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Chapter 91 – The Old Su Family
Mother Ji’s words were all brought back by Su Jindang to Mother Su’s ears. She made a deep sigh.
She didn’t have a very good impression of that woman in the Ji family. But even then, she couldn’t make such a judgment when Danhong was young and not sensible. She did have a problem with Mother Ji’s attitude.
You said that your son was a soldier, so my daughter went to be his wife. Although she was married, it was no different from being a widow.
You said that you are a mother-in-law, so why couldn’t you take care of her more? Instead, you listened to other daughters-in-law gossip all day long!
Along with the fact that there was a dispute over the betrothal gifts in the past, these two women were pretty much bound by hatred.
Now, however, their relationship has improved.
Mother Su sighed again and said, “Since it is already here, let’s eat it. Tonight, we will have a good dinner with beef stew and radish.”
Since someone wanted to show their sincerity, she couldn’t act too petty and embarrass her daughter, could she? She wanted to send it over, then she would take it. Anyway, the old Ji family also conveniently took her daughter’s beef.
When second sister-in-law Su saw Su Jindang return, she gave him hot water to wash his face and asked, “How was work today?”
“It was the usual,” Su Jindang replied, “Is my son good today?”
“Good. The malt milk that Danhong brought over is really good. It’s what the little boy likes to eat,” second sister-in-law Su pursed her lips and smiled.
“If he likes to eat it, then let him eat it. When it’s done, I’ll buy more for him,” Su Jindang said.
“He’ll be fine eating breast milk, you don’t have to buy something so expensive. We don’t have much money left. When we go to town, we’ll have to buy a lot of things again. Everything will cost money,” second sister-in-law Su said to him.
The malt milk brought over by her sister-in-law. If it wasn’t like that, then how could she be willing to buy it herself? It was good, but it was  too expensive.
Speaking of this, she also had to say that her sister-in-law was really there for her. Last month while she was in confinement, Su Danhong sent over meat several times and it was all big and fatty pieces. It included several pig’s feet, which was good for her to produce milk.
There were also two cans of malt milk, which was very expensive. Most people couldn’t say they had two cans, and some didn’t even want one.
She was worried that her nephew from her eldest brother-in-law would fight for the food, so Jianyun specifically shared some with them. This caused her to only stay in confinement for 15 days instead of the full month. However, she was already happy about it.
If other women in the village could stay in confinement for 11 or 12 days, then that was already considered pretty good. She stayed for half a month and didn’t have to do heavy work. Besides that, other people in the village came to see her and said that her future was good. She had successfully given birth to a son. Her eldest sister-in-law was jealous. For her confinement it was only about 11 days. Moreover, she did not have as much to eat and her milk was not as good.
And it was their youngest sister-in-law who helped her speak to their mother-in-law about the confinement period. Thus, she had to hold in these feelings of resentment.
“When Shitou1 is a little bigger, I’ll take him to see his aunt,” second sister-in-law Su said.
“Okay, but Danhong has changed now. She is not the same as before. She is a bit of a big spender now. Please remember to tell her to save money,” Su Jindang said.
At the end of the day, she was his little sister and she should be more careful about how she lived her life.
Second sister-in-law Su was shocked. She looked at him angrily, and questioned, “What do you want me to say? Younger sister-in-law has given me so many good things, so who am I to say that she spends a lot of money?”
She gave them a lot of apples last time. It was all big red ones that were delicious.
It was also because of her younger sister-in-law that she ate a lot of good food when she was about to give birth. When her son was born, he looked very healthy, even better than the child in eldest brother-in-law’s family. Even Mother Su praised her when she saw him.
“I don’t mean anything else. It’s just that she eats so well for all her meals when landlords in the past didn’t even eat like that. Xiao Renren is still young, but there will be plenty of things that require money when he is in school later,” Su Jindang explained.
“I think my sister-in-law has a plan for that. You have seen the orchard. It is definitely growing and will make a lot of money later. You already know that younger sister-in-law can make a lot of money with embroidery. Let’s not talk about sister-in-law anymore. If I can make money like her, then I wouldn’t be treated so badly,” second sister-in-law Su said to him.
Su Jindang countered, “But she’s turning into a woman who loves to spend money.”
”Okay, I know. I’ll talk to sister-in-law, but don’t expect too much. When the shop in town opens, our situation will be even better,” second sister-in-law Su said.
At the thought of moving to town, second sister-in-law Su only thought of how motivated she was. Only the heavens knew how much she was annoyed by her eldest brother-in-law’s family.
If the upper beam was not straight, then the lower beam would be crooked2. Eldest brother-in-law and sister-in-law chose to be lazy, and their son learned that from them. The day before yesterday, her nephew came in to steal some of Shitao’s malt milk. She went to tell her sister-in-law about it, who responded with how it wasn’t that much so it should not be a problem.
How was this about if it was a problem or not!
But in the end, they were living under the same roof, so she didn’t say anything. However, she was more determined to move out.
Su Jindang had the same feelings as her about this. He no longer wanted to live with his eldest brother.
“It’ll be soon. The chickens are looking very healthy, and in another month, they will be ready to be sold,” Su Jindang comforted her.
Second sister-in-law Su nodded.
In the evening, they ate beef stew with radish, and the whole family was very satisfied.
Su Jinjun said with a smile, “Second brother, that was not bad. But, the next time you bring back a big piece of meat from Danhong, bring back more next time.”
Before Su Jindang spoke, Mother Su scolded, “What next time? Don’t you know that Jianyun has gone to learn new skills to manage the orchard and her mother-in-law has moved in with her? Do you want Danhong to be shameless in front of her mother-in-law and get criticized by her mother-in-law for giving too much to her maternal home?”
Su Jinjun said, “Mother, why are you so mad? I’m just saying it and if there’s none then there’s none.”
Mother Su asserted, “Put away those petty thoughts. If I find out that you dare to ask Danhong for something, then I will break your leg!”
Su Jinjun puffed his cheeks like he had a toothache. “Mother, you’re too overprotective. She’s in someone else’s family now. What’s wrong with bringing something back?”
“Even if Danhong is married, she is still our sister!” Su Jindang frowned.
Mother Su also glared at him, “A filthy mouth from a scoundrel can’t say a good word! Everything Danhong has brought back has been completely eaten by you!”
Eldest sister-in-law Su was hoping to benefit from her younger sister-in-law, so naturally she did dare to go too far and quickly said, “Mother, that’s not what Jinjun meant.”
“Second son’s family can go back to take care of Shitao. Eldest son’s family, you can stay here and clean up,” Mother Su ordered and went back.
Second sister-in-law Su took Su Jindang back to their room. Eldest sister-in-law Su looked upset, but she did not dare to say anything.
The children all went out to play, and Su Jinjun, who looked sloppy, said, “I’m going out for a walk. I’m so full.”
“You good for nothing!”
Eldest sister-in-law Su saw how her husband was acting and had to stomp her feet.
Second brother-in-law was so good at rubbing elbows and getting close to younger sister-in-law, so why didn’t her man know how to learn to do the same?
Footnotes
Lmaooo she named her baby “rock”上梁不正下梁歪 (shàng liáng bùzhèng xià liáng wāi) – it means if the superiors are bad, the subordinates will be bad too