“It’s true that Leilei is your biological daughter, but I raised her myself. In my eyes, she is also my daughter.” Zhao Lianxiang looked around the room, including the clothes of the mother-in-law and daughter-in-law, leaned against the kang and sat down, snorting coldly, “Yesterday I went to see her and saw that she had a wound on her forehead. I asked her and found out that she was beaten here. How dare you say that you are her biological mother?”
No wonder Yang Yuelan stayed with Zhao Jingyu and didn't leave; it turns out she had embraced city life and couldn't bear to leave.
Look, Yang Yuelan is wearing all new clothes. She's still so selfish, only caring about herself.
The daughter-in-law was even worse; she was well-cared for, with fair skin and delicate features. Even the two boys sleeping on the kang (a heated brick bed) were wearing new clothes.
And she's even knitting a sweater! Yarn is so expensive!
“Sister, I’ve already said that Lei Lei was accidentally hurt by my nephew, and she fought back. What else can I do?” Yang Yuelan didn’t say that Zhao Lei was in the wrong first, but sighed, “As her aunt, she wouldn’t really hold a grudge against her nephew, would she?”
“Even her own mother doesn’t protect her, what’s the point of her arguing?” Zhao Lianxiang thought she had a lot of face in front of Yang Yuelan because she raised Zhao Lei. She rolled her eyes and said, “I’m not her biological mother, but I love her more than you do. I’m not here to settle scores with you, I’m here to remind you to be nicer to Lei Lei.”
“Sister, I haven’t treated Leilei badly.” Yang Yuelan said this, but she couldn’t refute it. “I haven’t been able to help her much these past years in the countryside, but in my heart, I love her.”
“Leilei said you only talk about how much you love her.” Zhao Lianxiang looked at Xu Qingning and continued, “You really love your son, spending money and effort on him. You say you love your daughter? Let me ask you, your little granddaughter is almost a year old, how many times have you held her?”
"Aunt, since you care about my sister even more than my mother, why don't you take care of her?" Xu Qingning couldn't stand it anymore. She understood why Zhao Lei was so clueless; it was because Zhao Lianxiang was just that kind of person.
Generally speaking, when an adoptive mother encounters her adopted daughter's accusations against her biological mother, she usually offers comfort and then tries to persuade both sides based on the actual situation, rather than going to the biological mother's door to criticize her.
"What right do you, a junior, have to interrupt us when we're talking?" Zhao Lianxiang said, her face immediately darkening. "I have to take care of my grandson just like your mother, how can I have time to take care of your sister?"
"That's it. Why do you insist on asking my mother to do something that you yourself can't do?" Xu Qingning looked at her in bewilderment. "Auntie, my sister is from the Zhao family. Whatever conflicts she has with my mother is between them. It's none of your business as her aunt."
"You, how dare you speak to me like that?" Zhao Lianxiang's face turned black with anger. "How could Jingyu have chosen such an ill-mannered wife?"
“Aunt, you’re wrong again. It has nothing to do with you what kind of wife Zhao Jingyu finds. You’ve never raised him, right?” Xu Qingning wasn’t afraid of offending Zhao Lianxiang. It was better not to associate with this kind of weird relative in the future.
Zhao Lianxiang was speechless after being rebuked by Xu Qingning. Seeing that Yang Yuelan did not blame Xu Qingning at all, she became even angrier, stood up and walked out, not forgetting to make amends: "So it turns out that your family is run by the daughter-in-law. We dare not come here again."
"Sister, sit a little longer!" Yang Yuelan didn't know what to say, so she quickly got off the kang (a heated brick bed) to see her off.
"You don't need to send her off. Just take good care of your daughter-in-law," Zhao Lianxiang said in a drawn-out, sarcastic tone.
"Sister, how are you going to get home?" Yang Yuelan still escorted Zhao Lianxiang to the entrance of the alley.
“My son Zhibo has come to work in the city, and I came with him.” Zhao Lianxiang was so angry with her mother-in-law and daughter-in-law that she almost forgot how she got here. “I’m going to the machinery factory to find him now. We’re going to go to the department store later.”
“Since you’ve come all this way, you should take your time to look around,” Yang Yuelan said good-naturedly. “Tell Zhibo that he can come over for dinner when he has some free time.”
"If you can't make decisions for your daughter-in-law, then don't say things like that." Zhao Lianxiang snorted, neither agreeing nor refusing.
