When Liu Yuzhi asked this, Yun Qinghuan knew she was reluctant.
Her mother-in-law was like this. She wouldn’t hesitate to give Yun Qinghuan and An’an chicken and meat, but if she herself ate a little, she felt like it was wasting of food.
“Mom, this wasn’t made specifically for you. Haven’t I told you before? In the future, our family will eat whatever we have, no special treatment. I just felt like eating this, and it happens that our whole family will have it for lunch today. Mom, is it delicious?”
Liu Yuzhi nodded, “Delicious.”
Too delicious!
How long had it been since she tasted the flavor of meat? She couldn’t quite remember herself.
Liu Yuzhi knew that her daughter-in-law deliberately said this to let her eat without pressure. She didn’t disappoint her daughter-in-law’s kind intention. She ate one flatbread, then savored the fragrant and spicy cabbage fried with pig fat and finished the sweet potato noodles made with Fuqiang flour. Finally, she used the noodles to wipe the bowl that contained the cabbage. After all, it was pig fat, and she couldn’t bear to waste it.
There was still one flatbread left, and Liu Yuzhi waved her hand, “Qinghuan, Mom is full. Take this flatbread back.”
This way, they could have an extra one.
She had eaten enough.
Yun Qinghuan could see at a glance that Liu Yuzhi had only eaten about sixty percent full, and the remaining flatbread was probably not eaten out of reluctance. “Mom, I brought this for you. Just eat it. Otherwise, I’ll have to take it back later, and it’s troublesome,” she said, deliberately showing a slightly troublesome appearance.
Liu Yuzhi hesitated, and Zhang Yufen beside her advised, “Mother, since Qinghuan said so, just eat it. I can tell it’s delicious just by looking at it, and it smells so good.”
Zhang Yufen bit into the plain steamed buns and drank the tasteless porridge; it was called porridge, but there were hardly any grains of rice in it.
Her mother-in-law was getting old and couldn’t handle heavy work. With children at home, the whole family relied on her alone to earn work points to support them. So, being able to eat enough was considered fortunate, and she didn’t dare to ask for more.
Seeing the meal Yun Qinghuan brought for Mrs. Liu made Zhang Yufen a bit envious.
Upon hearing this, Liu Yuzhi took the last flatbread and ate it. It was clearly made with the coarse flour of the plain steamed buns, but the one her daughter-in-law made was tastier than hers.
After eating, she felt her stomach was particularly full.
Her heart warmed even more.
“Qinghuan, if you bring food in the future, you don’t have to bring so much for Mom; I can’t eat that much.”
Yun Qinghuan smiled at her words, “Mom, how can you say you can’t eat that much? You are the workforce in our family. You must eat more, eat a lot. We all rely on you to support us.”
Her tone carried a hint of playfulness.
Liu Yuzhi was delighted by her coaxing and didn’t say much.
She inquired and found out that Yun Qinghuan hadn’t had lunch yet, so she hurriedly asked her to go home and eat.
“Next time you bring me food, have your meal first before coming; Mom is not in a hurry to eat.”
“It’s okay, Mom. I woke up late this morning, and I’ve already eaten the rice you left in the pot. I’m not hungry now; I just wanted to bring you food.”
As she spoke, Yun Qinghuan took out the tea she had chilled in the well. “Mom, this is the tea I pre-chilled in the well. If you’re thirsty, you can drink it.”
Liu Yuzhi looked at the tea she brewed, touched the bottle, and saw that it was still cool. It was more refreshing than the lukewarm water she brought herself, warming her heart. She felt her daughter-in-law was really considerate.
Yun Qinghuan added, “Mom, you just had lunch. Don’t rush to work. Sit in the shade and rest for a while before going. Otherwise, your body won’t be able to handle it.”
After a few more words of advice, Yun Qinghuan left.
Zhang Yufen, on the side, looked at her with envy. Many other mothers-in-law who saw this also expressed longing. “Why don’t we have such a good daughter-in-law?”
Liu Yuzhi smiled deeper and seemed indifferent. “Qinghuan is just kind-hearted. If you treat her well by one point, she’ll return it tenfold. But interactions between people are mutual; if you want your daughter-in-law to be like our Qinghuan, you have to treat your daughter-in-law well.”
The other mothers-in-law, who were initially envious of Liu Yuzhi having a good daughter-in-law, instantly fell silent.
Those petty and scheming ones in their families weren’t worth treating with such sincerity.
Liu Yuzhi looked at them as they suddenly changed the topic, and there were signs of them avoiding her, but she didn’t mind.
Many mothers-in-law in the village, having endured hardships when they were young, always wanted to make their daughter-in-law experience the same hardships. How could the relationship between mother-in-law and daughter-in-law be good like this? Even if it seemed good, it was only superficial.
Of course, there were some good mothers-in-law, but daughters-in-law were no less human. However, they were relatively few. If one disrespected their mother-in-law, the village gossip could drown the person.
On the other side, after delivering the meal, Yun Qinghuan intended to return home for lunch. After all, there was Bai Naihan waiting at home; even if she was not hungry, Bai Naihan must be after a busy morning. Also, An An might be awake by now.
Due to some concerns on her mind, Yun Qinghuan walked rather quickly and didn’t notice the people around her. She almost bumped into someone, but Bai Naihan, who had come out in his wheelchair from a distance, noticed her absence-mindedness and warned, “Sister-in-law, be careful!”
Yun Qinghuan came to a sudden stop, narrowly avoiding colliding with the person in front. If Bai Naihan hadn’t warned her, she might have crashed into someone. Given the busy traffic at noon, word might spread in the afternoon about the new widow unable to endure loneliness and luring men.
Her expression wasn’t very pleasant. Although she walked fast without paying attention to what was ahead, the road was wide enough, and there was no reason for a man to come straight at her.
Yes, a man.
Lowering her head, she could see a pair of large feet wearing cloth shoes. The black fabric of the cloth shoes was of particularly good quality, indicating that the man came from a wealthy family.
She lifted her head and looked over, her attitude not friendly. “Why are you walking like that?”
When she saw the man’s eyes shining and staring at her in a straightforward manner, Yun Qinghuan’s tone became even more hostile.
The man in front of her was none other than Lu Sunhua!
The son of the brigade secretary, from a well-off family.
He was also one of the people who pursued the original host.
If it weren’t for Lu Sunhua’s pursuit at that time, the original host wouldn’t have been rescued by Bai Wensong, let alone marrying him as a result.
The disgust in Yun Qinghuan’s eyes towards what Lu Sunhua had done to the original host was undisguised.
Seeing her anger, Lu Sunhua wasn’t annoyed. Instead, his eyes, revealing a lecherous intent, kept assessing Yun Qinghuan. “Qinghuan, now that your man is dead, you are destined to be mine. I said it back then – you and Bai Wensong would never last long. You didn’t believe me.
“Don’t worry, even if you’re married now and have a child, I won’t mind. Remarry with me, and I promise to treat you well.”
Seeing her figure, still graceful and alluring despite wearing loose clothing, Lu Sunhua almost engraved the word “lust” in his eyes.
Behind them, the face of Bai Naihan, who had caught up and heard Lu Sunhua’s words, immediately darkened.
∞
Translator Note
Next release
– Dec. 25 (6pm)
(There’ll be extra chapters for Christmas, stay tuned!)
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∞
- Romans 12:10
“Love each other with genuine affection, and take delight in honoring each other.”
