"Wei Zheng, go, fetch a few more things from the cellar," Jing Pan said, her expression visibly displeased as she looked at the empty serving dishes on the table.
Wei Zheng felt unbearably awkward under the weight of the situation. He glared at Qiao Lian's whole family, his gaze sweeping over the siblings and parents who sat there. How could they wipe out the food the moment it hit the table, without leaving a single scrap for anyone else to enjoy?
Jing Pan had long anticipated such an embarrassing situation where there wouldn't be enough to eat for the guests. "Don't trouble yourself," he said to his sister. "We brought plenty of supplies with us in the vehicle. We'll just cook some of our own things. You all go ahead and finish what is left."
Jing Shu took out bags of beef jerky and diced rabbit meat from the RV. She threw together two simple dishes in the small kitchen area, the savory aroma of the meat soon filling the room. She warmed up the thick naan on the stove until it was soft and steaming, then poured everyone a glass of fresh milk. Her family sat down to a casual meal in their corner of the room, occasionally tossing small scraps of bread or meat to Xiao Dou.
The plump chicken was uneasy in this new environment and stuck close to Jing Shu, its feathers rustling as it huddled near her feet as if it were terrified of being abandoned. When such a large bird appeared in the middle of the house, Jing Pan's family was stunned into silence.
A brat among the relatives shouted, his eyes wide: "There's chicken to eat! There's chicken to eat!"
Grandma Jing immediately shot him a fierce, warning glare. This bird was her treasure, a reliable layer and a member of the household. Who would dare think of slaughtering it for a snack?
"We'll just make do with what we have today," Grandma Jing said, her voice firm. "Tomorrow, on New Year's Eve, we'll eat proper dumplings together."
Qiao Lian's mother swallowed hungrily as she watched the jerky disappear. "Calling this 'making do'? Who are you trying to fool with a spread like that?"
Her youngest son ran over toward the table without a word, his hand reaching straight for the plate of beef jerky. Jing Shu showed no mercy to the little thief. She stretched out her leg under the table and lightly tripped him just as he lunged forward.
The child crashed to the ground with a loud, heavy thud. He was so shocked that he didn't even dare to cry out, looking up at Jing Shu's cold expression.
"You brat, haven't you eaten enough already?" Qiao Lian scolded, pulling him back by the arm. "Get back here with me! You've completely embarrassed our family in front of the guests!"
Humiliated by the sharp rebuke and the girl's silent warning, the relatives slunk away to their designated spots after they had finished stuffing themselves. The farce ended there for the time being. Qiao Lian's family suddenly realized that this side of the family was even more formidable and less indulgent than Wei Zheng's parents.
Jing Zhao's family, meanwhile, was fortunate enough to enjoy a rich dinner by sticking close to the girl's parents. Second Uncle had always looked down on her father's household in the past; he thought them simple, rigid people who were stuck in their meager salaried jobs with no real future.
But now, in the second year of the apocalypse, when his own family had nothing to eat and no way to support themselves, her father's family not only took in two burdens but still fed and supported them. They were living in far better conditions than anyone else he knew. He began scheming how to cling closer to them for his own survival. Even a small bit of the leftovers from this household's table would be enough to sustain his own for days.
During the meal, her son Li Yun hid quietly in a dark corner of the room, sneaking fearful glances at Jing Shu. Whenever she caught his eye, he shrank back into the shadows, haunted by the memories of the devilish smile she had worn before.
The little girl he had bullied so easily in their childhood had turned into a demon right before his eyes. Just earlier, she had tripped a child without the slightest ripple of emotion in her expression. And at noon, when that brat had clamored about eating chicken, that bird had leapt out with a sudden flash of feathers and pinned the boy flat to the ground with its talons. Everyone had been terrified by the sight, and the child never mentioned eating chicken again.
That night, Grandma Jing helped Jing Pan prepare everything for the coming celebration, including the traditional procedures they would follow. Jing Shu, meanwhile, diligently practiced her control with the Cube Space while she tended to the poultry and the variety of plants inside the dimension. With the Spirit Spring's catalysis aiding its growth, the snake was growing quickly. In less than ten days, it should be ready to use as a potent medicine.
Under the pretense of going for a short walk in the yard to get some fresh air, she handled the disposal of the poultry manure from the space. If it were left for more than two or three days, the Cube Space would be overflowing with feces and the smell would be unbearable. This daily "walk" had become one of her best habits for maintaining her secret sanctuary.
When it was time to sleep, there were simply too many people crowded into the house for anyone's comfort. Even Jing An's family had to sleep on the floor if they stayed in the main rooms. Luckily, they had brought a sturdy army tent with them. They cleared out a space in the aunt's storage room, moving crates and tools aside. They laid down thick wooden planks and woven mats on the cold ground and finally set up the soft tent inside the small room.
