Chapter 9.2

No one paid her any attention.

During those times of oil scarcity, each household received only a few kilograms of oil twice a year, reserved for special occasions. For daily meals, they simply boiled vegetables in salted water. The Old Madam hoarded the family’s oil, saving it for when her youngest son and daughter returned home, to add richness to their meals. Those who worked in the fields got none.

The oil jar, usually hidden in the east room under a lid, was off-limits to everyone. But with so little space in the house, it couldn’t be locked away in a cabinet. The “hiding” was merely her prohibition against anyone touching it.

Her eldest and second daughters-in-law wouldn’t dare defy her.

But Lin Wan? That was a joke!

Seeing no one cooking, Lin Wan immediately went for the oil jar, scooping out three ladles of oil into a bowl. As for salt, the pickled vegetable jar would do—a splash of its brine would suffice.

When the men and women returned from work, the fragrant aroma reached them as they entered the alley. Noses twitched as they wondered which household was showing off by stir-frying with oil.

As they drew closer, the scent intensified—it was coming from their own home!

Lu Zhengze exclaimed in surprise, “Has Mother finally come to her senses?”

Old Man Lu, however, suspected something more was at play. After all, his wife had been complaining about Lin Wan just that morning.

Entering the courtyard, they found Lin Wan cooking with the children while Lu Zhengting sat shelling corn kernels. The Old Madam was nowhere to be seen.

Lin Wan stood up, brushed off the grass and dirt, and swayed as she greeted them, feigning exhaustion. “Old Madam fell ill, so I had to cook. I’m feeling dizzy, but thankfully I managed to get dinner ready in time for everyone’s return.”

Hearing her sweet words, Old Madam Lu immediately burst into a loud, theatrical wail. “Curse you, you ungrateful wretch! I raised a viper in my own home! My own daughter-in-law abuses her mother-in-law! She pinned me down and beat me, then locked me in my room! She even stole my cooking oil! Oh, heavens above…”

She continued to rant, listing Lin Wan and Lu Zhengting’s alleged offenses: smashing her bowls, hitting her, and more.

Lin Wan shrugged, spreading her hands in a gesture of helplessness. “Old Madam’s throwing another tantrum.”

Old Man Lu, hearing his wife’s dramatic wailing, knew she was deeply upset. He felt a surge of anger toward Lin Wan. Yet her attitude was impeccable. Despite her head injury, she continued to cut grass daily and still managed to cook dinner. Though she used the oil, she hadn’t stolen any for herself.

How could he scold or strike her? As her father-in-law, he couldn’t bring himself to raise a hand or utter a harsh word.

Old Man Lu had always been a taciturn man. In his younger years, he’d spent his days working in silence, with no hobbies beyond occasionally beating his sons at his wife’s command. But since Lu Zhengting’s deafness, he’d stopped hitting his sons altogether, retreating further into his quiet labor. Now, striking or scolding his daughter-in-law was even more unthinkable.

The old man refused to believe Lu Zhengting would mistreat his own mother. He knew his third son was deaf and rarely spoke, as quiet as if he didn’t exist.

When they entered the house, they found the east room door ajar, with no lock. Old Madam Lu was twisting dough on the kang, weeping pitifully, but showed no signs of injury—it hardly looked like she’d been beaten.

Lu Bao’er insisted Lin Wan had struck the old woman and complained that her aunt had been mean to her.

Lu Mingliang countered, “That’s not true! Third Aunt took me to cut grass, and it was so tiring. Grandma didn’t cook, so Third Aunt picked vegetables, washed them, cooked, made corn buns, and swept the yard. Grandma just rolled around on the kang.”

Gua’er and Qian’er nodded in silent agreement.

Lu Zhengting, fearing Old Madam Lu would complain and put Lin Wan at a disadvantage, followed them into the house. He stood quietly to the side, observing without speaking.

He watched as Lin Wan’s demeanor shifted from the fierce table-pounding earlier that morning to a pitiful, teary-eyed vulnerability. Her dewy apricot eyes brimmed with wronged tears, making her look utterly helpless. A strange mix of numbness, itchiness, bitterness, and tenderness stirred in his heart, like seeing a fledgling fallen from its nest and feeling an overwhelming urge to protect it.

