Chapter 150 I’ll bring her to serve you

The village chief got on his bicycle, worried that the three of them would notice something was wrong, he couldn’t help but look back to see if they were following.  Seeing that they continued to walk towards the village, he was relieved.  He arrived at Dayu Village, found out where the Lu family lived and delivered the household registration book.  “I told them that the village was doing land registration, so I got the household registration book.  Tomorrow morning, I’ll wait for you in town, once the procedures are done, I’ll return the household registration book.”  As long as the old household registration book wasn’t replaced with a new one, Huang Guihua wouldn’t be able to find out that Yang Niannian had moved her household registration, it would be done secretly and without anyone knowing.

Lu Shi-shen took the household registration book, “Eight o’clock tomorrow morning.”

The village chief quickly nodded, he smiled flatteringly, “Okay, then I’ll go back, I have nothing else to do.”  After the village chief left the courtyard, Yang Niannian took the household registration book from Lu Shi-shen, she opened it and looked, there was no longer the name of the original owner’s father, the head of the household was now Huang Guihua.  Yang Niannian didn’t want to be on the same household registration book as them, “After we move the household registration, tear out my page.”

Lu Shi-shen nodded, “After we move the household registration, if you don’t want to have anything to do with them, then don’t.”  Knowing that her family wasn’t good to her, the others didn’t say anything.

The family didn’t mention going to pick up Ma Xiuzhu, but when it was time for dinner, Ma Xiuzhu suddenly returned, looking disheveled.  Her hair was messy, two buttons on her clothes were torn off.  Her family didn’t stand up for her, her husband and son weren’t on her side, Ma Xiuzhu had no one to rely on, she was completely subdued and didn’t make a fuss anymore.

Lu Ruoling helped her into the house, “Mom, what happened to you?”

Ma Xiuzhu answered grumblingly, “It’s all because of that slut, Niu He Cao, she said that your second brother beat up Haozi, when she got home she went crazy at me and chased me back.  I wouldn’t go to that broken house even if they carried me there on a sedan chair.”  She had slept on the floor last night, she was so old, sleeping on an uneven floor, her waist still hurt.  On the way back, Ma Xiuzhu had also figured it out, her family lived in a tiled house, her son was an army officer, she was comfortable, why would she go to her brother’s house and suffer?  Her parents were gone, she was also disliked by her brother’s family, they said they were standing up for her, but they were actually beating up her son.  Yesterday, when she scratched her son, it looked serious, but at most it would just break the skin, but it was different when her brother kicked her eldest son, it was serious, his lumbar vertebrae could have been broken.  And today’s incident, luckily it was Ma Hao who was injured, what if it had been her younger son?  How could he still be in the army?  His future would be ruined.

Ma Xiuzhu seemed to have figured it out, but she couldn’t change her nagging habit, she rested for a while, seeing that her eldest son hadn’t sobered up yet and couldn’t be woken up in bed, she couldn’t help but nag.  When it was time for dinner, her two daughters-in-law and granddaughter ate more meat, she felt uncomfortable, she glared at her granddaughter and said, “Eat less meat, eat more vegetables, it’s easier to digest, it’s not good for women to eat too much meat, it will take more fabric to make clothes at the tailor’s.  If you get too fat, be careful that people will take you to the market and sell you as a pig.”  She said that eating meat was bad, but she didn’t eat a single vegetable, she ate meat until her mouth was greasy.

Lu Ruoling had just picked up a piece of meat, when she heard this, she put the meat back on the plate.  Seeing this, Ma Xiuzhu quickly said, “You eat more, get fat, it’s easier to find a husband, so that your husband won’t look down on our family and say we’re poor.  Don’t be like your second sister-in-law, she’s as thin as a bamboo pole, she’s been married for almost two months and her stomach hasn’t moved.”

Yang Niannian originally didn’t want to pay attention to Ma Xiuzhu, but when she heard Ma Xiuzhu mention her, she didn’t hold back, she said crisply, “When I get old, I’ll also talk nonsense.”

Ma Xiuzhu was speechless, she glared at Yang Niannian secretly, she deliberately tried to make Yang Niannian feel bad, “Back then, your aunt wanted to introduce her niece to Shi-shen, that girl was beautiful, she was good at managing the house, and she could make embroidered shoes.  The most important thing was that she was filial, she would hand the bowls and chopsticks to her parents when she ate, and she would bring the foot washing water to her parents’ bed at night.  She was quite satisfied with Shi-shen’s photo at the time, but I thought she wasn’t a college graduate, she wasn’t good enough for Shi-shen, so I didn’t agree, that girl liked Shi-shen, she still hasn’t gotten married.”  She sighed with regret, “I knew that Shi-shen wouldn’t marry someone educated in the end, I should have just taken that daughter-in-law, at least she was filial.”

Yang Niannian nodded seriously, “She’s so filial, and you like her so much, when you get old, I’ll take her to take care of you.”

“Pfft…”  Everyone present burst out laughing, even Lu Shi-shen’s eyes were filled with amusement.

Ma Xiuzhu was furious, she had talked for so long, but she couldn’t get a single word out of her daughter-in-law.  She was so suffocated, but she couldn’t argue with her daughter-in-law, she knew that if she went too far, her younger son would come out to protect his wife, so she had no choice but to give up.  She heard that her younger son was leaving tomorrow, good, it would save her from being annoyed at home, she had been so angry that her chest hurt these past two days.

After dinner, Guan Ailian cleaned up the dishes and went to the kitchen to wash them, Yang Niannian went to help, but Guan Ailian stopped her.  “I can wash them alone, there aren’t many dishes, don’t get your clothes dirty.”  She washed the dishes and said with a smile, “Sister-in-law, I’m really impressed with you, our mother-in-law’s mouth is famous for being sharp in the ten miles and eight villages.  She can sit at the door of someone else’s house and scold for three days and three nights, but you’ve subdued her, look at her face, it’s stinkier than the outhouse behind the house.”

Yang Niannian said with experience, “She’s just unreasonable, you just have to be crazier than her when she goes crazy, and be a little ruthless, it’s guaranteed to work every time.”  She smiled, “But I can handle her, mainly because Shi-shen is on my side, if Shi-shen were to side with his mother, or ignore her bullying me, I think my mother-in-law would have already rubbed me on the ground.”

The husband’s attitude determines the in-laws’ attitude towards the wife, if it weren’t for Lu Shi-shen’s ability to intimidate Ma Xiuzhu, and if she wasn’t a pushover, Ma Xiuzhu would have been a real pain.

Guan Ailian thought Yang Niannian was right, “Sister-in-law, you’re so young, but you know so much, I feel like I’ve become smarter after listening to you.”

Yang Niannian giggled at Guan Ailian’s words, at this time, Ma Xiuzhu’s scolding voice came from inside, “Why are you carrying so much water?”

Lu Ruoling, “Boil some hot water, we’ll use it to take a bath later.”

Ma Xiuzhu’s eyes were about to pop out, “You wash every day, what’s wrong with having dirt on you?  You waste water and firewood every day by boiling water?  Just go to the river to wash, why bother?  You were born to serve others, you’re a slave.”

Lu Ruoling was used to being scolded by her, she didn’t get angry, she explained in a simple way, “Mom, the bath water and firewood don’t cost money, there are big men in the river all naked, how can we go wash?”