Chapter 36 Using Another's Strength to Strike
Zhou Ma was still unwilling to let Grandma take away so much meat, so she pretended to say, "It's so hot, this meat will spoil if it's left out for too long. Let Xiangyang cook some of his signature dishes for you to try, so you can learn to be filial to your elders from Xiao Er's wife."
Seeing Zhou Ma say this, Grandma Zhou couldn't continue to refute. After all, her youngest son was still watching her. If she refused to hand over the pork, it would be seen as her only caring about moving the pork home and ignoring her youngest son's family.
“Great, I’m so glad I came to the city. Not only will my granddaughter-in-law be filial to me, but my grandson will be too,” Grandma Zhou said with a smile, completely unrecognizable from her previous serious expression.
Ignoring what Grandma Zhou was saying, Zhou Ma picked out the pig's trotters, lungs, the better-looking scraps of meat, and the meatiest bones, nodding with satisfaction. "Just wait for dinner!"
Zhou Xiangyang followed along with great interest. He was genuinely prepared to let his grandmother taste his cooking and to properly show her filial piety. He was completely oblivious to the back-and-forth exchange between the two.
Although Grandma Zhou was reluctant to part with the meat, she could only suppress her anger and curse Zhou Ma in her heart for being stingy and greedy.
Lin Yuanshu did not express his opinion, because even if Zhou Ma hadn't said it, she would have suggested taking some meat to make a meat dish for tonight.
Of course, it would be better if Zhou Ma said this, as she could remain uninvolved while still offending Grandma Zhou.
After Zhou Ma left the living room, Zhou Grandma came to her senses and greeted her with a smile, "Second daughter-in-law, why are you still standing? Come sit down and rest. You've had a long day."
She turned to look at Sister-in-law Xue and ordered, "Hurry up and pour a glass of water for the second wife. You have no sense of propriety at all."
Sister-in-law Xue said, feeling very aggrieved, "I also contributed money."
She doesn't demand the exact same treatment, but at least this kind of differential treatment is unacceptable! One is in heaven, the other is in the mud.
Grandma Zhou smiled insincerely and said, "Isn't that because you voluntarily wanted to be filial to me?"
Seeing that Sister-in-law Xue had given her money, Lin Yuanshu kindly came to her rescue, saying, "Grandma, Sister-in-law just wanted to stay with you a little longer. She didn't want to leave your side. She really misses you and keeps telling me how good you are to her."
Grandma Zhou looked at Sister-in-law Xue with a mixture of belief and doubt.
Sister-in-law Xue pursed her lips, wanting to speak, but not knowing what to say. After thinking for a moment, she decided that talking to her grandmother was not as good as going to pour water, so she happily went to pour water.
The older brother was speechless. He knew that his wife had been deceived by Lin Yuanshu. She had actually given Lin Yuanshu money without his knowledge. She was incredibly foolish.
Grandma Zhou chatted with Lin Yuanshu about life in the production team for a while, then changed the subject and asked, "Can you buy some more of this cheap meat that doesn't require ration coupons? I also want to go to the slaughterhouse to buy some pork to make salted meat."
She knew she shouldn't have believed her daughter-in-law. Her daughter-in-law only talked about how lazy and unfilial Lin Yuanshu was, without mentioning that Lin Yuanshu had the ability to buy such cheap meat and was generous. She didn't care whether Lin Yuanshu was filial to Zhou Ma or not, as long as he was filial to her.
After all, Zhou Ma wasn't very filial to her; she wasn't as filial as her granddaughter-in-law, Lin Yuanshu!
Lin Yuanshu said with great difficulty, "This is probably not easy to do. The team leader knew that I wanted to be filial to my elders, so he specially took me to the slaughterhouse. I don't want to trouble the team leader for no reason. How about this, if there is another opportunity next time, I will buy more meat and have my dad deliver it to you."
Grandma Zhou was a little disappointed, but she had no choice but to accept this solution.
She couldn't have a better impression of Lin Yuanshu now. Zhou Ma had been her daughter-in-law for so many years, and she was as stingy as a miser, never giving a penny. She had never been so filial to her, always trying to get money out of her. But Lin Yuanshu had only been her granddaughter-in-law for a short time! And he was so generous.
"You are a good child. Stay together with Xiangyang from now on. Your happiness is more important than anything else," Grandma Zhou said with a kind face.
