"Sweetie, you're finally back."
Li's mother didn't pay attention to how her younger son treated his daughter-in-law. She greeted her younger son's wife with joy.
"Mm." Tian Jing wasn't in a good mood.
After a series of blows, returning home to encounter her ungrateful sister-in-law again, she was truly annoyed.
"Mom."
"Mom."
"Mom."
Li Weihao and his two siblings ran happily towards their mother.
Little Li Weili, with her short legs, was the fastest and ran to her mother.
"Hey."
Tian Jing bent down, picked up her daughter, called her two sons, and went back to the west room.
Li's mother looked at her younger son who had entered. "Zhengguo, what about Sweetie?"
"Alas!"
Li Zhengguo couldn't help but sigh. What kind of situation was this? Sweetie wholeheartedly supported their family, and his sister's ungrateful nature had been caught red-handed. If his mother...
If it were him, he would also be disheartened.
"Mom, don't let Minmin come back anymore. She's changed, no different from those gossipy women in the village."
"No, there is a difference. Others talk about our family's affairs, and she listens very carefully, and then comes back to learn."
"I just don't know if she discusses our family behind our backs. If so, she's truly ungrateful. No one can stand such a person."
"Alas~"
Li's mother also sighed. "She used to be with Zhang Fangcao and unknowingly learned a lot."
"Although Sweetie straightened her out later, once she got married and left, she went wild. I can't control her anymore."
Li Zhengguo sat down to tend the fire. "Mom, don't bother. She can't be taught. On the day of the return visit, when she said those words, I felt uncomfortable."
"Sweetie, for our sake, supported her, and I didn't stop her. But now I regret it."
"If I had stopped her, she would have lived the same poor life as the Chen family used to, and she would have been content."
Li's mother shook her head. "It's your sister who lacks the fortune and can't handle it."
As soon as she started making money, she acted out, hurting her elder brother and sister-in-law's feelings. If she couldn't handle it, what was it?
Li Zhengguo glanced at his mother. "Mom, I hope you can remember Li Min's actions today and not do anything that disheartens people."
Li's mother firmly shook her head. "I won't. I've eaten more salt than you've eaten rice."
Li Zhengguo added a reminder to his mother. "Remember what you said today."
"Don't worry."
...
"Tian Jing, Tian Jing."
Ouyang Meihua ran into the courtyard and asked her mother-in-law and younger brother-in-law in the kitchen.
"Where is Tian Jing?"
Li's mother pointed. "In the west room coaxing the children."
"Oh, I'll go find her."
As soon as Ouyang Meihua entered the west room, she questioned, "Where did you go? I went up Lao Ying Zui in the middle of the night, and I had to comfort my mother-in-law."
Tian Jing, while coaxing her daughter, didn't even look up. "What happened to mother-in-law?"
"What happened? She cried her eyes out with the three of them."
Tian Jing blinked for a moment, then continued playing a finger-guessing game with her daughter.
"We went into the deep mountains and were trapped for a night."
Ouyang Meihua sat by the heated brick bed. "It's fortunate that you two were together. If it were just you alone, who knows what stories the villagers would have made up."
Tian Jing picked up her daughter and sat her on her lap. "What did they say?"
"What else could they say? That you were bitten to death by wild beasts. That's what mother-in-law was afraid of, which is why she sent me to find you."
"I dared to go as far as Lao Ying Zui, but any further, and I wouldn't have dared."
Tian Jing glanced at Ouyang Meihua. "You think mother-in-law is very good?"
Ouyang Meihua was taken aback. "Why ask this suddenly? Isn't it just so-so? She's much better than other people's mothers-in-law."
Tian Jing, in turn, hugged her younger son who was clinging to her back, thinking that she would also be a mother-in-law in the future.
She wondered, after her identity changed, would she have the common ailments of all mothers-in-law?
"Yes, you're right. She's much better than other mothers-in-law."
Seeing that Tian Jing didn't seem inclined to chat, Ouyang Meihua went home. Seeing that Tian Jing was safe, she felt relieved.
After lunch, the couple took their three children for a nap.
Li's mother also took the opportunity to catch up on sleep.
In the afternoon, Chen Suozhu arrived.
"Brother-in-law, sister-in-law, it's good that you're alright."
