The Dowry Basket

The three sisters were all busy working, but upon seeing their eldest sister, who had married out, return, they were overjoyed and no longer concerned with what they were doing. For the past few days, they had all been very worried about their eldest sister, fearing that Young Master Fu would indeed pass away, causing the propitious marriage to fail and their eldest sister to be sent back, bearing the bad reputation of a "husband-killer." It wasn't until they heard that Fu Wen Xiao had awakened that the three sisters finally breathed a sigh of relief.

Yu Jin, being hot-tempered, hastily asked, "Eldest Sister, how have you been these past few days? Is your husband well? Has anyone bullied you? Have you eaten enough? Are you hungry?" Her last words were asked with a worried expression. Yu Jin feared hunger the most, and she also feared that her eldest sister, even after marrying, would still suffer from hunger.

The people of the Second Branch were all very thin, but the thinnest were Madam Liu and Yu Li. Madam Liu, needless to say, lived very cautiously in the Yu family because she had no sons; any food available would not reach her. As for Yu Li, being the eldest sister, she had to take care of her younger sisters. Whenever she saw them crying from hunger, she would give up some of her own food to them, thus eating much less herself.

A faint smile bloomed on Yu Li's face: "Don't worry, I am very well, and not hungry."

"Really?" Yu Jin asked.

Yu Li nodded vigorously. Other things she dared not say, but not being hungry was certain.

She held the basket in her hand and led her three younger sisters back to the west room of the Second Branch. There were only two earthen rooms: one for Yu Second Master and his wife, and one for the four sisters. Yu Li placed the basket on the table. Only then did her three younger sisters notice the basket and curiously ask, "What is this?"

"My mother-in-law told me to bring these dowry gifts back."

Yu Jin curiously opened it. When she saw a small bag of fine rice, over a dozen chicken eggs, and even a piece of dried meat the size of a palm, her eyes widened. In the eyes of farmers, food was the most precious thing. When a newlywed daughter returned, bringing food as dowry gifts was a good thing. Madam Zhu had specially prepared these items; it could be said to be extremely generous.

Fine rice, chicken eggs, and even dried meat? Yu Li's three younger sisters, Yu Jin, Yu Yin, and Yu Zhou, could not take their eyes off the items in the basket. Especially the palm-sized piece of dried meat, plump and glistening, seemingly exuding a pure aroma from the fat seeping onto its surface just by looking at it. They hadn't eaten meat in a very long time. The last time they ate meat was during the New Year, but then, each person only received a tiny bone. The meat on that bone had been scraped clean; they could only gnaw on the bone that retained the flavor of meat, even reluctant to discard it, trying to chew it to bits and swallow it.

Seeing her three younger sisters staring intently at the basket, swallowing continuously, Yu Li asked, "Are you hungry, sisters?"

Finally, Yu Jin reluctantly tore her gaze away from the basket; Yu Yin also forced herself to look away. Only the youngest, Yu Zhou, was honest. She couldn't help but look up, timidly saying, "Eldest Sister, I'm hungry... this morning I only had a little watery porridge..."

Called watery porridge, but in reality, there were almost no grains of rice in it. A large pot of porridge, two-thirds of which was water. Most of the rice was distributed to the men of the family for their work, with only a small amount left for the daughters of the Second Branch, to the point where it was almost just watery gruel. According to Old Madam Yu, the daughters of the Second Branch didn't need to work hard in the fields, so they didn't need to eat much, to avoid wasting food. But the truth was, even if they didn't go to the fields, they still had countless chores at home: cleaning chicken coops, pigsties, washing clothes, tending to chickens and pigs, cooking for the whole family... Didn't these tasks also require strength?

Yu Li knew this well, so when she saw her three younger sisters so thin and weak, she felt more heartache than ever. Previously, in the original body's memories, she had known the sisters' miserable circumstances, but witnessing it firsthand, the feeling was even more painful.