Lin Yuanshu was deeply moved and said, "Grandma, Xiangyang and I will definitely be happy."
Sister-in-law Xue placed two cups in front of Lin Yuanshu and Grandma Zhou, giving each of them a cup of water. She also imitated Lin Yuanshu and said, "Grandma, Xiangjun and I will be happy too."
Grandma Zhou glanced at Sister-in-law Xue and said irritably, "The sooner you get pregnant, the sooner you'll be happy."
Sister-in-law Xue fell silent instantly. She longed to get pregnant more than anyone else, but unfortunately, her body wouldn't cooperate.
Lin Yuanshu cleared his throat, sighed, and said righteously, "My sister-in-law isn't pregnant yet, so we really can't blame her."
Grandma Zhou asked instinctively, "Then who's to blame?"
Lin Yuanshu spoke nonsense with a straight face, "Of course it's Mom's fault. She's always yelling and cursing at home, throwing tantrums. She's even cursing away all our good fortune. If I were her child, I wouldn't want to go to a family like that! As the saying goes, you can't rush things. Mom is always staring at my sister-in-law's belly and cursing her for not being able to get pregnant. This has caused my sister-in-law to be depressed and stressed. How could she possibly get pregnant under such circumstances!"
Too lazy to beat around the bush or use underhanded tactics, she directly stated her stance and asked Grandma Zhou to take sides. Given her usual behavior, one couldn't honestly say that she and her mother-in-law had a good relationship, like family. In fact, their relationship was already irreconcilable, and there was no need to hide it anymore.
Lin Yuanshu didn't know whether Grandma Zhou believed it or not, but she knew that Sister-in-law Xue definitely did, and she looked at her with a look of agreement.
After thinking for a moment, the eldest brother mustered up the courage to stand up and speak for Zhou's mother, saying, "I don't think it has much to do with Mom."
As a son, how could he stand by and watch his sister-in-law slander his mother?
Lin Yuanshu sneered, "You're a man, what do you know about having children? When your wife was being scolded, you didn't stand up for her or say a bad word about your mother. You only know to stand up for her now. If you were willing to protect your sister-in-law in front of your mother, she wouldn't have suffered so much. It's not really your mother's fault, the main responsibility is yours. You can't mediate the conflict between your mother-in-law and your wife, and you can't protect your wife either. In short—you're an incompetent person!"
Sister-in-law Xue looked at Lin Yuanshu with admiration. If the situation hadn't been so bad, she would have applauded and cheered. No wonder her younger brother liked Lin Yuanshu so much; it felt really good to be protected by him.
The older brother felt his head spinning. He had never been insulted so harshly before. After all, he was an educated man, and no one would insult him. He also believed he had done nothing wrong. "What kind of attitude is this? I'm your older brother."
Lin Yuanshu took a deep breath, threw himself into Grandma Zhou's arms, and said aggrievedly, "Grandma, my brother was mean to me, he was so scary."
Big Brother: "..."
Are you sick?!
Grandma Zhou cleared her throat and said sternly, "Xiang Jun, watch your tone of voice. Don't talk to your family like that."
The eldest brother said, feeling very wronged, "Grandma, it was my sister-in-law who scolded me first."
After thinking for a moment, Zhou Laoda stepped forward and said, "Xiang Jun, what Xiao Er's wife said is not without reason, it's just that her words are a bit harsh. As a man, you don't need to argue with women too much. The most important thing in life is to be magnanimous. Even if someone points their finger at you and curses you, you can just laugh it off."
“Only a coward would laugh it off,” the older brother retorted.
Zhou Lao Er retorted, "Then what else do you want to do! Hit a woman! Have you forgotten the Zhou family rules? No matter what happens, you must never hit a woman!"
The eldest brother was exhausted and didn't want to say another word. Even though Lin Yuanshu had scolded him first, he was still being blamed.
Old Master Zhou shook his head and said to Zhou Dafu with a serious expression, "Your son... still needs more guidance..."
Zhou Dafu smiled and agreed, "You're right."
He's neither deaf nor blind, so he's not fit to be a head of the household. He's too lazy to deal with these trivial matters. His brain is for work, not for handling family disputes. As long as a fight doesn't break out, he doesn't get involved.
