Chapter 147 Back and Forth

Qiao Wanyin waved her hand, her smile as bright as ever.

"Your mom doesn't like me, isn't it because you're too outstanding?"

She deliberately dragged out her words, her eyes curving into crescents.

"She must feel that all the good cabbages she raised for so many years were eaten by me, a little country bumpkin, and she must be upset about it."

"What nonsense are you talking about...?"

Upon hearing this, Song Yazhi's eyes widened. "A country girl, I don't know what tricks she used to seduce my son, and now she's trying to fool me with this act?"

She stood angrily at the door, her face flushed.

Her finger trembled as she pointed at Qiao Wanyin: "Don't think you can get away with this just because you're dressed neatly and speak sweetly! You can't just walk into the Fu family!"

Qiao Wanyin wasn't annoyed at all, and casually took off her apron.

"Oh dear, you should have said so sooner! If I had known this would happen, I might not have gotten up so early."

She looked relaxed, as if her earlier scolding had been nothing more than a passing breeze.

She folded the apron, placed it on a chair to the side, and clapped her hands.

“I thought you were really coming to stay for a few days, so I went to the market early this morning to pick out the freshest vegetables, afraid that you wouldn’t like them. Since you mind so much, I won’t bother with that in the future.”

She opened her mouth, but couldn't say a word for a moment.

She originally thought Qiao Wanyin would feel wronged, would defend herself, or even cry and make a scene.

His calm and composed demeanor left her speechless for a moment.

She stood there, her face turning pale and then red, before finally letting out a cold snort and turning to leave quickly.

Is this girl mentally unstable?

She felt something was wrong starting yesterday.

Her words were so harsh, every sentence barbed and every word piercing.

Why is this girl acting like she didn't hear me, with a smile still on her face?

Qiao Wanyin hummed an unknown country tune softly as she turned to walk towards her room.

Song Yazhi's eyes almost popped out of their sockets; she couldn't believe what was happening before her eyes.

"Where are you going? Aren't you going to make breakfast?"

She suddenly raised her voice.

Qiao Wanyin stopped in her tracks when she heard the shout.

She blinked her clear, bright eyes, which held a hint of innocence and kindness.

"Mom, didn't I say not to be so polite? We're family, no need for so many formalities. I thought you wanted to cook something yourself, that's why I didn't dare to interfere."

Song Yazhi felt a sudden tightness in her chest, as if someone had grabbed her throat.

She had originally decided that as soon as she made a move, Qiao Wanyin would immediately bow her head and admit her mistake.

But this girl, on the contrary, went along with her words and continued, speaking with great logic and reason!

“You…” Song Yazhi pointed at Qiao Wanyin, her fingers trembling with anger.

"You disrespectful brat! Don't you know anything about hierarchy? Don't you know any rules?!"

Qiao Wanyin smiled, revealing two shallow dimples.

"Mom, don't get angry. Getting angry is bad for your liver. You don't look too well. You need to take better care of yourself."

She paused, then said softly, "If you really want breakfast, I'll go buy you soy milk and fried dough sticks right now. The one at the gate of the courtyard smells the best right now, the fried dough sticks are golden and crispy, and the soy milk is so thick it can be pulled into strands."

After saying that, she turned around, took a small cloth bag from behind the door, and walked briskly out the door.

Song Yazhi stood there, stamping her feet in anger.

Why doesn't this country girl follow the rules at all?

No, we can't let her get away with this. We have to teach her a lesson.

Fang Wanyu is right, Qiao Wanyin is a seemingly obedient person who is actually wicked behind people's backs.

Let's see who's better!

Half an hour later, Qiao Wanyin carried a package of oil paper in her hand, and the warm aroma wafted into the house.

"Mom, eat it while it's hot. I just bought it, it's not cold at all."

She also took out two golden, shiny sugar cakes from her other pocket.

"I also brought you some sugar cakes. I heard you prefer sweeter flavors, so I bought an extra one."

Song Yazhi sat at the table and snorted loudly through her nose.

"Who told you that? When did I ever say I like sweets?"

“Li An.”

Qiao Wanyin helped her lay out the napkin, her movements as natural as a daughter's towards her mother.

“Your son knows your taste best. He specifically told me on the phone last night that you love sweets, especially the kind with red bean paste filling. One bite and your mouth is full of fragrance.”

She spoke sincerely, her eyes bright, without any hesitation.

Song Yazhi's expression softened slightly, seemingly touched by the words "I hope you can have a satisfying meal."

But she immediately realized she had almost softened, so she quickly put on a stern face.

"Don't think you can make me happy like this."

"I wasn't trying to coax you."

Qiao Wanyin chuckled softly and slowly took a bite of the fried dough stick.

“I just felt that it wasn’t easy for you to come all the way from the countryside, and you must be tired from your journey. I felt that you should at least have a hot and satisfying breakfast.”

"If you're not going to eat it, then I'll eat it all!"

She reached out and grabbed another fried dough stick, deftly broke it in two, and stuffed it into her mouth without any hesitation.

Song Yazhi was speechless for a moment after hearing this.

She wanted to find a reason to criticize her, but Qiao Wanyin neither argued nor smiled apologetically. Instead, she spoke reasonably, leaving her with no way to lash out.

She plopped down angrily, grabbed a fried dough stick, and took a big bite.

Qiao Wanyin secretly glanced at her mother-in-law's puffed-up cheeks and couldn't help but feel secretly amused.

Dealing with this stubborn old lady by confronting her head-on is useless and will only result in mutual harm.

She'll do things her way; she'll do them even if you forbid her from doing them.

If she gives you a hard time, just pretend you don't know anything.

She wants to establish her authority, but you praise her for being right.

In this way, she lost her reason to lash out and could only suppress it.

Just as Qiao Wanyin finished cleaning up the kitchen, Song Yazhi suddenly gave an order from the living room.

"I need to do laundry today, so bring out Adong's military uniform."

She tilted her head slightly and asked softly, "Mom, are you really going to wash it yourself?"

There was no doubt in his tone, only a hint of cautious confirmation.

"Stop babbling!"

Song Yazhi rolled her eyes and said firmly, "I only wash my son's clothes!"

That was her son's military uniform, a symbol of honor, and also a symbol of her dignity as a mother.

"Okay, Mom, I'll go get it right away."

Qiao Wanyin did not argue, nodded, and turned to walk towards the bedroom.

Seeing Qiao Wanyin's obedient manner, Song Yazhi felt secretly pleased, as if she had finally regained her dignity as a mother-in-law.

The frustration from breakfast just now seemed to vanish with that response.

Having finally turned the tide, the corners of her mouth unconsciously lifted slightly.

But when Qiao Wanyin returned carrying a stack of clothes, Song Yazhi was stunned.

Her eyes widened as her gaze slowly shifted from the tall pile of clothes to her daughter-in-law's face.

How many military uniforms are these?

They've almost emptied the wardrobe!

Why are you taking so much?

Her voice rose, filled with obvious dissatisfaction and astonishment.

She thought it was just a few changes of military uniforms, but Qiao Wanyin actually dug out all of Li An's clothes from the past three years.

Qiao Wanyin blinked and a sincere smile appeared on her face.

"Mom, didn't you say you were going to wash Li An? I was thinking, since we're going to wash her anyway, we might as well wash her completely to save ourselves the trouble of going back and forth."

She paused, then added another sentence.