Chapter 16 – Chen’s Mother Comes to Visit

“Hit me?” Chen Rou chuckled. “My Guobin would never hit his wife. A man who hits his wife is no man at all.”

If Han Guobin ever laid a hand on her, even just once, she wouldn’t stay with him—no matter how good he was otherwise.

But he wouldn’t. That man doted on his wife.

“Fifty yuan? How could you just spend that kind of money?” Zhou Zhen said.

That was a huge amount of money, and she just spent it like that? That was simply… completely irresponsible!

“I’m worried this winter’s going to be really cold. The clothes we have aren’t warm enough. I heard these sweaters are very warm, so I bought them,” Chen Rou replied.

In fact, the sweaters were really warm. She wore one underneath with just a jacket on top and didn’t feel cold at all. When it got colder, she’d wear her thick cotton coat over it—no fear of freezing.

Zhou Zhen thought to herself, Of course I know sweaters are warm, but they were far too expensive. How could country folk afford such things?

“Don’t go telling anyone, or your mother-in-law will curse you to death,” Zhou Zhen warned.

“If someone has to tell, you do it for me,” Chen Rou said.

Zhou Zhen froze. “Aren’t you afraid of making things worse? Don’t you think she’ll storm into your house and make a scene?”

“She already gave us the money, so what’s she going to make a fuss about? I’ve already spent it all, which should crush any hope she had of taking it back,” Chen Rou said calmly.

Let them not think just because her Guobin went into the mountains to hunt game that they could squeeze money out of them. No way.

Hearing her explanation, Zhou Zhen finally understood her intent.

That afternoon, the entire village knew—Chen Rou was still that same woman who didn’t know how to manage money.

Fifty yuan—all spent on her trip to town yesterday.

When Mother Han heard, she was stunned. “What? Second son’s wife spent the whole fifty yuan? That’s not five yuan—that’s fifty! How the hell did she spend it?”

“She’s really something, that daughter-in-law of yours. She bought a sweater for herself and your son!” gossiped a nosy old woman who had come over.

Mother Han clutched her chest, feeling like she could drop dead from the anger. “This… this…” She couldn’t even come up with a harsher insult for her daughter-in-law.

“You’d better be careful. If she burned through money this fast, she might try to mooch some more from you,” the gossipy woman warned.

“She wouldn’t dare!” Mother Han roared. “If she dares come asking again, I’ll deal with her myself—beat her belly and have her divorce my son!”

While Mother Han fumed, Sister-in-law Han was just as shocked.

She came straight over and, sure enough, saw the sweater on Chen Rou’s bed. “Second sister-in-law, you really bought sweaters?”

“You can see it for yourself,” Chen Rou replied, giving her a look.

“You really spent the entire fifty yuan?” Sister-in-law Han asked.

“Actually, I went over a bit. I bought ready-made sweaters, which are more expensive. I made up the difference with my share of this year’s money,” Chen Rou said, pulling her own sweater aside to show her.

After that clash with their in-laws two days ago, Sister-in-law Han had thought maybe her sister-in-law had turned over a new leaf.

Turns out that was a joke—she’d probably been planning to buy sweaters all along, but didn’t have the money. That was why she made such a big deal over the bicycle! Her in-laws were willing to give her ten yuan and she still thought it wasn’t enough? No wonder she refused to let it go—she knew ahead of time that she’d need more money.

Feeling like she’d uncovered the truth, Sister-in-law Han didn’t want to stick around. “Well, second sister-in-law, I’ll let you get back to it. I’ll be heading back now.”

“Big sister-in-law, wait a minute. I wanted to ask… I don’t have any money left on hand. I just remembered I haven’t visited my parents’ house yet. I was wondering if I could get a bit of meat…”

Before Chen Rou could finish, Sister-in-law Han cut her off. “I don’t have any money either. I owe my parents’ family a lot already—I gave it all to them.”

Then she ran off like she’d seen a ghost.

Chen Rou calmly picked up an apple and took a bite. It was an average apple, but not bad.

With Han Guobin not at home, she wasn’t going to leave the beef in her space untouched. She’d eat some herself. Now that she was pregnant, she needed to nourish her body.

That afternoon, she had beef porridge. She minced the beef and added it to the rice porridge once it was nearly cooked. The beef would cook through by the time the porridge was ready—and it tasted amazing.

After finishing her apple, Chen Rou continued knitting the sweater.

Though she was home alone, there was nothing to worry about. No one dared act up these days. And if anyone did dare try anything, she could shout—Old Ma’s family next door would hear.

The Ma family had a good relationship with Han Guobin. When they built their house, Guobin had helped out, and later, when Guobin needed to stockpile adobe bricks, Ma Dafa and his younger brother came to help.

Chen Rou had made a bit too much porridge at lunch. Cooking for one every time was a hassle, so she just reheated it later.

Soaking it in hot water warmed it up just fine. Nothing fancy needed. In these times, with meat and rice porridge on her table, what was there to fuss about?

That night, she went to bed early—no point wasting kerosene.

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The next morning, Chen Rou had just gotten out of bed and was brushing her teeth when she saw her mother approaching.

The Chen family lived in the next village. Even though information wasn’t as readily available as it would be in the future, word still spread fast.

Back in the Chen household, they’d already heard that Chen Rou and her sister-in-law had made a big scene and forced their in-laws to hand over fifty yuan. But they acted like they didn’t know.

Privately, they were praising her—nicely done!

But when Chen’s mother heard her daughter had spent all fifty yuan, she couldn’t hold back. She came rushing over early that morning—without even eating breakfast.