Lin Yuanshu took Grandma Zhou's arm, a slight smile playing on his lips. It seemed that so-called family ties couldn't compare to the benefits in hand. Money wasn't everything, but you couldn't do without it.
She said earnestly, "Grandma, you're so good to me and my sister-in-law. No one has ever protected us like this before. When my sister-in-law and I get our wages, we'll buy you malted milk powder. I heard it's very nutritious. We'll also buy you clothes; your clothes are all patched..."
Lin Yuanshu's painted pancakes completely charmed Grandma Zhou, who exclaimed, "You're the most filial person in the family!"
You'd never guess it was their first day meeting, and that they'd only known each other for less than half an hour.
Zhou Ma had no idea what was happening in the living room. While cleaning the pig's trotters, she imagined the scene of Lin Yuanshu being disciplined by his mother-in-law.
Aunt Wen was returning from buying soy sauce when she passed by the Zhou family's house. Seeing that Zhou's mother was in a good mood, she smiled and said, "I'm afraid your family is going to have a meat feast today. You really have a good daughter-in-law. Thanks to you, I can also have some meat soup."
"What do you mean?" Zhou Ma asked, looking bewildered.
Aunt Wen smiled awkwardly, then whispered, "Don't you know? Comrade Lin Yuanshu gave me three bones with meat on them."
Aunt Zhou took a deep breath and said with a smile, "I didn't know before, but I know now."
Seeing Zhou Ma's expression, Aunt Wen knew that Zhou Ma was very unhappy. In order not to deliberately annoy people, she didn't explain too much and turned to leave. Since Comrade Lin Yuanshu dared to send her, he should be able to handle his mother-in-law, so she didn't want to make things worse.
After Aunt Wen left, Zhou Ma became angrier and angrier as she washed. She had thought that she couldn't lose her temper while her mother-in-law was at home, but Lin Yuanshu kept jumping around on her trigger point, and she just couldn't stand it.
She threw the pig's trotters back into the basin and stormed back into the living room. Seeing Lin Yuanshu and Grandma Zhou chatting and laughing, she became even angrier and questioned them bluntly, "Are you crazy? Why are you giving bones to your neighbor? Does your money grow on trees? You don't know how to save at all."
Lin Yuanshu's expression suddenly turned serious, looking even angrier than Zhou Ma, and he said aggressively, "Mom, how dare you bring this up? Wasn't I just cleaning up your mess? Have you forgotten how your nonsense almost cost Dad his job as team leader? You had a huge argument with the neighbors and offended them all. I was apologizing on your behalf. Dad is a leader now, and his reputation is very important. Without a solid foundation among the people, he can never get promoted."
These words stunned everyone, except for Zhou Xiangyang, who was still washing pig's trotters in the corridor. After Zhou's mother left, all the work fell to him.
Grandma Zhou's expression also turned grim, and she asked seriously, "Is this true?"
Lin Yuanshu said matter-of-factly, "Of course, this matter has become such a big deal, you can ask anyone you want, and they will know what happened that day."
Grandma Zhou thought for a moment, then turned to look at Zhou Dafu, "Did the second daughter-in-law lie?"
She knew that the second daughter-in-law and Zhou's mother didn't get along, so she asked Zhou Dafu again to confirm in order to avoid them spreading rumors.
Zhou's mother stared wide-eyed at Zhou Dafu, her eyes filled with pleading, begging him not to reveal the truth.
Lin Yuanshu, however, had a fearless attitude.
Looking at his mother's expression, Zhou Dafu hesitated.
Grandma Zhou didn't even need Zhou Dafu to say anything. She knew her son's personality. If this matter were false, her son would have refuted it long ago, instead of looking so conflicted.
"Alright, you don't need to say anything more. I already know the truth," Grandma Zhou said irritably.
Lin Yuanshu raised an eyebrow and added fuel to the fire, saying, "Grandma, you should stay in the city for a while longer and teach Mom how to be a decent person. She's become arrogant because she's too far away from you and has the final say at home. She's offending people outside all the time."
“Mom, I was framed by the neighbors. I didn’t go around spreading rumors,” Zhou’s mother retorted, then glared at Lin Yuanshu.
Lin Yuanshu smiled slightly and said sarcastically, "Then why don't they wrong others but only you? It must be because your usual behavior has offended them. Do you think they would be so bored as to target you for no reason?"
