Joyful Motherhood in a Rural Family

Chapter 342: 342: Double Happiness Comes to the Family, Everyone’s Joyful! (4)

Translator: 549690339

“Second Sister-in-law, there are bamboo chopsticks over there. You might as well grab a pair to eat with!”

Ms. Wang was in the middle of devouring the chunk of meat in her bowl. On hearing Liu Sisi’s words, she thought she was about to be chastised. Without bothering to chew the piece of meat properly, she swallowed it down in one gulp, causing her to choke wildly. Eventually, she managed to swallow the chunk of meat down her throat.

“No need, no need, it’s just a few pieces of meat, not worth the trouble!”

She hastily waved her hand.

Ms. Xin, sitting next to her, quickly grabbed a pair of chopsticks and handed them to Ms. Wang. “Second Sister-in-law, you should eat more slowly. There’s still so much good food. If you eat too much now, you won’t be able to eat the rest of the dishes later.”

Ms. Wang let out an awkward laugh and took the bamboo chopsticks, “It’s fine! I’m really hungry. This is meat after all, can’t let it go to waste. Um… would you like a piece?”

She mumbled incomprehensibly as she made a show of feeding a piece of meat to Ms. Xin.

Ms. Xin quickly stepped back,”No, I’m not hungry. Second Sister-in-law, you can take your time eating.”

Who would want to fight with Ah-Huang for food?

Only this shameless person in front of them would do something like this.

Ms. Wang didn’t mind if Ms. Xin didn’t eat, so she simply turned her chopsticks around and fed herself.

Elderly Mr. Di, who had been sitting in a corner adding firewood to the bonfire, found the whole situation unbearable. He picked up a dustpan filled with vegetable scraps, leaned on his crutch, and left the kitchen towards the chicken coop.

“Old Man, Old Man…”

Ms. Zhao called after him in a soft and sorrowful voice. The sight of her chasing after Elderly Mr. Di led everyone to give them odd looks.

It was only after she had polished off most of the meat and soup from her bowl that she reluctantly put her bowl down.

“Second Sister-in-law! You’ve eaten the delicious meat. There are still some taros that haven’t been washed. Why don’t you take them and wash them by the well? It’s not much work?”

Ms. Xin asked cheerfully, handing over a small bamboo basket of taro.

Ms. Wang jumped back, waving her hands, “I haven’t been feeling well these last couple of days, I can’t touch cold water. Let’s… let’s do this later… Ah! Right! Why haven’t the kids come over yet? I’ll go check!” Without waiting for a response, she quickly exited the kitchen.

“Sisi, your Second Sister-in-law is really a riot!” Guihua burst out laughing.

Both Liu Zhi’er and Ms. Xin next to her also burst into laughter.

“Oh, her! She’s always a riot at home, I’m used to it.”

Ms. Xin casually answered as she quickly cleaned the vegetables.

Despite having split the family and moved out, Ms. Wang still came over to the main kitchen quite frequently. As a person who avoided confrontation, Ms. Xin simply let Ms. Wang grab whatever food she wanted.

Ms. Wang, who already lacked any sense of shame, started to become bolder and more frequent in her visits, practically wanting to eat three meals a day in the main kitchen.

In the end, Ms. Zhao scolded her a few times. The two were evenly matched, fiercly arguing back and forth.

Yet, the more they scolded her, the thicker Ms. Wang’s skin grew. The scoldings could only deter her for a day or two before she was back to her old ways, coming over with an empty bowl whenever meals were ready.

No beating or scolding could deter her, she was as tenacious as a dog skin plaster.

Ms. Xin would just laugh it off, but Ms. Zhao wasn’t used to swallowing such injustices. Consequently, the old house was experiencing regular showdowns, akin to both civil and military battles.

“I tell you, both of you sister-in-laws are too nice. If she ran into me, I’d give her a good thrashing. Let’s see if she’d dare to act up again!”

Guihua bristled whenever she spoke about her.

Liu Zhi’er sidled up to Liu Sisi out of curiosity, her face full of intrigue, “It seems like there’s something odd between your father-in-law and mother-in-law, no?”

“Yes, it’s always lively over at the old house. God knows what’s going on. Nobody really knows for sure.”

Liu Sisi lay with her eyes half-closed, leaning against the head of the bed. She wanted to sleep, but the continuous noise in the room made it impossible.

Upon hearing this, Liu Zhi’er caught on that Liu Sisi didn’t want to talk about it. She didn’t push further: “Fine, if you won’t say, I’ll ask your other sister-in-law. She probably will.”

Liu Sisi turned her head the other way, pretending not to hear Liu Zhi’er’s words.

The things that came out of her mouth versus those that came out of Ms. Xin’s were, after all, another kettle of fish.

Liu Zhi’er instantly understood her meaning and hastily sidled up to Ms. Xin to ask her quietly.

Ms. Xin looked up. Zhang Peng and Di Yelei had gone to chat in the courtyard, leaving just a few others here. She finally relayed the conversation from before.

In the end, she sighed, “Mom was speaking just yesterday, we don’t know whether father would forgive her or not. If not, she might as well be dead. She was crying while talking, it seemed like she was very heartbroken.”

Guihua considered this, and after all, this involved an elder, her tone softened considerably.

“Do you really think your mother-in-law would seek death? Besides, if she could swap her cousin’s place to cheat death, what wouldn’t she do?”

Ms. Xin immediately retorted, “No! She didn’t mean to do it initially. But… she has been concealing it for so many years…”

“The fact that she has been concealing it is her mistake.”

Guihua fumed, “Such ruthless people should be divorced and sent back to their mother’s house! Your father-in-law even left her a way out, that is generous enough! A dog that bites doesn’t bark, even if you’re nice to such people, who knows when they’ll turn around and bite you. It’s best to keep our distance.”

Guihua’s words left everyone silent.

Liu Sisi felt that Guihua’s words were very reasonable. But as a younger, it wasn’t her place to give such judgements.

Just as she was pondering, the grass curtain on the side was suddenly tugged open, and Guihua stuck her head inside.

“Sisi, does Yelei know about this? This… this involves avenging his mother’s death!”

Liu Sisi was slightly startled, then she shook her head, “I’m not sure if he knows about it.”

Maybe… he does know? Or maybe he doesn’t. But she, Liu Sisi, shouldn’t be the one to tell him. The person who should tell him was Elderly Di.

If he didn’t tell Di Yelei personally, that showed that he still had his own considerations. Liu Sisi decided to pretend ignorance as well, burying the matter in her heart.

It was clear that Guihua was still quite angry, but Liu Sisi responded with a mirthless smile.

What a messy situation!

Fortunately, it wasn’t long before the voices of the Land Officer and his wife arriving could be heard, along with Ah-Min. Soon after, Di Wei, Di Jie, and others also arrived, followed by YingEr’s greetings and Di Xuan’s words of courtesy. Di Ah-Bao then rushed into the kitchen, causing quite a stir.

The few people in the kitchen couldn’t linger around chatting, they quickly got everything ready, setting tables and chairs, preparing food, then getting ready to eat.

Liu Sisi hastily got up. When the food was all prepared, she found a spot to sit, as far away from the children as possible.