Chapter 4

"Where's Shanshan? Bring Shanshan to me." Old Mrs. Jiang said as she groped in the dark to find a kerosene lamp.

After a rustling sound, the room suddenly became bright.

Old Mrs. Jiang first adjusted to the light for a moment, and then her whole body froze.

Her son was actually sleeping on the floor!

Jiang Huanming opened his eyes dazedly: "Mom?"

Meng Jinyu casually put on a coat and said awkwardly, "Mom, why didn't you knock before coming in?"

Old Mrs. Jiang's face was full of wrinkles. The corners of her mouth twitched, and she cursed with a sullen face, "You're not from the city, how can you have such bad habits! If I knock on the door, I really can't see what good you are doing!" She pushed Meng Jinyu hard, "It's autumn now, and you let my son sleep on the floor? The villagers say you are a tigress, but I don't believe it, Third Brother's wife, you are getting more and more capable now!"

Meng Jinyu was pushed so hard that she staggered and fell to the ground, her ankle aching terribly.

The noise outside was getting louder and louder.

After a while, the eldest couple and the second couple also arrived.

Everyone gathered at the door of Jiang Huanming and Meng Jinyu's house.

Mrs. Jiang's eyes widened: "This - am I seeing things? Could it be that the third child has been sleeping on the floor these days since he came back?"

"Third brother's wife, you are too stubborn. How can you not let your own man get into bed? The third brother has to go to work tomorrow. What if he gets frozen and affects his work? The leader will criticize him!" said Jiang Ersao.

The eldest brother of the Jiang family usually dislikes his wife's talkativeness, but now he frowned and criticized Meng Jinyu.

One should marry a virtuous woman. This third brother’s wife is really going too far!

For a moment, Meng Jinyu was scolded like a grandson, and she no longer had the energy to strategize as she had when she was plotting against Jiang Huanming.

She blushed and defended herself, "This child is restless when he goes to sleep. He rolls around on the kang and kicks his father in the face. I wanted Huanming to have a good rest, so -"

But as soon as she finished speaking, she was scolded by Old Lady Jiang again.

It was not for any other reason, but because Shanshan was sleeping soundly at that moment, her body curled up. She was small and did not look like a person who was not sleeping properly!

Seeing this grand scene, Jiang Youyou blinked.

Hey - she just asked grandma for help to get her brother back, why was grandma suddenly so angry?

Maybe, that is an adult matter, which children don’t understand.

Anyway, Youyou has the upper hand now and can return triumphantly!

Youyou walked with her chubby little legs, contentedly going to hug her brother.

The sleeping brother was heavier than usual, and Youyou couldn’t hold him, so she asked her aunt for help.

Mrs. Jiang was enjoying the fun, but when she saw the child looking at her eagerly, she had no choice but to agree.

Youyou followed behind her great aunt, escorting her and her younger brother, and swaggered back to the house.

However, when she passed by her stepmother, she still looked at her curiously.

Meng Jinyu's eyes were filled with tears of grievance, the corners of her mouth were tightly tightened, and her face was full of anger.

That's not the case. This is easy to explain...

It’s a pity that Meng Jinyu was originally a shrew, which caused her to take the blame. She can’t even explain herself!

What's more, she and Jiang Huanming have not developed any feelings for each other yet, so even Jiang Huanming doesn't protect her!

"You're so capable!" Old Lady Jiang glared at her fiercely and ordered, "Huanming, from now on, all your wages will be given to me. Not a penny can pass through her hands, otherwise there will be a real uproar!"

Meng Jinyu was scolded like a sieve and couldn't help but shed tears in embarrassment.

She cried louder and louder, but as soon as she started crying, her mother-in-law started scolding her. She could only keep her mouth tightly shut and endure the trembling all over.

What a terrible day!

…

Youyou returned triumphantly back to the house.

After the aunt put her brother on the kang, the little girl said thank you in a baby voice.

Although Mrs. Jiang likes to gossip, she is not a bad person. After being thanked so politely, she couldn't help but mutter: "The mother is so noisy, but the child she raised is so lovable." After a pause, she stopped again and reminded, "Be careful tomorrow, or your mother will beat you up."

Based on Mrs. Jiang's understanding of her mother-in-law, she estimated that today's matter would not be so easy to get over.

The old lady already loves her youngest son who has the best future, and her heart is already in her stomach. Now that she sees her son suffering, she might make trouble for Meng Jinyu.

Meng Jinyu couldn't beat the old man, so she would definitely take her anger out on her daughter!

However, Youyou is not as worried as Mrs. Jiang.

She patted her chest and said in a childish but powerful voice: "Don't be afraid, Youyou is the bravest child!"

Mrs. Jiang didn't know whether to laugh or cry, and said, "Okay, then you guys should go to bed early, and don't come out no matter how noisy it is outside."

Youyou nodded her little head like a chick pecking at rice and watched her aunt leave the house before she ran to close the door.

However, when she turned around, she saw that her brother and sister, who had not yet gone to bed, had turned their backs.

The little girl came up to them in confusion, but her brother and sister closed their eyes and said nothing.

At the same time, Meng Jinyu's crying was heard outside the house.

Are they angry, blaming her for causing Meng Jinyu to be punished and for preventing them from dropping out of school?

Will my brothers and sisters gradually distance themselves from me like in the original plot?