Zhou Ma roared angrily, "If you don't speak, no one will think you're mute."
Lin Yuanshu looked at Grandma Zhou with a wronged expression. Grandma Zhou shielded Lin Yuanshu behind her and said coldly, "You'd be better off not saying anything."
Zhou Ma was so angry she laughed. She had never been wronged like this before. Neither the neighbors nor Lin Yuanshu were good people. They actually brought up the old story in front of Grandma Zhou. It was really too much.
Lin Yuanshu continued to persuade her, "Grandma, you can let Uncle and the others go home first. You can stay and play for a while, so that my sister-in-law and I can take good care of you. You can also teach Mom how not to offend people. Dad is a leader now, but things are not as good as before. There are many people who want to take his position. If Mom says something wrong, losing her leadership position is a minor problem. I'm afraid it will implicate Dad and make him be criticized."
Chow Tai Fook can ignore everything else, but when it comes to his own issues, he cares a lot.
He thought about it and felt that Lin Yuanshu's words made some sense. He could tolerate his wife's constant bickering at home, but it would be bad for him if she went out and argued with others. So he said, "Mom, my second wife is right. In this situation, we still need to trouble you."
Grandma Zhou originally wanted to stay in the city for a while, and since Zhou Dafu said so, she had no reason to refuse. She wasn't staying to freeload; she was there to help her son.
Zhou Ma's heart sank. Lin Yuanshu really knew how to make a fuss over nothing. She had already learned her lesson from that incident, and now he wanted to do it all again. If she hadn't confirmed that it was the neighbor who told her, she would have suspected that Lin Yuanshu was behind it all.
She only made a small mistake, why make such a fuss about it?
"Mom, I'm really innocent. What happened last time was just an accident. I haven't argued with outsiders since. Don't believe what my second wife says. She can make the living sound like the dead..." Zhou's mother tried to explain.
Grandma Zhou didn't care whether Zhou's mother was wronged or not. Since her son had spoken, she didn't need to give her daughter-in-law a pleasant look. She said with a stern face, "If you have the mind to explain to me, you might as well hurry up and cook. All you do is slack off all day long. You're not upright and can't even set a good example."
Zhou Ma took a deep breath, glared fiercely at Lin Yuanshu, and then turned and left.
Seeing this, Lin Yuanshu smiled broadly. Zhou Ma lost because she wanted to use Grandma to deal with her, but she was unwilling to give her any benefits. She wanted the horse to run but didn't want to feed it. How could she possibly get Grandma's wholehearted help?
She was different; at least the benefits of helping her were tangible and visible. If Grandma wanted pork again in the future, the only option was not to offend her. That's why she made a promise with Grandma for the next time, instead of agreeing to Grandma's request.
She deliberately spoke ill of her eldest brother in front of her grandmother to see where her grandmother's bottom line was. Now it seems that these grandsons are not that important. However, it is not surprising. After all, her eldest brother and Xiangyang have lived in the city since childhood and may only return to the production team during festivals. Their relationship is definitely not as close as that of the grandsons who have lived by her side since childhood.
"Grandma, you're really amazing. You handle Mom so easily. With you here, my sister-in-law and I don't have to worry about Mom blaming us for giving you things in the future," Lin Yuanshu praised with a smile.
Grandma Zhou said proudly, "When your mother first married into the family, things were complicated. I had to go to great lengths to turn her into a daughter-in-law that everyone in the surrounding area praised. With me protecting you, you can rest assured!"
Lin Yuanshu replied with a smile, "Okay."
Apart from the eldest brother, who had a blank expression, everyone in the living room was chatting and laughing.
The eldest brother was filled with regret. He wished he hadn't stood up for himself. He thought Lin Yuanshu would be more restrained in front of his grandmother, but he hadn't expected him to be even more outrageous. He was only a little more restrained on ordinary days.
Meanwhile, Zhou Ma was angrily cleaning pig lungs. She said to Zhou Xiangyang in a serious tone, "Your wife really went too far this time. How could she talk nonsense in front of your grandmother? As a junior, how could she say such things? She has no manners and no respect. I have never seen such an unfilial daughter-in-law. You need to keep a close eye on your wife, understand?"
Zhou Xiangyang nodded and replied, "Understood."
