Mother-in-law takes the opportunity to establish rules
An Hongdou was fast asleep when she suddenly heard Li Zeying's voice. She rubbed her sleepy eyes and asked in a drowsy voice, "What happened?"
The person outside the door relayed a message: "Third sister-in-law, Mother asked me to wake you and second sister-in-law up. Second brother and third brother, hurry up and set off, Mother said you should see them off."
An Hongdou struggled to pull herself out of bed, her heart filled with resentment. Since Li Zeli hadn't woken her up when he left, it meant he was letting her sleep in.
She sighed, watching Li Zeying's shadow still looming at the door, and called out, "I'm up, I'll get ready and go right away, I'll be there soon!"
Fearing that Li Zeying would keep waiting, An Hongdou changed her clothes, quickly combed her hair, and went out.
Wu Linglong appeared in front of Li Zeying a step later. "Hongdou, that old woman is deliberately making things difficult for us," Wu Linglong complained to her.
An Hongdou yawned, "Bring it on, I'll deal with it. With you by my side, I'm not afraid of anything!"
"Let's go see what she's prepared for us." Wu Linglong gestured for Li Zeying to lead the way.
When they arrived, the rest of the Li family had just finished breakfast.
It turns out that whenever Li Zeren and Li Zeli returned to the academy, the Li family would eat breakfast early so that the two could return to the academy in time.
“My two daughters-in-law, your husband is about to leave, how can you still sleep in and not even see him off?” Chen Zaoting spoke first.
"Mother, please don't be offended. We were going to send them, but my second brother and I didn't allow it, which is why they didn't get up early," Li Zeli said, trying to smooth things over.
“Since you’re up, there’s no need for Mother to see you off. Linglong, I have something I’d like to say to you,” Li Zeren chimed in.
An Hongdou and her husband followed their respective husbands to the door.
“If your mother makes things too difficult for you while I’m not home, you can go back to your parents’ house first, and I’ll figure something out when I get back,” Li Zeli promised.
“I appreciate your kindness, but you underestimate me.” An Hongdou gestured for him to focus on his studies.
Li Zeren was also giving Wu Linglong instructions, but his words were quite different. "Wife, if you suffer any injustice, please bear with it for my sake, and absolutely do not lay a hand on me!"
"What do you mean?" Wu Linglong glared at him.
Li Zeren quickly explained, "My mother worked in the fields before she married into the family. She's very strong, and I'm afraid you'll suffer! I will definitely study hard and strive to take you out to live independently as soon as possible. Then, my wife will be in charge of everything at home."
"Don't worry, although I have a quick temper, I'm not unreasonable. I'll still have the proper attitude towards my elders!"
After seeing the two off, An Hongdou and Wu Linglong returned to the courtyard.
Chen Zaoting was still waiting for them. "The whole family gets up early when the brothers go back to the academy, and the helpers don't have time to come. The three sisters take turns preparing breakfast, so you two can wash the dishes today!" After saying that, she got up, took a few steps, and then seemed to remember something, so she came back and added, "A relative's family is having a baby and they're having a banquet. I sent the two little maids you brought with you to help out. You've worked hard these past two days."
The two women exchanged a helpless smile and began to work. As they were washing the dishes, Li Lai'er came over and said, "Sisters-in-law, Mother said that after you finish washing the dishes, don't forget to feed the chickens, once in the morning and once in the evening."
"Isn't this your job?" Wu Linglong asked.
"Mother said you were to come." Li Lai'er smiled arrogantly, then turned and left.
An Hongdou pulled the angry Wu Linglong aside and said, "This job is easy. Let's do it like them and take it slow."
After clearing away the dishes, the two filled bowls with mixed grains and headed towards the chicken coop.
As they were chatting, Li Lai'er came over again. "Sister-in-law, the person who's supposed to cook today has asked for leave. Mother said we'll have to trouble you with lunch."
An Hongdou sighed and poured the rest of the food from the bowl onto the floor. She then pulled Wu Linglong back to the kitchen.
Li Zeying was already waiting in the kitchen. When she saw them coming, she quickly stepped forward and said, "Sister-in-law, let me help you!"
“No need, it’s rare for you to get a break,” An Hongdou refused.
"Do those two sisters-in-law know how to start a fire?"
The two fell silent. Li Zeying stayed behind to help them.
Wu Linglong asked quietly, "Red Bean, can you cook?"
"Won't."
"And what about lunch?"
"But cooking food isn't difficult!"
The two reached an agreement and began working.
At noon, Li Haikuo was not home. The others stared in silence at the food on the table. The rice was a mixture of undercooked and overcooked, the vegetables were a mix of salty and bland, and there was an unmistakable burnt smell.
"Sister-in-law, this food is terrible!" Li Lai'er complained.
“My cooking skills are limited, so why don’t you come next time, little sister? I haven’t tried your cooking yet,” An Hongdou replied.
Upon hearing this, Li Lai'er immediately shut up.
Wu Linglong wouldn't let her off the hook, "Mother, if my little sister Lai'er says so, her cooking skills must be pretty good. Why don't we have her show off her skills tonight? We can learn from her."
Chen Zaoting held her chopsticks, picking and choosing, but couldn't find a starting point. She angrily put them down and said, "When the day laborers come tonight, you should really learn from them. I've never seen a bride cook so badly!"
After tidying everything up, An Hongdou stretched and massaged her shoulders to relax. Wu Linglong rolled her eyes and said, "That old woman is too much! Even my parents have never treated me like that!"
