Jiang Tian was sewing clothes next to her mother-in-law when she heard her question. She hesitated for a moment, but under Xiao's mother's gaze, she told the truth.

"Grandma, I've been learning to read recently."

Upon hearing this, Xiao's mother flew into a rage!

Still clinging to old-fashioned ideas, she stubbornly believed that a woman's virtue lay in her lack of talent!

Even though her sisters were literate, Xiao's mother was illiterate.

She doesn't see it as a regret.

For a housewife, as long as she can bear children and manage household affairs, it doesn't matter whether she is literate or not.

Actually, her family was once poor, but they became wealthy later, which is why she and her husband had a bad relationship.

Her husband preferred women from prestigious families, and their marriage was a political alliance; in reality, Xiao's mother was marrying above her station.

With this understanding, Xiao's mother actually disliked people who could read, especially those she disliked in the first place.

She has no problem with her daughter being literate.

In her eyes, her daughter and daughter-in-law were completely different. She naturally treated her daughter better, but if her daughter suffered any grievances after getting married, she couldn't care less.

But once a daughter-in-law marries into her family, she becomes one of them. How can she disobey her and learn to read?!

"You, you, are you deliberately going against me?"

Xiao's mother looked really angry; her finger was pointing at Jiang Tian and trembling.

She was already quite plump and actually had some high blood pressure; when she got angry, her face turned red.

But Jiang Tian did not show any sign of backing down because of her performance.

She simply pursed her lips, looked at Xiao's mother, and said very seriously, "Yes, Mother-in-law, I am learning to read. I must learn to read."

"What's so necessary about it?! 'A woman's virtue lies in her lack of talent,' didn't your family teach you that?!"

Jiang Tian shook her head: "After my father married a new wife, he stopped caring about me, as you know. My younger siblings were all sent to school, but I was kept at home to learn some embroidery skills. I don't resent them, but since they can all read, then being able to read is a good thing—at least it's not a bad thing."

Xiao's mother had long noticed that her daughter-in-law's tongue was sometimes eloquent and sometimes not.

When she was so efficient, even Xiao's mother found herself struggling to keep up.

She looked at her eldest daughter-in-law, her voice rising and her tone sharp: "So you want to learn to read? You didn't ask anyone, you just secretly went to learn to read. Do you even respect our family? Who gave you permission to do this? I'm going to call your father right now and ask him how he could have given birth to a daughter like you, such a disgrace!"

Xiao's mother was so angry that she stood up to make a phone call.

At this moment, Jiang Tian covered her face and cried, "Go ahead and make the call! I'm just living like a widow in this house anyway! My husband has been married to me for so long, and he's never come back even once! I heard from the servants that he has a mistress outside and doesn't care about me! Staying here is a dead end, and going back to my own home is also a dead end, so what's the difference?!"

When Jiang Tian adopted this attitude, Xiao's mother hesitated.

Actually, what she hesitated about wasn't how tragic Jiang Tian's situation was, but rather that her eldest daughter-in-law had only been married for a few days, and if the matter reached Jiang Tian's father, who knew what people there would think.

If the two families clash over this matter, and it affects her eldest son, then things will be very bad...

She thought for a moment, then sat back down and said coldly, "So what exactly do you want? You know how our family has treated you. If you go back to that family, you'll have no way to survive! The marriage between the two families is for a good cause, so don't look so miserable. It's painful for everyone to see!"

My eldest daughter-in-law always had a gloomy face, and nobody wanted to talk to her. Everyone prefers to smile!

Now that she's acting like this again, Xiao's mother is disgusted.

This time, Jiang Tian didn't cry and whine for a long time like before, which was a real headache to watch.

She cried for a while and then stopped.

She said earnestly to Xiao's mother, "Grandma, I can read, actually for the sake of the eldest young master..."

Xiao's mother's expression changed.

She asked, "What do you mean?"

"I heard that the young master likes cultured women. He usually associates with educated people. I don't know anything, I've never been to school, so I should at least know a few words, from now on—"

At this point, Jiang Tian's face turned slightly red: "From now on, I will write to him. Even if he doesn't come back, I want him to know that I am now his wife and that I am willing to go through fire and water for him, even if it costs me my life."

Xiao's mother was not literate, but she enjoyed listening to storybooks and watching plays, and knew a few idioms.

Is it inappropriate to use the phrase "going through fire and water" here?

The eldest daughter-in-law's education level was even lower than hers.

Seeing that her eldest daughter-in-law was indeed learning to read for her eldest son's sake, Xiao's mother's anger finally subsided somewhat.

But she was still very dissatisfied.

"You say illiterate people can't live a good life? Look at what you're saying! So many wives are illiterate. You should at least understand the priorities. Instead of learning to read, you should learn how to take care of your health and give Chenglin a son! My son is still childless, and it's all your fault!"

As she said this, Jiang Tian's face turned even redder, and she quickly adopted a bitter expression: "If I could, I would also like to bear children for the young master, but he won't touch me, so what can I do? Mother-in-law, I'm just trying anything now, as a last resort. If the young master could just glance at me, I would be content..."

Seeing her eldest daughter-in-law so humble, Xiao's mother felt a mix of pride and inexplicable sympathy.

Well, although her husband now goes out every day to seek out women and has forgotten about her, and has almost forgotten that she is his wife, he has at least never neglected to give her dignity, and the two of them have raised several children together.

But her eldest son didn't even come back on his wedding day. He's been married for so long and hasn't even called his wife once. The two of them haven't spoken a word to each other. No wonder his eldest daughter-in-law couldn't sit still and even came up with this crooked method of learning to read.

Imagine if it were her, and her husband treated her like she didn't exist, ignoring her completely, she would also desperately seek any treatment.

Suddenly, Xiao's mother understood Jiang Tian.

She snorted coldly and said nothing, only instructing her: "If you want to learn to read, then study hard. Don't think about using the family's money to learn. The family's accounts are all kept in order, and there's no money for you to waste!"

Jiang Tian nodded honestly: "I didn't, don't worry, I won't spend a penny of my family's money. I just secretly asked a few words from a maid in the mansion who knows how to read, and then I figured them out myself and slowly figured them out."