He was completely preoccupied with what dishes to make and didn't pay any attention to what Zhou Ma said. His wife liked scrambled eggs with tomatoes, so he decided to make that. He also planned to use half of the bones to cook with winter melon and the other half to braise with pig's trotters...
“You need to have a good talk with your wife tonight. If necessary, you can even resort to physical force. Although the Zhou family has its rules, if you don’t say anything and I don’t say anything, no one will know…” Zhou’s mother continued to nag.
Zhou Xiangyang nodded perfunctorily, thinking that they could add a dish of spicy stir-fried pork lung. His wife liked spicy food, but his older brother and sister-in-law didn't seem to like it. However, it wasn't a big problem; they could eat other dishes...
There are no secrets in a tenement building, and the news of Lin Yuanshu giving away meat bones spread quickly. Everyone envied Aunt Hua and others for getting free bones. It was a pity that they didn't run into Lin Yuanshu when they went out, otherwise they might have gotten free meat bones too.
Aunt Wei told her family about this as a joke, and said proudly, "It's a good thing Lin Yuanshu isn't my daughter-in-law, otherwise I would have a headache. I didn't expect that the neighbor next door is such a stingy person, who would stretch every penny to two, but my own daughter-in-law is so generous, giving away meat bones without a care in the world."
Grandpa Wei remained silent. After all, he was now working under Lin Yuanshu and couldn't speak ill of Lin Yuanshu. If his wife, who was a blabbermouth, told Lin Yuanshu, it would be troublesome.
Sun Yiyi remained silent. She envied Lin Yuanshu's carefree attitude. Why was she so carefree? It was because she had a job and money. Ever since Lin Yuanshu started working, her desire to work had become more and more frequent, and she couldn't suppress it.
Wei Yong remained silent. The reason for his silence was simple: he didn't like discussing such boring gossip with his mother. Rather than focusing on others, he preferred to focus on himself.
Aunt Wei looked at everyone with a puzzled expression and asked, "Why aren't you all saying anything?"
Mr. Wei explained, "I'm too tired from work to talk."
To be honest, he really wanted a daughter-in-law like Lin Yuanshu, because then he could be the group leader and wouldn't have to envy Lao Zhou.
Ever since Lao Zhou became the team leader, the way he speaks to people has changed; it's become very bureaucratic.
"What's wrong? Is work not going well?" Aunt Wei asked anxiously.
Grandpa Wei replied wearily, "It went quite smoothly."
He would have been even happier if he didn't have to follow Lin Yuanshu's orders. The only thing to be thankful for is that this matter can be kept secret for the time being.
Zhou Xiangyang's braised pork trotters and ribs were so delicious that the people in the tenement building couldn't resist the aroma. The smell was so strong that the adults, even if they were tempted, wouldn't come over. But the children were different; they stood in the corridor smelling the aroma.
To prevent the soft-hearted Zhou Xiangyang from feeding the children meat, Zhou's mother stood guard over the pot, not allowing him to do anything out of line.
Zhou Xiangyang prepared a total of seven dishes: scrambled eggs with tomatoes, braised pig's trotters, braised pork ribs, stir-fried pork lungs with chili, twice-cooked pork, braised eggplant, and winter melon and pork rib soup. The dishes at his wedding banquet on his wedding day were not as plentiful as those tonight.
Lin Yuanshu helped bring the dishes to the table. After the meal started, no one spoke. Everyone was focused on eating the meat, afraid that if they said anything more, they would eat less meat.
Grandma Zhou gained a new understanding of Zhou Ma's stinginess. There was still a dish of braised pork that she had brought back from the cafeteria, but she was reluctant to serve it. She must have been planning to save it to eat behind her back.
In the past, she wouldn't have thought anything of it, since every daughter-in-law was frugal like that. But after experiencing Lin Yuanshu's generosity, she felt uncomfortable seeing her daughter-in-law being so stingy with her.
She suffered a lot to raise her eldest son, but now her youngest son's wife treats her like an outsider and is wary of her. She finds her daughter-in-law very displeasing.
After dinner, Lin Yuanshu took Grandma Zhou to a public bathhouse near the tenement building for a scrub. The chemical plant gave each worker two bath tickets every month, so the family had quite a few.
Chow Tai Fook took his two older brothers for a walk in the park.
