Chapter 8

“Old Third, this unfilial son, has forgotten his mother after getting a wife! He’s lost all conscience! We wasted all these years raising him for nothing!”

Grandma Lu, fuming with anger, watched as the Third Family happily ate pig’s feet, and her fury grew even stronger.

What made her mad was that after all these years of raising Old Third, he had such delicious, savory pig’s feet, yet he didn’t think to bring some to honor his wife, but instead secretly ate them at home!

This must have been instigated by that Jiang Chunzao woman!

As soon as Grandma Lu thought of this, her chest tightened, and the once lively old lady now felt genuinely unwell. She clutched her chest and groaned twice.

At that moment, the villagers of Lujia Village, who had finished their work, were heading home for lunch, and the Old Lu Family was following the crowd. Grandpa Lu, carrying a hoe, walked ahead, and from a distance, he saw his wife at the doorstep of Old Third’s house, pounding her chest in distress. He wondered if she was about to cause some kind of trouble again.

With that thought, Grandpa Lu’s face darkened, and he hurried over to Grandma Lu and said:

“Wife, why aren’t you at home cooking this morning, and why are you here?”

Grandpa Lu thought his wife would surely feel guilty after hearing this, but to his surprise, Grandma Lu looked up and immediately began wailing loudly:

“Aiya! Old man, you’re finally back! You must stand up for your wife! Old Third, this unfilial son! Old man, all these years we’ve raised a wolf in sheep’s clothing! After Old Third joined the army and became an officer, he forgot all about his mother! This wolf doesn’t even share his savory pig’s feet with me!”

What is this nonsense she’s talking about?

Grandpa Lu was completely confused and looked at Grandma Lu, thinking she had lost her mind. What is she talking about? How has she “raised Old Third for nothing”? What does she mean by calling him a wolf in sheep’s clothing, and how does he have pig’s feet and hasn’t shared them? It seems like Grandma Lu is just craving the pig’s feet and speaking nonsense.

Tsk, how did his wife become such a glutton at her age? If she wants to eat pig’s feet, that’s one thing, but why drag Old Third into this?

Grandpa Lu looked down on Grandma Lu’s shameless behavior, and just as he was about to scold her, he heard some noise from inside the house.

Lu Lin, Jiang Chunzhao, their two kids, and Grandpa Jiang came out of the yard. Seeing Grandma Lu crying, Jiang Chunzao was taken aback and asked: “Aunt, what’s going on? Why are you crying?”

Lu Lin and the others looked at Grandma Lu in confusion, which only made her angrier. She jumped up with a roar and began yelling at Jiang Chunzao: “What’s wrong with Aunt? What’s wrong with my Aunt? Who is my daughter-in-law? I’m your mother-in-law! I’m your Jiang Chunzao’s mother-in-law! Your wife should call me ‘mother’! Aunt, who are you calling ‘Aunt’? You unfilial Jiang Chunzao! How dare you ask why is your mother-in-law crying? If it weren’t for you, would I, your mother-in-law cry? A woman like you should be caught by the village chief and dragged through the street!”

Grandma Lu vented her anger in a loud outburst, feeling a sense of relief. Just as the old lady was about to say more, Grandpa Jiang and Grandma Jiang, who were protective of their daughter, heard Grandma Lu bullying their daughter and immediately rolled up their sleeves, ready to confront Grandma Lu.

However, they were stopped by Jiang Chunzao, who saw her parents’ confusion. They didn’t understand what was going on and were about to take action, but Jiang Chunzao calmly smiled, signaling them to stay back.

Seeing the Jiang family elders being held back, Grandma Lu was pleased. Finally, she had let out some of her frustration and showed that she wasn’t someone to be easily bullied by the wife of Old Third!

Meanwhile, Grandpa Lu was delighted to see his long-lost son and happily started a conversation with Lu Lin: “Third son, when did you come back? Why didn’t you tell me earlier? I could have asked your mother to make a good meal to welcome you.”

What’s all this talk about a ‘welcome meal’?

Grandma Lu immediately shouted out: “What meal? Old Third has been at home eating the savory pig’s feet sent by his father-in-law. He doesn’t even care about eating our food anymore!”

Lu Lin’s face darkened when he heard Grandma Lu’s words. Then, Grandpa Lu’s voice rang out, scolding Grandma Lu: “If you don’t know how to speak, shut up! If you don’t speak, no one will treat you as mute!”

When Grandma Lu saw Grandpa Lu giving her no face, she clutched her chest and started groaning again. Just then, Lu Dashan and his family came home carrying hoes. Liu Hongyan noticed Grandma Lu acting this way and rushed over, pretending to be shocked and deliberately calling out loudly: “Mother, what’s wrong? Did someone upset you?”

After saying this, Liu Hongyan purposely glanced at Jiang Chunzao, clearly implying that Grandma Lu had been upset by Jiang Chunzhao.