The smell in the house was awful. A month of relentless, heavy rain had left the structure moldy and damp. Even after Su Lanzhi's thorough cleaning of every surface, the persistent stench of rot lingered in the corners. They had no choice but to spread white lime powder along the baseboards and bring in a portable dryer to combat the rising humidity.
Grandpa Jing, with nothing else to do with his hands, dug up some wet clay from the yard and built a simple kiln in the sheltered area. The nights were still bitterly cold in the mountains, and the charcoal fire could not be allowed to go out while they slept.
Their thorough preparations left even Wei Chang clicking his tongue in amazement at their resources. Qiao Lian's mother, watching from the sidelines, was practically dumbfounded by what she saw. A house that kept out the wind and rain was already a luxury compared to the shacks of plywood at the foot of the hill, yet this family still fussed over a little mold. They spent their time wiping and drying every inch of their space, even building a custom kiln just for extra heat. To her, it was pure, unnecessary extravagance.
The government had long ago confiscated all the timber and fuel in the region. Now, if you wanted any for your own home, you had to exchange valuable points for it at a steep rate. Yet Jing Shu's family casually brought out basket after basket of high-quality charcoal.
…
Later that night, Qiao Lian hugged her husband from behind, resting her head against his back. "Why are you giving me that face all day long?" she asked softly.
After a long, heavy silence that stretched between them, Wei Zheng muttered: "Did I marry you, or did I marry your entire family?"
"Didn't your Second Aunt's family also come to stay with us?" Qiao Lian countered.
"They have only been here a few days. How long has your family been camped here in our house?" Wei Zheng asked. "How about this: I'll split from my parents and we will live on our own. I won't meddle in their affairs, and they won't meddle in mine. I have a hundred virtual coins each month from my job. I'll give them all to you. You can do whatever you want with them."
Wei Zheng knew the truth. Without his parents' house and the support of the larger family, what would he have to offer her in this economy?
Qiao Lian was clever enough not to use the child in her belly as leverage during the fight. She said instead: "After New Year's Day, aside from my eldest brother who is going to work the factory, the rest of them will go back to the shacks. I'll still give thirty virtual coins a month to them for my filial duty. Don't worry about it anymore."
"…Alright," Wei Zheng said, his posture finally relaxing.
Relieved that the tension had broken, Qiao Lian let out a soft breath of air, her hand slipping deftly into his pants as she leaned closer. "How about I take care of you tonight... hm?"
"Fine," Wei Zheng whispered.
…
Finally, the day of New Year's Eve arrived. At the first light of dawn, Jing Shu's family prepared a lavish breakfast from their own well-protected stores. Perhaps because of what Qiao Lian had said to them the night before, her family didn't show up to scrounge for food again that morning. They obediently ate their own watery porridge in their corner.
The day remained incredibly busy with the final preparations for the wedding banquet of Wei Zheng and Qiao Lian. There was the constant work of cooking large pots of food, arranging the seating for the expected guests, and trying to keep things simple yet orderly in the crowded house. Only after everything was ready did Grandma Jing turn her full attention to making the New Year's Eve meal for the family.
In addition to the other dishes, there had to be dumplings to mark the occasion.
For the first time, Qiao Lian's family saw dumpling wrappers being made from several kilograms of white flour all at once. They were used to a watery paste with just a sprinkle of flour for body. To witness such extravagance, using so much precious flour at once for a single meal, left them swallowing hard as they watched the dough being kneaded.
Qiao Lian's mother couldn't help stepping forward toward the kitchen area. "In-laws, let me help you wrap the dumplings," she offered, her eyes fixed on the white dough. If she could sneak a few of the finished dumplings back to her own room for her sons, that would be ideal.
Grandma Jing frowned as she looked at her grimy hands, uncertain what she had touched in the yard earlier. "Xiao Wang, your hands aren't clean enough for dumpling making," Grandma Jing said plainly. "If you really want to help, go tend the firewood for the stove."
"I just remembered Qiao Lian called me to fetch her some water," the woman said, her face flushing as she realized she had been rebuffed. She quickly scurried away from the kitchen.
Grandma Jing shook her head at the woman's retreating back, and Jing Pan whispered to her: "If I had known Qiao Lian's family was like this, I would never have let Wei Zheng marry her, even if it killed me. Back then I panicked, thinking he was already thirty with no wife to his name. Now look, there are women lined up outside in the county wanting to marry him just for his stable position."
===
So, in this scene Qiao Lan just reaches for her husband's pants and says she's want to take care of him But if I remember correctly, there's another part (maybe in a different chapter) where it's described a little differently—she actually squats down in front of him, pulls down the zipper, and then makes her offer to give him a bj.
I'm not 100% sure if this difference is because the author revised the text later or if it simply shows up in another chapter, but my guess is that it's from a different place in the story.