“Yes, yes, I saw it too.” One of the old ladies, Zhang Guoshi, lived next door to Xiao Tingshen’s house. She grabbed a handful of pumpkin seeds and stuffed them into her pocket, saying mysteriously, “I even asked Liu Yuzhen, and Liu Yuzhen said she bumped into it by accident, but I don’t believe her!”
"I heard they're getting married on the 2nd of next month, and Liu Yuzhen is even inviting us to their wedding banquet!" another old lady said proudly. "They said they'll be holding the banquet in our courtyard, not at the guesthouse."
"It's already the 26th today, there are only a few days left!" Wang Cuifen counted on her fingers and pouted, "She's already pregnant, why don't you hurry up?"
“We know she’s pregnant, but Xiao Yaodong and Liu Yuzhen’s family deny it, saying that Tang Wenya isn’t pregnant, and that it’s her sister who’s pregnant.” Zhang Guoshi covered her mouth and laughed.
"If you're so capable, keep delaying. If you keep delaying, you'll give birth at your parents' home." Wang Cuifen said dismissively, "Liu Yuzhen is no kind person, and Tang Wenya is even less so. With these two women together, their family is going to have a good time."
The old ladies burst into laughter.
Yang Yuelan listened quietly without saying a word.
Regardless, Tang Wenya was Xu Qingning's older sister, so she shouldn't join the old ladies in gossiping about her.
After Wang Cuifen had finished her rant, she remembered the relationship between Tang Wenya and Xu Qingning, and turned to Yang Yuelan and said, "Oh dear, I almost forgot that your two families are relatives. Just pretend you didn't hear what we said today."
"Since you know our two families are related, don't say these things in front of me." Yang Yuelan disliked Wang Cuifen and even more so, she disliked gossiping with the old ladies. So she simply put on a stern face. "Every family has its own troubles. We all live in the same courtyard, so let's be understanding of each other!"
Seeing that Yang Yuelan had no interest in gossip, Wang Cuifen lost interest in her as well and led the old ladies away.
As Wang Cuifen walked, she whispered to the old ladies, "I always said that Zhao Jingyu's mother is a blockhead. She serves her daughter-in-law like an old ox, afraid of offending her. She doesn't even dare to speak when chatting with her."
“Exactly, she’s not as good at handling things as her sister.” Zhang Guoshi pursed her lips. “Yang Yuexiang is a shrewd woman. I heard she has her daughters-in-law all under her thumb.”
“We meant well by reminding her that Liu Yuzhen was a difficult relative to get along with, but she didn’t appreciate it at all.”
During the meal, Yang Yuelan told Xu Qingning about Tang Wenya's upcoming wedding: "According to the customs of our hometown, when your sister gets married, we are supposed to go to your house to offer our dowry. When would be a good day for us to go?"
“No need to go.” Xu Qingning refused outright. “When I got married, they didn’t give me any dowry, and I don’t plan to have anything to do with them in the future.”
She's already cut ties with them, why would she need to put on makeup?
When they met, she didn't want to talk to them at all.
“Qingning, I know you’ve had a hard time at your parents’ home, but we can’t be impolite on such an important occasion.” Yang Yuelan could tell that Jiang Yumei and Tang Wenya weren’t treating Xu Qingning well, but Xu Jianguo was, after all, her biological father.
Even if you don't respect the monk, you should respect the Buddha.
They were going to Tang Wenya's wedding as in-laws.
“Mom, I know what you’re thinking, but Tang Wenya and I can never reconcile, and neither can Dad and I.” Xu Qingning simply told Yang Yuelan about her grievances with Tang Wenya. “I know that because I got pregnant out of wedlock, you all have opinions about me and think I’m immoral. But you don’t know that Zhao Jingyu and I are not actually familiar with each other and have never been in a relationship. I was tricked by Tang Wenya into having a child with Zhao Jingyu.”
No matter how good Yang Yuelan was to her, she was still her mother-in-law.
