Rebirth of the Evil Stepmother and the Four Villainous Children

She was afraid that if the fire really broke out she would not be able to afford it, so she had to resign herself to weeding in the fields. As a result, she only weeded two mu of land at the end of the day and was so tired that she could not even straighten her back. She went back home with a hunched back, carrying a hoe on her shoulder like an old woman.

Those who were busy in the fields found it funny, but they had so much to do in their own fields and didn’t have time to digest others’ stories.

When the people in the small courtyard saw Zhou Rongrong like this, they also started laughing and mocked her in a very rude way. Zhou Rongrong's face became hot from the laughter.

I felt very embarrassed and scratched my head.

"Hey, I tried hard. But I'm probably not cut out for farming."

Yue'er said, "That's right, Sister Rongrong is not cut out for farming, she's cut out for business, hahaha."

After being with Zhou Rongrong for some time, Zhou Min's personality has changed a little. He now starts to joke and talk along with her.

"Yue'er is right. Fortunately, Sister Rongrong only has three acres of land. If it were more than 20 acres like my family, wouldn't it be exhausting?"

Granny Wang and Aunt Zhang felt sorry for Zhou Rongrong so they drove the man away and gave her some advice.

"Look, you have to take care of the business and the fields by yourself, and the children are in school and have no time to help you. Why don't you ask the people from Aunt Zhang's family at the east end of the village to do odd jobs?"

Aunt Zhang said, "Aunt Zhang's family is also pitiful. Aunt Zhang's husband passed away some time ago. In order to treat her husband's illness, the family bought a lot of land. The family has three sons. The eldest son and the second son both got married. The eldest son's wife couldn't stand the hard life and ran away. There are still three young children in the family. The life they lived is not much different from your life.

That family is a good person, their children and grandchildren are all filial and not talkative, they have no problem with farm work, you can hire them to do some temporary work, they will do it even if you pay them ten cents a day, Rongrong, do you think it's okay? If it's okay, I'll take you there."

Granny Wang also said: "Mrs. Zhang's family is from the same village as mine. I know that family well. I have helped them over the years. They are a grateful family."

Zhou Rongrong thought that she really didn't know much about things happening on the farm, and it would be nice to have someone to help her, so she agreed.

Aunt Zhang put down the work in her hands and let Granny Wang take over, Granny Wang said.

"Go ahead, it's easy to make dumplings. I can do it. I can do it."

The main reason is that she can't really cook a meal for so much money, right? Most of the time, Granny Wang would cook dinner for Zhou Rongrong's family before going home.

Aunt Zhang took Zhou Rongrong to Aunt Zhang's house. Aunt Zhang was about the same age as Aunt Zhang, but her hair was full of white hair and her face had more wrinkles than Aunt Zhang's. She looked more than ten years older than Aunt Zhang.

When they came, the three sons were all out busy, leaving only Aunt Zhang at home looking after the children while she weaved bamboo baskets. Bamboo baskets were cheap, costing only one penny each, and sometimes even none could be sold.

But she still had to weave them, thinking that if she sold them she could supplement the family income. Aunt Zhang pulled Aunt Zhang aside to talk, and Zhou Rongrong looked at the bamboo baskets that Aunt Zhang was weaving.

Zhou Rongrong thought that this bamboo basket was beautiful. Its shape was just an ordinary one, but Aunt Zhang used a lot of bamboo strips for weaving, and the bamboo threads were split into thin strips, so it looked very beautiful and delicate. At least Zhou Rongrong liked it very much and took it to look at it carefully.

As a modern person, Zhou Rongrong is still very interested in this kind of handicraft, but this thing can be weaved by any family, so it is not that rare. Even Dabao can weave a basket.

Aunt Zhang held Aunt Zhang's hand, feeling the tingling sensation and feeling uncomfortable, and told her the purpose of Zhou Rongrong's visit. When Aunt Zhang heard it, she wiped her eyes and thanked Aunt Zhang quickly.

After the two of them finished chatting, Aunt Zhang went to talk to Zhou Rongrong with red eyes and felt uneasy.

"Mrs. Zhou, are you going to hire my son as a temporary worker?"

Among the children in her family, only Zhang Dalang was required to work in the fields, while the other two sons went to the town to find work. People like them who were peasants could not read a single word, and they even learned to write their own names when they were selling land. The work they found was all hard labor, and they only earned ten cents a day.

Their wages would also be deducted, and even if they had the bran-covered steamed buns from home for lunch, they would only get seven or eight cents. If they encountered an unscrupulous foreman, they would not even get seven or eight cents a day. With so many people in the family, the money they got would not even be enough to support them.