He himself didn’t realize it, and no one else noticed, except for Lu Mingliang, who observed that Third Uncle’s gaze toward Third Aunt grew increasingly focused, even infatuated, as if he were staring at a pot of braised pork.

Lu Dage, always siding with their mother, immediately blamed Lin Wan without asking for her side of the story. Lu Zhengze quickly interjected, “Mother, if you’re tired, don’t cook. We’ll have the three daughter-in-laws take turns…”

“Fuck your mother! What nonsense are you spouting? You think I’m old and useless? How pitiful I am…”

Old Madam Lu launched into her one-woman show, listing every grievance against Lin Wan, accusing her of mistreating her.

Lin Wan protested her innocence. “I’ve only been here a few days! I go out to cut grass every day and come back just to eat. When have I ever mistreated you, Old Madam? This is a terrible injustice! Eldest uncle really did take that fifty yuan. Go ask him if you don’t believe me.”

Her words gave the Old Madam another excuse to throw a tantrum. Old Man Lu and the others knew she still resented Lin Wan over the money, and they began to believe her accusations.

Lin Wan forced out tears and glanced at her silent sisters-in-law. “It was my fault today,” she said softly. “After you left this morning, Old Madam suddenly started beating Xiao Liang for no reason. I couldn’t bear it and tried to stop her, but she flew into a rage and refused to let us eat. I grew so hungry and dizzy that I dropped a bowl by accident. That only made her angrier—she grabbed a rolling pin and struck me. Just look at what she’s done to Third Brother.”

Old Madam Lu, listening from her bed, grew even more furious at Lin Wan’s lies. She was the one who threw the bowl at me! she thought. But despite her loud protests, Lin Wan calmly finished her story, maintaining her frail and vulnerable demeanor.

Lin Wan grabbed Lu Zhengting’s arm and rolled up his short sleeve, revealing dark bruises.

Seeing this, Lu Mingliang cooperated with his third aunt, stripping his shirt off to show the bruises on his back, buttocks, and thighs. “Look! If it weren’t for Third Aunt, she would have beaten me to death!”

Children’s skin is tender, and even a light strike leaves purple marks. Since he had a stubborn temperament and often argued with Old Madam, she hit him harder and harder. The bruises piled on top of old ones, a painful sight.

Lu Dasao clutched her son, sobbing.

Lu Dage felt ashamed. “Who doesn’t hit their child when he misbehaves…”

“Brother, what’s wrong with a five- or six-year-old eating slowly?” Lin Wan retorted, her dissatisfaction palpable. She had never liked Lu Dage.

He was handsome, with a refined appearance and a reputation for being reasonable and understanding to outsiders. But at home, he was utterly subservient to his mother, beating his wife and children without a shred of compassion whenever she ordered it.

However, Lin Wan’s current target was Old Madam Lu, so she refrained from directing her anger at him.

“Get out! You get out!” Old Madam raged like a madwoman. “I can’t live under the same roof with her. She should leave, go back to her parents, and get a divorce immediately!”

Lin Wan shrugged innocently. “Old Madam, you can’t throw tantrums with a child. Marriage isn’t a game where you can split up whenever you want. Does the Lu family bully people?”

Besides, divorce requires Lu Zhengting to intervene—what authority do you have? You’re not my husband!

Did you think you were getting a bargain when your youngest son abandoned me, and you seized the opportunity to scheme against me?

And you can’t even handle this much? How naive!

If she had argued or quarreled with Old Madam Lu, or shown any disrespect, Old Man Lu and her brothers-in-law would have had grounds to scold her. But her behavior was impeccable—submissive, quiet, and undeniably beautiful. How could any man justly scold such a woman?

Traditionally, a wife’s faults were addressed by her mother-in-law, husband, or sisters-in-law. Criticism from others was considered inappropriate. Old Madam Lu remained silent, Lu Zhengting said nothing, and the sisters-in-law kept their mouths shut.

The other men had no right to intervene.

They were completely stumped.

After a moment’s thought, Old Man Lu could only criticize his daughter-in-law’s greed. With a stern face and a gruff voice, he said, “Third Daughter-in-Law, you need to learn to manage a household properly. Stop using oil when you cook. No family needs such greasy, oily dishes.”