Sister-in-law Xue and Aunt Zhou stayed behind to clean up the mess, while Zhou Xiangyang, having worked hard all night, just wanted to go back to his room to rest.
Looking at the food that had been eaten clean, Zhou Ma said with great dissatisfaction, "Country people are just country people. They eat like pigs, eating a lot without even getting an upset stomach."
Sister-in-law Xue knew that no matter how she answered, she wouldn't be able to satisfy her mother-in-law, so to avoid becoming a target of her anger, she chose not to answer.
Looking at the silent Sister-in-law Xue, Aunt Zhou vented all her anger from the day on her, "You barren hen! You think you're all grown up just because your second wife is helping you? You even secretly took money to buy meat behind my back! You think you're so powerful? You? You want to find a backer? You think you can compare to your second wife? She's perfectly healthy. Even if I make Xiang Jun divorce you today, no one will dare to say a word..."
Sister-in-law Xue glanced at her husband subconsciously and found him engrossed in reading the newspaper. She really couldn't stand this kind of life anymore. Even though Lin Yuanshu had only recently married into the family, he could see her grievances, but her husband seemed oblivious to them.
She took a deep breath and said coldly, "I'm going to the restroom."
Before Zhou Ma could react, Sister-in-law Xue had already left.
Zhou Ma didn't want to clean up the mess alone, so she waited and waited, but Xue Da Sao didn't come back. She said with a grim face, "Xiang Jun, go out and look for your wife. Why did she take so long to go to the toilet? Is she trying to slack off? She doesn't learn the good things, and only knows how to learn the bad things about Xiao Er's wife."
Upon hearing this, the older brother immediately put down his newspaper and went to the restroom to ask the older women if they had seen his wife. Aunt Hua kindly reminded him, "I think I just saw her running downstairs crying."
After thanking him, the older brother ran downstairs.
Aunt Hua shook her head subconsciously and sighed, "Xiang Jun's wife has it tough too!"
One of the older women retorted, "It's her fault for not being able to give birth to a son! She deserves to be mistreated. If she were my daughter-in-law, I would have made my son divorce her long ago."
Another older woman chimed in, "That's right! A son's lineage can't be severed, otherwise no one will break the pot after he dies. Old Zhou is too soft-hearted."
The others readily agreed.
Sister-in-law Xue sat behind a big tree downstairs, tears streaming down her face. When she saw her husband running down anxiously to find her, she couldn't help but smile. She quickly wiped away her tears, forced a smile, and pretended to be nonchalant. "I'm here."
The eldest brother arrived in front of Sister-in-law Xue, panting, and immediately began to criticize her, "What are you doing out here alone? You should help Mom clear the table and not be lazy."
Upon hearing this, Sister-in-law Xue couldn't hold back her emotions any longer. She said, feeling very wronged, "Mom just said those things to me, and you didn't even speak up for me."
“What are you saying? Isn’t what Mom is saying the truth? You should stay away from your second brother’s wife. I told you before, you can’t outsmart her, and don’t take her words seriously. She’s good at manipulating people and can easily swindle money from you.” The older brother said with a serious face.
"I'm willing to give it," Sister-in-law Xue said firmly. Just because Lin Yuanshu spoke up for her in front of her grandmother and scolded her husband for his inaction, she felt the money was worth it.
"You're really quite ill," her older brother said irritably. He tried to speak to her politely, but she wouldn't listen and insisted on believing Lin Yuanshu. He wanted to see what benefits she would gain from trusting Lin Yuanshu so much.
Sister-in-law Xue remained silent and could only follow her elder brother back home. She cleaned up the mess in the living room by herself, and no one knew what she was thinking.
After Lin Yuanshu and Grandma Zhou finished their baths and went outside, the moon was already high in the sky. Lin Yuanshu decisively turned on his flashlight and led Grandma Zhou home.
On the way, Grandma Zhou talked about children. "It's good for a woman to have a job, but she still has to have a child to be considered part of the family. Without a biological child, you'll always be an outsider in this family, just like your sister-in-law. She can't have children, so she can never stand up straight."
Lin Yuanshu casually agreed, "You're right."
Once she gets her own house, she'll take Zhou Xiangyang with her. She won't live with her mother-in-law and the others; in her own house, she'll never be an outsider.
