Zhang Yu watched as Zhang Hong and Du Xia emerged from the kitchen one after the other, while Jiang Yun was still busy inside, and smiled.
She knew that the eldest daughter-in-law of the Zhang family was likely still working away in the kitchen. Well, that made sense; shouldn't someone who wants something be expected to put on a good performance?
Du Xia greeted Zhang Yu warmly and asked how she had been doing away from home. The latter gave a brief summary of her life elsewhere.
"Don't you feel lonely living by yourself?" Du Xia asked with concern.
Lonely? Zhang Yu chuckled. "How could I feel lonely?"
"I'm busy with work, and when I get home, I have to cook, clean, and then exercise. You could say I'm truly very busy."
"You exercise?" Du Xia only just noticed that Zhang Yu’s complexion had improved significantly. "Xiao Yu, what kind of skincare routine have you been using lately? I think you look much better than before."
Hearing this, Zhang Hong immediately looked up, unable to hide her jealousy.
They were both in their thirties, so how could her skin look so good?
Zhang Hong had always considered herself good at maintaining her appearance. Back in the day, whenever she went out with Zhang Yu, everyone assumed she was the younger sister.
But now, if the two sisters went out together, no one would ever mistake her for the younger one again.
It had only been a short while, yet Zhang Yu had changed so much. If this girl stayed away for a few more years, who knew how much more she would change?
Zhang Hong looked at Zhang Yu with envy. "Xiao Yu, how do you take care of your skin?"
There wasn't a woman alive who didn't want to be young and beautiful, and Du Xia was no exception. She looked at Zhang Yu, eager to learn her secrets.
This amused Zhang Yu. Back then, they had all looked down on her for not knowing how to dress herself up—the look of disdain on their faces had been obvious even to a fool.
Now that she knew how to take care of herself, they were jealous. Sigh, that was women for you; none of them wanted the other to be better off.
"I just go for a run every morning and take a walk after dinner."
"Oh, and I eat plenty of fruit," Zhang Yu added.
"There's nothing else, really." Zhang Yu thought for a moment. "Oh, and I use face masks."
"But you all should have those, right?" After all, whether it was Jiang Yun or the three of them, they were always getting together to chat about which skincare products were the best.
It wasn't as if they lacked the money for it.
Ah, was it really that simple? Du Xia and Zhang Hong both looked at her in disbelief.
"Oh, right, and I suppose getting enough sleep helps. Isn't there a saying?"
"A good complexion comes from plenty of sleep. I go to bed after ten and wake up after five."
Zhang Yu felt that this kind of schedule was the best.
Sleep at ten? Wake up after five? Du Xia and Zhang Hong felt they went to bed around the same time, so why didn't they have such good results?
As for that, Zhang Yu thought for a moment and hesitated. "I fall asleep very quickly and sleep through until dawn. What about you?"
Well, Zhang Hong and Du Xia had to admit they didn't have such good sleep.
"It's good to be the youngest, with no worries," Zhang Hong said, half-joking and half-jealous.
"I have no choice. I'm all alone with no one to rely on, so I have to take care of my health."
"I have to eat well and rest well. Health is the capital of the revolution, after all," Zhang Yu said, emphasizing that her health was the most important thing and had to be maintained.
To Du Xia and the others, the subtext was clear: *Sorry, don't treat me like free labor anymore; I'm going to be a selfish person now.*
Jiang Yun walked into the main room carrying a kettle of boiling water. Seeing everyone chatting, she felt a deep sense of imbalance—everyone else was drinking tea and talking, while she was the only one doing chores.
At that moment, she completely forgot that back in the day, she used to be the one drinking tea and chatting while Zhang Yu did all the work.
Jiang Yun was very unhappy, but she couldn't voice it directly. She glanced at Zhang Guohua, who was chatting around Zhang Dagui, and found him increasingly annoying.
"Zhang Guohua, come and help me wash the dishes," Jiang Yun shouted angrily.
Jiang Yun figured that since she had spoken up, there was no way Du Xia and the others could just sit there.
But Du Xia and Zhang Hong were thick-skinned; they heard Jiang Yun’s voice and acted as if they hadn't heard a thing.
Zhang Yu, of course, ignored her even more pointedly. It was hilarious—she had already given up a one-bedroom apartment, and that money alone could have paid for a nanny for a long time.
Zhang Yu picked up a piece of fruit and ate it leisurely. "This feels really good."
"I used to be the one busy in the kitchen alone. After all these years, this is the first time I've experienced this."
Zhang Yu meant it; she wasn't just targeting Jiang Yun's comment, she was truly speaking from the heart.
Jiang Yun was infuriated by Zhang Yu's words. It was so embarrassing—Zhang Yu used to handle everything alone, so how could she complain now when her workload had been reduced?
Hearing this, Zhang Hong chuckled. "That's right, back then Xiao Yu handled everything by herself."
Honestly, someone who didn't cook and then complained about washing a few dishes today—she really had some nerve.
If they were at their own home, Zhang Guohua would have gone to help Jiang Yun wash the dishes, but they were here, with parents and siblings watching. He couldn't bring himself to help Jiang Yun with the chores.
Hearing Zhang Yu's words, he looked up at Jiang Yun, implying: *It's just washing dishes, why can't you handle it?*
Pan Juan was also complaining about everything these days, but as a mother-in-law, she couldn't be too harsh.
But the situation was different now that Zhang Yu had spoken up. "That's right, eldest daughter-in-law, you're just washing dishes. Why do you need someone to help you?"
"Let Guohua chat with his brothers."
Pan Juan was very dissatisfied with Jiang Yun now; if it weren't for the fact that she had given birth to a grandson, she wouldn't be so polite.
"Some things are meant for women to do," Zhang Dagui said with dissatisfaction. Honestly, his sons, grandsons, and sons-in-law were all gathered together drinking tea and chatting.
For Jiang Yun to pop up and tell Zhang Guohua to go do chores—how could the old man not be angry?
With both her mother-in-law and father-in-law speaking up, what else could she do? Jiang Yun could only glare fiercely at Zhang Yu.
Zhang Yu wouldn't let her get away with it. "Sister-in-law, why are you glaring at me? Did I say something wrong?"
"I'm just telling the truth. In the past, when you came back on weekends, I handled everything alone. Oh, by the way, is there any afternoon snack?"
"I remember you always saying that you need a snack in the afternoon, and that without one, something feels missing."
"Right, sister-in-law, remember to make me some tea."
"And we're out of fruit. Sister-in-law, you're the most virtuous daughter-in-law in Mom and Dad's eyes."
Zhang Yu clicked her tongue. "You're really far from that."
Jiang Yun hadn't expected that after just glaring at Zhang Yu, she would be retorted to so bluntly.
She wanted to explode, but she didn't dare. After all, she was the one who had made those demands in the past.
"Sister-in-law, why are you just standing there? Go on."
"I remember you saying back then that you did things better than I did," Zhang Yu said leisurely.