Zhou Rongrong saw that she was feeling uncomfortable and didn't know what kind of suffering she had gone through. She spoke so carefully to people for fear of offending them, so she lowered her voice and spoke gently.

"Yes, I would like to ask your Dalang and Erlang to help me take care of my farm. My farm is only three mu. I would like to ask them to pay me ten cents a day, including one meal at noon. I wonder if your sons are free?"

Erlang's wife, who was busy sweeping the floor, dropped the broom as soon as she heard it.

"When I'm free, when will it start, Madam Zhou? My husband and my third brother are both good at farming and will definitely take good care of you."

The reason why the second mother's wife was so excited was that her husband came back yesterday, and his shoulders were all scraped and bloody, which made her cry when she saw it.

She was an orphan. She and her husband met at the market. At that time, the Zhang family was still doing well and they did not despise her for being motherless. Zhang Erlang also married her. Even though the Zhang family was in trouble, she never thought of leaving her child behind and abandoning the family.

What's more, her father-in-law was very good to her when he was alive, not to mention her mother-in-law. She was not the kind of ungrateful person who would not be grateful for other people's kindness. After her father-in-law passed away, there was still some money in the family, but it was all taken away by her eldest sister-in-law. She got angry when she thought of this.

Although farming was tiring all the time, it was much better than going to the town and being bullied. And since it was right at her doorstep, she felt at ease, so she answered the call.

Seeing Zhou Rongrong looking at her, Erlang's wife panicked, fearing that she had said something wrong and offended the master of the house, so she hurriedly explained.

Zhou Rongrong also understood that this person was taking the opportunity to promote his own family. In fact, Zhou Rongrong admired such women because they were loyal and righteous, which was rare, with good character and useful.

Zhou Rongrong didn't say anything and pulled Erlang's wife aside to talk. Her main purpose was to get away from her mother-in-law and see if this person had the ability to make decisions. She didn't want this person to be unable to make decisions for herself, so she asked.

"If there is an opportunity, you can work. How will your family arrange it? I see you have several children at home."

Erlang's wife said.

"The children are all sensible. We have told them about our family situation. The oldest child is nine years old and can go to the fields to help his eldest brother with work. Although the remaining three children are relatively young, my mother-in-law can take care of them. If that is not possible, I will have to trouble my youngest brother to look after them.

If I had a job opportunity like Aunt Zhang, you don't have to worry that I would not work hard because of my family. In the current situation at home, if I don't make money, I will starve to death. This winter, except for the three brothers who can eat two meals a day, we at home can only eat one meal a day. Can it be worse than this?"

After listening to this, Zhou Rongrong also understood that Erlang's wife was a person with her own ideas and could be the head of the Zhang family, but her mother-in-law was not someone who could be the head of the family.

"I can hire you. The salary is not low, enough for you to support your family, but everyone who comes to work for me has to sign an agreement. Is this okay with you?"

Erlang's wife smiled and said gratefully, "No problem, no problem, I can sign any agreement."

Zhou Rongrong told her the contents of the agreement and the issue of salary payment, but did not specify how much would be paid.

How could Erlang's wife not agree? As long as she didn't tell anyone about the work, she could earn a steady 10 copper coins a day. There was also the bonus that Madam Zhou mentioned. Even without the bonus, 10 copper coins a day was very tempting, so she quickly agreed.

Zhou Rongrong said again.

"Do you want to discuss this with your mother-in-law?"

Erlang's wife said.

"No need, Madam Zhou, you may not know that I have been the head of our family since my eldest sister-in-law passed away."

Now Zhou Rongrong felt relieved and told Aunt Zhang, who was very nervous, that she wanted to hire her daughter-in-law.

Aunt Zhang didn't react until Aunt Zhang shook her and her voice became higher.

"What are you still standing there for? Hurry up and thank Rongrong. Your family will have a good life in the future."

Aunt Zhang didn't know what to do. She looked at this and that and her lips began to tremble with excitement. Zhou Rongrong was afraid that she would faint from excitement, so she asked Erlang's wife to support her mother-in-law.

It took Aunt Zhang a while to recover. She kept thanking Zhou Rongrong with tears in her eyes. Zhou Rongrong felt very embarrassed. As a junior, she always felt that she couldn't bear it.

He quickly agreed that tomorrow, when his two sons were at work, he would take Erlang's wife to the village chief's house to sign the contract according to the agreement.