Chapter 5: Smiling Tiger

Seeing her little face whimpering and clearly wanting to cling to her, Madam Wu smiled and came over to pick her up.

"Mother has things to do. You be a good girl and stay in the room with Xiao Hong; I'll be back in a little while."

Ying-jie refused. She reached out with her chubby little hands and grabbed Madam Wu’s clothes, her tiny baby eyebrows knitted tightly together, looking for all the world like she wouldn't allow her to leave.

Madam Wu was amused by her.

"Fine, fine. Then I'll take you along to pay your respects to your grandmother."

It wasn't cold today anyway, so taking the child out for some sun would be fine.

And so, Madam Wu held the child, wrapped herself in a cloak, and went to Old Madam Liang’s room.

When Old Madam Liang saw her carrying the child over, she huffed, "It’s such a cold day, why are you bringing her out?"

If the child caught a chill or got overheated, her son would start lecturing her again.

Madam Wu was caught between laughter and tears. "The child misses her grandmother, too. I brought her over to pay her respects."

Because the weather was nice today, Madam Wu was in a decent mood and was willing to speak to Old Madam Liang in a pleasant tone.

But Old Madam Liang was clearly still the same old curmudgeon; she felt annoyed the moment she saw the beautiful Madam Wu.

"Day in and day out, you’re always fussing with those rouges and powders. Aren't you afraid of choking the child?"

Madam Wu:???

For the sake of the rest of the family who liked her, she would endure it!

"Mother-in-law, you jest. My complexion is naturally this fair and rosy. It’s all thanks to you treating me so well, letting me eat meat broth and goose eggs every day. If not for that, I wouldn't have recovered so well from my confinement, would I? I really must thank you, Mother-in-law."

Who doesn't know how to use a soft blade?

You say I’m always dressing up? I’ll just deliberately say it’s because you take such good care of me. Let’s see what you have to say to that.

"You."

Sure enough, with that high hat placed upon her head, Old Madam Liang was momentarily at a loss for how to retort.

Her original intention was to tell Madam Wu to stop dressing so gaudily all day long. Her son wasn't home, so who was she dressing up for?

Yet, the woman claimed she wasn't wearing powder, that it was natural beauty, and even credited her for it. How could one not be infuriated?

But she couldn't say, "Who wants to take care of you?" She only provided the food because she was afraid of being accused of mistreating her daughter-in-law; otherwise, she would have begrudged her all that meat and those goose eggs.

Although the Liang family wasn't poor, they weren't wealthy either. They only had three or four servants. They didn't have to worry about food or clothing, but they weren't exactly living in luxury.

Old Madam Liang herself was quite frugal.

The only person she was generous with was Liang Jin; she spent almost all her money on him.

As for her two daughters, she didn't mistreat them either; they were fed and clothed the same as everyone else.

But in her eyes, Madam Wu was an outsider eating for free, so it pained her heart to feed Madam Wu meat broth every day.

However, that meat was sent over by the Wu family, so she couldn't very well pocket it for herself; she had no choice but to let this vixen benefit.

Seeing the frustrated look on Old Madam Liang’s face—angry yet unable to retort—Madam Wu felt very satisfied.

She was a straightforward person by nature. If it weren't for giving Liang Jin face, she could easily play the shrew.

Anyway, they were far from the capital here; while filial piety existed, it wasn't strictly enforced.

It wasn't uncommon for daughters-in-law and mothers-in-law to argue; in their village, one could often see them standing in the fields, shouting and cursing at each other.

It was only the people in town who cared about their reputation, arguing only behind closed doors for fear of being laughed at.

Madam Wu considered herself an elegant person; she couldn't lose her composure because of her mother-in-law. Thus, she always retorted with a smiling face, leaving Old Madam Liang so furious she looked like she was steaming, only to suffer a crushing defeat.

If you asked Ying-jie, her mother was truly clever.