"We're fine. My mother was just a bit overly alarmed."
Li Zhengguo took out the ledger. "We've supported you for a few years. You should be independent now."
Chen Suozhu hurriedly apologized. "It's my fault for not managing Minmin properly."
Li Zhengguo put down the ledger. "Suozhu, do you regret it? Do you regret marrying Minmin? Look at her, after getting married and having children, she's no different from an ordinary peasant woman."
"I don't regret it." Chen Suozhu shook his head firmly. "I'm just an ordinary farmer myself."
"Good, it's good that you don't regret it. Manage what needs managing, and if it really doesn't work, just hit her. Which ordinary farmer hasn't hit his wife?"
Regardless of what his brother-in-law's expression was upon hearing his words, Li Zhengguo opened the ledger.
"Three years of watermelon income amounted to fifty thousand yuan, and five years of vegetable income was seven thousand yuan."
"Your wages for three years amount to two thousand one hundred and six yuan, totaling thirteen thousand five hundred and sixty yuan."
Chen Suozhu hurriedly stood up. "Brother-in-law, you've calculated it wrong. We said we didn't want wages. Also, this year's watermelon income, don't include Minmin's dividend."
Li Zhengguo waved his hand. "Include it. It's the last time. Give it to her. She's changed, don't give her any reason to complain."
"Subtract the thirteen hundred yuan you took for buying land, and there's twelve thousand two hundred and sixty yuan left. Count it."
Li Zhengguo unceremoniously pushed twelve bundles of cash and some change in front of Chen Suozhu.
After Chen Suozhu counted the money, he took him to the village committee, changed the leaseholder for two mu of land, and thus they were completely separated.
Chen Suozhu, holding the money, went to his elder brother-in-law and asked him to deposit ten thousand yuan as a lump sum when he delivered vegetables.
The remainder, he would use for the plot of land south of their house.
After his brother-in-law left, Li Liguo asked his brother, "What happened? Why did you split up?"
"Not only did I split up with them, but in the future, you should also treat them like ordinary villagers..."
Hearing his brother's words, Li Liguo also felt uncomfortable. It turned out that in his sister's eyes, she was the insider, and her sisters-in-law were all outsiders.
"Alright, from now on, we'll treat them like ordinary villagers."
...
Chen Suozhu returned home, and Li Min hurriedly asked, "How much money did you get?"
Chen Suozhu gave her a sideways glance. "Why are you concerned about this? Do you think brother-in-law would still take advantage of us? Does he care?"
"What's wrong with you? Why are you so irritable?"
Chen Suozhu changed the subject to serious matters. "The two mu of land on the east side of the six mu are ours now. As for the plot of land to the south, I plan to build a vegetable shed. From now on, you'll carry An An on your back while you work."
Seeing his wife frozen, Chen Suozhu sneered. "Heh, I'll see if you still have free time to listen to what they're saying when you're busy running around."
"What do you mean?"
Chen Suozhu ignored his wife and went into the house. He had to manage the remaining money.
Recently, gambling with cards had become popular in the village, and he didn't know how many people it would ruin.
Her husband ignored her, and Li Min stamped her feet in anger. They were right, no man was any good.
...
Tian Jing took the three children to visit their maternal grandfather at the quadrangle courtyard to the east.
She was worried that her grandfather might hear some rumors.
As expected, Grandpa Xiao was about to go to the end of the village.
Seeing his granddaughter safe and sound, he breathed a sigh of relief. "What happened?"
Tian Jing told him a half-truth, "I've been going into the deep mountains to find some things recently, and it takes time to come and go. I'll be going in again tomorrow. Grandpa, don't worry, you have to trust me."
Grandpa Xiao didn't press further. "Your mother-in-law can't take care of three children alone. Why don't you leave Haohao and Xiaobo here?"
Tian Jing asked her two sons, "What are your opinions?"
Li Weihao shook his head. "We want to stay with our sister. She's fussy."
Grandpa Xiao continued to persuade, "Then bring your sister too. We can close the courtyard gate here, it's safer, and there's plenty of space to play."
Li Weihao thought for a moment. "Then I'll discuss it with Grandma."
"Mm-hmm, it's right to discuss it with your Grandma first."