Chapter Six

Before they knew it, it was time for Zhou Wu's return visit to her parents' home after three days. Zhou Wu felt that nothing was going right at home lately, so she naturally wouldn't give Zhou Lin any money to buy meat or wine to take back to the Mu family.

Mu Jin didn't care, but Zhou Lin was heartbroken. Even if a thief stole his purse, he would have to return it to him with tears in his eyes. He was completely broke. He wanted to save face for Mu Jin, but he didn't have the money.

“Ah Jin, I…” Zhou Lin went to the main house to look for Zhou Wu Shi again, but as expected, he returned empty-handed.

Seeing how upset he was, Mu Jin comforted him, "It's alright, I'll talk to my parents about it over dinner."

Zhou Lin sighed, feeling utterly useless for the first time.

Today's meal was prepared by Zhou Ming's husband, Mu Qing. Mu Jin was not a boy who would be easily manipulated. A couple of days ago, when she went out to wash clothes, she deliberately left behind the dirty clothes that Zhou Wu Shi and Mu Qing had brought.

The river was frozen, but to make it easier to wash clothes, the men in the village helped their wives dig a few holes in the riverbank. When Mu Jin arrived, there happened to be an empty spot.

He took the dirty clothes out of the basket and, while chatting with the women and men in the village by the river, praised Zhou Wushi and Mu Qing repeatedly.

“My mother-in-law? She’s good, of course. Even my second brother’s husband is a very good man. My mother-in-law is fair and just. She brings me and Qing’er each a day for meals, and each of us washes our own clothes.”

"Oh my, that's really great. You don't even have to wash your mother-in-law's clothes?"

One of the women said doubtfully, "Why do I find this hard to believe? This doesn't seem to be the same person as the Zhou Wu family I've heard about before. I remember Mu Qing washing clothes for Zhou Wu and her husband before."

Mu Jin listened, her cheeks flushed slightly, her face like a peach blossom, "After all, my mother-in-law is a woman, so there are always some inconveniences."

Everyone laughed. Thinking about it, it made sense. This young man and the young woman should indeed avoid some suspicion. After all, this young man had all the qualities a man should have. "In that case, your mother-in-law is quite easy to get along with."

Mu Jin nodded emphatically, smiling as she praised her family members again and again, making the woman and husband washing clothes by the river doubt themselves. If Zhou Wu was really such a good person, how could Mu Jin have been married into the Zhou family?

Regardless of what they thought, Mu Jin had already made his point, and that was enough.

On the Zhou family's side, Zhou Wushi glanced at the dirty clothes basket and saw that only her and Mu Qing's clothes remained. She was so angry that she picked up the basket and went to the riverbank.

Unexpectedly, the woman and husband who usually didn't think much of her smiled warmly at her when she came. "I thought Brother Jin was just talking big, but it turns out it's true."

Zhou Wu was puzzled and was about to unleash her mother-in-law's anger on Mu Jin, who was smiling gently, when she saw a woman who was on good terms with her pat the stone next to her, "Chunhua, come here, let's wash together."

Zhou Wushi paused, the words of anger stuck in her throat. Taking advantage of the moment, Mu Jin put the washed clothes into the basket and said softly, "Mother, I'm done washing too. You can continue washing. I'm going back to hang the clothes to dry first, otherwise they'll freeze and won't be easy to dry."

While Zhou Wu was still in a daze, Mu Jin leisurely returned home.

Zhou Wu put the basket down next to the woman and chatted with her indirectly for a while before she learned what had happened.

She was furious but had to force a smile. Now that things had come to this, she was being elevated to the status of a good mother-in-law. The woman even smiled and said that she knew the rumors were unreliable. She was such a reasonable and impartial mother-in-law that she had already arranged a marriage for Zhou Lin and even wanted to introduce Zhou Qiang to a girl from her aunt's family in the next village.

“My cousin’s daughter is voluptuous and very beautiful. My cousin’s family is one of the most prominent families in the village. It’s about time your son, Qiang, got married. Settling down before starting a career is the best way to go. Should I talk to my aunt and let them meet?”

