Chapter 14: Returning to Her Parents' Home

“Yes, yes, yes, the ham is all washed and ready. I’ll cook it for you all at noon.”

Mother Wu happily brought Ying-jie'er over, inviting them to come inside first.

“Come in and sit quickly, it’s warm inside.”

To be honest, the Wu family courtyard was even larger than the Liang family's.

Because their family had only built this new house after striking it rich, the house was not only brand new but also exceptionally beautiful.

Ying-jie'er looked at her brand-new maternal grandmother's home with great curiosity, thinking that her grandmother's family was indeed very wealthy.

Mother Wu held her and doted on her for a while before quietly slipping a large fortune bag into Ying-jie'er's arms.

The eldest Wu son had also taken his wife back to her maiden home today, so at this moment, the only unmarried person in the house was the fourth son, Wu Lao Si.

“Third Sister, Third Brother-in-law.”

Wu Lao Si and Liang Jin were classmates; both studied at the same academy.

Now that the uncle and son-in-law had met, they naturally had plenty to talk about.

As the two men went to the main hall to chat, Wu Shi also came over to speak with her biological mother.

“Mother, why hasn't Second Sister arrived yet?”

Wu Shi's second sister was also a beautiful girl, shrewd and capable.

When they were young, many of the household chores were helped along by Second Sister Wu. She also knew how to keep accounts, which was why she managed that cured meat shop in town.

In fact, Second Sister Wu had originally possessed a shop as part of her dowry.

She had married into a family of scholars as well.

Unfortunately, her husband was a useless, lazy man. Not only could he not focus on his studies, but he also wasted vast amounts of the family's silver, which infuriated Second Sister Wu immensely.

It was one thing if he couldn't read, but the man couldn't work either, let alone seek manual labor.

If you asked him to be an accountant, he would refuse, saying it was humiliating.

Second Sister Wu was dying of anger; many people would beg for the chance to be an accountant, yet to him, it was a disgrace?

But that man was obsessed with face, lazy, and acted like a lord; he refused to do anything and simply stayed home to be supported by Second Sister Wu.

Second Sister Wu was livid, and whenever she argued with him, her in-laws would come out to scold her as well, saying she was improper and that her flashy clothing was surely meant to seduce men.

If it weren't for her two sons, Second Sister Wu truly wanted a divorce.

Now, her dowry shop had been bled dry by her in-laws, so she had no choice but to sell it. She simply put the remaining money into a money changer and began pretending to be poor in front of her in-laws.

In any case, she never wanted to hand over money again for that family of lazybones to squander.

She had been foolish back then to believe their facade.

Now that she had woken up, she had no intention of letting that family eat and drink for free anymore.

Thus, she preferred to help her younger sister manage the shop rather than return to her in-laws' house, sleeping on a floor mat in the shop every night.

On the rare occasions she did go back, it was only to take the children out for a good meal; as for the rest, she would not let that lazy man's family benefit.

When Mother Wu spoke of her second daughter, she also felt a great headache.

“That marriage was introduced by your aunt back then. Who could have imagined the other party would be such a beast in human skin, so skilled at deception.”

Mother Wu felt bad seeing her second daughter living such a difficult life with her in-laws.

However, in these times, getting a divorce would lead to gossip. Mother Wu feared her daughter would be pointed at and criticized, so she naturally did not dare to support a divorce.

Furthermore, the second son-in-law's entire family were not good people; if they truly divorced, there was no telling how much of a scene they would make.

If it turned into a massive scandal, it would make everyone look bad and would be bad for the children in the future.

Upon hearing this, Wu Shi was also very indignant.

“Only Second Sister can endure it. If it were me, I wouldn't be able to stand it for a single moment.”

Mother Wu tapped her forehead with a finger, saying, “If you don't endure, what do you plan to do? Divorce sounds simple, but what about the children? Can those people give the children to you?”

Wu Shi was now a mother herself, so she naturally couldn't bear to part with her children, and she let out a sigh.

