Stepmother

The Zhang Family

After feeding the kids he went to the backyard to put the fertilizer in the garden. According to the system, this fertilizer will accelerate plant growth such that it occurs in only half the period that was anticipated. So most of his plants will be ready in about a month. This calmed his nerves a bit, but for the main foods, such as rice, he needed to think of something fast. But for right now he needed to think about his strawberry jam.

Five jin of strawberries was about five pounds of strawberries and that was quite a lot, so it would be enough for about ten jars of jam. Yesterday he bought seven jars for thirty-five wen in town, since the jars wouldn't be able to hold all that jam he'd just leave the rest for family and friends. Thinking of this he made his way into the kitchen.

First, he mashed the strawberries and then mixed them with lemon juice and sugar. He then put his mixture on the stove and let boil with the minimum heat by adding just a little bit of wood to the fire. When the sugar started to dissolve he then added more wood to the fire to raise the heat, and then let the mashed strawberries boil for about fifteen minutes. When the mixture appeared very gooey, he took a spoonful of it and let it seat on a plate to see if it would turn gel-like, and it did. So he knew that his jam was ready.

He planned to sell his jam thirty wen a jar. It might sound very expensive, especially to villagers, but according to what he saw in town when he went there for the past week. The people in town didn't mind buying expensive stuff as long as it was worth it. So he planned to decorate his jars with paint to catch the attention of the townspeople and then win them over with his words.

'System, I need paint.'

{Rainbow Color Palate had every color you need, you can buy it for two points}

'Give it to me'

After he got the paint he took his time decorating all the jars. He either painted daisies on them or sakura trees. Though this process took a long time it was still worth it in the end as the jars looked pretty and would easily catch the attention of the women in town. After finishing his jars he went to cook for the kids. He decided to make some vegetable seemed buns for himself and the kids. 

When he went outside to call the kids, he saw them playing carefully so as to not dirty their new clothes. It was vastly different compared to how uncaring they were when it came to their clothes. He couldn't help but smile softly seeing the kids like that. 

"Kids, it's time for lunch!" Sun Baohai called.

"Yes, mommy!" The kids responded as they rushed inside the house.

The kids ate the buns with relish, while the baby drank some milk.  When the kids finished lunch it was the start of the Wu hour (11 am- 1 pm). He washed the dishes as the kids cleaned up after themselves. When he went to town last time he had bought some rice papers to teach the kids how to read, the ones that would be able to go to school this year would be Qiqi and Xiao Xi, since the age they would accept children students is five years old. Qiqi and Xiao Xi are turning five at the end of the year, so it wouldn't hurt to start teaching them now. Xiao Wan could also start learning early, so he also made plans to teach him.

After the kids finished cleaning up they all gathered around the table as ordered by Sun Baohai. Sun Baohai first told them about his plans for them and then started teaching the kids some characters. The kids were excited at first but got bored a while later, but of course, Sun Baohai continued on and taught them for a whole two hours before letting them go. 

The kids immediately went to Song Xia's house to play, and while going there they met Zhang Fu. Zhang Fu was the son of Zhang Enlai, the second son of Old Madam Zhang. Madam Zhang had slight favoritism toward her second son, so when Zhang Enlai's wife, Li Ya gave her her first grandson she immediately became smitten with him.  Zhang Enlai had a good job and was the most capable in the family, and Li Ya was the daughter of a retired Xucai, so you could say that Zhang Fu was the grandson with the most standing in the family. He was spoiled all day long, his body was fat and white. Nobody would think he was the son of villagers when you first lay eyes on him.

But no matter how spoiled and loved he was, he was still the son of the villagers. And even if the Zhang family was the richest family in the village there were some things that they could not afford to do. For example, it was every three to six months that they get new clothes. So when Zhang Fu saw his cousins whom he used to bully weary new clothes, that looked appealing to him he immediately walked up to them and confront them.

"Hey little beggars, where did you get these clothes? Did you steal them?" Zhang Fu said mockingly.

"N-no our mommy made them for us," Qiqi responded timidly.

"What mommy? Did you forget that your mommy ran away to be a concubine?" Zhang Fu mocked as he pointed his chubby fingers at them.

"It's our new mommy," Xiao Xi, said as she brought Qiqi and Xiao Wan behind her back.

"New mommy? That's a lie! He's a stepmother why would he be nice to you?" Zhang Fu questioned rudely.

"We have to go," Xiao Xi said as she tugged both of her siblings to walk away.

"I will go tell Grandma so she can deal with you guys. Thieves should have their legs broken!" Zhang Fu threatened. 

The siblings ignored him and hurried to Song Xia's house. Zhang Fu was very angry and the moment he got home he demanded new clothes. Both his mother and father declined him so he went to ask his grandma. Even though his grandma spoiled him very much, she still declined. They lost one of their stores so their budget had to be tighter currently. Of course, Zhang Fu didn't understand this, all he wanted right now were clothes like his cousins.

"My stupid cousins have new clothes so why can't I?!" Zhang Fu snaped.

"What do you mean?" Li Ya asked gently. Li Ya being the daughter of a Xiucai had always been well-spoken and educated, that's why she was the favorite daughter-in-law of old Madam Zhang. She knew her way with words and was pretty. She had earned the Zhang family many compliments.

"When I was going to buy candy today I saw them walking. They had pretty clothes on. I have never seen the clothes they wore on anybody else." Zhang Fu explained.

"Are you sure you saw right?" A voice mocked. That was Wan Meirong, the third daughter-in-law of the Zhang family, the wife of the third son, Zhang Kai. Wan Meirong was the daughter of a merchant in town that had a decent amount of wealth and was spoiled by her family as she was the only daughter. Zhang Kai had always been shy and introverted but he started to change after he met Wan Meirong. They soon fell in love and got married. She gave birth to a total of three kids, two ger sons, and one daughter. Mother Zhang started to show dislike towards Wan Meirong and thinking that she was a pushover she started bullying her. After two years of staying on the low Wan Meirong finally got tired and made sure to put her in her place. They called her a shrew but her method worked, they were now scared of her and left her alone. Since she was the richest in the household and was helping them out in business they had no choice but to lower their heads.

"Third Sister-in-law, are you saying my Fu'er is  lying?" Li Ya questioned, angered.

"So what if I was? Are you going to beat me?" Wan Meirong responded while she side-eyed Li Ya with a smirk.