Chapter 6 : The Weird Sister-in-law

Xiao Lanlan was helpless. Her fourth brother was more like her younger brother now, so she had to agree to him and help him accompany his wife first.

Xiao Lanlan came in and closed the door, then wiped the water off her hands. Jiang Sui, who was sitting on the kang, looked at her, and the atmosphere became a little awkward.

It just so happened that Xiao Lanlan also wanted to build a good relationship with her new fourth sister-in-law, who was one year younger than her.

Mother said that she was a poor person. She didn’t despise fourth brother for being stupid, but we shouldn’t despise her either. We should be nice to her.

“Fourth sister-in-law, fourth brother asked me to come and have a chat with you,” she said, sitting down beside her.

Jiang Sui smiled and nodded, then went to pour her some water. Xiao Lanlan felt that Jiang Sui was quite polite and seemed to have a gentle temperament, so she thought she would be easier to get along with than her second and third sisters-in-law.

It was only after a careful look that she noticed her fourth sister-in-law was really thin, with a sallow face and little blood, which made it obvious that she didn’t have enough food to eat. She had also heard about how badly Widow Chen treated her adopted daughter, making her do all the work and not allowing her to eat until the mother and daughter had finished. She also made her live in the woodshed.

However, although the fourth sister-in-law looked thin, it could be seen from her eyes and eyebrows that she was a beauty. If she was taken good care of, her beauty would definitely show.

Girls of similar age often find it easy to talk to each other, and Xiao Lanlan also talked to her about her family.

Xiao’s mother gave birth to five children in total: four sons and one daughter.

The eldest son, Xiao Qin, is 25 years old this year. He has a five-year-old son named Xiao Yuan, whose nickname is Goudan. His wife died of complications during childbirth, and he has not remarried yet.

The second son, Xiao Mian, is 23 years old this year. His wife, Ms. Zhou, has been married for three years but hasn’t gotten pregnant yet. They have believed in superstitions and tried folk remedies, but still can’t conceive. The couple is anxious and angry, and they often quarrel. Ms. Zhou is also often gossiped about by the villagers because of her inability to get pregnant. Over time, she has become quiet and would bury her head in work, always with a bitter face.

The third brother, Xiao Yi, is twenty years old this year and has been married for half a year. His wife, Liu, is more than three months pregnant. The couple is newly married and deeply in love with each other. However, his sister-in-law, Liu, is a nosy person who wants to get involved in everything. She likes to gossip with other women when she has nothing to do.

The fourth child, Xiao Hechuan, is eighteen years old this year. It is said that his name was given by the old village chief. His original name was Xiao Cheng, but the old village chief felt that the child was so smart that the name didn’t suit him, so he changed it to Xiao Hechuan.

Finally, there is the youngest sister, Xiao Lanlan, who is sixteen years old this year. Speaking of Xiao Lanlan, she is old enough to get married, but because her horoscope carries the sign of unlucky fate, which means she is destined to bring bad luck to her husband, all the men of marriageable age in the surrounding villages turn pale when they hear about her and stay away from her.

The ancients believed in these things the most. Now that Xiao Lanlan’s reputation as a husband-killer had spread, there was no way to get a marriage. This made Xiao’s father and mother very worried.

Fortunately, Lanlan has four older brothers, so even if she can’t get married, she will not be without a place to live in the future. The brothers have already stated that they will never abandon their younger sister after their parents pass away.

Jiang Sui roughly understood this, but it was enough. The firecrackers outside had all been set off. Xiao Hechuan covered his ears, ran into the house happily, and shared his joy with Jiang Sui.

“Wife, did you hear that? The firecrackers are so loud.”

Jiang Sui nodded and smiled, looking at her husband’s innocent expression. She thought to herself, ‘If he gets better in the future, I won’t be able to see such a smile anymore, right?’

Jiang Sui was already prepared when she took this step. In the future, when Xiao Hechuan got better, she would make it clear to him that when he became successful and met a girl he truly loved, she would be willing to divorce him, as long as he gave her a breakup fee that would allow her to settle down, and she would never pester him again.

But she didn’t dare to think about it now. Once she got involved with this man, it would be her whole life…

At noon, the auspicious time arrived, and the two of them simply bowed in the hall. The old village chief also came, and Xiao’s father and mother asked the two of them to kowtow to the old village chief.

At dusk, the banquet was over, the neighbor aunts helped clean the yard, and the Xiao brothers went to return the tables, chairs, and benches, leaving Jiang Sui alone in the room.

Jiang Sui was not idle either and went out to help sweep the floor. Seeing this, her second sister-in-law Zhou urged her to go back to her room

“Hey, you’re a new bride today, just sit still. You don’t need to sweep the floor.”

Zhou seemed to be smiling, but there was always a sense of bitterness in her smile. On the other hand, Liu was always making faces.

“Second sister-in-law, we are all country folk, why should we be so particular? I am pregnant now, but I am still working with you, and no one seems to care about me. It will be faster if there are more people. We are all tired after a day’s work, so why not rest early? Besides, is there anything wrong with the new daughter-in-law being hardworking?”

Liu didn’t understand what it meant. Ever since Jiang Sui came, she had been acting strangely, and Jiang Sui didn’t know how she had offended her.

Xiao Lanlan curled her lips when she heard this. This third sister-in-law was talking about something irrelevant. She even offended two people with just one sentence.

Look, my second sister-in-law had a smile on her face, but when she talked about children, it disappeared all of a sudden, and she lowered her head even more.

Jiang Sui felt even more troubled but also had a rough idea of her third sister-in-law’s personality. She was a sarcastic person, and it would probably be difficult to get along with her in the future.

“Third sister-in-law, we know you have worked hard and made great contributions. Just go and have a rest. No one will say anything to you.” Xiao Lanlan couldn’t stand the pretentious look of her third sister-in-law.

“Oh, how dare I? We are all daughters-in-law of the Xiao family. If my second sister-in-law does it and I don’t, people will blame me later.” Liu pouted and retorted.

Look at her, she is both a hypocrite and a liar and she is allowed to say everything.

Xiao Lanlan simply stopped arguing with her and moved to Jiang Sui’s ear, whispering

“You see, Fourth Sister-in-law, Third Sister-in-law is like this. She is used to showing off in front of outsiders. She is the laziest on weekdays, but today there are many outsiders, so she wants to show how virtuous and capable she is. On other days, she would be reluctant to serve dishes.”

When Liu saw Xiao Lanlan whispering with Jiang Sui and looking at her from time to time, she knew that they were talking badly about her.

She was so angry that she said to Xiao Lanlan

“You are a young girl, you haven’t even married yet, but you are already gossiping behind people’s backs. This is not good.”

The horoscope of being unlucky for a husband and the fact that she couldn’t get married was already a thorn in Xiao Lanlan’s heart. But Liu just brought it up. Isn’t this just creating hatred for no reason?

Xiao Lanlan was not a soft-tempered person and refuted on the spot

“I learned that from you. You are the only one in the family who loves to gossip the most.”

“Hey, why did you learn from me? Why don’t you learn the good things but only the bad things?” This was a daily quarrel between the sister-in-law.