"You!" Zhou Yingying's face turned red and then pale from Li Youran's words. She retorted angrily, "If I'm not having a good time, none of you will be!"
As Zhou Yingying spoke, she began smashing things indiscriminately, first damaging the tables and chairs in the shop, and then smashing the counter.
Just as Zhou Yingying was about to tear up Li Youran's ledger, Li Haoran, who had been too ashamed to look up, grabbed Zhou Yingying's hand and slapped her hard across the face.
"For the sake of the children, I've given in to you time and time again." Li Haoran's eyes were bloodshot with anger. "You insulted my parents, bullied my siblings, our Li family doesn't want a daughter-in-law like you!"
In the first two days after the family separated, the wife was slightly more restrained because she had benefited from the house. However, after learning that her younger brother and sister's businesses were doing very well, she turned her back on them.
Li Haoran couldn't stop him, so he could only follow her all the way to her sister's steamed bun shop.
I can only blame myself for being too cowardly. Otherwise, I wouldn't have spoiled my wife like this. If I had been more assertive, she wouldn't have dared to insult her family like that.
"You, Li Haoran, your parents are so biased they're completely lost, and you're acting like a fool!" Zhou Yingying covered her face and cried, "We're family, and only I truly care about your well-being!"
"For my own good, for my own good..." Li Haoran burst into tears, saying, "You've ruined our family, pointing fingers at my brothers and sisters and cursing them, showing no respect for my parents. You really think you're doing this for my own good!"
In the past, Li Youran would have thought it was better to avoid trouble, since her older brother was caught in the middle and in a difficult position.
But now Li Youran is unwilling to give an inch, because Zhou Yingying is simply not someone worth yielding to.
It's said that if you show me respect once, I'll show you ten times more respect, but Zhou Yingying's attitude is that if you give me an inch, I'll take ten more from you.
"Eldest son, we elders don't want to interfere too much in your relationship. We just hope that you two can live a good life and raise your child."
Li Dazhu took a puff of his pipe, sighed deeply, and after a long while, continued speaking.
"Take your wife home. Whether you stay together or not is up to you."
Upon hearing these words, Zhou Yingying realized that she had made a grave mistake.
"Let's go, I'll take you back to your Zhou family." After Li Haoran finished speaking, he turned to Li Niangzi and said, "Mother, please watch over Xiao Niu Niu for me, I'll be right back."
After saying that, Li Haoran pulled Zhou Yingying away from the steamed bun shop.
Zhou Yingying, who was used to being assertive, wanted to soften her stance and apologize, but she couldn't bring herself to speak. She tried to shake off Li Haoran's hand that was holding her, but no matter how hard she tried, she couldn't move it and was forced to leave.
"Father, Mother, I plan to register you as a female household today. From now on, you two will belong to my second brother and sister-in-law."
Li Youran felt a little guilty; it was all because she hadn't thought things through.
In ancient society, there was a great difference between daughters and sons. If her parents had only helped her second brother with chores at the pancake shop, Zhou Yingying wouldn't have come to their house to cause trouble, and her second brother wouldn't have been so angry.
Although Zhou Yingying's character isn't great, she's usually quite good to her second brother. Putting character aside, as long as the two of them manage to live their lives well behind closed doors, that's fine.
"Second sister, what are you saying? Even if you establish a female household, your parents are still your parents," Zhao Lanzhi said. "If no one helps you, you won't be able to provide the cooked food I order, which would truly hinder my important affairs."
Li Youran knew that her second brother and sister-in-law treated her very well and didn't care about these things, but she still made up her mind to find more workers so that her parents would no longer help her.
This makes things easier not only for the parents, but also for themselves. After all, the steamed bun shop is profitable enough to hire workers, so there's no need to make themselves so tired.
Without hesitation, Li Youran posted a job advertisement on the door.
Wang Xiangyu, who had just returned from the Lu family, ran into Zhou Yingying, who was being pulled by Li Haoran to be sent back to the Zhou family.
"These two are always arguing." Wang Xiangyu glanced at them with a look of disdain, then suddenly an idea popped into her head.
No one knows what Wang Xiangyu said, but it somehow made Li Haoran change his mind about taking Zhou Yingying home, and the two reconciled just like that.
The next morning, Zhou Yingying actually came to apologize with a bundle of thorns on her back.
"Father, mother, younger brother and sister, it's all my fault as the eldest sister-in-law. Not only did I fail to set a good example, but I also always caused trouble."
Zhou Yingying's words were even more eloquent than her singing, with tears streaming down her face. Li Dazhu and his wife weren't unreasonable in-laws, and Li Tairan and his wife were even more easygoing, so they quickly forgave Zhou Yingying.
The weasel was offering New Year's greetings to the chicken—it was all ill-intentioned. Li Youran didn't believe that Zhou Yingying could change her nature overnight, and he looked at Zhou Yingying warily.
"Tomorrow is Laba Festival, so I went out early this morning to buy rice and grains, thinking that the whole family could go to the temple to donate porridge as a good start." Zhou Yingying said, looking at Li Niangzi with a pitying expression.
"You're so kind, eldest daughter-in-law," Li Niang said, looking at everyone. "Why don't we all take this opportunity to rest for a day? After all, donating porridge to the temple is a good deed."
Li Youran didn't know what Zhou Yingying was up to, but rather than hiding, she figured she might as well expose her true intentions and take a look, so she nodded in agreement.
Inside the carriage, Zhou Yingying looked somewhat uneasy, constantly lifting the curtain to look outside.
"Is your sister-in-law looking for someone?"
"What are you saying, little sister? Our whole family is on this carriage, who else could I be looking for?" Zhou Yingying said guiltily after hearing Li Youran's words.
Upon arriving at the temple, the male family members would carry rice and grains to donate, while the female family members would worship Buddha and burn incense to pray for peace and well-being.
While burning incense, Li Youran looked up and found that her second sister-in-law and mother were gone, leaving her all alone.
Thinking that Zhou Yingying had ill intentions, Li Youran suddenly felt nervous. Could it be that Zhou Yingying was going to harm her second sister-in-law and mother?
However, seeing the bustling crowds in front of the Buddha statue, Li Youran realized that even if he were to commit a crime, he wouldn't do so here. He turned and walked towards the backyard, where very few tourists frequented.
"Mother, Second Sister-in-law, are you here?"
Zhou Yingying called out and searched, but no one responded. Unknowingly, she walked deep into the backyard.
"You've finally fallen into my hands today."
Hearing the sound, Li Youran turned around and saw Wang Xiangyu standing behind her, with two men carrying sacks beside her.
"Wang Xiangyu, what are you trying to do?"
Upon hearing Li Youran's words, Wang Xiangyu burst into laughter.
"You'll find out what I'm planning in a moment."
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