…

Jiang Huanming went back to his unit in town. Before leaving, he wanted to say something to Meng Jinyu, but a look from Old Lady Jiang stopped him from saying anything.

Originally, the couple had a bad relationship. Although the hug stirred some ripples in his heart, the incident of sleeping on the floor made him lose face in front of the whole family.

Jiang Huanming was also angry.

As Meng Jinyu expected, her life at home became even more difficult after Jiang Huanming left.

Her mother-in-law was always critical of her and all the dirty and tiring work at home fell on her alone.

Meng Jinyu gets up earlier than a chicken and works harder than a donkey, but she still "endures humiliation and bears heavy burdens" and waits for the opportunity to turn the situation around.

At the same time, she returned to the production team.

She went to the fields to earn work points, sweating profusely every day, but she never showed any dissatisfaction and spoke softly and with good temper to everyone.

Gradually, the members of the commune felt that she was like a different person. Even the team leader of the production team was curious and said that she had suddenly become well-educated and well-mannered.

Meng Jinyu just smiled at these comments: "I just had a near-death experience and want to change my way of life. I have even started reading books and studying recently."

Before long, it was the busy farming season.

There were many rural children in the school, so Meng Jinyu sent them home to help with farm work. She then began to intentionally win over Jiang Cheng and Jiang Guo.

Jiang Cheng and Jiang Guo didn't like being trapped in school. After returning home, they immediately had a great time and played like crazy every day. Even the work in the fields seemed more interesting than the textbooks, and they enjoyed doing it.

Youyou tried to persuade Jiang Guo like a little adult: "Sister, mom said before that knowledge is power!" Afraid that Jiang Guo would not listen, she even found her stepmother's handwriting from the literacy class, "Look, she wants to learn culture herself."

Jiang Guo held the clothes that Meng Jinyu had just made for her and compared them in front of her: "Youyou, why are you as annoying as your mother used to be?"

Youyou blinked and stood there stupidly, feeling somewhat isolated and helpless for a moment.

Suddenly, Meng Jinyu came back.

Jiang Guo raised her head curiously: "Mom, you got off work so early today?"

Meng Jinyu had a smile on her lips, and she looked very high-spirited: "The director of the Women's Federation said that her office was short of people, so she asked me to take over first. I just came back from helping her, so I won't go to the fields anymore."

Youyou opened her eyes wide.

In the original plot, after the stepmother replaced Youyou's biological mother, she won the hearts of the people in the production team and made the director of the Women's Federation pay special attention to her.

Afterwards, the village committee recommended cadres, and she was loved by the villagers, so it was natural for her to join the Women's Federation.

According to the original plot, not long after his stepmother joined the Women's Federation, Jiang Huanming's job also changed and he was transferred to the newly opened supply and marketing cooperative in the commune.

The new supply and marketing cooperative was not far from Fenglin Village, so her stepmother used the money that Youyou’s biological mother had saved to buy him a bicycle.

The 28-inch bicycle was a rare item, and Jiang Huanming was deeply moved. The two of them gradually became closer.

Thinking of this, Youyou looked at Meng Jinyu angrily.

The money that mom saved with great difficulty was actually used by stepmother to flatter dad!

Meng Jinyu was in high spirits. As she walked into the house, she glanced at Youyou and said, "Youyou, wash your own clothes. I've put them in the basin for you." After that, she waved at Jiang Guo and said, "Guoguo, come into the house. Mom will alter a flowery dress for you."

Jiang Guo followed Meng Jinyu into the house in surprise. She didn't notice for a moment why there were so many children in the house, but only her younger sister had to wash her own clothes.

And little Youyou does her own things!

She walked to the yard, lifted her sleeves very proudly, revealing her short arms as white and tender as lotus roots, and sat on the bench with her little butt, ready to wash clothes.

When she put her little hand into the basin, she shivered.

So cool!

At this moment, two ladies passed by the house.

"Why has this kid lost weight recently?"

"She's not as energetic as before, she doesn't wear pigtails anymore, and she's wearing gray clothes..."

Youyou tilted her head and an idea came to her mind.

I figured out a solution!

…

Meng Jinyu perfunctorily took out two old skirts and asked Jiang Guo to try them on.

The skirt was very tattered and rustic, so she looked down on it. However, Jiang Guo couldn't let it go.

After sending Jiang Guo away, she stretched herself and wanted to lean on the kang to take a nap before getting up to cook.

But who knew that Jiang Ersao would come running over, exhausted.

Recently, Meng Jinyu and her got along well and the two could talk to each other.

"I heard that the director of the Women's Federation is very satisfied with your performance. I envy you because you won't have to work hard in the fields any more. I didn't expect that other members of the production team would have a problem with you. It would be such a pity if your chance to join the Women's Federation fell through!"

Meng Jinyu was stunned: "What opinion do they have about me?"

Recently, she has a very good relationship with other members!

"Oh, how foolish you are!" Jiang Ersao was very disappointed. "Everyone says you are mean. You finished work early and rested at home, but you asked the child to wash clothes. The water is so cold that the child's hands are frozen red. Now he is crying beside the stream."

Meng Jinyu's face turned pale and she jumped up.

When did she let Jiang Youyou go to the creek to wash clothes?

The kid ran over by himself!

At this critical moment, is it possible that the little bastard wants to trick her?

She hurried to the creek, completely lacking her usual calm and composed self.