It should be noted that although Zhou Wushi was very good at talking and dealing with people, she treated her eldest son like a beast of burden and showed favoritism. Many people talked about her behind her back.

Zhou Qiang has not yet passed the imperial examinations, so none of the families who came to propose marriage were worthy of her attention. Gradually, fewer and fewer people came. This is the first time that anyone has been so concerned about the marriage of her fourth son.

For Zhou Qiang's sake, Zhou Wushi could only tearfully admit, "Yes, yes, when someone marries into our family, we have to treat them like our own brother. They are all our children."

As he spoke, he took the dirty clothes out of the basket and said to the woman beside him, "I came out in a hurry and forgot to bring soap. Old Mu's wife, could you lend me one?"

There are plenty of soapberry trees in the mountains, and they're not worth much. But because Old Mu's family wasn't stingy, they gave her one directly.

As soon as Zhou Wu's hands touched the river water, they turned bright red from the cold. In her heart, she cursed Mu Jin a thousand and eight hundred times.

"Oh my, you're even washing clothes for your second son's husband?! If I had known you were such a good mother-in-law, I would have let my daughter marry your eldest son."

A sharp-eyed woman spotted Mu Qing's clothes in the basket, which she had seen before, and was quite surprised. She really started to look at Zhou Wushi with new respect.

Zhou Wu was bitter inside. If she had known, she would have thrown away Mu Qing's clothes. She forced a smile and said, "Qing-ge'er is not feeling well today. He only has a few clothes. He can just wash them."

"Tsk tsk, if my mother-in-law were half as good as you, I would treat her like my own mother."

The woman who was speaking had been separated from her family for a long time, but she still harbored a lot of resentment towards her mother-in-law. She hit her clothes hard with a wooden stick a few times.

“That’s right. Who hasn’t suffered at the hands of their mother-in-law? Mrs. Zhou, you have a truly kind heart.” The husband said, giving Mrs. Zhou a thumbs up.

"I don't know who spread the rumor before that you treated Lin boy badly, but it seems that this rumor can't be true."

Zhou Wu smiled awkwardly, "Yes, my eldest son is very considerate. The family supports the youngest son's education, and we can't save much money all year round. The second son has already found someone he likes. As parents, we love both of them. The eldest son is sensible, so we let the second son get married first."

Everyone nodded, and Zhou Wu hurriedly finished washing the clothes. Since Mu Qing married into the family, she had never suffered so much washing clothes in winter, except for undergarments.

He threw the washed clothes into the basket, returned the borrowed soap, and got up, hurrying home. He was seething with anger, determined to give that slut who had been talking nonsense outside a good scolding when he got back.

The people on the riverbank looked at each other, and someone said, "It really does feel a bit unbelievable."

In any case, Zhou Wushi's clothes could no longer be washed by Mujin. The Zhou family had been elevated to such a high position by Mujin that, since there was nothing much going on in the village during the winter, word spread and now everyone knew about it. Zhou Wushi could be said to have become the village's model mother-in-law.

Countless young men and women regretted believing the rumors and missing out on such a wonderful mother-in-law.

Yesterday, Uncle Mu, the village chief, met Zhou Laosan and chatted with him for a while. He patted him on the shoulder and laughed loudly, "This is how our Mu family village should be. With everyone living in harmony, I feel at ease knowing my Jin-ge is with you."

Zhou Laosan was completely confused when he heard this. When he got home and heard what Zhou Wushi had to say, he finally understood what had happened. He said in a deep voice, "That's how it should be. It's really not good for me, as your father-in-law, to ask my husband to do the laundry. From now on, you can do the laundry yourself. It's not a tiring job."

Anyone with a discerning eye could tell at a glance whose clothes they were. At this point, Zhou Wushi dared not let Mu Jin wash her clothes anymore.

When Zhou Laosan spoke up, Mu Qing and Mu Jin also had to take turns cooking, one day at a time.

