Wang Yingqiu hurried over, wiping her eyes, and said, "Peian, you're back just in time. They're moving the sewing machine to the tenement building."
“I know this was left by Ono’s mother, and there’s nothing wrong with giving it to Ono’s wife. But when we got married, I mentioned that we needed a sewing machine for the house, and you said that we already had one, so we didn’t need to buy another one.”
“Look, our baby is about to be born. Babies grow quickly and need to have their clothes changed often. I can’t keep having someone make clothes for the baby every day.”
Lu Pei'an glanced at Jiang Xuan and said in a deep voice, "I promised to give this sewing machine to your Aunt Wang before."
Lu Xiaomei sneered, "With your one-fifth share, what do you think she can use? Wheels?"
"What?"
Jiang Xuan couldn't help but laugh.
Lu Pei'an gave her a serious look. "What are you laughing at?"
Jiang Xuan looked at him and said, "I'm surprised that Uncle Lu, who is so knowledgeable, doesn't understand the law."
"What nonsense are you spouting? What law are you talking about?"
Lu Xiaomei repeated Jiang Xuan's words, and Lu Pei'an's face turned even blacker than the bottom of a pot.
"Forget it, let her move out!" Lu Pei'an said and went into the house.
Lu Xiaomei glanced smugly at Wang Yingqiu, then affectionately linked arms with Jiang Xuan, "Let's go, Sister Xuanxuan, let's take the bowls and chopsticks over first."
Just then, the sound of a cart came from outside the door; the two young soldiers had returned.
Under Lu Xiaomei's direction, they carefully carried the sewing machine out the door.
*
A large courtyard.
As soon as Jiang Xuan and Lu Xiaomei entered the courtyard, they saw a woman in blue work clothes sitting by the pool washing clothes.
Hearing the noise, the woman looked up.
She looked to be about thirty years old, with a sallow complexion, dull eyes, and dark circles around her eyes, making her appear particularly tired.
"Hello, I'm the new neighbor. My name is Jiang Xuan, and this is my sister."
She smiled and nodded at them.
Seeing that she had no desire to communicate, Jiang Xuan led her younger sister into the house.
The table, chairs, and wardrobe are placed in the living room.
"Sister-in-law, where is the sewing machine?" the young soldier asked.
"Let's put it in the master bedroom, in this room."
"Sister-in-law, we didn't know where to put the table, chairs, and wardrobe, so we just put them in the living room. You can tell us you'd like us to help you move them."
"Okay, thank you for your hard work."
After putting the bowls, chopsticks, and pot into the communal kitchen, Jiang Xuan came back and said, "Little sister, there's not even any water at home right now. This morning, the neighbor brought some cornbread, boiled potatoes, and scallions. There's still some left. Do you want some?"
"I'm not eating. I ate this morning. HyunHyun, you didn't just eat this this morning, did you?"
"Hmm, I think potato rolls with scallion leaves are delicious."
"Let's hurry up and head out after they've set up the furniture. I know a shop that sells sesame seed cakes; I'll treat you to one."
"OK."
"Sister-in-law, the furniture is all set up, so we'll be going now." Two young soldiers came out one after the other.
"Thank you so much. We just moved in, and we haven't even cooked or gotten any hot water yet. We feel really bad about it."
The more talkative young soldier smiled sheepishly, "It's alright, there's a water tap outside, we can just have a drink."
"Is tap water drinkable?"
Jiang Xuan realized she had misspoke as soon as she finished speaking.
These days, who cares about these things? Even the original owner of this body often drinks unboiled water.
It seems there's no problem.
After seeing the young soldier off, Jiang Xuan prepared to go out to buy something.
"Little sister, wait for me a moment. I'll go to the other courtyard to see if Sister Mei has left yet. She said this morning that she was also going to the market to buy a hoe and vegetable seeds."
"Okay, then go ahead, I'll wait for you at the door."
Before Jiang Xuan could even step out the door, the mean-spirited old lady from next door came out of their house, carrying a pile of clothes in her arms.
She walked to the sink, threw the clothes down, and scolded loudly, "What are you dawdling about? You've only washed a few pieces after all this time? And these too, wash them all together."
The woman said in a low voice, "Mom, I feel a little dizzy and my stomach is upset. Maybe I can wash these on the weekend."
"You get dizzy when you have to do chores, but if you eat meat, you'll be more energetic than anyone else."
The woman looked aggrieved. "No, Mom, you know I worked the night shift last night and just got off work. I didn't eat much..."
Zhang Guiying interrupted her, saying sternly, "Alright, there are many people working the night shift, it's not like you're the only one. What are you complaining about? When I was young, I also worked the night shift, and when I came back, I still had to take care of the children, do laundry, and cook."
The woman stopped talking.
Jiang Xuan was stunned.
This woman is such a spineless coward.
No wonder he looks so haggard; it turns out he's been bullied by this shrew.
Lu Xiaomei was the first to object. She walked over and said, "Hey, you old woman, you're too awful! She said she was dizzy, and you still made her wash so many clothes. Aren't you afraid of retribution for treating your daughter-in-law like this?"
The old woman turned around and yelled, "Who are you? It's none of your business to interfere in our family affairs!"
Jiang Xuan walked over and said, "You just said it yourself, that after you finished your night shift, you had to take care of the children, do laundry, and cook. So let me ask you, how did you feel back then? You didn't really enjoy it, did you?"
Zhang Guiying's expression changed.
"I don't understand your mentality. You were once a daughter-in-law yourself. Why would you make your daughter-in-law suffer the same hardships you did?"
Zhang Guiying said angrily, "I just asked her to do the laundry. Besides, it's her job. She didn't say anything, so why are you all so anxious?"
"What's the rush? I just can't stand your behavior of bullying your daughter-in-law."
Jiang Xuan: "This isn't bullying, this is abuse."
Lu Xiaomei said, "Xuanxuan, don't waste your breath on her. Let's go to the neighborhood office later and let the staff there handle it. I heard that the laws are being improved, and the neighborhood office will definitely take care of such egregious behavior."
Zhang Guiying was anxious. They weren't exaggerating; the people in the neighborhood committee really knew how to handle this.
A while ago, the middleman in the compound got a good scolding from the neighborhood committee for knocking out two of his wife's front teeth.
Even though the people from the neighborhood committee probably wouldn't really do anything to her, it's still not a good thing for this kind of thing to get out.
She glared at Ma Xiaolan with disgust. "Alright, I won't wash these clothes today. If you're feeling dizzy, go get some sleep."
Ma Xiaolan lowered her head meekly and said, "Thank you, Mom. I'll finish washing the few items I have on hand, and I'll wash the rest this weekend."
Zhang Guiying said irritably, "Aren't you feeling dizzy? Why bother washing? Just sleep for a while and then wash."
Ma Xiaolan then stood up, supporting herself against the pool.
Perhaps due to anemia or something else, she stood there for a while before slowly walking into the house.
She managed a weak smile as she passed Jiang Xuan.
Jiang Xuan nodded as well.
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