A mother-in-law is a mother-in-law. She felt it was necessary to clarify things. Why should she keep taking the blame?
Outsiders may not know, but she needs to let Yang Yuelan know what's going on, and today is a good opportunity.
"You..." Yang Yuelan looked at Xu Qingning with a shocked expression, wanting to say something but not knowing what to say.
No wonder she had never heard that her son had a girlfriend. At first, she thought that Zhao Jingyu was keeping it from her and didn't want to tell her.
Only today did she learn that such a thing had actually happened between her son and daughter-in-law...
"Mom, if you were my real mother, would you still go and help Tang Wenya with her wedding?" Xu Qingning put down her chopsticks and looked at her seriously.
Yang Yuelan made hand-pulled noodles with an egg, and they tasted great. She ate a whole bowl of them.
"I understand, we won't go." After her initial shock, Yang Yuelan felt a pang of guilt. "Qingning, will you blame Jingyu?"
She didn't want to ask about the details of such matters.
But no matter what, Zhao Jingyu is a man, and men have full responsibility.
"There was a reason for it, and we can't blame him entirely." When Xu Qingning transmigrated, the incident had already happened, and she herself didn't know the specific details.
“It’s our Jingyu who has wronged you…” Yang Yuelan had never heard of such a thing before, and felt even more guilty. She didn’t know how to comfort her daughter-in-law for a moment.
Zhao Jingyu only told them about Xu Qingning's pregnancy, and didn't say anything else.
They always believed that the two young people, while dating, couldn't resist crossing the line and were forced to get married.
As the groom's parents, they could only hurry up and arrange the wedding to bring their daughter home, so as not to embarrass her.
Little did she know, they were in this situation...
But during her time here, she felt that the two of them got along quite well. They visited relatives together, and when her son left, Xu Qingning even made a pillow for him. She really couldn't understand young people these days.
"Mom, let's not talk about the past." Xu Qingning didn't intend to bring up old grievances; she just wanted Yang Yuelan to understand the grudges between her and Tang Wenya.
"Okay, let's not talk about it anymore." Yang Yuelan was very sensible and immediately cleared away the dishes and went to wash them. "Let's go out for a walk later and buy some fabric. I'll hurry up and sew up the quilt on the kang."
"Okay, let's go in a bit." Xu Qingning went back to her room to get her cloth coupons and some money. She was in a good mood, so she went shopping and bought some good food.
Xu Qingning didn't like any of the clothes she wore before.
When she went out, she simply changed into the red cardigan that Zhao Jingyu had bought for her; it was just right for the weather.
In a few days, the weather will get warmer, and it will be time to wear short sleeves. I'll buy some fabric and make a few more.
In a few months, her belly will grow bigger, and she'll need to prepare maternity clothes.
The state-owned garment factory in the provincial capital gave her a lot of cloth coupons, which was enough for her.
Yang Yuelan pushed her bicycle out the door, but dared not ride it with her daughter-in-law, worried that she would fall: "We can walk there. On the way back, we bought some fabric, which we can put on the bicycle."
"Okay, let's walk then!" Xu Qingning didn't want to ride a bicycle either, she wasn't used to it.
After browsing around, Xu Qingning still wanted to go to the department store. The small shops had too few fabric patterns and were not cheap.
Why not go to the department store? As the largest shopping mall in Jiaodong City, it has a wide variety of goods and the quality is guaranteed.
She also plans to buy some white raw fabric and some alum and blue vitriol to dye it herself.
The mother-in-law and daughter-in-law went to the department store again.
Upon reaching the second floor, one could see Jiang Yumei and Tang Wenya happily selecting wedding supplies.
Jiang Yumei had already prepared the wedding quilt and wedding clothes.
Mothers always feel it's not enough and want to buy more for their daughters.
"Mom, let's go buy some raw fabric first." Xu Qingning ignored them, took Yang Yuelan's arm, and went to another counter.
Tang Wenya just has a biological mother, so what?
She has a mother-in-law.
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