To be honest, Zhou Laosan quite enjoyed the days when villagers would greet him warmly as he walked down the street.

Before leaving, he added to Zhou Wushi, "Jin'er is a good man; he knows how to protect his family's reputation when he's away from home."

Zhou Wu was both angry and speechless, feeling utterly humiliated.

In the past few days, the villagers have seen Zhou Wushi carrying a basin of water to the river to do laundry, looking rather unwell.

As the sun set, Mu Qing took advantage of the remaining light in the sky and went into the kitchen to prepare a simple meal.

At the dinner table, Zhou Wu looked at her hands, which were red from the cold, and said angrily, "Jin'er, can't you keep your mouth shut?! Why do you tell everyone about everything in the family!"

Mu Jin was confused and looked at Zhou Wu Shi with a hint of grievance in her eyes, saying, "Mother, everyone in our family is good to me and very kind. I was happy, so I talked to the villagers a bit too much while I was washing clothes. It was my fault. I won't talk nonsense with them next time."

Upon hearing this, Zhou Laosan thought, "How can this be? It's better to spread good news outside than to harm the family." He coughed lightly and said, "I think you're really getting senile. What Brother Jin said is so true. Brother Jin, don't listen to your mother."

Mu Jin nodded gently, then said softly, "Father, tomorrow is the three-day homecoming day. Neither A Lin nor I have much money. What can we bring back from home? It wouldn't be good to go back empty-handed and run into the villagers."

Zhou Laosan turned and glared at Zhou Wushi. She was in charge of all the money in the house. He didn't expect anything from this muddle-headed woman anymore. He turned to Mu Jin and said, "There's still a chicken in the house. If we find a few more eggs, that should be enough, right?"

Eggs harvested in winter are mostly leftovers from late autumn and are very precious; it's already quite a treat to get a few.

Mu Jin smiled and said, "That's enough, that's enough. Thank you, Father. When I get back, I'll tell you that you insisted I take this home to nourish your health. I'm sure you'll be happy. I happen to have a jar of ginseng wine with you. I'll ask for some for you to try tomorrow."

Zhou Wushi's words were cut off by Zhou Laosan's glare. After hearing Mu Jin's words, he felt very comfortable. His eldest son's husband was indeed thoughtful and considerate. His eldest son had indeed married well.

After dinner, Mu Qing returned to the house and sneered at Zhou Ming, "Our eldest brother is really something. It hasn't been long, and he doesn't even have to wash our parents' clothes anymore. Back in the day, I washed clothes for two years. Apart from Si Ge'er and my eldest brother washing their own clothes, tell me, whose clothes haven't I washed?"

Zhou Ming took off his coat and said softly, "Who are you taking your anger out on? It wasn't me who told you to wash it."

Mu Qing picked up a pillow and hit his head. "I'm so unbalanced. I thought that with someone who could take over, I could finally relax. But instead, someone who looks like a fox spirit and has the heart of a fox spirit has arrived. Now, Si-ge'er doesn't have to cook anymore."

Zhou Ming said helplessly, "Then what do you want to do? Our parents favor the fourth brother. With the eldest brother and his husband taking the lead, our mother can focus less on us and save more money so that we can live more comfortably after the family is divided."

Mu Qing snorted, "Saving money, huh? We've been married for two years and we've only saved a little over three taels of silver. What can that be enough for?"

Zhou Ming rolled over onto Mu Qing and chuckled, "It's still better than my elder brother, who can't even afford a gift for his bride's return visit."

Mu Qing lightly punched Zhou Ming on his body, "You jerk."

The reason Mu Qing felt unbalanced was because he felt that he had made a living by his eloquence, but he never expected that there would be people more capable than him, and that someone even more powerful would come along, so he couldn't help but feel a little competitive.

Mu Jin was unaware of Mu Qing's inner thoughts, and even if she knew, she wouldn't care much. She asked breathlessly, "Aren't you tired?"

Zhou Lin shook his head and continued working diligently, making Mu Jin feel like she was about to collapse onto the bed from exhaustion.