Chapter 10 The So-Called Heartache

Meanwhile, in Sister-in-law Xue's room, the eldest brother returned, sat at his desk, and looked at Sister-in-law Xue seriously, asking, "I heard from my younger brother that you want to read books? You want to learn knowledge?"

Sister-in-law Xue was stunned for a moment, cursing Lin Yuanshu in her heart for lying through his teeth. Just as she was about to explain the misunderstanding to her husband, she heard him say, "I am glad that you are ambitious. I am willing to spend some time every night to teach you to read."

"Okay," Sister-in-law Xue agreed without hesitation.

When she first got married, she and her husband had a good relationship. Unfortunately, as time went by, they had less and less to say to each other. Her husband was a teacher and an educated person, while she hadn't even graduated from elementary school and couldn't recognize all the characters. Naturally, they stopped talking to each other.

She did want to have a child, but her husband was unwilling to move for more than half a month. She couldn't conceive on her own, and she was too embarrassed to say it out loud. She could only silently endure her in-laws' urging to have a child. So she was very happy to have this opportunity to communicate with her husband. Lin Yuanshu had done a good thing despite his bad intentions.

The older brother didn't think that much about it. He simply hoped that his wife could become more educated. He didn't have to be outstanding, but at least she should be able to read all the characters!

He used to envy his younger brother for marrying a high school graduate, but after meeting his sister-in-law, he no longer had that thought. He could tell at a glance that his sister-in-law was the kind of person who was unwilling to suffer losses, and she was also good at talking. There would be plenty of arguments at home in the future!

That night, Zhou's mother tossed and turned in bed, unable to sleep. Lin Yuanshu had once again managed to fool her at the dinner table. Not only did Zhou Dafu not stop Lin Yuanshu from going out to work, but Lin Yuanshu also assigned Zhou Dafu tasks, and Zhou Dafu was expected to act as if he were very supportive of Lin Yuanshu. It was truly a reversal of the natural order.

She finally managed to cause trouble under the pretext of boiling water, but Zhou Dafu stopped her and wouldn't allow her to argue with Lin Yuanshu. She's such a failure as a mother-in-law.

She couldn't help but ask Zhou Dafu, "Do you really agree to let Xiao Er's wife go out to find a job? She's pretending to help you, but she really wants to go out and find a job herself. You're just going to protect her! Sooner or later you'll find out she's lying to you."

While looking at the newspaper, Zhou Dafu replied casually, "Jobs aren't easy to find. If she can't find one, she'll naturally come back to take care of the family. Some people just won't give up until they're completely desperate. You don't need to worry about her now. She's different from the eldest son's wife; she won't do whatever you want."

"I'm trying to manage her now, but she's still like this. If I don't, she'll just keep going and become even more unruly!" Zhou Ma said angrily.

Zhou Dafu glanced at his mother and said, puzzled, "You can't control her anyway, so why do you insist on going and suffering? Once your second wife experiences the hardship of finding a job, she'll naturally listen to you. People like that need their wings clipped to learn to be obedient. But to be fair, it's good that you married your second wife. Cultured people are different. I should have married my eldest son to a cultured person in the first place."

If he had had a cultured daughter-in-law before, he might have been promoted long ago.

Aunt Zhou looked disapproving, and said in a firm tone, "I am very satisfied with my eldest daughter-in-law. Apart from not being able to have children, she has no bad qualities."

If the second daughter-in-law is this difficult to deal with, she can't even imagine how miserable she would be if she had two educated daughters-in-law. The more educated a person is, the faster their mind works.

Early the next morning, Zhou Ma sat in front of the coal stove cooking sweet potato porridge.

When Aunt Wei helped Sun Yiyi take the pot out, she saw Zhou Ma's miserable state and couldn't help but laugh and say, "How come you're still so miserable even after marrying a daughter-in-law? You still have to get up early to make breakfast yourself. Unlike me, I have a daughter-in-law to serve me, so I'm lazy. I can't find anything to do all day long, and I'm so bored. It's better to be busy."

Zhou's mother took a deep breath and gave a mocking smile. "That's why it's better to be my daughter-in-law. I get breakfast as soon as I wake up, unlike your daughter-in-law, who has to get up early to serve you and make you breakfast. Being your daughter-in-law is the worst thing that ever happened to me."

Sun Yiyi's expression was complicated. When she was Zhou Ma's daughter-in-law in her previous life, Zhou Ma didn't treat her like this. Even though Lin Yuanshu was constantly making trouble, he seemed to be doing better than her.

"Where's Comrade Lin? Why are you making breakfast all by yourself?" Sun Yiyi couldn't help but ask.

Aunt Zhou said irritably, "So early, what else can you be doing if you're not sleeping!"

"You're actually being so kind as to not wake your daughter-in-law up to make breakfast," Aunt Wei said in disbelief.

Aunt Zhou felt wronged; she wanted to call him too! But Zhou Dafu wouldn't allow it. Lin Yuanshu still had to see Director Tang today and needed to be fully focused. He wouldn't allow Lin Yuanshu to be distracted by other things.

Why not call her the eldest daughter-in-law? Of course, it's because the eldest daughter-in-law has to go to work, and she's not responsible for making breakfast when she's at work.

"Can't I feel sorry for her?" Zhou Ma said, breaking down in her defenses.

I was already heartbroken, and these people kept asking me all sorts of questions. It was so annoying.

Aunt Wei left gleefully, whispering to Sun Yiyi, "Just by looking at her, you can tell she got what's coming to her by her daughter-in-law. It's really gratifying."

Sun Yiyi forced a smile. She reminded herself not to be affected by Zhou Ma and Lin Yuanshu's situation. Everything was different now. There was no need to envy Lin Yuanshu. She had her own happiness.

Lin Yuanshu woke up naturally. Zhou Xiangyang, Zhou Dafu and others had already gone to work. She took her toothpaste and toothbrush to the toilet to wash up. After washing up, she put the toothpaste and toothbrush back in their place and went to the living room to eat.

Zhou Ma's room door is never closed unless someone is home.

Watching Lin Yuanshu eat leisurely, Aunt Zhou was furious. She walked up to him and slammed two ten-yuan bills on the table, saying curtly, "That's all the money we have. We don't have any more. Be frugal and don't spend money so extravagantly."

Lin Yuanshu blinked, put the 20 yuan into his pocket, and promised, "I will definitely be frugal with money."

Aunt Zhou waved her hand impatiently and said, "Finish eating and leave quickly."

Lin Yuanshu looked indifferent and continued to slowly drink her sweet potato porridge. She quite liked sweet potato porridge; it was a little sweet but not too sweet, and paired with pickled vegetables, it was absolutely delicious.

On his way to work, Grandpa Wei approached Zhou Dafu with a smile and asked, "I heard that your daughter-in-law wants to go out and find a job. Aren't you going to be furious? Neither of your daughters-in-law wants to stay at home and take care of the family."

Zhou Dafu glanced at Grandpa Wei. He hadn't expected that his second daughter-in-law's prediction would come true. Sure enough, someone had asked him about his daughter-in-law's job today, trying to set him up. Dream on!

“What do I have to be angry about? I’m glad my daughter-in-law is so aware. The big leader is right, women hold up half the sky. This is a new China, so we shouldn’t look at society with the same old perspective. What’s wrong with women going out to work? It lightens the burden on their families and allows them to contribute to building a better China…”