Grandma Zhou sighed, "Your mother is the same; she's indifferent to the affairs of your eldest brother's descendants."
Lin Yuanshu's expression was very complicated. Zhou Ma kept urging her sister-in-law to have a baby, but she didn't take any real action. He didn't know if she cared or not!
“Anyway, my cousin and his brother have so many sons. If all else fails, we can adopt one. They’re all Zhou family members, all your grandsons. There’s no difference. You don’t need to worry about not having a filial son to break the basin after you die.” Lin Yuanshu said casually.
Grandma Zhou paused for a moment, then fell into deep thought.
Ten minutes later, the two returned to the Zhou family home. The living room had been cleaned. Fortunately, it was summer, so they wouldn't catch a cold even without a blanket.
Because there were no guest rooms, they had to share a room with several people. Lin Yuanshu offered to stay with his grandmother and sister-in-law, and neither of them objected, so the matter was settled.
The three of them were lying in bed when the eldest sister-in-law suddenly spoke up: "Second sister-in-law, do you think it's difficult to be someone's wife?"
Lin Yuanshu chuckled and joked, "It's quite difficult, after all, I'm now Xiao Er's wife, not Lin Yuanshu anymore."
This was her first time being someone else's daughter-in-law, and for her, as long as she was financially independent, there was nothing to be afraid of.
"I really envy you," Sister-in-law Xue said dejectedly, admiring Lin Yuanshu's inner strength.
Lin Yuanshu offered a token consolation: "As long as you're shameless, there's nothing you can't go through with."
Grandma Zhou patted Sister-in-law Xue's arm and comforted her with a pained expression, "Child, you've been wronged! It's all my fault for not teaching my daughter-in-law well. Don't worry, as long as I'm here, your mother won't kick you out. In my eyes, I only recognize you as my granddaughter-in-law, no one else will do."
Sister-in-law Xue was stunned. She really hadn't expected Lin Yuanshu to be serious and actually make her grandmother her support. She couldn't contain her joy, but a hint of hesitation lingered in her heart. "What if I can't have a child?"
Grandma Zhou said firmly, "There are ways to live even if you can't have children. Your mother wouldn't dare to let you get a divorce without my consent. Don't worry about these things. If it really doesn't work out, I'll help you solve this problem."
"How do we solve this?" Sister-in-law Xue asked.
Grandma Zhou gave a mysterious smile. "It's a secret."
Seeing this, Sister-in-law Xue didn't ask any more questions. This was one of her few virtues; she never overthought things.
After Grandma Zhou fell asleep, Lin Yuanshu returned the two yuan and fifty cents and the meat coupon to Sister-in-law Xue.
Sister-in-law Xue accepted the money and tickets, and said softly, "Thank you for speaking up for me."
Lin Yuanshu said in a serious tone, "No need for thanks, just don't speak ill of me in front of the neighbors in the future."
Sister-in-law Xue couldn't help but retort, "I didn't say anything bad. I was just telling the truth, with a little bit of my own opinion added."
Lin Yuanshu: "..."
She has so many personal ideas.
"Why is Grandma backing me up? Can you tell me?" Sister-in-law Xue asked earnestly, her expression showing a hint of anxiety.
Not knowing why her grandmother was helping her, she couldn't feel at ease, fearing that one day her grandmother would stop helping her and would revert to her previous dislike towards her.
Lin Yuanshu was silent for a while, then slowly said, "If you don't have children, you can consider adopting your cousin's child."
Sister-in-law Xue instantly understood what Lin Yuanshu meant. So this was the way of life that her grandmother had been talking about—the kind of life that couldn't be born! This was fine too; as long as she had any use, her grandmother would continue to help her.
After receiving the answer, Sister-in-law Xue was instantly relieved, slowly closed her eyes, and drifted off to sleep.
Lin Yuanshu didn't know if what she did was right or wrong. She was just fulfilling her promise to make her grandmother a supporter of Sister-in-law Xue. What happened afterward was beyond her control.
However, on the other hand, the situation couldn't be too bad. After all, Sister-in-law Xue had already been bullied by her mother-in-law to such an extent. Just because Sister-in-law Xue wasn't pregnant, her mother-in-law didn't treat her like a human being, scolding her whenever she wanted and ordering her around like a headless chicken.
