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With the bride gone, everyone hurried to finish their meal and clean up. When it was time to clear the table, Han Cui rubbed her arms and said, “Sister-in-law, my arms are sore. I’m afraid I’ll drop and break something if I try to carry the dishes. You and Wang Zhi and Wang Mei can handle the table. I need to go home and rest for a while. I’m exhausted today.”
Stretching lazily, Han Cui took her two children and left. Wang Juan felt a surge of resentment. She had prepared the evening meal herself, and Han Cui had only helped with the cooking. She hadn’t even lifted a finger during the lunch banquet. Now, she was suddenly feeling unwell. Fine, if she was unwell, Wang Juan was too. As she stood up with a plate in her hand, she exclaimed, “Oh, my poor back!”
Wang Juan sat back down, holding her back and groaning. “Mom, my back is acting up again. I’ve been cooking all afternoon and evening, and standing for so long has taken a toll on my back. I can’t continue. I’ll leave the rest to you two. Sister-in-law needs to go home and rest her back. Mingshan, Minglin, help your mom home. Yuer, go call your dad and ask him to come home early to help me with my back.”
Wang Juan gave instructions to her three children with a calm expression. Zhu Qiyu, standing nearby, couldn’t hide her displeasure. She scowled and rolled her eyes at her daughter-in-law, silently cursing them all for being lazy. The end was near, and they couldn’t even hold out until the end. If Zhang Lan were here, she would have persevered even with a sore back. How dare they act this way?
Thinking of Zhang Lan made her teeth itch with anger. It was all that little troublemaker’s doing. Even her own son had become a stranger.
The old lady was feeling overwhelmed. Wang Juan had already been helped out by her two sons and left. Wang Mei and Wang Zhi pouted in dissatisfaction. “Mom, look at them making excuses to leave. Who’s going to help us with all this work? There are still plenty of dishes in the kitchen that need washing.”
At this point, Zhu Qiyu could only scold her two daughters. “You two can’t just eat and do nothing. The more you laze around, the lazier you’ll become. Now that they’re gone, it’s up to you two to handle it. There isn’t much left to wash in the kitchen. I had them do most of it in the afternoon. You two should tidy up. It won’t hurt to do a little more work. Da Zhu, Er Zhu, come to the kang, and I’ll give you some candy.”
Zhu Qiyu called her two grandsons to rest on the kang. The two sisters were left sitting there, feeling at a loss.
During the day, the new bride didn’t come out to offer cigarettes and alcohol, which naturally led to dissatisfaction among the villagers towards Ma Fenqing. Normally, there would have been a bridal chamber at night, but this time, no one came to see it, and no one came to join in the fun. After the three banquets at the Wang family’s house, the evening seemed particularly quiet compared to the daytime. The occasional sound of crying from the neighbor’s house served as a reminder of the day’s celebration at the Wang family’s house.
Meanwhile, Zhang Lan and her family had a lively dinner in the evening, enjoying the dishes from the banquet, which included meat and fish. Everyone had a good appetite.
“Grandpa, have some more meat. The dishes at the banquet were mostly meat, and you won’t have any trouble chewing it,” Wang Qian said as she served some pork belly to the elderly men. Since the plate had meat, but no one wanted to take it, Wang Qian decided to distribute it to everyone. Zuo Zhanshan also served some to the children at the table.
“Everyone, please don’t be shy. Have some meat. These are dishes for celebrating joyous occasions. Let’s all share in the joy,” she said.
Zuo Yu took a bite of the meat and said, “Grandpa, I’m afraid you won’t be able to share in the joy. Did you see how lively the wedding banquet was today? It was more exciting than watching a movie. It was quite entertaining.”
Wang Xuan glanced at Zuo Yu and said, “Zuo Yu, tell me the truth. Was it you who played a trick with the steamed buns today?” She had forgotten to ask about it when she returned in the afternoon, and as soon as Zuo Yu spoke, she remembered to inquire about it.
Zuo Hao and the others chuckled, and Zuo He couldn’t help but cover his mouth and turn away to hide his laughter.
Zuo Yu shook his head and explained to everyone, “Hehe, we’ve been eating two buns for the past few days. The taste is quite good, made with white flour.”
Mingyuan chimed in with a smile, “Hehe, you know what? I replaced the old stone with a broken one. They even sat on it, and I made them sit on a rotten stone. They exploited my parents’ money to hold the wedding. It’s not that cheap. This time, I made their celebration lively, but the result turned out just as we wanted. Their family really got into a fight over this.”
This time, Wang Zhenhe didn’t scold the mischievous boys. Instead, he just patted his son’s head and said, “Mingyuan, you didn’t get caught doing this, did you? You can’t do this again. It’s not a good thing after all. But Wang Zhenguo and the others deserve a bit of bad luck. I won’t scold you for this, but you boys can’t be mischievous at other people’s weddings.”
