Chapter 104 Mother-in-law and Daughter-in-law
Zhou Xiye stood at the door. The bedding on the bed was nowhere to be found, leaving only a thin straw mat mattress.
If it weren't for the teacup still on the bedside table, he would have suspected he had entered the wrong room.
While still in a daze, Fang Hua came over carrying bedding. Seeing Zhou Xiye standing in the doorway, he frowned and asked, "What are you standing there for? Why don't you come in?"
Zhou Xiye glanced at the red sheets and pillowcases in his mother's arms and silently stepped aside: "Mom? What are you doing here?"
Fang Hua carried the bedding to the bedside and started making the bed while saying, "Since you're already married and going to hand out wedding candy tonight, you should at least have a decent new house. Even if we're staying in a guesthouse, the bedding and pillowcases should be new."
“I told the front desk to remove the bedding and I went to buy some new ones.”
"Although I don't like Jiang Zhizhi, I can't let you embarrass yourself."
Zhou Xiye looked at the bright red pillowcases and sheets, even the quilt cover was red, embroidered with mandarin ducks playing in the water with gold thread.
It's quite something that she spent so much time buying all these things.
The single room at the guesthouse had a bed that was only 1.2 meters wide; it could barely be considered a double bed.
Fang Hua placed a pair of pillows side by side and then covered them with pink pillowcases. One pillowcase was embroidered with twin lotus flowers, and the other with a pair of mandarin ducks.
The bed is narrow, and it's a bit cramped with two pillows together.
Fang Hua straightened up and looked at it, feeling increasingly uncomfortable, just like with Zhou Xiye's marriage, she was dissatisfied with everything about it.
Zhou Xiye said helplessly, "There's absolutely no need for that. We're just staying here temporarily for the next couple of days, and we'll be going back to our family compound in a few days."
Fang Hua pursed his lips, his expression serious: "Going home to the family compound won't be a problem. I can bring these things back with me. Now that I'm here, I can't let others gossip behind my back."
Zhou Xiye frowned: "I never care about these things."
The word "never" stuck in Fang Hua's heart like a thorn. She wanted to explain what happened back then so that he could understand her parents' predicament.
Before I could even speak, I heard a "Huh?"
Jiang Zhizhi's hair was a little messy, and her fair face still had the rosy glow of just waking up. Her eyes sparkled as she looked at the festive decorations on the bed: "Zhou Xiye, when did you buy these?"
Looking at Jiang Zhizhi, Fang Hua couldn't help but frown. Her skin was fair and rosy, and it seemed that the scorching sun in the Northwest hadn't hurt her at all.
She had just woken up, her face flushed like a blooming peach blossom, and her eyes still glistened with the lingering moisture from a yawn.
Her voice had a slightly nasal tone and a sweet, soft voice, as if she were being coquettish.
Whose lovely daughter is she, with such a spoiled and pampered air about her?
Before Zhou Xiye could speak, Jiang Zhizhi had already gone over, touched the mandarin ducks on the pillowcase, and then touched the twin lotus flowers on another pillowcase, exclaiming in amazement: "You have such good taste! Look at these mandarin ducks, they're embroidered so realistically, and these twin lotus flowers, they look so real too, they could attract butterflies."
He then patted the quilt cover and exclaimed, "This one is beautiful too! It feels so comfortable. It must be this year's new cotton!"
Zhou Xiye felt a headache coming on from her extremely exaggerated tone and expression, but he inadvertently saw a proud smile flash in his mother's eyes, and her expression softened a bit.
Then look at Jiang Zhizhi, who is still hugging her pillowcase and praising it incessantly; she seems to know something.
Fang Hua felt a little better after being praised by Jiang Zhizhi. Who doesn't want to be praised for their good taste when buying things?
His mood calmed down a bit, and he said seriously, "Alright, these are just ordinary things. Don't act like you're from the countryside and have never seen the world."
Jiang Zhizhi looked up at Fang Hua in surprise: "Mom, so it was you who bought it. I was wondering how Zhou Xiye could have such good taste."
The word "Mom" came out naturally, smoothly, crisply, and sweetly.
Fang Hua had no temper at all: "It's almost time, let's hurry to the cafeteria and not keep everyone waiting too long."
As she spoke, she looked at Jiang Zhizhi's somewhat worn coat and asked, "You're wearing this?"
Jiang Zhizhi looked down and said, "Yes, it's clean."
Fang Hua frowned again: "It's a wedding, after all. What kind of appearance is this! People who don't know better will think that our Zhou family is mistreating you and hasn't even prepared a decent set of clothes for you."
He checked the time and said, "Nishino, you go to the cafeteria first. I'll take Zhizhi to the shopping mall across the street to buy some clothes. We'll be there soon."
Jiang Zhizhi's eyes lit up, and she quickly went over to take Fang Hua's arm, waving to Zhou Xiye: "Then you go to the cafeteria and wait for us, Mom and I will go shopping for clothes together."
Zhou Xiye was a little taken aback; it felt like their relationship had progressed by leaps and bounds in such a short time.
Seeing Jiang Zhizhi's excitement, he took out money and tickets from his pocket and handed them to her: "There's money and tickets inside, buy whatever you like."
Fang Hua refused: "Alright, I'm taking her out, why would I let her spend money? You should save your money for your daily lives."
As she spoke, she turned and walked out. Jiang Zhizhi quickly followed, not forgetting to turn back and give Zhou Xiye a smug wink.
...
Once outside the guesthouse, Jiang Zhizhi immediately let go of Fang Hua's arm and politely followed beside her.
Fang Hua glanced at the cunning little girl beside him, feeling somewhat helpless, yet unable to resist adopting the airs of an elder and lecturing her: "Now that you and Xiye are married, you should be more tolerant of each other and contribute more to the family life."
Jiang Zhizhi was stunned for a moment. Fang Hua's suggestion of contributing more in life should mean taking on housework and serving the man's every need.
They disagreed, but didn't say anything in rebuttal.
There's no need. Anyway, once the door is closed, she won't see how she bullies Zhou Xiye.
Fang Hua then talked about Zhou Xiye's lifestyle: "He doesn't like strong-flavored food and his diet is very light. Also, after so many years in the army, his stomach isn't good. You'll have to be careful about what he eats in the future."
Jiang Zhizhi remained silent. There weren't many rules for soldiers, and now, being able to eat her fill was good enough; she didn't care about whether the food was salty or bland.
It seems that Fang Hua, having grown accustomed to a comfortable life in Beijing, is unaware of the hardships here.
Fang Hua talked the whole way, and Jiang Zhizhi didn't say a word to refute him, nodding obediently from time to time.
This improved Fang Hua's mood considerably. Although Jiang Zhizhi was all show and no substance, she was at least somewhat obedient.
As long as she can take good care of Zhou Xiye in the future, that's fine. If they have a child, and Jiang Zhizhi is stupid and can't be educated well, she can also take her along.
Fang Hua felt much better after thinking it over, and he found Jiang Zhizhi even more pleasing to the eye. Being good-looking has its advantages; at least their future children will be good-looking.
Jiang Zhizhi could clearly sense that Fang Hua's mood was improving; the corners of his mouth were turned up, and there was no one she couldn't conquer.
Looking up, I saw Wang Qinglan and Bian Xiaoxiao, who had just come out of the mall.
Fang Hua, standing beside her, seemed to instantly switch into battle mode. His face, which had been expressionless just moments before, now beamed with a smile: "Xiao Xiao, it's been two years since I last saw you. You've become even more beautiful, more so than when we got married."
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