“Dad, when my fourth sister-in-law and I came back from the fields just now, we ran into my eldest sister-in-law at the village chief’s door. She traded three bamboo rats with Zhao Xiu for a pound of cotton.”
Greed gleamed in Zhang Cui's eyes, and her expression clearly conveyed the message: hurry up and take your parents to ask for it, lest the fourth son beat you to it.
Zhou Laosan and Zhang Cui were indeed husband and wife; their thoughts were completely aligned. The former jumped out of bed and rushed out before even putting on his shoes properly.
Just then, Zhou Laosi came out of the house. The two brothers looked at each other and saw the words "I'm determined to win" in each other's eyes.
"Third Brother, let's split the cotton equally." Zhou Laosi knew it was impossible to take it all for himself; his third brother was even more shameless and difficult to deal with than he was, so he could only offer this compromise.
Zhou Laosan clicked his tongue. That was the only way. Lao Si was even more shameless and difficult to deal with. It was impossible for the third branch to keep the cotton all to themselves. They could only divide it equally.
So the twin brothers went to invite their parents. At that moment, the Zhou family elders were sitting in the courtyard weaving baskets when they were suddenly pulled up by their two sons, which startled them.
"What are you doing, Third Brother and Fourth Brother? Have you taken the wrong medicine? What kind of trouble are you trying to cause now?" Old Zhou angrily threw the half-finished winnowing basket in his hand onto the ground.
Grandma Zhou clearly knew her twin sons' ways, and stomped her foot, saying, "If you want something from the eldest son, go ask for it yourselves. Why do you always drag me and this old man into it? You may be shameless, but we are!"
It's too late to talk about having a sense of shame now. What were you doing before?
Since you've already lost all face, is there any point in trying to salvage it now?
Zhang Cui and Zhong Mai both found their in-laws' hypocritical behavior of pretending to be virtuous even after being prostitutes very distasteful. They believed that people should be more straightforward and that if they were going to do something bad, they should go all the way, otherwise they shouldn't have done it in the first place.
Why do I always drag my parents to my older brother's house? Don't they know what's going on?
It's all because the eldest brother and sister-in-law are heartless. If they went to ask for things themselves, they would definitely be chopped out with an axe.
It's different when the two elders are gone. No matter how dissatisfied the elder brother and sister-in-law are with them, they don't dare to kick them out directly. They will always give them something. Filial piety can be overwhelming, so the elder brother and sister-in-law dare not be unfilial.
Besides, it was the two elders who taught them this trick before, but now they're pushing the responsibility onto the younger generation. It's ridiculous.
Finally, persuaded by their two sons and daughters-in-law, the two elderly people of the Zhou family reluctantly went to Old Master Zhou's house again.
At the end of the village, Zhao Guihua took the cotton home and went inside to get cotton cloth and needles and thread, eager to make cotton clothes for her daughter so that she would have cotton clothes to wear when the weather got cold.
"Mom, are you making clothes?" Xingxing ran over and hugged her leg.
Zhao Guihua patted her head affectionately and said with a smile, "Mother is making cotton clothes for Xingxing so that Xingxing can have cotton clothes to wear when the weather gets cold."
"It's a pity we can't go to town now, otherwise we could buy more cotton and some floral fabric to make you more cotton-padded clothes and trousers." In winter, when it gets too cold, Xingxing won't have enough cotton-padded clothes to keep warm, so she can only stay on the kang (heated brick bed) every day to get through the winter.
It would be great if we could make more sets.
“Mom, last time I went to the village chief’s house, I saw Qiuqiu and Chunchun learning needlework. Aunt Zhao Xiu said that if a girl doesn’t know how to sew, she won’t be able to find a husband in the future, and even if she does, she will be looked down upon.”
Xingxing blinked her big, dark grape-like eyes and asked in a soft voice, "Mom, why do girls have to find a husband when they grow up? If Xingxing doesn't learn needlework, will she be disliked by her future husband's family?"
"Anyone who dares to look down on our Xingxing is unworthy of you. We don't care about them. We want to find a family that dotes on Xingxing. Our Xingxing will never be bullied." Zhao Guihua stated firmly.
"And us too! Anyone who dares to complain about Xingxing is just looking for trouble and wants to get beaten up." Zhou Erfu raised his fist, ready to stand by him to the end.
Chow Tai Fook: "No one can bully my sister, or I will not let them get away with it."
Zhou Sanfu: "If anyone dares to say a bad word about my sister, I'll curse their whole family."
Zhou Sifu: "Fourth brother is strong. If anyone bullies your sister, fourth brother will beat up their whole family for you."
Zhou Wufu: "It's better if we grow up and earn more money to raise our younger sister together. Why bother finding a husband's family? No husband's family is as good as your own family."
With her mother and brother on her side, no one in-laws dared to bully Xingxing anymore. Xingxing was very happy, but then she asked, "Mother, brother, who are in-laws? What is in-laws?"
Everyone: "..."
It turns out they were all wasting their time just now; this girl doesn't even know what her in-laws mean.
Just as Zhao Guihua was about to explain, the quintuplets started making faces at each other and then pulled Xingxing aside to talk.
Zhou Dafu said earnestly, "Your husband's family is a very unreasonable group of people. They will take the young girl from her parents' home to live with them. Oh, your parents' home is your parents and us. If you live with your husband's family, you will never see your parents and us again."
Zhou Erfu scratched his head, his eyes darting around. "If you can't see us, we can't see you either. Your in-laws will take the opportunity to bully you, not letting you eat meat or enough rice. You'll be the only one washing all the clothes for the whole family, and they'll keep making you do chores."
Zhou Sanfu suppressed a laugh and pretended to be serious, saying, "Your in-laws will also argue with you. There are many of them, and you can't out-argue them all by yourself. They will keep arguing with you until you cry."
Zhou Sifu thought for a moment and added, "If you talk back, your domineering in-laws will beat you until you're covered in bruises. If you can't give birth to a boy, they'll divorce you and send you back to your parents' home."
Finally, Zhou Wufu concluded, "So Xingxing, never find a husband, let your brother support you instead."
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