Chapter 8: I Don't Need to Beat Around the Bush

Although Mom went a bit too far today, she was his own mother after all. As a man, he couldn't just let his wife criticize her repeatedly; it was a matter of face.

"Zhang Jianguo, how dare you blame me?"

Zhang Yanli was instantly displeased. She sat up with a jerk and reached out to tug at Zhang Jianguo’s pajamas.

The scent of cold cream wafted toward him, hitting his nostrils. Zhang Jianguo felt a moment of daze, then reached out to grip her arm.

"Stop making a scene. I know you’re unhappy. Dad’s passing was a huge blow to Mom; otherwise, she wouldn't be acting so out of character.

You know what Mom was like before. In the entire machinery factory residential compound, who didn't say that our parents worked themselves to the bone for their children?

I’m the eldest in the family, after all. As the eldest daughter-in-law, you need to show the right attitude at a critical time like this. We can't let people think we, as children, aren't thoughtful."

Seeing her husband’s displeased expression, Zhang Yanli toned it down significantly. Men cared about face, but she only cared about practical benefits.

After a good night’s sleep, Li Xiangqin opened her eyes to find the sky just beginning to brighten.

In the past, she would have gotten up immediately to start working.

Looking at the gray mosquito net, she turned over, shifted her position, and continued lying there.

It wasn't until there was movement in the living room that she got up to wash.

"Mom, you're awake." The fourth child poked her head out of the kitchen, an apron tied around her waist.

"Hmm. Are you the only one cooking?"

Li Xiangqin glanced at the tightly shut door of the third child’s room, her face darkening instantly. She walked straight over and pounded on the door.

"What time is it? Still not getting up to cook? Do you really think you’re some young master or mistress?"

What a pair of scoundrels—one brainless, the other cunning.

Zhao Meijuan, in particular, relied on the third child’s coddling to slack off as if it were her right. In the past, Li Xiangqin had been too busy to waste breath arguing, but things were different now. No one was going to slack off and eat for free under her watch.

"…Mom, what are you doing so early in the morning? This is my last day of vacation, can’t you let me get a good night’s sleep?" The third child yawned, rubbing his eyes as he leaned against the doorframe.

"Sleep my foot! Look at what time it is. Just because you aren't working doesn't mean you have nothing to do? Every day you just sit on your backside waiting for dark, waiting for someone to serve you? Get up and go cook!"

Li Xiangqin looked at the third child with disdain. This glutton would try to wipe the table clean the moment he sat down; he ate the most and did the least. The couple was cut from the same cloth.

"Mom~, can you be reasonable? Hasn't it always been you and the fourth one making breakfast?" The third child rubbed his ears, annoyed by the shouting so early in the morning.

"Do you expect me, at my age, to be your servant? Just because the fourth one is diligent, you only pick on her? Is that how you bully the honest ones?

If you don't have the life of an emperor, don't have dreams of being one. From now on, everyone takes turns cooking. No one is allowed to slack off. Our family doesn't raise idlers."

Li Xiangqin snorted. If she didn't say it to their faces, they wouldn't move, so she didn't care about being polite anymore.

Hiding in the room, Zhao Meijuan turned pale with anger as she listened to her mother-in-law’s blunt insults. She threw on her clothes and walked out, her eyes red.

"Mom, if you want me to cook, just say so. There’s no need to beat around the bush."

This old hag had such a poisonous tongue.

"Pah! I don't need to beat around the bush to scold you. It’s a blessing that we’re in a new society now, so you don't have to serve your parents-in-law. But you sleep until the sun is high every day, practically waiting for someone to feed you.

Who do you think you are? What have you contributed to this family? It’s one thing to be unemployed and eat for free—the third one likes your type, and as your mother-in-law, I won't interfere—but you need to have some self-awareness."

Zhao Meijuan choked, her face flushing red. She looked as if she were about to collapse, and Zhao Jianshe hurriedly supported her arm, his heart aching.

"Mom, what are you doing so early? You know Meijuan isn't in good health. Why do you always make things difficult for her?"

"I spit on you! If you want to play Lin Daiyu, you need to have the life of a young lady to back it up. Ask her: did she do chores at her parents' house? Do you think I don't know the situation at the Zhao family?

Your mother-in-law, Liu Hehua, is famous for favoring sons over daughters. She treats her son like the apple of her eye and her daughter like a pile of trash. Ask her if she dared to eat for free at her parents' house for even a single day?

She could work like a horse or an ox there, washing clothes, cooking, and serving the whole family with a smile. How come, now that she’s in our Zhang family, she suddenly can't lift a finger?"

Li Xiangqin didn't hold back at all. No job, no income, yet plenty of schemes. And she still had the nerve to want to eat ready-made meals and be served? Where did she get the gall?

Listening to her mother-in-law’s harsh tone, Zhao Meijuan’s face turned a bruised purple.

"You don't have to be so insulting... I can't stay in this house anymore."

"If you don't want to stay, go back to your parents' house. You’re the type who gets sold by her own family and still helps them count the money, yet you think you’re so clever. If your mother truly cared about you, she wouldn't have pocketed all the betrothal gifts.

It’s a good thing the outfit you wore for the wedding was sent over that day, otherwise, you would have been married off with nothing. Don't blame me for being blunt, but go ask around: which family marries off a daughter like your Zhao family, not even giving her a single piece of cloth as a dowry?"

She hadn't agreed to their relationship from the start. Not only was Zhao Meijuan unemployed, but she was also sickly every day, looking like she couldn't survive.

But the third child was obsessed with her type, pestering her every day until she gritted her teeth and reluctantly nodded.

Even so, she hadn't treated Zhao Meijuan poorly. Following the bride's family's demands, she had given a betrothal gift of 360 yuan, plus a watch, a suitcase containing a wool coat, four pieces of fabric, four catties of yarn, and two catties of colored fruit candies.

Who would have thought that Liu Hehua would take their Zhang family’s betrothal gifts and use them to pay for her own son’s bride, leaving her daughter without even a towel as a dowry?

Zhao Meijuan froze. She suddenly looked up and asked subconsciously,

"How did you know?"

She had kept this matter tightly under wraps, fearing that her in-laws would laugh at them. Because she hadn't brought the betrothal gifts back, she had specifically explained it to the third child.

She had said that because she had been sickly since childhood, her parents had spent a lot of effort raising her, so she had decided to give the betrothal gifts to them as a gesture of filial piety to repay their upbringing.

Zhang Jianshe had been moved by her filial heart and supported her decision. But if he knew her parents had withheld the gifts to marry off their son, he certainly wouldn't be happy.

Li Xiangqin sneered at her guilty expression.

Her good friend from the factory, Wang Ailian, lived in the same neighborhood as Zhao Meijuan’s parents. Ever since she learned that the third child was seeing the Zhao girl, Wang Ailian had told her about the Zhao family’s situation.

She had urged her to go home and persuade the third child to find someone else.

Unfortunately, she had raised a stubborn mule who insisted on marrying her no matter what.

Two days after they were married, she went to the factory to extend her sick leave and happened to run into her friend.

As soon as Wang Ailian saw her, she recounted the story of the Zhao family’s son paying for his bride, detailing everything down to the number of candies used to entertain guests at the Zhao house.

Afterward, she patted her shoulder with a look of sympathy and pity, which had made Li Xiangqin so angry she nearly coughed up blood.