It was hot outside, and Yang Yuelan was covered in sweat when she came back. She washed her face in the yard before getting into bed.
Then, Yang Yuelan told Xu Qingning about the past: "Back then, we were poor. Your uncle was the production team leader, so his family was a little better off. They only had one son, your cousin Yang Zhibo. They preferred daughters, but your aunt hadn't conceived, so they took your sister instead."
“We have a lot of children, and we were in a year of famine, so your father and I agreed. Your aunt lived in the neighboring village at that time. I often went to see your sister, and your aunt often brought your sister back to see us. Your father and I felt at ease leaving her with your aunt.”
"Not long after, one of Jingyu's great-uncles was recommended to work in the city and brought our family with him. We were separated from your aunt and uncle. A few years ago, when your two older brothers went to the countryside, we returned to our hometown one after another. At that time, Jingyu had already been taken to the Northwest by his grandparents."
"Not long after we returned, your aunt and uncle moved to the city. Just like that, by some twist of fate, we separated from your sister and Jingyu."
“Mom, everyone has their own difficulties in life. Although Aunt helped you, it was her own choice at the time.” Xu Qingning’s understanding was a bit convoluted, but she still understood. She wasn’t involved and couldn’t judge right or wrong. “If Aunt picks a fight again in the future, you don’t need to be so polite to her. She can’t keep suppressing us because of this.”
For Yang Yuelan and Zhao Futang, the only reason they sent their two children to be raised by their aunt and grandparents was so that the children would have something to eat.
Because of their long-term separation from their parents, Zhao Lei and Zhao Jingyu have developed a rift in their hearts. Now, Yang Yuelan and Zhao Futang are trying their best to make up for this missing family affection.
On Zhao Jingyu's side, Yang Yuelan came to take care of his family without hesitation, which made Zhao Lei feel unbalanced and resentful, feeling that she had no family to rely on.
However, in the eyes of the Zhao Jingwen and Zhao Jingwu families, Zhao Jingyu and Zhao Lei were the closest, because Zhao Jingyu had been subsidizing Zhao Lei for the past two years.
Although Zhao Jingyu recorded in the books that he lent Zhao Lei more than forty yuan, in reality, it must have been more.
Actually, at the beginning, Xu Qingning didn't really want that money from Zhao Lei. It was Zhao Lei who was clueless, went too far, and couldn't distinguish between close and distant relatives, using Wu Huihui as a pawn.
Therefore, she is now determined to get that forty-odd yuan back from Zhao Lei.
If Zhao Lei doesn't give it to her, she'll ask for it every time she sees her.
Anyway, she and Zhao Lei didn't get along. Forty-odd yuan could buy forty pounds of meat. Wouldn't she prefer barbecue?
“That’s what I say, but I’ve always felt indebted to your sister and your aunt.” Yang Yuelan also confided in Xu Qingning, “So sometimes when they tease me, I just accept it.”
“We can’t let them keep arguing like this!” Xu Qingning couldn’t stand people who used favors as leverage. “If they bring these things up again, just say that their family’s good luck was brought by my sister, and they should be thanking us.”
"Okay, I'll listen to you." Yang Yuelan smiled as soon as she heard that. So that's how you can say things. She now favored her third son's wife very much and felt that whatever she said was right.
“Mom, in a situation like today, it’s obvious that Auntie is just stirring up trouble for no reason. We absolutely cannot tolerate this. If we tolerate it once, there will be a next time. We can’t let her bully us forever, can we?” Xu Qingning felt it was necessary to make things clear to Yang Yuelan. “They have the nerve to talk back to us, so why shouldn’t we have the nerve to stand up to them?”
As the mother-in-law and daughter-in-law were talking, they heard someone knocking on the door: "Qingning, are you home?"
It was Liu Yuzhen's voice.
Xu Qingning and Yang Yuelan exchanged a glance. Xu Qingning cleared her throat and said, "Auntie, what can I do for you?"
"If it's convenient for you, I'll come in." As soon as she finished speaking, Liu Yuzhen walked in. Seeing the mother-in-law and daughter-in-law sitting leisurely on the kang (a heated brick bed), she smiled and said, "Qingning, I heard that Teacher Du and Manager Fang ordered cheongsams from you. I'd like to order one too, is that alright?"
Thank you so much, An'an, for the generous donation!
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