The next morning, Grandma Zhou and Zhou's mother prepared breakfast and called them to eat. With Grandma Zhou around, Zhou's mother became extremely quiet, stopped making any trouble, and always had a smile on her face.
Lin Yuanshu always felt that Zhou Ma looked really strange.
After breakfast, Chow Tai Fook planned to send his eldest son and second son to the station before going to work at the chemical plant.
Grandma Zhou couldn't help but tell the two of them, "When you get home, don't forget to marinate the meat with salt. This meat is meant to be eaten during the 'double harvest' season."
Zhou Dafu said with a smile, "Mom, my eldest brother and second brother aren't children anymore. You don't need to keep nagging them. Just live peacefully in the city!"
Grandma Zhou said irritably, "No matter how old you are, you will always be my children in my eyes."
Chow Tai Fook lowered his head somewhat embarrassed.
After finishing breakfast, Lin Yuanshu and Zhou Xiangyang went to work together, chatting and laughing. Sister-in-law Xue looked at the two with envy, thinking how good their relationship was! She and Zhou Xiangjun had never had such a good relationship before.
The older brother muttered under his breath, "This is truly morally reprehensible."
He dared not let Lin Yuanshu hear, fearing that Lin Yuanshu would make a fuss and he would be scolded by his grandmother again.
Sister-in-law Xue looked at her husband with a heavy heart. She suddenly realized that her husband was even more spineless than her younger brother. At least her younger brother dared to speak up for Lin Yuanshu in front of their mother, while her husband didn't dare to utter a word. It seemed that the so-called cultured people were nothing more than this, unable to even argue with Lin Yuanshu.
On the other side, Zhao Hong was humming a song and brushing her teeth in the yard.
Zhao Hong's husband heard the noise, got out of bed, glanced at the time, and saw that it was only five o'clock, still a long time before he had to go to work!
"Why did you get up so early?" Zhao Hong's husband asked while yawning.
Zhao Hong said with a smile, "I want to go to work early today."
Zhao Hong's partner looked bewildered and asked, "When did you start liking going to work so much?"
"Because I met my mentor at work." Zhao Hong had a smile on her face the whole time.
Zhao Hong's husband whispered a warning: "I'm telling you, don't believe those old geezers, or you'll get taken advantage of."
"Don't worry! My mentor is a woman." Zhao Hong quickly finished brushing her teeth, left the yard, and went back to her room to change her clothes.
Zhao Hong's husband muttered under his breath, "So what if she's a woman? Women can take advantage of other women too!"
In the office of the fourth production workshop of naphthalene intermediates, after signing in, Lin Yuanshu reported the current work progress to the team leader and said that he would like to borrow the technician's laboratory.
"Why do we need to borrow the lab? Don't the technicians we've been assigned have their own labs?" the team leader asked, puzzled.
Lin Yuanshu said with a heavy heart, "Because no technicians are willing to join our team, I can only use the maintenance personnel as technicians now."
Upon hearing this, the team leader immediately became furious. "They've gone too far! They completely disregard the Fourth Workshop and are just treating us like this. No way! I'm going to report this to the head of the technical department."
Lin Yuanshu quickly pulled the team leader aside, saying nonchalantly, "Comrade Zhao Hong and I have already drawn up the design drawings for the inclined blade reactor agitator. All we need to do is manufacture the parts and then test them in the reactor. Bringing in technicians now would just be taking credit for our work."
Upon hearing this, the team leader excitedly said, "They'll definitely regret it after the labor production competition ends."
Lin Yuanshu shrugged indifferently and said with a smile, "It's a pity it was too late by then."
She really didn't care whether these technicians would regret it later, since all her attention was focused on the inclined blade reactor agitator.
Lin Yuanshu went to the technical department to borrow the laboratory, while Zhao Hong and others went with the team leader to inspect the equipment in the workshop.
Remembering what Lin Yuanshu had said before—to help build Zhao Hong's confidence—the team leader praised Zhao Hong generously, saying, "I've seen your design drawings, they're very good. I never expected to have such an outstanding talent by my side. Luckily, we discovered it before it was too late."
Zhao Hong was a little embarrassed by the praise. In front of so many people, she couldn't belittle herself, as that would mean denying the team leader's idea. She said excitedly, "I will continue to work hard and do my best to help the fourth workshop win first place."
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