She always knew how to use verbal tactics to win. She didn't use a single dirty word, and she even showered the other person with praise, leaving Old Madam Liang with no grounds to lodge a complaint.

Every time Liang Jin returned, Old Madam Liang would start complaining that his wife lacked virtue and dared to talk back to her.

But every time, Liang Jin would ask, "What did Ning-er say to talk back to you? Did she say anything unpleasant?"

"She..."

Old Madam Liang would think back carefully, but that vixen always used words of praise; she never said a single unpleasant thing. It made her so angry that she couldn't even find a fault to report, and in the end, it would just fizzle out.

Ying-jie later heard of her mother’s glorious achievements and laughed for a long time, secretly praising her mother as a true talent.

Every time she scolded someone, she did it through praise: "You are so good," "You think of me and the child," "There is no mother-in-law in the world as good as you."

It left Old Madam Liang unable to utter a single word of scolding.

After all, if someone is praising you and thanking you, you can't very well turn around and curse them.

If she really did that, when Liang Jin asked about it later, she would definitely be in the wrong.

Old Madam Liang was also a person who managed the household. Since complaining to her son never yielded results, she simply stopped talking to Liang Jin and continued to engage in a battle of wits with Madam Wu in private.

Madam Wu always spoke kindly; the only time she had ever lost her temper was when her daughter was being looked down upon. Otherwise, she was a person with a good temperament.

Old Madam Liang seemed to remember that whenever she spoke ill of that little girl, Madam Wu would get angry.

So, she childishly raised an eyebrow and said deliberately, "Since Ying-jie misses me, leave her here. I’ve already drafted the list of offerings for the incense burning. You go buy them one by one. Once you’ve bought them, check them off the list, and keep a clear record of the money. Don't you dare shortchange me."

The keys to the family storeroom were in Old Madam Liang’s hands, and all money had to come from her as well.

Every time she asked Madam Wu to buy something, she calculated the money perfectly, refusing to give even a penny extra.

Madam Wu didn't care about this; she didn't covet her mother-in-law’s money anyway.

She had her own dowry shop, which sold cured meat, smoked meat, and pork jerky unique to her family, and business was booming.

However, that shop was currently being looked after by her second sister. Since she had to take care of the child, she didn't have time to manage it, but she would go check on it when she had a moment.

Old Madam Liang handed her the shopping list and the silver, telling her to get started.

"Don't think you have plenty of time; it’ll be over in the blink of an eye. It’s the perfect time to buy before prices go up. Otherwise, once there are too many people, many things will be snatched up. Going now is just right."

Madam Wu naturally understood the logic and obediently went to do it.

Before leaving, she looked at her mother-in-law. "Are you sure you want to keep Ying-jie here?"

"She gets hungry quickly now and will need to eat soon. How about I take her with me?"

The Liang family lived on the main street, and the entire street was lined with shops, so they didn't have to walk far. That was why Madam Wu wanted to take the child out; it was warm in the sun today anyway.

Seeing that she didn't trust her, Old Madam Liang immediately huffed, "What’s wrong with leaving the child with me? Am I some kind of monster? Would I mistreat her?"

Madam Wu thought to herself, *Who knows?*

*You’re so biased toward boys; you might just hit my daughter.*

Old Madam Liang saw that guarded look in her eyes and immediately became angry.

She slapped the table and said, "Enough, hurry up and go! If you’re late, everything will be bought up by others. Dawdling like this—you don't look like the wife of a scholarly family at all."

She couldn't just say it; she had to belittle Madam Wu as well.

Madam Wu scoffed internally, but she still couldn't rest easy regarding her daughter.

Her eyes darted around, and before Old Madam Liang noticed, she quickly walked over, scooped up her daughter, and ran out.

"Hey!! You come back here!!"

Old Madam Liang clearly hadn't expected her to dare to just run off with the child, and she trembled with rage.

"Look at her! Does she have any shred of a daughter-in-law’s manners?"

"I’m not some old hag from the countryside! Would I really hit a little girl?!!"