Li Pan'er went to her door for help.
On the eve of the Lunar New Year, families reunite.
As evening fell, Li Zeli and Li Zeren returned home from the academy.
An Hongdou and Wu Linglong were sitting in the yard making dumplings, while Li Zeying was in charge of rolling out the dough.
Upon seeing them enter, An Hongdou stood up to greet them.
"Husband, go back and change your clothes and come help! Neither Linglong nor I know how to roll out dumpling wrappers. Zeying kneaded the dough and then rolled out the wrappers all by herself. She must be exhausted," An Hongdou said expectantly.
Li Zeli nodded with a smile.
A short while later, he returned with Li Zeren.
"It's rare that you didn't slack off!" Wu Linglong couldn't help but say when she saw Li Zeren appear again.
"My wife, don't say that about your husband! How could I bear to let you work so hard by yourself? I just put down my things and came to help right away!" Li Zeren replied with a smile.
Hearing this, An Hongdou silently looked at Li Zeli.
“Many hands make light work, the sooner we finish preparing the food, the sooner we can start the feast,” Li Zeli explained to An Hongdou while rolling up his sleeves.
An Hongdou understood. It seemed that Li Zeren had failed to slack off and had been dragged here by Li Zeli.
With all five of them together, they naturally wouldn't just bury themselves in work.
"Husband, how many days will you rest this time? I'm going back to my parents' home on the second day of the Lunar New Year. Will you come with me?" An Hongdou asked first.
"The academy will be closed for seven days. I will return as soon as it reopens. Some time ago, Shunyuan asked me for the essays I wrote when I was preparing for the provincial examination. I happen to have some free time these two days, so I will organize them and give them to him when I visit him on the second day of the lunar new year."
Although Li Zeli was a scholar, he was quite capable when it came to household chores. As he answered, he rolled out dumpling wrappers and placed them aside for everyone to use.
An Hongdou picked up a dumpling wrapper and noticed that it was not only round but also of uniform thickness. She was somewhat surprised: "I didn't expect my husband to be so good at rolling out dumpling wrappers."
"When I was little, I saw how hard my mother worked and wanted to help her out. At first, the dumpling wrappers I made were barely usable, but after making them a lot, I found some tricks."
After listening, Wu Linglong glanced at the disastrous dumpling wrappers in Li Zeren's hands and couldn't help but say, "Are you here to help or to make things worse? Your skills are about the same as mine, so you should do it! You know how to make dumplings, right?"
Li Zeren sensed Wu Linglong's unspoken meaning and said somewhat aggrievedly, "Wife, everyone has their own expertise! You should be good at discovering your husband's strengths. Although I can't beat my third brother at rolling dumpling wrappers, he's not as good as me when it comes to carrying water and chopping wood!"
“That’s true. When we were young, our family’s circumstances were not as good as they are now. My second brother, as the eldest brother, took on most of the physical labor in addition to his studies, which was no easy feat,” Li Zeli said.
Li Zeren nodded repeatedly and then flattered Wu Linglong, trying to curry favor.
Wu Linglong rolled her eyes at him and could only coax him a couple of times to get him to join in the work.
As everyone was busily preparing for the New Year's Eve dinner, Li Pan'er suddenly appeared.
She clutched a handkerchief in her hand, her face still wet with tears.
She walked up to An Hongdou, her face pleading. "Third Sister-in-law, can I speak with you alone for a couple of minutes?"
Fearing that An Hongdou would refuse, she grabbed An Hongdou's arm tightly.
An Hongdou was curious, so she agreed.
She patted the flour off her hands and said to the others, "Keep it up, everyone. I'll be right back."
After saying that, she gestured for Li Pan'er to follow her back into the house to talk.
As soon as Li Pan'er stepped into An Hongdou and Li Zeli's courtyard, she knelt down.
This sudden action startled An Hongdou, who had never been forced to kneel before at such a young age.
"Get up quickly, get to the point, don't give me this nonsense." An Hongdou hurriedly stepped forward to help Li Pan'er up.
"Sister-in-law, I know you don't have a good impression of me, and I'm here to apologize. I really have no other choice but to beg you. Please help me because Zexin is the younger brother of my second and third brothers! I promise I will educate Zexin well in the future, so that he will remember the kindness of his two older brothers and strive to become their helper." Li Pan'er started crying.
"You should stand up and talk first; I might not be able to help you otherwise!"
“As long as my sister-in-law is willing, she can definitely help! My third brother passed the provincial examination and became a Juren. Father is counting on my third brother to bring glory to the family. My third brother’s words carry the most weight with Father. My third brother also values my sister-in-law the most. As long as my sister-in-law is willing to ask, she can definitely solve my problem.”
"So all you wanted was Zeli's help? Then why are you kneeling before me?"
"Sister-in-law, as a fellow woman, you must understand my predicament. Before you married into the family, I tried to talk to my third brother, but he said that marriage is a major life event and should be decided by one's parents, and he was unwilling to help. If it were anything else, I could let it go, but marriage concerns my entire life, and I really can't just ignore it. Besides, the person my mother chose is not a good match! Sister-in-law, I have indeed been hostile towards you since you married into the family, but it was all at my mother's behest. As a stepdaughter, I am essentially living under someone else's roof at home. What else can I do but try to please my mother? I don't have much ambition; I just want to find a reliable family to marry into in the future. If I can find a tolerant mother-in-law, I would consider it a blessing from heaven. But I never expected that my own mother would disregard the bond between mother and daughter for the sake of her son."
