Chapter 141: The Stepmother Arrives

Chen Lan is well-behaved and diligent, Chen Ming and Mrs. Wang both like her, and even Chen Feng has a good impression of her, so they generously add dowry to her.

As they handed over the same gift, Mrs. Fu exaggeratedly clicked her tongue and expressed her admiration.

With such a comic relief, both the giver and receiver of the gift found some joy in the occasion.

Chen Lan blushed, smiling gratefully, thanking them quietly.

Chen Ye was particularly pleased with their dowry, chuckling happily. This time, Mrs. Hu was also quite satisfied and even uncommonly stuffed a handful of fried peanuts into Dabao’s hands.

Chen Jue’s eyes were fixed on the wood box, unable to look away. She leaned in, took the six hairpins, and rotated them in her hands, showing immense delight.

Seeing Chen Lan nervously watching her, she frowned and said, “I’m just looking, not snatching. Do you have to act so miserably?” After speaking, she threw the hairpin in her hand into the wood box.

Chen Lan was so angry that she burst into tears.

Chen Ye, furious, kicked off his shoes and aimed at Chen Jue, cursing, “I’ll beat you, you heartless thing. She’s your own sister, about to get married and leave this house. You won’t even offer a kind word, instead saying these hurtful things, not even as good as a distant cousin…”

This time, Chen Ye was relentless, hitting her recklessly. With one hand grabbing Chen Jue’s clothes and the other wielding the sole of a shoe, Chen Jue couldn’t escape, crying out in pain.

Grandma Chen and Chen Gui didn’t intervene, they felt that Chen Jue had long needed to be taught a lesson. Mrs. Gao didn’t dare to pull her father-in-law, and Mrs. Hu, who tried, was kicked by Chen Ye and cursed at before advising from the sidelines, “Head of the family, don’t be angry. A’Jue is young and ignorant, she’ll grow out of it.”

Grandma Chen added from the side, “A’Jue is not so young, she’s already being talked about for marriage. If she isn’t disciplined properly, what will become of her in the future?”

The only ones left were Chen Ming, Hu Laowu, and Mrs. Fu to try and stop Chen Ye. Chen Ming didn’t intervene, feeling that Chen Jue deserved the punishment, while Mrs. Fu doesn’t even care. Hu Laowu waited until the beating was nearly done before getting up to pull Chen Ye back, saying, “Brother-in-law, calm down…”

Hu Cuicui hurriedly went over and pulled the crying Chen Jue out of the room.

Chen Jue’s commotion reduced everyone’s spirits. Originally, Chen Ming’s family wanted to say their goodbyes and leave, but when they saw Hu Laowu getting up to leave, they held back. They didn’t want to leave with that family, so they stayed and chatted for a while.

Lan wiped away her tears and whispered quietly to Chen Feng. The young girl was about to go to her husband’s home, her heart filled with both expectations for the future and uncertainties. It was a pity that she couldn’t share these whispers with her sister, Chen Jue, or her cousin, Hu Cuicui, so she confided a few words to Chen Feng.

Chen Feng comforted her with a few words and cracked a few jokes, making Lan blush and smile.

It was over an hour later when the second branch finally got up to bid farewell.

Before leaving, Mrs. Wang said to Grandma Chen, “Mother-in-law, the day after tomorrow, I’ll be the only one available to help with the chores. A’Feng will be going to Tangyuan and won’t have time to help.”

Grandma Chen nodded in agreement, also mentioning that Tangyuan’s affairs should not be delayed. Mrs. Hu glanced at Chen Ye and Chen Ming, who were a bit further away, and whispered, “There will be plenty of people helping that day, no shortage of labor. It’s just that our family hasn’t bought much meat. I see younger brother-in-law’s family has so much meat hanging there…”

The old lady’s face turned red with anger as she scolded, “You, eldest daughter-in-law, A’Jue just got a beating, and you’re still so shallow-minded.”

Mrs. Hu quickly quieted down, her face turning red with embarrassment.

As the group walked into the courtyard, they could still hear Chen Jue’s loud crying from the west wing, along with Mrs. Gao’s comforting words. They ignore the crying and walked straight ahead.

Back at home, Mrs. Wang told Chen Ming about Mrs. Hu’s words, adding, “Our sister-in-law is like a hungry ghost reincarnated, always with an open mouth asking for things. Their family lives well off, with over ten acres of land, yet they’re reluctant to hire labor. Even the renovation of the main courtyard isn’t their own expense. After all these years, there hasn’t been much expenditure, so how could they be short of money? If it weren’t for A’Feng’s brilliant idea of the braised skewers, third brother-in-law’s family wouldn’t be better off than our family. No one is stupid. I’ve calculated the savings in the main house over the years, and it’s not less than this amount.” She gestured with her hand, saying, “Not less than fifty strings of cash.”

Chen Ming shook his head and said, “Big brother is such a good person, how did he end up marrying such an ill-mannered wife and raising A’Jue like that.”

The next day, Dabao, as the “man of the house,” went with Chen Ming to supervise the work at the new home. Chen Feng leisurely finished her chores and then took a small bowl of pine nuts into the space.

As soon as she entered, the Golden Swallow stretched his neck and said, “That smells good.”

As soon as Chen Feng placed the bowl on the ground, it dashed over to eat the pine nuts.

Chen Feng then looked at the pot of orchids, the stems were a vibrant green, and the leaves had fully unfolded, displaying robust growth. She thought of giving the flowers to Abbess Liao Chen when she came to Tangyuan. Abbess Liao Chen’s health wasn’t great, she has asthma and frequently suffered during the winter, so her visits to Tangyuan were rare.

Exiting the space, Chen Feng took paper and charcoal and went to the old west room of the courtyard.

The mother and daughter sat on the heated brick bed, one sewing, the other “designing” furniture.

Today, Mrs. Gao didn’t come, leaving only the mother and daughter. They chatted and worked, enjoying themselves. Zhui Feng and Wangcai also lay contentedly on the floor, half asleep, their eyes half-closed.

Chen Feng drew a wardrobe that didn’t look much different from those of this era on the outside—rectangular with double doors and carved flowers on the doors. However, the inside was modern, featuring modern hangers.

In ancient times, clothes were stacked in chests. When needed, the poor would simply take them out to wear, or they would hang the clothes on a rope on the first day. Those who were particular had wardrobes with “hangers,” wooden frames somewhat resembling the parallel bars of the previous life. They would hang the clothes they planned to wear the next day on these “hangers.” These “hangers” took up a lot of space and were quite troublesome.

Thinking about this, Chen Feng decided to have Wu the carpenter make more of these hangers, not only for their own use and at Tangyuan but also to give some to the Ni Shang Embroidery Workshop.

As she was drawing, a loud voice outside the door said, “Big sister, mother has come to see you.”

Mrs. Wang’s face immediately turned pale at the sound of this voice. She said, “Those two are my stepmother and brother, both quite formidable. A’Feng, go quickly to the east room and stay there, don’t come over.”

Peering out of the window, Chen Feng saw a slender woman in her fifties and a man in his twenties standing outside the fence. The woman was petite with sleek, oily hair, adorned with a red flower, powdered face, and red lips. The man was not tall, bearing a resemblance to Mrs. Wang.

This should be the stepmother who had sold Mrs. Wang twice, it turned out she also had a stepbrother.