In the evening, in a small courtyard deep in the alleys in the north of the city, Chen Jingru carefully smoothed the sorghum noodles that had risen from the small bowl in the kitchen.
Her mother, Old Lady Chen, sat down in front of the stove and lit the fire. Seeing this, she sighed and said, "Put more in. Xiaohui will be here soon. Don't let the child go hungry."
Chen Jingru nodded slightly, but his hand movements remained unchanged.
"Xiao Ru, what are your plans? If you really divorce me, your life will be very difficult. How long can that old woman live? If you can outlive her, your life will be much better."
Chen Jingru paused after putting down the small bowl, looked at his mother guiltily, and kept his mouth shut without saying a word.
"Forget it, I can't control you. You won't listen even if I tell you. The neighbors all envy you, but who knew that you were the one with the worst life in your family. If I had known, I wouldn't have let you marry into the Lin family..."
You, on the other hand, just don't listen. You were studying well at university, so why did you go so far away? Look, if I hadn't met Xiaolin, you wouldn't have suffered so much for so many years...
Now your niece says she doesn't want to go to school, so I'll ask your second sister-in-law to agree. Reading too much makes you stupid. Why go to school? You might as well start working and earning money...
This woman, after all, can’t be compared with a man…”
Chen Jingru listened to his mother's muttering, his thoughts following her words, and scenes from the past came to his mind.
Sigh... what's the point of thinking about this? She shook her head vigorously, took out some dried wild vegetables and chopped them up finely. Then she thought about the family having porridge tonight, and she couldn't help but worry about what to do if her son was hungry.
"...I don't know what's going on with Linzi. She wasn't close to us to begin with, and now that we don't have food coupons to send her, she's going to hate us even more."
Chen Jingru frowned and whispered, "Don't mention this child at home. The sisters-in-law don't want to hear about it. I've already sent it to her. She won't starve."
Old Lady Chen looked at her daughter's face and pondered her words, "Don't bear a grudge against your sisters-in-law. Linzi, raised by her grandmother, has become estranged from our family, and now she wants another fifty kilograms of food coupons. I can't blame your sisters-in-law for being unhappy. Look how close they are to Xiaohui. They don't favor boys over girls."
"I know. I didn't raise the child well myself, why should I blame my sister-in-law?"
"That's good. Life is not easy for everyone. Let alone now, even in previous years, our family couldn't afford so many food coupons. It was only last year that your eldest brother got promoted, and life at home became easier."
Chen Jingru felt both sad and amused when she heard this. What kind of official position could a factory director hold? She knew her mother was illiterate, so she didn't explain.
After all this talk, Old Lady Chen felt she had said enough. As long as her daughter understood the family's difficulties and didn't blame her family, that would be enough.
Honestly, not to mention her daughter-in-law, she also didn't want her own grandchildren to associate with that granddaughter. It didn't matter if she looked down on her in-laws and spoke eccentrically; no one in the family would bother with a child. But to even go so far as to harm someone was unacceptable. How cruel must that be.
Fortunately, her grandson had no contact with this child, otherwise he would not have known that he was harmed. When she thought about her granddaughter's character, Old Lady Chen wished that she would stay in the Northwest and not come back, otherwise, her eldest grandson might also be in trouble. Why did this child harm her own cousin? Isn't it because she hates others who are living better than her? If her eldest grandson is living well, wouldn't it make her uncomfortable?
Chen Jingru didn't know what Old Lady Chen was thinking, but she knew her family despised her and no one wanted to talk about it. She lifted the lid of the pot, saw the water boiling, and quickly poured in the wild vegetables.
"Xiao Lin is here? Don't bring anything here from now on. Is my father-in-law okay?"
"My dad wanted to come over to see you, but I stopped him. He just recovered from a cold recently. You two old people can get together again later."
"This man is old and can't move anymore, just like an old machine. No, he's even worse than an old machine. The big guys can fix it, but this man can't be fixed..."
In the kitchen, Old Lady Chen overheard her husband and son-in-law talking outside and curled her lips. What was this damn old man so happy about? Even the Lin family was so rich, and he caught a cold? It was a small matter. Everyone gets a headache and a fever in winter, right?
But after looking at her daughter, she stood up and took the rice spoon. "You'd better go out. Your father won't have to yell at you later."
Chen Jingru was pushed aside by her mother and stood there motionless.
"Don't be stubborn. It's always better for a married couple to stay together as they are originally. Your father won't let you get a divorce, so just give up on this idea. Listen to this old man laughing like a fool. Tsk tsk... I've never seen a son-in-law in my entire life."
"Xiao Ru, quickly bring out some bowls. I'll let your mother do all the housework. Do you hear me?"
Old Mrs. Chen raised her rice spoon and waved it fiercely outside. "Listen, this old man will never change his bad habits - he makes me do all the work. If I don't cook for him one day, he will starve. I think I should divorce your father first. I'm going to have a bad life with this man."
Seeing this, Chen Jingru smiled softly, turned around, took two bowls and chopsticks and left the kitchen.
When Old Man Chen saw his daughter coming out, he laughed with joy.
Turning around, he boasted to Lin Aiguo standing beside him, "This child is so filial. He's been busy all the time since he came here..."