An Hongdou comforted her, "When Qiuyu and Dongxue come back, they can help us share the burden. The Li family girls will get married sooner or later, so it's good for us to get familiar with the household affairs first. After all, being married is different from being a child at home."
No sooner had she finished speaking than Li Lai'er brought over another basin of clothes. "Mom told you to finish washing them this afternoon!"
Li Zeying had just done laundry yesterday, so there shouldn't be this much. It seems Li Lai'er was being mischievous, deliberately searching everywhere to add to their burden.
Seeing Wu Linglong about to explode, An Hongdou had an idea. She stopped Wu Linglong and took the clothes from her.
"Let's go wash by the well in the backyard!" An Hongdou called to Wu Linglong to come along.
Although she didn't understand what An Hongdou was thinking, Wu Linglong still followed her.
"I saw it all. Some of the clothes in this basin were just washed by Zeying yesterday. She's just bullying me," Wu Linglong said angrily.
“I noticed it too. It’s fine to do some housework, but it’s wrong for them to bully me like this. I suddenly remembered something: when I was little, I accidentally spilled boiling water on my clothes, and my shirt became too small,” An Hongdou said.
"Could it be that you want to?"
“Li Zeying is a little younger than Li Lai’er, so if their clothes become too small, it doesn’t seem to affect Zeying’s ability to wear them.”
"I'll go boil some water right now." Wu Linglong got to work.
The two were focused on doing laundry when Li Lai'er suddenly rushed over. "How did you feed them this morning! They were fine all the time, how come three of them died after you fed them! Did you do it on purpose!"
The two stopped what they were doing and looked at each other. Confirming that the other hadn't tampered with their work, they told Li Lai'er they knew nothing about it.
"The cooks said they were stuffed to death! Don't tell me you didn't know."
After Li Lai'er finished speaking, she suddenly realized that the clothes hanging on the clothesline in the yard were her clothes.
She screamed, "What did you do? My clothes are so small! How am I supposed to wear them?!"
"I'm going to find my mother and see how she deals with you." With that, she stormed off, leaving An Hongdou and Wu Linglong behind.
Seeing that their plan had been successfully completed, the two couldn't help but burst into laughter.
But the surprises didn't end there.
When Li Lai'er rushed up to Chen Zaoting, she found Chen Zaoting throwing a tantrum.
"Mother, who made you angry?" Li Lai'er asked.
"Who else could it be? The kitchen helpers just said the pot for cooking has a leak. Don't you think they're deliberately trying to mess with me? Which new bride doesn't have to be disciplined by her mother-in-law? Back then, I suffered so much because I couldn't have a son in my first child. Considering that your second and third brothers aren't my biological children, I made them work on the first day, and they're still not satisfied!"
Upon hearing this, Li Lai'er immediately embellished her story.
That evening, Li Haikuo learned that a large iron pot and three laying hens were missing from his home, and he flew into a rage.
Seeing that Chen Zaoting was about to interrupt, An Hongdou quickly stopped her and took the lead in admitting her mistake: "Father, Linglong and I are not good at housework. The dowry of Qiuyu and Dongxue when we got married was to make up for this. If Mother trusts us and wants us to do our part, Linglong and I can take care of the household accounting, shopping, and mending clothes. Our needlework skills are better than our cooking skills."
Chen Zaoting objected, "Which bride doesn't know how to do housework? Our Li family is marrying a daughter-in-law, not an ancestor! I think you're doing this on purpose. I'll personally supervise you tomorrow, and I don't believe you can't do it well."
Ordinary families mostly use earthenware pots for cooking; iron is a rare commodity. The Li family only has two people in total. Now that one of them has spoiled, Li Haikuo is heartbroken.
Although he agreed that his daughter-in-law should do housework, An Hongdou's words also made sense. Her family knew that their daughter was clumsy and had already given her a maidservant as part of her dowry, so it wouldn't be appropriate to have her do it as well. More importantly, if the last pot broke, he wouldn't be able to cook a second one in a short time.
Li Haikuo made the decision, saying, "You two come from scholarly families, so you're definitely better literate than your mother. From now on, you two will be in charge of the household shopping. You can also help your mother keep accounts, which will be a way of showing filial piety."
The right to allocate resources determines one's status within the family. Li Haikuo's words implied that his two daughters-in-law should share her power in managing the household! Chen Zaoting, of course, disagreed.
She objected, "Sir, how can you let a woman go out and show her face in public every day? Especially since Zeren and Zeli are going to be very successful in the future, wouldn't it be a laughing stock if their wives were to be running around in the marketplace all day?"
Upon hearing this, Wu Linglong quickly said, "Mother, in the past, Pan'er and Lai'er were in charge of these things. They have reached the age of marriage, and according to your reasoning, it would be even more inconvenient for them to travel around outside."
Li Haikuo disliked being questioned and was too lazy to listen to women arguing, so he made a decision directly: "Alright, do as I say. Don't waste food, make chicken soup tonight, and save two portions to send to Zeren and Zeli at the academy tomorrow."
After dinner, Li Lai'er volunteered to deliver food to the academy the next day.
She loved to slack off, and recalling what Wu Linglong had mentioned about Xie An, An Hongdou had a feeling that her purpose for this trip was not pure.
An Hongdou stopped Wu Linglong from trying to steal the job, and whispered something to her after returning to her room.
The two conspired together and decided to find an excuse to go out the next day after Li Lai'er left, and secretly follow her to find out what was going on. If they could find something to use against her, they could make her behave herself in the future, and make things easier for Ze Ying.
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