My domineering ex-husband is living off his wife in ancient times.

Chapter 92 One Idea a Day

Startled, Lin's hand trembled, and she nearly dropped the wooden spoon into the pot.

"Second...Second Brother." Her voice trembled violently like a frightened rabbit. "I...I just cooked the rice according to the previous standard."

Si Erlang reluctantly picked up the rice bag next to the earthen stove, only to find that it was only half full. He was devastated.

Along their journey, whenever they stopped to cook for themselves, they would simply make plain rice porridge or vegetable porridge.

Note that it's vegetable porridge, not wild vegetables.

The fresh vegetables were all bought by Cheng Ruoan in the villages she passed through, and she put soil in a wooden frame on the carriage.

Cheng Ruoan went directly to the village to buy it from someone, who dug it up from the ground and planted it in her wooden frame.

And you know what? This method can extend the freshness of vegetables quite a bit.

The scholar Si Shaoheng was proud and arrogant, and his whole family had to cater to his every whim when it came to food.

Porridge can only be made from pure white rice; not a single grain of coarse grain can be added.

Everyone's used to it now...

Si Erlang was very displeased with Lin's backtalk and said in a rough voice, "On the way we fled, we didn't have enough to eat and didn't have the strength to travel. Now that we've settled down, how can we still eat like that?! Are we trying to kill ourselves? Huh!?"

"No... I... Second Brother, you didn't say anything yesterday either..." Madam Lin was at a loss for words.

She's just timid, not stupid.

This clearly shows that after taking over the stewardship, Si Erlang wanted them to return to the kind of life they had in Baihua Village.

The porridge should be clear, not thick.

Steamed rice should be made with 80% whole grains and 20% white rice.

Si Erlang snorted and shoved the rice bag at Lin's feet: "Didn't I tell you you've forgotten the old rules? Anyway, I don't care. This bag of white rice plus four bags of coarse grains is enough for our whole family for ten days."

I'll give you the coarse grains later; you'll have to figure out how to get the rest yourself.

Mrs. Lin sighed. Was this going to mean she had to sacrifice the rice she used to make braised rice yesterday and the thick porridge this morning?

Then all we can do is cook wild vegetable porridge.

Lin nodded, her neck hunched like a little chick. "Okay, I understand. I'll go dig for wild vegetables when I have some free time."

The others were also awakened by the commotion outside and got up, but no one came out of the shack.

The children of the eldest son's family are now living under someone else's roof and dare not stand out.

The children of the second wife and Li Shi certainly supported Si Erlang, but there was no need for them to come out and kick Lin Shi when she was down.

Especially the Li family.

Ever since Xia was kicked out of the Si family, she often reminisced about the days when the two of them bullied Cheng Ruoan together in Baihua Village.

The more she thought about it, the more she felt that her past self was...how wicked she was.

Forget it, I'll try to do less annoying things in the future, consider it as doing good deeds for Ershuan and Erzhu.

Zhao was lying in the carriage and pretended not to hear what she heard.

She was essentially brainwashing herself, silently repeating to herself: "The second brother is right. We still have to live our lives, so we must be careful with our money."

Inside the shack in the third room, Cheng Ruoan and Si Shaoheng looked at each other in bewilderment.

Although they decided not to interfere in the affairs of the second son's housekeeper, they were somewhat speechless.

"I never expected Si Erlang to be so stingy. The remaining rice and flour alone would be enough to feed all of us for more than half a month." Cheng Ruoan smacked her lips.

Si Shaoheng scoffed: "The most selfish person in the whole family is Zhao Shi first, and Si Erlang second. But after what happened to the eldest son's family and almost having a stroke, Zhao Shi is vaguely inclined to step down from her position."

Si Xin nodded, her expression mature for her age: "People only truly understand things after experiencing life and death. I wonder when Second Uncle will change."

Si Nian, with her hair a mess, rubbed her eyes and sat up: "What, rolling noodles?"

Si Shaoheng, Cheng Ruoan, Si Xin: ...

When the family of four got up and went out, Si Shilang had just returned with the chopped firewood.

Lin's eyes were red as she sat in front of the large pot, stirring the white rice porridge inside.

He hadn't noticed until Si Shaoheng reminded him, at which point he quickly put down the firewood to check on his wife.

"Honey, what did he say to you? Tell me."

Lin told him through sobs, and Si Silang turned around and went to their shack to take out a pottery jar. Then, to Lin's astonishment, he began to scoop out white rice porridge and put it into the pottery jar.

He tries to scoop out the dry parts as much as possible, avoiding any rice water.

Lin cried out in horror, "Father of Fourth Sister, what... what are you doing?!"

Si Silang: "Didn't Second Brother complain that the porridge was too thick? I'll just make it thinner for him. Anyway, he's already stipulated how much grain to cook for how many days, so don't blame us for taking advantage of this opportunity to skim some profits!"

The weather is quite cool now, so rice porridge in a clay pot kept in water won't spoil for a day or two.

Such a ceramic jar, about the size of an adult man's head, is enough to feed their family of three for two days.

"..." Lin: "Then everyone else will have to eat porridge too..."

She felt a little reluctant.

Si Shilang snorted: "Then they can only blame their master for only giving them this much grain."

He looked around. The children were all busy with their own things, and the second wife and her husband were not there either. He whispered, "Third brother and sister-in-law went to Huangyang Town to pick up Aunt Cheng, my sister, and my brother-in-law. They won't be home for dinner all day."

They'll be busy with their own things tomorrow and won't be eating at home, so as long as we don't let the third branch of the family go hungry, that's fine.

Third Brother is right. We need to be a little more selfish from now on. Anyway, the second branch of the family is in charge now, so we should learn from them.

"Then... that's fine."

After giving Si Silang some pointers, Si Shaoheng quickly got into a carriage with his wife, children, and Doctor Hu inside, and left the village.

They were going to pick up Cheng Ruoan's family from the inn in Huangyang Town, and then go to the county town to accompany Doctor Hu to buy a mountain.

The three locations—Daxi Village, Huangyang Town, and Songshan County—form a triangle, and it would take almost a whole day to cover them all.

Inside the carriage, Si Xin was reciting the Herbal Collection with Doctor Hu, playing with it as she went.

Si Nian cupped her chubby little face in her hands, blinked her eyes, and asked Cheng Ruoan, "Mommy, didn't you say that Second Uncle would give you back the power of managing the household today? Why do we still have to go out?"

Although Si Nian can be a bit dazed sometimes.

But she also understands the importance of "housekeeping authority"!

For example, when Grandma was in charge of the household, she would sometimes favor her older brothers, giving them white flour buns while giving herself and Si Niu black flour buns.

But since their mother was in charge of the household along the way, they had white steamed buns and big dumplings to eat every day.

Cheng Ruoan reached out and pinched the two small bumps on her head with both hands, saying, "It's hard to say whether it will be today or not. It depends on how much the village chief will charge when he finds someone to help build the house... But it's complicated, and you're too young to understand."

In short, the housekeeping power won't run away, so we're not in a hurry.

The most important thing now is your mother's and your grandmaster's grand plan to make a fortune.

Outside the carriage, Si Shaoheng couldn't help but cover his face as he listened.

This woman keeps changing her mind every day. Didn't she say she wanted to open a winery?

Now you want to get into skincare products again?!