl of food for Old Lady Lü to take home, which finally calmed her future mother-in-law’s anger.

The villagers gradually began to leave.

Those who had attended the banquet took home the dishes, chicken legs, and pig’s trotters they had managed to grab.

Xu Lanhua’s fiancé’s family was from the same village, surnamed Hu. They had two sons and four daughters.

The entire family had come to the banquet, but they hadn’t caused any trouble.

Most of the villagers in Qili Village were refugees who had settled here, with the Xu family being the most numerous.

Other villages had fewer outsiders. For example, in Li Family Village, almost everyone was surnamed Li.

The Wang family had brought two tables’ worth of people, all leaving with oily faces and taking home two large plates of food, happy and satisfied.

Wang Shitou, who no longer had Wang Shishi to boss him around or give him snacks, was still a bully in the village.

Today, however, with his face shiny from eating so well, he was in a good mood. When he saw the village children, he didn’t act arrogantly and left quietly.

The villagers who were on good terms with Xu Ershen stayed behind to help clean up.

Xu Zhizhi took her two younger brothers and helped her father home.

Xu Ershen (Second Aunt) also stayed behind to help with the cleanup.

(End of Chapter)