Lin Wan immediately adopted a humble and repentant demeanor. “I was wrong,” she said. “Back in my family home, I learned some folk remedies from the doctor. Seeing how thin and gaunt everyone is, I realized we’re lacking essential oils. If this continues long-term, it won’t just be weight loss—we’ll start losing teeth, developing illnesses like edema and rickets…”

She lowered her head and wiped away nonexistent tears. “If I didn’t know better, I wouldn’t worry. But now that I do, how could I stand by and watch my family suffer these diseases? That would be like abandoning them to die. To have the means to prevent such starvation-related illnesses and still let them happen… I could never do something so heartless and immoral…”

Listen, listen—she’s not greedy for oil; she cares about the men’s health.

Everyone felt a pang of guilt, remembering the three years of famine, especially 1960, when people’s bodies swelled, and some lost seven or eight teeth in a year.

Lu Dasao’s eldest son and daughter were favored by Old Madam, but the old woman stirred up discord between her and her own mother. She frequently beat Lu Dasao’s other children and even made her husband beat her!

Lu Ersao wasn’t beaten by her husband, but her son and daughter were equally neglected. They were denied food and clothing, and she was constantly subjected to verbal abuse and occasional beatings.

Old Madam, not lacking money or food, bought snacks with her ration tickets for Lu Zhengqi and Lu Xinlian, keeping the rest hidden for the second daughter’s children and Lu Mingshan and Lu Bao’er—or ate them herself. Others weren’t allowed.

The two daughters-in-law naturally held resentment but were used to being oppressed and dared not resist. Still, they admired Lin Wan’s courage.

The three daughters-in-law worked together to prepare the meal.

“Sister-in-law, your head still isn’t fully recovered. Don’t overexert yourself. If you feel dizzy, rest properly. Earning work points can wait until you’re better,” Lu Dasao said, her tone growing warmer toward Lin Wan.

Gua’er had also told her mother about Lin Wan sharing the eggs, and Lu Ersao became noticeably friendlier toward her.

“Sister-in-law,” she asked, “I heard you’ve been digging medicinal herbs?”

Lin Wan smiled. “That’s right. I learned a bit from a doctor about identifying them. When we’re feeling overheated or something, we can’t afford medicine, so we just boil some herbs and drink the decoction. It works well enough.”

Lu Ersao immediately complained about mouth ulcers and feeling overheated.

“Ersao,” Lin Wan replied, “mouth ulcers aren’t always caused by heat. It could also be due to yin deficiency or something else. You should get it checked properly.”

Hearing the three sisters-in-law chatting and laughing together, Old Madam Lu suddenly panicked.

She never imagined things would come to this. In the past, when her daughter-in-laws angered her, a single shout would prompt her sons to beat them. But now, her third son was deaf and indifferent, letting his wife bully her. Even her husband and the other two sons were too embarrassed to discipline her.

The two sisters-in-law were fawning over Lin Wan, deliberately trying to provoke her. They were plotting a rebellion!

Old Madam Lu felt like she was about to die of anger. “My oil—!” She leaped off the bed, nearly throwing out her back.

Fortunately, Lu Dage was nearby and quickly steadied her. “Mother, what are you doing?”

Furious, Old Madam Lu pointed at Lu Dasao. “Look at your wicked wife! Isn’t she cursing me in her heart? When I scold Third Brother’s wife, she clings to her like this—isn’t that just rubbing salt in my wounds? She’s probably cursing me as heartless and unconscionable, resenting my stinginess with food! Eldest, why haven’t you beaten her yet?!”

Lu Dage had always obeyed his mother without hesitation, and he never hesitated to strike his wife.

Lu Dasao’s face turned deathly pale at the accusation.

Lu Mingliang, his small hands on his hips, shouted, “Don’t you dare hit my mother! Just wait until I grow up!”

Lu Dage let out a harsh reprimand and strode out of the room.

Seeing him approach, Lin Wan grabbed a steaming clay pot of stew, broth sloshing, and shoved it into his hands. “Aiya, it’s burning hot! Da-ge, hold it steady—don’t hit her!”

Lu Dage hissed in pain from the heat, but he dared not drop the pot.