CHAPTER 248: CHAPTER 247 POISON YOU TO DEATH (SECOND UPDATE)

Xiaxia is Mrs. Liu’s first daughter, and besides, Mrs. Liu doesn’t have any bias towards sons over daughters.

So, over the years, she’s treated Xiaxia like a treasure.

But no matter how much of a treasure, she couldn’t escape Old Mrs. Mu’s casual ordering around.

There you go, Xiaxia just got home and Old Mrs. Mu rushed her off to plant rice seedlings in the field. An afternoon later, the fair-skinned Xiaxia returned from her mother’s family got her skin peeled by the sun, with her face and wrists visibly darkened by several shades.

"Mom, the vegetables are picked, does Xiaxia need to do anything else?" Mu Xiaxia held a wooden basin filled with vegetables for tonight and two taels of meat.

Mu Xianxian, still scheming to get the recipe from Mu Shuangshuang, sent her maid over to fetch herself three days later. With her around, and now the pampered Mu Xiangxiang back as well, Old Mu Family would likely have meat at every meal.

But as for who would get the meat, that’s not something Mrs. Liu could decide.

"No need, good girl, go rest in the room and keep an eye on your little brother."

After all, Xia Xiaochu is only two and a half, he may speak and walk a bit but accidents can’t be ruled out.

"Alright, Xiaxia will go now."

Mu Xiaxia wiped the sweat about to trickle into her eyes, left the kitchen, ready to check on her brother, but unexpectedly, she was caught by Old Mrs. Mu.

"Xia girl, where you off to? Kitchen work all done?" Old Mrs. Mu questioned with a stern face, all gloomy.

"Grandma, my mom asked me to check on Xiaochu, as for the kitchen work..."

Before she could speak, Old Mrs. Mu interrupted, "You two, both the same, lazy and mischievous, eat without doing.

You think my Old Mu Family, like you Liu Family, let you raise yourself fat at home? Hurry up and tidy your second aunt’s room, it’s such a mess, like a pigsty."

Old Mrs. Mu ranted and cursed a bunch, leaving Mu Xiaxia with tears welling up instantly. She turned back, glancing at her mother still working in the kitchen.

Mrs. Liu had her back turned to her daughter, unwilling to turn around, for fear she’d not hold back her argument with the old lady. But she knew if she dared utter a word, her daughter’s life would only get harder.

"What are you standing here for? Go do your work!" Old Mrs. Mu shouted angrily, leaving Mu Xiaxia helplessly to tidy up Mu Zhenzhen’s room.

Sure enough, Mu Zhenzhen’s room was just as Old Mrs. Mu described, no better than a dog’s den. The quilt was tossed on the floor, the only chair in the room lay knocked over in a corner, and beside the kang, it was unclear if it was leftover food or something else.

Green mold had grown on it, likely left uncleaned for days.

Mu Danian stood at the doorway, waiting for Xiaxia to clean up the room, so he can return to his own room. He finally wouldn’t have to live in that pigsty. To think of himself as the most handsome in Er Gui Village, tormented by mosquitoes these days, it left Mu Danian feeling deeply unconvinced.

Luckily, he’s smart enough, managing to trick his second sister away. Otherwise, where could he find comfortable days to live?

Little did Mu Danian know, Mu Zhenzhen was eagerly waiting for the freshly cooked dumplings from Shuangshuang’s house at that moment.

The dough had risen well, now it was just time to roll out the skins, fill, and cook them.

Yu Si Niang stepped into the kitchen from outside, wearing an apologetic look on her face, she approached Shuangshuang and said, "Shuangshuang, just now your second aunt said she’d have dumplings at our place, mom..."

Yu Si Niang felt embarrassed to say it herself, she’s not the kind to let people bully her, never yielding to Mrs. Lin, but Zhenzhen was different, her husband’s sister, her daughter’s second aunt. The familial ties here weren’t easy to dodge.

"If she comes, she comes, you rest assured mom, I definitely won’t make things difficult for second aunt."

As if! Mu Shuangshuang thought of the dry mustard she and Lu Yuanfeng bought on the street; it was about time to use it. Sucking down food at her house, you ought to have the awareness to pay the price.

She remembered clearly, her second aunt had eaten their leftover food.

Yu Si Niang seeing her daughter had no objections, didn’t say anything further.

"Shuangshuang, mom will roll the skins, you make the dumplings, let’s hurry up and savor some hot dumplings sooner."

"Alright, just as well, I wanted to see mom’s skills."

Mu Shuangshuang made dumplings herself, she’s pretty skilled at rolling, back in the institute for New Year’s, the group would make dumplings together. At that time, her dumplings often received praise.

Thinking back, it felt as if these things happened just yesterday.

Yu Si Niang’s skill in rolling skins, while not as good as Mu Shuangshuang’s, was still quite fast; in a few strokes, a thin and pretty dumpling skin was ready.

Mu Shuangshuang sprinkled some flour on the dough board, watched the dumpling skin glide over the flour before starting to fill. Different fillings required different shapes, ingot shapes, regular shapes, and floral shapes, Mu Shuangshuang did them with ease.

The pinched dumplings were set aside, waiting for a potful. Then, Mu Shuangshuang took out dry mustard she had hidden in the corner of the kitchen, chopping it into bits with a kitchen knife, finally mixing it with some filling.

She separately made four dumplings, larger and prettier than others.

Mu Shuangshuang started cooking the dumplings, she preferred using raw fillings, so once the water boiled, she added another round of water. Once it boiled again, she began scooping the dumplings.

Outside, Mu Zhenzhen smelled the fragrance of the dumplings, grabbed a bowl and chopsticks without a word, very casually picked out a few dumplings.

Mu Shuangshuang watched her pick the four dumplings with mustard, then stopped her from taking more.

"Second aunt, there’s many in our family who haven’t eaten yet, isn’t four enough for one?"

Mu Zhenzhen wanted to say a potful wasn’t enough, but Mu Shuangshuang was holding a kitchen knife, the blade aimed at her, somehow it was rather intimidating.

"Fine, don’t give then, stingy, miser!" Mu Zhenzhen rolled her eyes at Mu Shuangshuang, hiding in a corner, she quickly picked and stuffed the dumplings into her mouth before they cooled.

A pungent taste gradually spread in her mouth, flooding the entire oral cavity, the spicy smell slowly attacking towards the nose, a rich aroma stinging her eyes, Mu Zhenzhen retched suddenly.

"Ah, spicy, so spicy..."

Mu Zhenzhen was hopping on the spot, flailing about, tears and snot smearing across her face, more embarrassingly than when seen on the roadside earlier.

Mu Shuangshuang laughed heartily, holding her belly, "Second aunt, I told you, don’t casually eat others’ food. You never know if someone might poison the meal. Next time, don’t steal our leftover food, that’s for our black pig, people can’t be snatching from pigs, right?"

Mu Zhenzhen was furious but her eyes kept tearing, feeling all sorts of discomfort.

Nasty girl, you win!