Chapter 13: An Elder in the Family is Like a Treasure

Don't be fooled by the fact that only Captain Fang is currently working in the fields; Mother Fang only goes to work during the busy farming season, and at other times, she goes whenever she feels like it. Because they separated from the main family early on, they used to be a couple supporting only one daughter. Captain Fang also earns a few yuan a month in wages, and since Fang Youyou is the only daughter of this generation, all the elders dote on her. Naturally, Fang Youyou became the fattest girl in the production brigade.

"Mom, let me carry it."

Mother Fang walked out with her daughter, who was carrying a wooden bucket, while she herself had empty hands.

"Mother Youyou, are you two going to wash clothes?" A neighbor auntie saw the mother and daughter and asked, eyeing Fang Youyou—who looked in good health but was twice the size of her mother—as she spoke.

Mother Fang replied with a cheerful smile, "My Youyou is filial; she’s accompanying me to wash clothes. I told her to stay home and rest, but she wouldn't have it."

Fang Youyou stood to the side like a bodyguard, watching her mother chat with the neighbor.

"It's getting late, we'll head off to wash the clothes first and chat more when we get back."

Mother Fang pulled her daughter toward the river, her expression shifting as they walked away. "Those old hags, don't think I don't know what they're up to; they just want to see us make a fool of ourselves."

Don't think she didn't know that rumors were spreading outside, saying their family treats their daughter like a treasure and their sons like blades of grass.

She just didn't care for her sons; she only cared for her daughter.

Even her parents-in-law doted on her daughter, and her sisters-in-law were envious that she had a daughter. Besides, she had given birth to this precious treasure late in life, which was like finding a pearl in an old oyster.

Fang Youyou had thought her mother hadn't noticed, but it turned out she was well aware of everything.

Truly, having an elder in the house is like having a treasure.

"Mom, they’re just envious of me. Envious that I have parents and brothers who dote on me."

As soon as these words were spoken, Mother Fang laughed out loud, feeling that her daughter was right. "Let those old hags be envious. Our family just happens to favor girls over boys; who told us we have so many men and so few women?"

Her sisters-in-law had several sons each, and her brother-in-law’s family also had two sons. Only her family had a daughter—how could they not treasure her?

Besides, her daughter was a blessed child.

"Mother Youyou, here to wash clothes?"

Mother Fang performed another "face change," which left Fang Youyou, watching from the side, feeling quite impressed.

In her previous life, she hadn't seen many rural women, but whenever she did, they always seemed a bit timid.

"Auntie, over here, over here."

A girl who looked like a delicate beauty, wearing two braids and clothes patched with fabric, called out.

"Youyou."

Fang Youyou noticed a flash of jealousy in the girl's eyes.

This girl was jealous of her.

"Youyou, Mom will wash the clothes, you just sit on that rock and rest."

Fang Youyou hadn't come to play; she had genuinely come to wash clothes.

"Mom, let's wash together. It's going to get dark soon."

But her daughter had never washed clothes before.

That’s right, the original Fang Youyou had never washed a single piece of clothing. From childhood to adulthood, she was pampered at home, and since Mother Fang didn't have to go to work often, she hadn't taught her daughter how to do laundry or cook.

Mother Fang wanted to teach her daughter how to wash, but with people watching nearby, she could only wait and see. If her daughter didn't know how, she would teach her then.

The Fang family's daughters-in-law, even if they had grievances against their mother-in-law, were respectful on the surface. They dared not speak ill of her outside, nor did they dare to complain in front of the Fang brothers; at most, they would vent a few words to their own maiden families.

Seeing her daughter washing away quite competently, Mother Fang breathed a sigh of relief.

"Auntie, Youyou is so filial, helping you wash clothes."

Hearing this, Fang Youyou knew there was more to those words than met the eye.