"Dad, have some wine." Chen Jingru opened the lunch box and saw that one contained pig's head meat, and the other was filled with shredded cabbage and pork. She couldn't describe the feeling in her heart - it had been a long time since her son had tasted it.
I wanted to save half for my son, but after hesitating for a while, I finally gave up the idea.
"Come over later, Xiaohui. After dinner, your family will have gone home long ago. Xiaoru, Dad won't keep you. There's not enough food at home, so you should go back."
After a few drinks with his son-in-law, Old Man Chen became increasingly anxious when he saw that the couple hadn't been communicating. He decisively declared, "The couple is taking too long. If there's anything, go home and beat them up. Even after beating them up, they'll have to live a good life."
Wanting a divorce? How rare! This silly daughter has been a widow for so many years. Finally, her son-in-law comes back. Who will allow her to divorce? The son-in-law has come so many times, it’s enough.
"Dad, it's all my fault. Xiaoru, come home. Everything is a mess without you. If you're angry, take it out on me. Don't keep silent. If you don't tell me, how can I know what to change?"
Chen Jingru glanced at him and turned back to her room. She didn't even want to go to the kitchen right now, to avoid her mother's nagging.
There were two wooden beds next to each other in the small room, making it difficult to even turn around. Even so, his two nieces slept together, leaving a bed for himself. Thinking of this, Chen Jingru stood at the door, a little dazed.
She really couldn't live there any longer!
Seeing his daughter leave without a word, Old Man Chen patted his son-in-law on the shoulder and said meaningfully, "Your wife is your own wife. Even when a man is old, his wife is still his lover. Go back and live a good life this time. When Xiaohui comes back later, I will definitely find a way to let her go back. It's inevitable that a couple will quarrel a little bit when living together. The key is not to let each other feel cold. Once someone's heart is hurt, it's really too late to say anything."
After saying that, Old Man Chen took a sip of wine, glanced at his silent son-in-law, and continued.
"I'm not the father-in-law who's praising my daughter. Many people asked her to remarry in the early years, but she refused. At that time, Xiaohui was still in school, and someone liked her and said many good things about her. But she said that she had never thought about her family in her life, and she would take care of your old age. She has been living with your parents like this forever."
Old Man Chen felt sad when he thought about this. He knew that his mother-in-law was too picky and looked down on his family. So, except for necessary favors, she never allowed her family to visit the Lin family.
My daughter has a stubborn personality and I don’t know how much grievances she has suffered in her husband’s family.
"Dad, I know Xiaoru hasn't had an easy time these past few years. She's shouldered all my responsibilities. I'm sorry for her and for making her suffer."
Old man Chen waved his hand. This son-in-law said he could talk, but if he kept his word, would his daughter, after waiting so long for him to come back, still ask for a divorce?
He was too lazy to talk about it anymore, but his poor eldest grandson still needed a father.
"Xiaohui has also had a hard time. He was about five or six years old, and at that young age, he told his mother that people called him a fatherless wild child.
Don't think your child is indifferent to you, but in his heart he wants to be close to you. You should spend more time with your child. In a few years, when he starts working, you won't even have time to talk to your son.
After Old Chen finished speaking, he saw that his son-in-law looked thoughtful, so he didn't want to say more. It was impossible to say how satisfied he was with this son-in-law. If it weren't for his daughter, he wouldn't want to bother with him. He had been alive for so long, and except for the holidays, he hadn't visited his home many times.
When it was time for dinner, the Chen family and Lin Dinghui came back one after another.
After dinner, Lin Dinghui leaned back in his chair with a book, occasionally glancing at his father who was chatting with his uncles. Then he continued to read.
Seeing that it was getting late, Old Chen asked his wife to pack his daughter's luggage and went to call his daughter. Without saying anything, he took the bag and handed it to his eldest grandson, then pushed the family out the door and waved them back.
Watching his sister and her family leave, the eldest of the Chen family said worriedly, "Dad, will my little sister go live with someone else? If she really doesn't want to live there anymore, let her be. She has a job and a son, so what's there to be afraid of?"
The youngest son of the Chen family agreed and said, "Dad didn't do a good job. He shouldn't have let my little sister go home with my brother-in-law before Grandpa Xiaohui came to visit."
Old Chen glared at them and said, "Stop talking nonsense. How many times has your brother-in-law come here? He really wants your eldest sister to live alone for the rest of her life."
The youngest son of the Chen family said unhappily, "Why are you here now? What were you doing earlier?"
Seeing his father's eyes widen with anger, the eldest son of the Chen family slapped his younger brother and said, "That's enough. Do you want to be laughed at by others? Go in quickly."
The family went into the house, but Old Man Chen still stood there, worried. Even when it was dark and he could no longer see the front, he still looked ahead.
After hearing what his youngest son said, he didn't know whether he was right or wrong. He just hoped that his son-in-law would listen to him and treat his daughter and grandson well.
After a while, Old Man Chen finally breathed a sigh of relief when he saw that his daughter no longer asked to stay for a few days each time she returned to her parents' home, and his grandson also said that his mother was doing well.
But what Old Chen didn't know was that with Old Mrs. Lin as her mother-in-law, it would be impossible for his daughter to live a peaceful life.
Since ancient times, conflicts between mother-in-law and daughter-in-law have often led to major battles, often prolonged ones. The winner or loser depends on the attitude of the man caught between them.
Who knows what the future holds? Everyone has a path to follow.
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