“Sigh, being a woman is too hard.”

It was one thing to be a daughter-in-law moving into another's home, but to be bullied and unable to even divorce—it was simply too difficult.

Mother Wu was also worried. “Your second sister's situation has always been a knot in my heart. I don't know how to let her find freedom.”

She was just a country woman and truly didn't know how to help her second daughter leap out of the fire pit, so Mother Wu also had a headache.

As they were chatting, someone arrived at the door.

“Mother, I'm back.”

Hearing it was her second daughter's voice, Mother Wu hurried out.

“Er Ya, you're finally back.”

Mother Wu looked her up and down. Seeing there were no injuries on her face, she looked behind her and saw that she had indeed only brought the two little ones.

“You three came by yourselves?”

Second Sister Wu nodded. “Yes, who else could I bring? I certainly didn't want to bring that dog of a man back to leech off our food and drink.”

An entire shop had been eaten dry by that family; did they think they could come and eat her maiden home dry too? In their dreams!

Seeing her angry expression, Mother Wu knew she must have been mistreated by her in-laws again.

“Sigh, it's the New Year, and you're still arguing like this. How will you live your life in the future?”

Second Sister Wu gave a cold snort. “I'll just live however. Anyway, I don't want to move back there. I'll just earn more silver to buy a courtyard, ideally far away, so I never have to see that family again.”

The thinking of ancient people rarely included divorce; most were simply afraid of gossip and could only endure bitterly.

But Second Sister Wu had been used to the freedom of the countryside since childhood, and she had no desire to endure such harsh treatment from her in-laws.

Although she couldn't divorce, moving out shouldn't be a problem.

After all, that entire family were lazybones; if she didn't earn money, they would all starve to death, so it was relatively easy for her to leave.

Listening from the side, Ying-jie'er clicked her tongue in surprise. She hadn't expected her second aunt's life to be so miserable—having to support an entire family of in-laws was truly something else.

Men in town mostly went out to earn money to support their families; she had rarely heard of such a lazy household.

Wu Shi was also very angry upon hearing this.

“Back then, Father should have taken a butcher's knife over there to scare them! Otherwise, they'd think our family had no backbone!!” Those bastards.

Mother Wu sighed and said, “Then how many days can you stay this time?”

Second Sister Wu said, “I have to send the children back tomorrow. After sending them, I plan to go back and continue running the shop.”

Business at the cured meat shop was exceptionally good during the New Year, and Second Sister Wu did not want to stop.

Mother Wu nodded. “That works too. Then stay for just one night, so the children can have a good meal.”

Second Sister Wu nodded, sighed, and then looked at Ying-jie'er in Wu Shi's arms. She asked, “Is my sister staying overnight? Let's stay together for one night and have a good long talk.”

Wu Shi knew she had a belly full of grievances she wanted to vent, so she nodded. “Alright, Ying-jie'er and I will stay overnight. My husband can take the carriage back.”

Hearing this, Second Sister Wu smiled and gave Ying-jie'er a pair of silver bracelets.

“I passed by a jewelry shop last month and bought these. I thought they would look pretty on a little girl. Try them on Ying-jie'er.”

Wu Shi gave her a reproachful look. “Why spend money on this? You'd be better off saving it; there are plenty of places to spend money.”

Second Sister Wu knew she meant well, but she still placed the silver bracelets on Ying-jie'er's small hands.

“Look, our Ying-jie'er is so fair and clean, she looks good in anything.”

Wu Shi glanced at the little baby's chubby hands, now adorned with bracelets engraved with the words "Peace," and indeed, they looked very beautiful, so she smiled.

“Ying-jie'er, quickly thank Second Aunt.”

Ying-jie'er made babbling sounds, waving her bracelets in appreciation.

Seeing this, Mother Wu also smiled. “You all sit down first. I'll go prepare the food. I cut everything up last night, so it can go straight into the pot now.”