Li Zhengguo also washed up using the water in the basin.
Tian Jing frowned, could she request a separate basin for herself?
"What's wrong?" Li Zhengguo, who had been paying attention to Tian Jing, asked when he saw her frown.
"Nothing, I'm going to sleep."
Tian Jing turned over, facing the wall. She had to find a way to earn money; she wanted to buy a new basin.
Tian Jing didn't know when she had fallen asleep. When she woke up, she was alone on the kang.
The sky was already bright. She hadn't slept so comfortably in a long time. The constant tension of being on the verge of death in the apocalypse meant she couldn't sleep at night, only doze.
After transmigrating, the various troublesome matters of the Tian family, coupled with the physical weakness of this body, still left her sleep-deprived. Yet, for some reason, after coming to the Li family, she had slept so soundly, waking up at dawn without a single dream.
She stretched, got dressed, and got up.
When Li Zhengguo came in, she was putting on her shoes. Seeing her cloth shoes, with her toes peeking out just like before, he frowned slightly. "You're up? Go brush your teeth and wash your face, then it's time for breakfast."
Tian Jing hummed softly, picked up her bamboo cup, toothbrush, and toothpaste, placed them in the washbasin, and left the room.
"There's hot water in the kitchen," Li Zhengguo said from behind her.
"Mm," Tian Jing responded again and entered the kitchen from the main hall.
"Hmph." Li Min, who was squatting by the stove to make a fire, snorted from her nostrils upon seeing Tian Jing. "Didn't you say you'd cook breakfast first thing in the morning to show you're a good wife?"
The simple kitchen, open to the elements, had a stove with two mouths. A large pot sat on the bigger opening, and a clay pot on the smaller one. The clay pot always contained water, and when the fire was lit, the flames were drawn towards the chimney, naturally heating the water in the clay pot.
Tian Jing scooped water to brush her teeth, not wanting to speak to this lunatic.
"Hey, I'm talking to you."
Seeing that Tian Jing was ignoring her, Li Min became angry. Her tone was sharp, no longer the insincere pleasantry from before.
But Tian Jing treated her as if she were air, which only made Li Min angrier. She stood up, wanting to have a good talk with Tian Jing. A sister-in-law was not someone to be offended.
However, her eyes fell on the toothbrush and toothpaste in Tian Jing's hand. Weren't these the dowry her elder brother had bought for her?
Li Min stepped forward and reached out to snatch them. Tian Jing twisted and dodged. It was a joke; with her level two abilities, her speed and agility were far beyond that of ordinary people. Even strong men like Tian Yongyi and Tian Lifu were no match for her.
"That's mine, you thief!" Li Min, unable to snatch the toothbrush and toothpaste, put her hands on her hips and shouted at Tian Jing.
Tian Jing narrowed her eyes. "Say that again?"
Theft was a serious crime in this era.
"What if I say it again?" Li Min, thinking Tian Jing was afraid, raised her voice. "My elder brother bought those for me, you're a thief, you're just a thief."
Not only did she steal her things, but she also stole her elder brother. Ever since this woman was brought back yesterday, her elder brother had changed.
The usually quiet man, in order to defend this woman, not only cursed at Fangcao but also spoke kindly of this woman to their mother.
"Slap!" A sound echoed as a palm struck Li Min's face, wiping away her smugness and leaving only a stinging pain.
"You? You dare hit me?"
Li Min covered her face, looking at the woman half a head shorter than her in disbelief.
"Why wouldn't I dare to hit you?"
Tian Jing retorted. Ever since she met Li Min yesterday, the latter had been picking fights. She hadn't ignored her because she was afraid.
And now she was labeling her a thief. Who knew what she would fabricate about her in the future?
But she had still been too kind. If not for the gentle slap, Li Min's face would have swollen like a steamed bun.
"I'll make you pay."
The resentment and anger in Li Min's heart surged. Relying on her height advantage, she reached out to grab Tian Jing's hair.
Tian Jing ducked, dodged, and ran out of the kitchen, beckoning her with a finger. "Come out, let's settle this outside."
The kitchen was too small; she didn't want to ruin breakfast.
The commotion between the two had already alerted the people in the main house.
Li Zhengguo strode out. "What's wrong?"
He asked Tian Jing, and his gaze was also on Tian Jing.
Seeing her elder brother arrive, Li Min rushed to his side, throwing her arms around his. "Brother, she hit me."
Li Zhengguo pulled his arm away. "Be quiet, I'm asking your sister-in-law."
Tian Jing threw the toothbrush and toothpaste she was holding at Li Zhengguo. "Your good sister called me a thief, so I slapped her."
Li Zhengguo caught the toothbrush and toothpaste. Before he could understand the reason for being called a thief, Li Min snatched the toothbrush and toothpaste from his hand. "Hmph, my elder brother bought this for me. If you're not a thief, then who is?" Su Dan Novel Network
Li Zhengguo reached out and snatched the toothbrush and toothpaste back from his sister. "Who said this was for you? Didn't you see I bought two toothbrushes? One for me and one for your sister-in-law."
Li Min immediately became anxious. "Isn't it one for each of us?"
Tian Jing couldn't help but sneer. "Heh heh, the Tian family doesn't even have toothbrushes. You took one intending to share it with Tian Lifu? Your elder brother is married, and he only bought himself a new toothbrush?"
"Who brainwashed you? You're so stupid, you'd be at the bottom of the barrel even at the Tian family."
After her tirade, Tian Jing turned and went back into the kitchen. She would just rinse with warm water. She needed to find a way to earn money quickly so she could buy things with her own money and use them with peace of mind.
Li Mu leaned against the doorway of the main hall, watching the farce. She shook her head and returned to her room. She didn't want to say anything; her daughter wouldn't listen to any of it.
When she went to the Tian family and experienced life as a daughter-in-law, she would have to learn to be sensible. It was her fault; her health was poor, and she hadn't educated her daughter well, letting that girl Fangcao lead her astray.
Li Zhengguo glared at his sister and followed her into the kitchen, handing Tian Jing the toothbrush and toothpaste. "Don't pay attention to her, her brain is waterlogged."
Tian Jing pushed his hand away, her tone extremely cold. "I don't want it. This is your family's property. What I said before was serious. During this time of staying here, I will find a way to support myself."
After rinsing her mouth and washing her face with warm water, she opened the wooden lid of the iron pot. Inside was sweet potato porridge, and by the side of the pot were black flour flatbreads. The flatbreads were convenient, cooked in one go.
She scooped out a flatbread, served a bowl of sweet potato porridge, and took them to the east room.
Tian Jing's resistance was so obvious, as if she wanted to draw a clear line between them, which made Li Zhengguo feel that same sense of powerlessness from his past life, pressing down on his chest.
By the time he returned the toothbrush to the room and came back to the east room, his good sister was already ostentatiously eating breakfast by the kang table.
Seeing him enter, Tian Jing called out to him. "Let's eat. Take me for a walk later; I want to go to the foot of the mountain to look for wild vegetables."
There were several kinds of wild vegetables in winter, shepherd's purse, sow thistle, and bitter cress, all of which could be mixed into flatbreads, saving grain and vegetables.
"Okay." The worry in Li Zhengguo's eyes dissipated. There were still several years, and he had many opportunities.