With their parents not reprimanding Mingyuan and the others, Zuo He felt relieved and said to Wang Zhenhe with a smile, “Uncle, we are good kids. We wouldn’t do this at other people’s weddings. But Mingyuan’s uncle is not a good person, so we just added some excitement. You didn’t see their faces at the wedding. They didn’t look like they were getting married at all, just like the family next door.”
Wang Zhenhe chuckled and patted Zuo Hao’s head. “You little rascal, you’re quite the schemer. Who would have thought of causing such mischief? Probably only you guys. Alright, let’s eat. Forget about their family’s troubles. Later, you’ll have to study with grandpa.”
The Zhenhe family had a peaceful night’s sleep. After Wang Zhenhai and his wife returned home, they discussed the day’s events. Wang Juan saw that her husband’s voice was hoarse and couldn’t help but tap his head in frustration. “You fool, why didn’t you leave? Why do you always charge ahead? Can’t you learn from your younger brother? He just mingles with the crowd and doesn’t bother with anything. Hurry up and take some cooling medicine.”
Although Wang Zhenhai was scolded by his wife, he still favored his own family. After seeing her husband take the medicine, Wang Juan sighed. “Ah, can you believe how lazy your two sisters are? When they were clearing the table in the afternoon, they didn’t even lift a finger. You’d think it was their in-laws’ family hosting the celebration, as if they had no connection. Their hands were practically like those of a foreman. We used to help out for free, but they’ve turned us into their family’s servants. It makes me angry to see them like that. If there’s another incident like this, we should stay out of it. That Huang Youcai is capable, so let him handle such trivial matters. We shouldn’t cause trouble and act like nothing happened. I’d be too embarrassed to show my face.”
While Wang Juan and her husband grumbled in bed, Wang Zhenjiang and his wife were having a heated discussion at home. After a day of hard work, Han Cui had witnessed her mother-in-law’s favoritism toward her younger daughter-in-law. She didn’t mind contributing, but the gap between her and her fellow daughter-in-law shouldn’t be so wide.
“Wang Zhenjiang, is your mother blind? I’ve been married to you for so many years, and I haven’t received anything from her. Look at the bracelet on the new daughter-in-law’s hand. If her family hadn’t mentioned it, I wouldn’t have known that your mother had secretly given her jewelry. And did you see the wad of money your mother gave the daughter-in-law today? My goodness, it was a lot. When has your mother ever been so generous to us?”
Even the money given to the children during the New Year is meticulously calculated. What a joke! When it’s time to work, they remember us, but when there’s something good, they forget about our family. I’m telling you, if something like this happens again, I’ll pretend to be sick at home, and you won’t find me to help.
Wang Zhenjiang quickly embraced his wife, teasing and coaxing her. “Darling, please don’t be angry. If something like this happens again, we’ll just avoid it and let them handle it themselves. Do you think I’m not upset? I’m her son too. Look at how everything was carefully chosen for the youngest brother’s wedding. When we got married, we had to make do with whatever we had. Do you think I feel good about it? Next time you see my mother, don’t keep quiet. The squeaky wheel gets the grease. You should bring it up too. We still have a daughter. It’s good to ask for more as part of her dowry. Why should those two lazybones get all the benefits?”
Wang Zhenjiang didn’t look down on his two siblings, but he couldn’t help feeling that they were unreliable. Even if Wang Zhenguo had a reliable father-in-law, what difference would it make? With his lack of foresight, who knows what the future holds.
“Hey, where are you touching?” Han Cui was irritated by her husband’s teasing, but she had to hold back her anger as the child hadn’t fully fallen asleep yet.
After returning to her room, Ma Fenqing lay on the warm kang, feeling somewhat bored. She looked at the newly decorated new house and realized that she was now a daughter-in-law of another family. Although she had wanted to marry Wang Zhenguo, the wedding had been beyond her imagination. The day had been nothing short of a farce, and she, the bride, had become a mere accessory.
She began to doubt whether the marriage was right or wrong, but the thought of Wang Zhenguo’s handsome face filled her heart with sweetness. Well, now that she was married, she decided not to dwell on it.
Wang Zhenguo finished washing up and returned to the bridal chamber. He saw his wife, Ma Fenqing, lying on the heated brick bed, eyes closed in a light slumber. It is said that a woman’s wedding day is the most beautiful day of her life. At this moment, Wang Zhenguo truly understood the meaning of this saying. Despite Ma Fenqing not being considered particularly attractive in her daily appearance, her current attire was quite impressive and exuded a feminine charm.
However, thinking of his mother’s advice, he felt a bit itchy inside. He climbed onto the bed and lay down next to his bride. Although he couldn’t do much, he still sought some benefits for himself. After all, it had been a long time since they had been intimate.
He felt a stirring in his lower body that he couldn’t control.
Ma Fenqing, feeling a bit shy, pushed away the hands that were causing a commotion on her body and said, “You, I advise you to be honest. My mother said the first three months are a critical period, and we mustn’t do anything foolish. For the sake of our child, you should endure.”
Rejected by his new wife, Wang Zhenguo lay dejectedly on the bed, his face filled with sorrow and frustration. “Who made these rules? Oh God, you might as well just kill me now.”