"I'm not very hungry. You all eat."
She handed one steamed corn bun to her father-in-law, Mr. Guo, and one to her mother-in-law, Madam Hua.
She gave her own bowl of cornmeal porridge—half to Sister Xiao, and the rest to the twin sisters and Dan.
Although it was a bit dark, she could still see the gratitude on their faces.
"Thank you, auntie!"
Dan was especially grateful. He was just an extra mouth to feed, and even getting a bite to eat was already kindness from the Guo family. He had planned to move out this year and stop shamelessly relying on them.
"You did a lot of work today and helped cook. You should eat more," Freya said calmly.
She had a good impression of this boy—honest, hardworking, and not a word of complaint even after spending half the day in the kitchen.
"Are you okay? No appetite? Do you feel unwell?" Brian asked softly. He didn't care that Freya gave food to the others and not to him. Instead, he was concerned about her health.
"I'm fine. I'm just not hungry." Freya winked at him, signaling that he didn't need to worry.
"That's good." Brian saw she really seemed okay and kept eating. Freya occasionally gave him some wild vegetables with her chopsticks.
"Freya—no, Comrade Freya, does this mean you've decided not to divorce Brian anymore?" Madam Hua asked cautiously. Freya didn't like being called by her name by everyone.
Everyone looked up at her after hearing that question.
"Mom, I was foolish before and had the wrong idea. From now on, I'll live well with Brian. I won't get divorced."
"That's good, that's good. You two living well is more important than anything."
Madam Hua lowered her head and kept eating, hiding her red eyes. Her daughter-in-law had given her a corn bun.
She secretly looked up at their interaction, feeling comforted. The way her daughter-in-law looked at her son—it was gentle. Maybe she really didn't want a divorce anymore.
Even though no one knew why she suddenly changed so much today, as long as she was good to her son and didn't divorce, that was all that mattered.
Everyone else continued eating quietly. Whatever they were thinking, Freya didn't really care.
After dinner, Sister Lan went to wash the dishes without needing to be told.
Fang took the kids and returned to their room, also taking food in for Bigui.
Freya carried Brian back to their room. Even though the others had seen it before, they were still surprised.
"Auntie is so strong!"
"Auntie carried uncle, so strong!"
With the two little troublemakers from the second family not around, the twin sisters were more cheerful. They followed Freya into the room, clapping and cheering.
"Shh, don't shout. Your uncle will get shy!" Freya placed Brian on the bed, made a hand gesture to the three kids.
"Ahem, don't say nonsense. They're just kids," Brian gave Freya a helpless look. Now that she mentioned it, he didn't even feel embarrassed anymore.
"Sister-in-law, we'll go now. You and big brother rest early."
Sister Xiao pulled the two little girls to leave.
"Wait, don't go yet." Freya opened the big wooden chest, pretending to get something, then took out three boiled eggs.
She handed one to each of them.
The eggs were ones she had bought in bulk before the apocalypse. She had hired a five-star chef to make boiled, tea-flavored, spiced, and tiger-skin eggs. Even after ten years in the apocalypse, she still had plenty left.
She still remembered the stunned look on that chef's face, like he thought she was joking. But the eggs turned out really tasty.
"Take them and eat. But these aren't for free. Tomorrow, the three of you need to help me cut pig grass. Just enough to earn one work point."
"Auntie, we'll work really hard!" said Zhad, the more lively twin, happily.
"I have some too. Little Aunt gave it to me, for Dad and Mom to eat!" Lai also smiled shyly and took an egg out of her pocket, carefully holding it in both hands as she handed it to her parents.
"Why did Little Aunt give you eggs? Those are really valuable," Sister Lan looked at the eggs with both happiness and worry. She really didn't have anything good at home to give in return.
Their family was extremely poor. They were even mixing wheat bran into their meals, so raising chickens was out of the question, and eating eggs was even more impossible.
Even when they could occasionally trade for a few eggs, they would be eaten by Zheni, the only golden grandson in the family. There was no chance for the little girls to get any.
So, this was actually the first time in five years that the children could eat what others said tasted so good, eggs.
"We helped Aunt do chores, cut pig grass… um, um, one work point. Little Aunt, me, and Lai worked together," Zhad, being young, stammered for a while before she could explain it clearly.
Sister Lan patiently listened to her daughter and thought that her sister-in-law must have wanted the children to eat something nice, so she said it like that. She didn't expect her sister-in-law to actually be pretty decent.
"Good girls, you both eat it. Your dad and I don't like eggs. After you eat, go find your Little Aunt and sleep early." Sister Lan gently rubbed the heads of the two kids.
Cali originally wanted to bring the eggs to her parents, but when she saw her sister-in-law carrying a basket to their room, she didn't go over. Her sister-in-law wasn't just stronger today, she was also a better person.
In the second room.
"Oh my son, does it hurt? That wretched woman, I swear she'll pay for this. My poor baby!" Sister Fang was helping Zheni apply purple medicine while angrily cursing.
"Alright, alright, you useless woman. When we were getting beat, you ran faster than a rabbit and hid like a mouse. Now you suddenly remember you have a son? What a fake act." Brother Bigui, also in pain, muttered. If he had known this would happen, he wouldn't have opened his mouth.
He was just joking, really. As if he would actually take his brother's wife. But the beating was way too harsh, it really hurt like hell.
"She's worthless. Couldn't even protect her brother. Why should I waste medicine on her? She's just a waste of resources." Sister Fang glanced sideways at Daya with a face full of contempt, poking her forehead with her finger and pinching her arm to vent her anger.
"Mom, I'll try harder to protect brother next time. Please don't be mad," Daya looked at Sister Fang with a flattering expression.
It was her fault for not protecting her brother.
Mom always said she was just a burden. Raising her was a big loss. When she grew up and got married, she'd still need her brother's support. Daya didn't really understand what "support" meant.
But she knew that if she treated her brother well, mom would be happy and wouldn't hit her.
"Sister Fang, come over and massage my back. The fall hurt so much. Daya, go find your Little Aunt and sleep. Zheni, go find Dan. None of you should stay in this room anymore," Brother Bigui said impatiently, waving his hand to send them away.
The housing situation in the Xiao family was like this: Madam Hua and her husband lived in the smallest room.
The second room, which was the largest, was occupied by the second son and his wife. It was supposed to be for the eldest couple, but because the second couple got married earlier and were shameless, they had always occupied the biggest room.
Freya and Brian lived in the second-smallest room. Since Brian was a soldier and rarely came home, the smallest room was left for them.
The four little girls shared the room that once belonged to Sister Biyun, the already married daughter of the Xiao family.
Zheni and Dan lived in the firewood room. Even though Zheni was considered the golden grandson, the Xiao house was too small, and there simply wasn't enough space for everyone.