Chapter 206

Everything was settled, and Mrs. Lu began to take a closer look at the courtyard.

Seeing the flowers planted along the courtyard wall, Mrs. Lu smiled contentedly. Despite her casual demeanor, what woman doesn’t like flowers? It’s just that their family lived in factory housing without a courtyard, so growing flowers was out of the question.

She also glanced at the vegetables in the yard and couldn’t help but praise, “I must say, my daughter-in-law is amazing. She tends to this vegetable patch so well, not any less skilled than the seasoned hands in the village.”

Lu Weiguo’s eyes flickered, following her lead, “Exactly, she takes such meticulous care of everything.”

Mrs. Lu glanced at him and clicked her tongue, “In earlier years, I was worried you wouldn’t find a wife. Who would’ve thought you’d find the best one right away? If you weren’t my son, I wouldn’t have believed it.”

Lu Weiguo: …

That was truly his mother.

“Despite my stern appearance, I know how to be affectionate.”

After Mrs. Lu jokingly scolded him for being shameless, she nodded, “You really take after your father, something to be proud of.”

She looked around some more and found that her younger son’s area was better managed than she had imagined.

After asking around the neighbors and confirming that relations were good, she grabbed a bag of fried peanuts and went visiting.

Since she was here, she had to make the rounds. Building good relationships with the neighbors meant they would look after Xiaoyu more when Weiguo was away on missions.

Mrs. Zhang was similarly straightforward, even her hairstyle was somewhat like Mrs. Lu’s, and they instantly hit it off.

In addition, Mrs. Zhang’s talkative child, Zhang Damao, had Mrs. Lu in stitches.

Mrs. Lu couldn’t help but feel proud—her daughter-in-law was indeed capable, and both neighbors and children sang her praises.

Originally, Mrs. Zhang had been worried about Shi Tingyu.

As someone who had been through it, she knew well the difficulties of mother-in-law and daughter-in-law relationships.

Now, seeing Mrs. Lu like this, she felt genuinely happy for Shi Tingyu.

Seeing how Mrs. Lu always talked about “my daughter-in-law this, my daughter-in-law that,” it was clear how much she adored Shi Tingyu.

That evening, Shi Tingyu’s parents came to the family housing estate.

As it was their first visit as in-laws, they had to come and see.

However, this time, Shi Tingyu’s parents were accompanied by two sharply dressed soldiers.

Mrs. Lu was taken aback and quietly pulled Mrs. Shi aside to ask.

“In-laws, who are those two?”

Mrs. Shi simply said they were there to protect her and Old Shi.

After hearing this, Mrs. Lu knew something significant was going on in the background, but she also understood that some things needed to be kept confidential, so she didn’t press for more details.

Seeing soldiers being mobilized for their security meant something big was going down.

That night, the seven of them had a lively and sumptuous dinner together.

As they were leaving, Mrs. Shi invited Mrs. Lu to visit their home on Sunday.

Since the families had been united through marriage, Mrs. Lu had never visited her daughter-in-law’s family.

During these weekdays, Mrs. Lu hadn’t been idle. Leveraging her gift of gab, she quickly integrated into the military families within the housing estate.

She heard quite a bit of gossip.

About Shi Tingyu, Mrs. Lu, Lu Wenchan, and Chen Wenting.

In short, she heard everything—good and bad.

Mrs. Lu smiled on the surface, but in her heart, she already cursed Lu’s mother and daughter and Chen Wenting.

Who were they to act like this? If she had been there, she would have given them a piece of her mind. Guarantee they’d be scared straight.

Back home, watching Shi Tingyu drawing, Mrs. Lu’s eyes were full of pity.

What a good child, yet she had to endure these people’s nonsense.

It was only because she wasn’t there and the elders weren’t around. If their whole family had been living in the village, who would have dared to pick on them, she would have slapped their mouths.

Shi Tingyu had been practicing drawing these days, with paintings both big and small. Seeing Mrs. Lu staring at her, thinking she was curious, she said, “Mom, should I draw a picture for you later?”

Mrs. Lu snapped out of it, excitedly saying, “You can still draw me?”

“Of course.”

Mrs. Lu was a little moved, but hesitantly said, “Wouldn’t that tire you out?”

“No, I’ll just sit here and move my hands. It’s no different from drawing anything else.”

Now Mrs. Lu was reassured. She was looking forward, “Xiaoyu, is the one you’re painting later colored? Should I change into a brighter outfit?”

At this point, Mrs. Lu’s mood was just like going to take a picture, even more important than going to take a picture.

She heard that her daughter-in-law’s painting was worth a lot of money. When she went abroad and saw the painting, she had to buy a ticket. How big is the ability?

Again, it’s not too much.

Mrs. Lu went back to see Shi Tingyu painting, clean and tidy, no need to change.

Mrs. Lu was someone who listened to advice. Whatever Shi Tingyu said, she obeyed.

She sat upright in front of Shi Tingyu’s painting board.

Seeing this, Shi Tingyu said, “Mom, relax, it’s okay. Just be comfortable.”

Mrs. Lu smiled and thought about the most comfortable position for herself—it would definitely be sitting cross-legged on a kang. However, considering how stylish her daughter-in-law’s painting was, depicting her as an old lady sitting cross-legged might not look very good. So she put her slightly raised leg back down and chose a comfortable sitting posture.

Shi Tingyu’s skills no longer required sketching outlines. After setting a few points, she started painting.

However, Mrs. Lu was sensible. After a while, she asked Shi Tingyu to get up and stretch.

Shi Tingyu obediently got up and moved around a bit.

Mrs. Lu came to look at the painting board but couldn’t make out anything. On the small sheet of paper, there were just some blocks of color. However, she had a filter for her daughter-in-law and didn’t think the painting was bad at all.

In the afternoon, Shi Tingyu completed the portrait of Mrs. Lu. She painted Mrs. Lu against the backdrop of their home’s flower wall.

Even though it was winter and there were no flowers, the swelling buds on the vines made it look delightful.

Mrs. Lu was amazed when she saw the painting.

At a glance, she recognized herself, but she also felt it made her look better than she thought. The painting was really well done.

“Xiaoyu, can I take this painting home when I leave? I want to show it to your father and have him frame it to hang on our wall.”

“Of course,” Shi Tingyu said, looking at the oil canvas. “Once it’s completely dry in a couple of days, I’ll have Weiguo make a wooden frame for you.”

Mrs. Lu was delighted, nodding repeatedly. If she took this painting home, her neighbors would surely envy her.

This was much more impressive than showing off with photos.

When Lu Weiguo came back that evening, he received a wave of boasting from Mrs. Lu.

Lu Weiguo glanced at Shi Tingyu. She hadn’t painted anything for him yet.

But as a mature man, he couldn’t show it.

However, Shi Tingyu’s surprises for Mrs. Lu weren’t over yet.

The next day, the loudspeaker in the family housing estate announced the arrival of Shi Tingyu’s remittance slip and parcel.

Shi Tingyu knew it must be the published deluxe edition of her comic book.

Back home, Mrs. Lu saw the amount on the remittance slip, and her hands trembled.

She worried she might be seeing it wrong.

After confirming several times, Mrs. Lu was thoroughly stunned.

Goodness, with this windfall from her daughter-in-law, it could easily match what she and Weiguo’s father earned in over three years without eating or drinking.