Grandma Lu was a sharp-minded person, and as soon as her second daughter-in-law, Liu Hongyan, arrived, she instantly became a drama queen, clutching her chest and crying out:

“Hongyan, why did you just come home? If you had come even a little later, you wouldn’t have seen your mother-in-law!”

Liu Hongyan, upon hearing this, immediately put on an act like the perfect daughter-in-law. She rushed over to support Grandma Lu, fussing over her with caring words, and even squeezed out two tears from her eyes: “Mother, what are you saying? How could you think that? After just half a day, you almost didn’t get to see your daughter-in-law?! Mother, you can’t be in any trouble. Our Old Lu Family is relying on you! You need to live well and watch over your grandson so he can get married and carry on the family name for us!”

As soon as Liu Hongyan finished speaking, Lu Mutou, who had been absent for a while, suddenly appeared from some corner of the house, rushing over to hug Grandma Lu and cry out: “Grandma, you still have Mutou! Just wait until I grow up, marry a wife, and I will take care of you in your old age!”

Grandma Lu, holding her second grandson, was so moved that tears streamed down her face: “Oh! My good Mutou , I’ve always loved you the most since you were little. I’ll live well, and then we can enjoy the blessings of Xue Dong and Mutou.”

While still playing her part, Liu Hongyan couldn’t help but curl her lips in disdain when she heard her mother-in-law’s words. She thought to herself, This old lady, no matter what, can’t forget about her precious eldest grandson.

She’s always said she loves Mutou the most, but everyone in Lujia Village knows she loves her precious Xue Dong the most!

Liu Hongyan was scornful in her heart, but she knew she couldn’t reveal her true feelings. She had to continue playing along with the act.

Thinking this, Liu Hongyan turned her attention back to the Third Family. As usual, she first directed her anger at Jiang Chunzhao: “Old Third’s family! What’s going on here? When we left this morning, our mother was fine, but now, after just one morning, we find her crying outside your Third Family’s door? Did you do something again to upset her?”

Liu Hongyan’s words were clever. If someone who didn’t know the details overheard, they would definitely think that the infamous, troublesome daughter-in-law, Jiang Chunzao, had done something to make Grandma Lu cry in front of everyone.

At this moment, people from the village saw the whole Old Lu Family standing in front of their house, carrying hoes like they were going to the market, and slowly walking toward them.

“Old Brother, why are you all standing out here in the middle of the day? Shouldn’t you be resting at home?”

Old Deng, who grew up with Grandpa Lu, called out to him.

Grandpa Lu naturally didn’t want to make a fool of himself in front of others, so he kept a serious face and said: “It’s nothing, nothing at all. There’s just a little issue at home. It’s so hot outside, everyone should go back and rest.”

“That’s right. Dad’s right. Old Deng, you all go home. There’s nothing going on at our place,”

Lu Dashan, standing nearby, also chimed in to support his father.

The father and son didn’t want to air their family’s dirty laundry in front of the villagers, but the people of Lujia Village weren’t fools. Seeing the way the Lu family members were standing together, they became even more curious and unwilling to leave.

Seeing this, Grandpa Lu’s face darkened further. Unable to drive the villagers away, he simply stepped forward and whispered to Grandma Lu:

“Wife, stop embarrassing yourself. Let’s go home.”

If Grandma Lu hadn’t listened to Grandpa Lu’s words before, she certainly didn’t like what he said now. She immediately jerked away from his grasp and, with her hands on her hips, began to argue in front of everyone, pointing at Grandpa Lu:

“You old fool, what are you saying?! Are you ashamed of me? Why am I embarrassing myself? The one embarrassing themselves is you, Old Third’s shrew wife, Jiang Chunzao!”

Grandpa Jiang, who had been holding his temper for a long time, couldn’t hold back any longer. His eyes flashed angrily as he shouted: “Old Lu’s wife! What do you mean by that?! What has my daughter done? How dare you call her a shrew! You’d better explain yourself today, or we, the Jiang family, won’t let this slide!”

Grandma Jiang who was standing beside him, nodded angrily. The couple’s reaction scared Grandma Lu, who was now cowering behind Grandpa Lu, still trying to sound confident: “What do you want to do? Are you trying to beat me up? I… I’m not afraid of you. This is our Old Lu family, not your Jiang family. What’s wrong with what I said? Your daughter is nothing but a disgraceful shrew. Not only did she push Old Third to split from us, but today she brought back all these delicious savory pig’s feet from her family and didn’t even think to show any respect to her in-laws! How can I not be angry?”

Grandma Lu muttered the last part of her words quietly, but just as she did, Old Deng, who had been watching the scene, overheard her. With a grin, Old Deng said: “Ah, Dasha’s wife, so you’re angry because you didn’t get to eat those pig’s feet from the Jiang family?”

As soon as Old Deng said this, the villagers couldn’t help but laugh.

Grandpa Lu’s face grew darker, and even Lu Lin’s face turned somber.

