Chapter 88 – Maternal Grandmother

After New Year’s Eve, everyone spent the first day of the year at home. Life went by, and none of the problems from the year before occurred.

This year’s start was good.

The smiles on Father Ji and Mother Ji were also deeper.

The second day of the New Year was the day when the wives go back to their maternal home.

Early in the morning, Su Danhong and Ji Jianyun were ready to go. They carried Xiao Renren out and left Da Hei to look after the house. The whole family of three went to the old Su family.

They all went to pay their respects to Su Danhong’s maternal home. When they arrived, Su Jinjun and Su Jindang were not there since they were visiting their respective wife’s maternal homes.

Mother Su was the only one at home.

Thus, Mother Su was very welcoming at their arrival. She had been waiting for them since she woke up.

“Oh this is my grandson, aren’t you? I haven’t seen you in a while and you’ve grown so much.” Mother Su immediately took Xiao Renren and saw that her grandson was like a little fairy child. She was smiling and praised him again and again.

Xiao Renren was holding his bottle to drink water and looked to see who was holding him. He was often held by Mother Ji during the week. When he saw this person who was similar to her, he considered her to be familiar. He saw that his parents were still next to him, so he didn’t throw any tantrums.

“Have my eldest brother and second brother gone to do their visits?” Su Danhong asked.

“Yes, they left very early in the morning,” Mother Su replied, “Don’t worry about their families, today is the day you come back.”

Ji Jianyun asked with a smile, “Mother, what do you think about second brother-in-law helping out this year?”

Mother Su said, “Mother doesn’t know what to think about it, but if you look at second brother’s intentions, I believe he will put in the work. You can talk to him about it since he is family. Otherwise, how can you give him such a good opportunity?”

“Mother, don’t say it like that. If the second brother-in-law is willing to help, then I will be grateful to him!” Ji Jianyun said solemnly.

Mother Su smiled and said, “Mother knows you are loyal.” Otherwise, why would he take care of her son and not his own brothers?

Ji Jianyun chatted with Mother Su for a while. Then, he took his son out to pee. The boy just drank water, so he needed to pee. Otherwise he would throw a tantrum later.

Ji Jianyun took him to the bathroom. Mother Su grinned and stated, “Look at the husband your mother chose for you. Didn’t I pick a good person for you?”

She had come up with a plan to marry her daughter. She asked a fortune teller to visit the old Ji family to say that her daughter would bring prosperity to the family. They could kill two birds with one stone by saying a grandson from her would go to college in the future.

Yes, Father Ji and Mother Ji actually believed in what Mother Su had told the fortune teller to say.

In this way, she could ask for the betrothal money for her husband to see a doctor. The method was a little ruthless.

In the past, Mother Ji was neither friendly nor rude to her. Her attitude did not change a lot until recent years.

However, what she said was right and her daughter really improved herself. Just see how filial she is to the old couple in the old Ji family. None of her other children were as successful as her daughter.

Therefore, Mother Ji’s attitude towards her was really good. Just a year ago, Mother Ji had asked some villagers to deliver half a jin of dried fish to her. The dried fish was pretty good.

Of course, she returned the favor. She sent her half a basket of mushrooms. It was collected by her second son, Su Jindang, in the mountains during the rainy season last year. She dried them and it was very good.

From an outsider’s point of view, there was harmony between the families. But at the end of it all,  only she and Mother Ji knew the truth.

But they were both willing to maintain this outer appearance of their relationship that people considered to be good.

On the other hand, the purpose of this marriage was to treat her husband’s sickness Su Danhong was also her own daughter. She didn’t trick her daughter or pick without considering her preferences. Didn’t she fall for Ji Jianyun soon after she saw him?

Truthfully, she didn’t know Ji Jianyun very well, but she has seen him before. The young man was upright and tall. Plus, he was a man who could bear hardships and had a sense of responsibility.

Furthermore, he was a part of the army so didn’t he get paid every month? This would definitely guarantee that her daughter would live a good life.

So, Mother Su agreed to this marriage.

Su Danhong smiled and said, “Mother has a good eye.”

Mother Su whispered to her, “Don’t think Mother doesn’t know. Early on in your marriage, you didn’t like Jianyun’s job since he barely came home.”

“Wasn’t that thoughtless back then?” Su Danhong lied with ease. She continued,  “It’s all right now. He can stay at home, and I don’t count on his pay. We don’t have to worry about the future as long as we take care of the orchard.”

“That’s true, but you should also take good care of your family. I heard that your family eats a bunch of fish and meat every day. Is that right? Why don’t you save some before you use it all?” Mother Su said.

“Mother, this gossip reached you?” Su Danhong laughed.

Everyone in her village was talking about her family from how they had plenty of meat to eat every day to how it was more extravagant than a landlord’s family’s meal in the past and the landlord’s family would not dare to eat like that..

However, they said that because they were jealous. Su Danhong had heard them, but never took them seriously.

“Jianyun is a big man, so how can he not have meat to eat? We don’t have a lot of money at home, but we can’t save it either. If we have money, but our health is not good, then why do we have money?” Su Danhong pointed out.

When Mother Su heard this, she sighed. She said, “That is also reasonable. We didn’t have a lot when your father was still around. When I cooked a little more rice, he would say that after saving so many years, he had to leave us early. Now that life was more relaxing, he was going to die and won’t be able to enjoy this happiness.”

“That’s why, mother, you should also take care of yourself more. You should eat and drink what you want. Don’t be so frugal. If you don’t eat well at this age, then you won’t be able to eat like that even if you wanted to when you lose all your teeth,” Su Danhong said to her.

Mother Su smiled and said, “You don’t have to worry, just take care of Xiao Renren.”

Su Danhong took ten yuan out of her pocket.

Although ten yuan was not much, it was also not too little. It could be gifted if it was from the daughter to her own mother.

“Put the money away, I don’t want it and have no place to spend it. Rice is grown in the field, vegetables are also grown by me and you raise chickens. Things are different now. Renren was just born, so there are many things to spend money on. You save it for Renren,” Mother Su said quickly.

“Mother, this is Jianyun’s filial piety for you, so just take it,” Su Danhong clarified.

Mother Su had no choice but to accept the ten yuan.

Lunch was eaten in the Su family. It was very delicious. Mother Su prepared for the family’s visit with a roast chicken, a pig foot, as well as pickled vegetables, pig tripe, and other side dishes. It was very filling food.

When the family wanted to go back, Mother Su gave Xiao Renren a red envelope. Su Danhong didn’t want it, but she took it.

When they reached home, she opened it and saw that the red envelope had twenty yuan.

Su Danhong picked up her son. She kissed him and said, “You have a really good maternal grandmother.”