“Mom, you’re here,” Chen Rou greeted with a knowing smile.

Seeing that the Ma family next door was also out, Madam Chen didn’t want to scold her daughter in front of outsiders. “Your brother caught a wild pheasant yesterday. I saved one for you. I already butchered it and brought it over.”

“You’re the best, Mom. You worry about me being pregnant with no meat to eat,” Chen Rou said with a grin.

Not true. Since getting pregnant, she had meat almost every day—and even if not meat, at least eggs.

Compared to other households, her life was honestly too good.

When Mother Chen saw that she hadn’t started cooking and had just gotten up, she asked, “What do you want for breakfast?”

Chen Rou went inside to get some dried noodles and said, “Mom, go chop up the chicken. Let’s make some chicken noodle soup.”

“Where did these fine noodles come from?” Mother Chen looked outside to make sure no one was around, then lowered her voice.

“Guobin bought them for me,” Chen Rou replied.

Mother Chen glared at her. “So you do know that Guobin is good to you? And just because he’s good to you, you think it’s okay to waste the family’s money like this? I thought you’d grown up, but you’re still so thoughtless!”

“Mom, Guobin asked me to buy yarn for two sweaters. He goes up into the mountains every day to hunt. It’s too cold up there—he can’t take it,” Chen Rou explained.

“Then just buy one for Guobin. You stay at home all day, why do you need one?” Mother Chen said.

It wasn’t that she didn’t care about her daughter—it was just that yarn was really expensive.

“If I didn’t buy it, Guobin wouldn’t either. Don’t worry, Mom. This is the only time we’ll splurge. In the future, we won’t anymore. When Guobin comes back, if he’s had a good day, he can bring back two yuan. Before the snow falls, he’ll have earned back the money for the sweater,” Chen Rou said in a quiet voice.

Even with her own mother, she understated the cost. After all, her family didn’t just consist of her parents.

Hearing this, Mother Chen finally stopped criticizing her. “Just cook a bowl of noodles for yourself. I’ll go back and eat later.”

“How could I let you come to your daughter’s house and go home on an empty stomach? What do you take your daughter for?” Chen Rou rolled her eyes at her mother, then went to light the stove.

Mother Chen picked up the knife and started chopping the chicken, praising, “This knife is really good!”

“Better than the one at home, right?” Chen Rou laughed.

“Much better,” Mother Chen nodded.

Once the water started boiling, they put half the chopped chicken into the pot. The other half was set aside for lunch.

The mother and daughter chatted while they waited. When it was nearly ready, Chen Rou began cooking the noodles.

Mother Chen quickly said, “Don’t cook so much!”

“It’s not much—just one bowl each,” Chen Rou replied.

Seeing how her daughter managed the household so carelessly, Mother Chen couldn’t help but mutter, “Only Guobin would spoil you like this.” These fine noodles were so rare—even the smell had a distinct wheat fragrance!

She hadn’t seen anything like them in the market, though she wasn’t surprised—there were plenty of things she hadn’t seen.

Chen Rou smiled. “That’s why I’m being more sensible now and planning to live a good life with him. Mom, tell Dad not to worry about me anymore.”

Looking at her daughter’s rosy complexion, clearly well taken care of, Mother Chen nodded in agreement.

Soon the chicken noodle soup was ready.

Mother Chen didn’t want to eat much—just a taste would do—but Chen Rou wouldn’t allow that. The two of them split the meal evenly. Mother Chen even gave her two big chopsticks of noodles and two more pieces of chicken before she was willing to eat.

Chen Rou didn’t say anything about it. After taking a bite, Mother Chen couldn’t help but praise, “These fine noodles are just something else—fragrant and so smooth in the mouth.”

Chen Rou said, “There’s more at home. I’ll pack some for you to take back later.”

“You were just saying you’ve learned to live frugally,” Mother Chen rolled her eyes at her. “There are so many people at home. That little bit wouldn’t be enough to go around. You and Guobin keep it for yourselves.”

Chen Rou figured she was right and didn’t insist.

After eating, Mother Chen insisted on doing the dishes. Chen Rou didn’t stop her. She went into the room to prepare some milk powder—to make her mom a cup for nourishment.

The milk was genuinely nutritious. There wasn’t much of it, but since her mom had come over, she wanted to treat her.

When Mother Chen came in after washing the dishes and saw there was even milk in the house, she felt emotional.

Her youngest daughter had married the right man. As soon as she got pregnant, her son-in-law was willing to spend on all the good things for her.

Chen Rou said, “Mom, drink the milk.”

Mother Chen replied, “What’s a woman my age doing drinking milk?”

“It’s meant for you. Guobin bought some for me. Since you’re here, I made a cup for you to try,” said Chen Rou.

“Don’t bother. You drink it yourself,” Mother Chen said as she sat down and looked at the sweater in her daughter’s hands. “The baby will be born soon. You know how boys eat like crazy growing up. You and Guobin need to start saving.”

“Mm.” Chen Rou nodded. “Mom, drink it while it’s still warm.”

But in the end, Mother Chen still didn’t drink the milk. It was left for Chen Rou. When the time was about right, her mother left.

Chen Rou knew that her mother truly loved her.

But life was long, and there would be plenty of chances to show filial piety to her parents in the future.

As soon as Mother Chen got home, she told Father Chen everything and even praised his sharp eye. Father Chen, hearing the praise, was quite pleased. After all, it was he who had chosen this son-in-law at first glance.