Jiang Chunzao, who had been watching from the sidelines, was pleased. She had deliberately held back earlier to let Lu Lin witness how his thick-skinned mother, Grandma Lu, had been causing trouble while he was away.

Now that the moment had come, Jiang Chunzao put on an expression of surprise and grievance and said: “Mother! So, you’ve been craving those savory pig’s feet from my family all along? Why didn’t you say so earlier? You know, this morning, I just brought the kids back from my family. As soon as we entered the village, I saw my husband standing at the door, not even having breakfast yet. My parents happened to come with us, and when they saw my husband hadn’t eaten, the whole family was busy trying to get him a warm meal. In the rush, we forgot to bring you your pig’s feet! Now that your son is full, please wait a moment, and I’ll go home to get your pig’s feet!”

After speaking, Jiang Chunzao dashed inside like a gust of wind. In no time, she hurriedly returned, carrying two pig’s feet tied up with straw ropes, and respectfully handed them to Grandma Lu.

“Mother, here are your pig’s feet.”

Jiang Chunzhao made a point of emphasizing the words “your pig’s feet,” and the villagers couldn’t help but chuckle.

While the villagers laughed, they also began to view Jiang Chunzao in a new light:

“Hey, do you think the third daughter-in-law of the Lu family seems a bit different from before?”

“Yeah, she seems much more sensible now.”

“Isn’t that right? Jiang Chunzao’s a lot more capable than before. She used to just yell and cause a scene, but now she can shut Grandma Lu up with just a few words.”

“As for this situation, Grandma Lu really didn’t handle it well. Her son comes home from the army, and instead of making him a hot meal, she’s just thinking about those pig’s feet from the Jiang family.”

“Well, you know, a daughter-in-law can never compare to your own mother.”

Grandma Lu heard all these comments and her face turned red and pale. She gritted her teeth and glared at Jiang Chunzao. She really wanted to push her away. But in the end, she couldn’t resist the tempting aroma of the pig’s feet. With a frustrated grunt, she accepted the pig’s feet and turned to walk home, her body stiff and resentful.

Lu Ershan, Liu Hongyan, and their son, all eyeing the pig’s feet, were afraid Grandma Lu might eat them all by herself. Without hesitation, they followed her closely, trailing behind her as she walked home. Grandpa Lu, Lu Dashan and his wife stood awkwardly for a moment before also heading back to their own house.

Jiang Chunzao watched with a smile as Grandma Lu hurriedly returned home, feeling a sense of pride.

Her parents looked at her with admiration, and even the two little ones stared at her with adoration.

Jiang Chunzao was filled with pride and was about to grab each of the little ones’ hands to head back home when she suddenly locked eyes with a pair of amused black eyes.

It was her “cheap” husband, Lu Lin, who was smiling at her.

Smile? What’s so funny? Just because your teeth are white, doesn’t mean anything!

Jiang Chunzhao, with a haughty air, shot him a disdainful glance and dragged the two little ones back home.

Lu Lin: ……..

Once the villagers saw there was no more excitement to watch, they all scattered. The Jiang Family also went inside.

Although Jiang Chunzao had given Lu Lin a small white-eye in front of others, once they arrived at their own home, she smiled as she looked at the clock in the living room.

Ah, it’s time for the three chickens to lay their eggs!

In those days, the commune had strict regulations. Every household was only allowed to keep three chickens. If anyone had more, the brigade leader would send people to confiscate them. The brigade leader had declared that it was a way of “cutting off the capitalist tail.”

Despite Jiang Chunzao’s tough demeanor, when it came to raising chickens, she was just like everyone else and only kept three. These chickens provided nourishment for her two children.

Jiang Chunzao called to her two little ones, who were following her like little tails: “Shitou, Moli, let’s go pick up the eggs! Our Hua Hua is about to lay!”

“Hua Hua” was the name her two children had given to one of their hens. Whenever the hen laid eggs, the children would call out, “Hua Hua!”

Over time, Jiang Chunzao had started calling the hen by that name as well.

Upon hearing her mother, the two little ones eagerly ran outside with her.

In the yard, the hens in the coop clucked excitedly. Jiang’s grandmother, hearing the noise, reached in and pulled out four warm eggs, smiling as she said, “Oh, looks like the chickens laid four eggs today! Our little ones are lucky.”

Jiang Chunza, seeing the four eggs in her mother-in-law’s hands, smiled as she took them and said, “Mom, these eggs are perfect today. I’ll go prepare the soup. Shitou, where’s your dad? What is he up to? Go get him to help with the fire, we need him to cook.”

Shitou obediently ran off to find his father, leaving little Moli to blink her big eyes and ask, “Mom, what’s a cook?”

Jiang Chunzhao gently patted her daughter’s cute little face, planted a kiss on her, and smiled, “A cook is the one who builds the fire and makes the food. Your dad is the special cook for our Old Lu Family.”

At that moment, Lu Lin walked in with long strides: ……..