When she got to the sad parts, Li Pan'er couldn't help but cry again.
An Hongdou pushed open the door and said to her, "If you want to kneel, then kneel outside. Otherwise, come in and sit down and tell me what happened."
After saying that, An Hongdou didn't look at Li Pan'er again and went into the house by herself.
Li Pan'er wiped away her tears and quickly got up to follow her inside.
An Hongdou sat on a stool waiting for her. When she saw her come in, she gestured for her to sit down and talk slowly.
It turns out that Chen Zaoting wanted to marry Li Pan'er off to Liu Fulai, the nephew of her ex-husband.
Liu Fulai is the nephew of Chen Zaoting's former sister-in-law, so he is also Chen Zaoting's nephew. He is twenty-two years old this year, but his mental age is that of an eight-year-old. He is physically strong and has a bad temper. If things don't go his way, he will smash things randomly.
Liu Fulai might not have been mentally challenged originally, but his mother, desperate for a son, took a folk remedy for changing the sex of her child when she was pregnant with him. He appeared perfectly normal at birth and was well-loved by his family. However, after he turned eight, he only grew taller. Soon after, another healthy boy was born, who had married earlier. The family had long since given up on Liu Fulai carrying on the family line; now they only saw him as a burden and wanted to find him a healthy wife to take care of him.
“But Liu Fulai’s reputation for being violent and abusive spread for miles around, so what decent family would be willing to marry their daughter to him? I don’t know how, but my aunt set her sights on me. At first, my mother disagreed, but later, I don’t know what benefits my aunt promised her, but she actually agreed,” Li Pan’er said.
“My mother told me that although my younger brother Li Tianci was loved by my grandmother, he still had to make a living under my aunt’s control. If I married into that family, I would be even closer to my aunt, and I wouldn’t have to worry about her mistreating my brother in the future. But she never thought about me. Marrying Liu Fulai has ruined my life!”
An Hongdou was stunned. In her more than ten years of life experience, this was the first time she had encountered a mother who would push her daughter into a fire pit for the sake of her son. She felt some sympathy for Li Pan'er.
She suddenly remembered something and asked, "When you and Li Lai'er go out to shop, do you ever secretly hide money?"
Li Pan'er paused for a moment, then said, "You wouldn't believe me if I said there was absolutely nothing, but Mother always gives us almost exactly the right amount of money. We only keep the change occasionally. Why are you suddenly asking this?"
"Linglong and I were in charge of shopping, and we have some spare change left. We're not sure whether we should return it or keep it."
“Mother is very shrewd when it comes to money. Haven’t you noticed that the amount she gives you for almost every expense is just right? If there’s any left over, you can keep it for yourself. Mother won’t ask for it back.” Li Pan’er was being honest with An Hongdou because she needed something from her.
Seeing Li Pan'er's earnest gaze, An Hongdou decided to offer her some comfort.
“If what you say is true, then Liu Fulai is indeed not suitable for marriage. I will talk to Zeli, but I cannot promise you anything.”
"I appreciate your help. If you ever need my help in the future, just let me know," Li Pan'er promised.
After seeing Li Pan'er off, An Hongdou calmed herself down and returned to the front yard.
"You're finally back! You said you'd been gone for so long. You even made the dumplings, and Zeying has already taken them to the pot to cook. If you had waited any longer, we would have eaten them all and left none for you!" Wu Linglong teased her.
An Hongdou smiled and helped tidy up the tables and chairs, preparing for the New Year's Eve dinner.
Tonight, the family chatted and laughed together as they stayed up to welcome the New Year.
Li Pan'er wasn't in a good mood, but she didn't show anything unusual in front of others.
After the New Year's Eve vigil ended, everyone went back to their rooms.
An Hongdou and Li Zeli talked about Li Pan'er.
"Does my wife wish to get involved in this matter?"
"My husband doesn't want to get involved in this matter?"
Li Zeli smiled and said, "Li Pan'er's marriage is none of my business, especially since it was her own mother who made the choice. I have no reason to interfere. However, if my wife speaks up, the situation will naturally be different."
An Hongdou thought for a moment and said, "That makes sense, but I can't bear to see her being pushed into a fire pit by her own mother."
"Even if it doesn't benefit you personally, you should still help? Even if it might bring you trouble, you should still help?"
An Hongdou was stumped by the question.
Li Zeli could tell that she hadn't considered all that, and said helplessly, "It's good that you're kind-hearted, Madam! But I'm afraid that you're too enthusiastic and lack understanding of human nature, and in the end you'll be heartbroken, and your enthusiasm will turn cold in the end."
An Hongdou understood. Li Zeli thought Li Pan'er was unimportant and was worried that Li Pan'er would not appreciate it and would turn around and continue to help Chen Zaoting deal with him in the future.
“My husband, I still want to help her, even if she is a complete stranger, I can’t bear to do it.”
"Okay, then I'll talk to my father about it another day."
Chen Zaoting's daughter's marriage is perfectly legitimate, and if they want to stop it, they need to find a good family for Li Pan'er. It's just unknown whether Li Pan'er will be satisfied with the family they've hastily chosen, and whether she'll blame An Hongdou if things don't go well later.
“However, my husband, besides finding my father, perhaps there is another way we can try.”
An Hongdou recounted the discovery of the relevant accounts in detail.
Li Zeli was also somewhat surprised upon hearing this. He pondered for a moment and said, "Father must not know about this. In that case, you might as well try it according to your own ideas first. If you can't solve it, then I will step in."
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