When the aroma of bone soup wafted ten miles, everyone in Hongshu Slope stopped what they were doing, slowly lifted their heads, their eyes shining with dazzling light, and turned uniformly towards the kitchen, sniffing the meaty fragrance with all their might.
The men of Hongshu Slope, responsible for building the houses, were overjoyed. Today, the Madam was personally cooking lunch, and they would have a treat!
Down the slope, Old Man Ye, digging the well, and his workers also showed excitement in their eyes.
Although the accommodation was ordinary while helping this family dig a well, the food and drink were truly exceptional. Every meal was not only delicious and filling but also came with water to drink. They didn't know where they bought the water, but it was exceptionally sweet, and drinking it made their whole bodies feel energetic.
Digging a well required great effort, and with the guarantee of food and drink, they could work without excessively depleting their bodies.
Beside the well, the children from Hongliu Village and Caomiao Village, who were helping to transport the soil and sand, also looked towards the kitchen simultaneously, unable to resist licking their lips. Although there was no saliva, it did not prevent them from making frequent swallowing motions.
After watching for a while, their gazes gradually shifted to the children playing and shouting joyfully around the kitchen, their eyes filled with deep envy. If only they were also part of Lu Yun and Lu Yu's family. If not, it would be good to be part of Tian Dou and Tie Zhu's family, because they were all one family, eating the same meals and drinking the same amount of water every day.
They so desperately wanted to taste the meat soup in the pot; it was something they had never eaten in their lives.
Li Qiang and Lu Fengshou secretly exchanged glances, both greatly surprised. The living conditions of the Lu Ye family were even better than those of Chief Zhang's family. Chief Zhang's family ate meat only a few times a year, yet they had smelled meat the very first day they arrived to work.
The few women busy not far from the kitchen also smiled from ear to ear upon smelling the meat.
Tian Guihua looked at Yang Shi and said with a smile, "Sister Yang, since we became part of the Madam's family and have been eating well, your complexion has been improving day by day. After a while, once you've recovered your health, hurry up and have a child with Da Niu. We definitely won't have to worry about food and drink in the future."
Yang Shi smiled shyly, "Sister Guihua's complexion has also improved a lot, and you look much more energetic. Actually, to tell you the truth, Da Niu and I have been married for several years and still haven't conceived, and I don't know why. Sigh, because of this matter, I truly feel..."
Tian Guihua paused for a moment, then smiled and comforted her, "Sister Yang, don't worry. You are still young; you have plenty of opportunities. Let's focus on taking care of our health first."
Yang Shi smiled and sighed lightly, "I hope so."
Grandma Zhong, standing nearby, saw Yang Shi looking a bit down and chuckled, "My dear girl, don't worry. Looking at your face, you are destined for many children. Pregnancy also has to do with destiny; when destiny arrives, the child will naturally come."
Yang Shi nodded and smiled, "Thank you for your good wishes, Grandma Zhong."
As they chatted and laughed, they suddenly noticed that Liu Shi was rather quiet.
The three exchanged glances, tacitly understanding the situation.
Grandma Zhong, being the eldest, couldn't help but ask with concern, "My dear, what's wrong? Are you feeling unwell?"
Liu Shi shook her head dejectedly, "No, I just... Sigh, Grandma Zhong, how could I have ended up with such a wretch of a man?"
Tian Guihua said, "Sister Liu, finding a man is like gambling with dice; it depends on luck. If your luck is bad, we just stop playing to avoid greater losses, don't you think?"
"It's really like that," Liu Shi forced a smile.
Guihua's daughter spoke well, but Liu Shi and Zhou Ligen had been married for so many years; it wasn't something that could be ended just like that. Grandma Zhong patted Liu Shi's shoulder and asked in a gentle tone, "My dear girl, you... and Zhou Ligen, what are your plans?"
Liu Shi shook her head and gave a bitter smile, "He has opportunities to turn for the better, but he refuses to improve, stubbornly digging his own grave and lowering himself in degradation. As for me, I have no relationship with him anymore. From now on, just like my sister Guihua, I will be a happy 'bachelorette'." The term 'bachelorette' was actually said by their Madam.
Tian Guihua laughed heartily, "That's wonderful! But don't be discouraged. The Madam says that we women also have our own value, and even without men, we can live wonderfully."
Yang Shi also said, "Sister Liu is diligent and capable, and she is very straightforward in her dealings with people and matters. As long as we follow the Madam diligently, we will surely have a good life in the future."
Liu Shi let out a deep sigh, and suddenly felt a sense of relief. She nodded and smiled, "I think the present life is very good; it's something I never dared to imagine before."
As the women were discussing personal matters, Lu Yun and Tian Dou cupped their hands to their mouths and shouted loudly towards the sky, "Lunch is ready! Lunch is ready! We're eating wolf meat soup!"
In an instant, everyone who had the right to eat lunch at Lu Ye's house immediately put down their work and rushed towards the kitchen in a scramble.
Bai Sheng watched the crowd surging towards her and suddenly felt a sense of being in a war movie, with valiant Eighth Route Army soldiers charging down a hillside with roars to assassinate Japanese devils.
Everyone gathered outside the kitchen, their faces beaming with joy at the aroma of the food, unable to stop themselves from swallowing.
"Line up, everyone, line up properly! Don't rush, there's enough for everyone," Lu Yun and Tian Dou, acting as food commanders, loudly maintained order at the scene.
The crowd then formed a long queue with the speed of a lightning strike, as if they had been tricked into forming it themselves.
At the dining table, Bai Sheng, Du Min, and Lu Hua were responsible for distributing the food.
Lunch consisted of two large vegetable flatbreads per person and a large bowl of wolf meat soup, with five pieces of wolf bone with meat in each bowl.
The vegetables in the flatbreads were wild vegetables that Bai Sheng had dug up from her spatial dimension. To avoid suspicion, she dried the wild vegetables into preserved vegetables, so they were not identifiable even when mixed into the dough.
Long before Lu Ye had butchered the wolf, Bai Sheng had already sent Baoyu into her spatial dimension. After all, the group was eating the meat and bones of its mother at noon, and it would have seemed too cruel and disrespectful to have it present.
Without enough dining tables, everyone held their bowls of bone soup and sat on stones, eating heartily. For a while, the only sounds heard were the chewing of flatbreads with bulging cheeks and the "huffing and puffing" of slurping soup.
Those who helped for free were not provided with lunch; they needed to bring their own. The children from Hongliu Village and Caomiao Village sat in the thatched shed by the well, gazing enviously at the group about a dozen meters away, enjoying the fragrant flatbreads and meat soup.
Each of them couldn't stop themselves from desperately swallowing saliva that had long since vanished.
Li Qiang and Lu Fengshou, smelling the aroma and watching the mouths chew incessantly, felt as if they were going to die of hunger on the spot.
Were they stupid? Were they blind? Why did they have to offend the Lu Ye family so completely? Otherwise, they could have shamelessly begged for a bowl of soup.