Chapter 74 I gave birth to your brain, where is your brain?
Li Banxia glanced at Su Hongying, pulled her arm out from under her hand, and strode after the woman leading the way.
Su Hongying stomped her foot.
As the group arrived on the second floor, they heard laughter coming from inside the office when they were still a short distance away.
"...Did you resolve the issue of your second son's bicycle? Did you find the ticket?"
“It’s resolved. My eldest daughter-in-law’s family has one. She went back to get it early this morning. She also said that her sister-in-law’s family gave her a bicycle as part of her dowry, and her sister-in-law plans to give her one as well. They paid for the bicycle ticket and the purchase price.”
These words made Li Banxia pause in her tracks, glancing sideways at Su Hongying who was jogging up to her.
Su Hongying didn't hear her, blinked, and asked, "What's wrong?"
The woman glanced at her and whispered to Li Banxia that the one who had just spoken was Zheng Xiulan.
Li Banxia understood.
She was so familiar with Zheng Xiulan's voice. In her past life, whenever Zheng Xiulan spoke, her eldest daughter would run home and move all the family's belongings to her husband's family. As a result, she would get agitated whenever she heard Zheng Xiulan's voice.
"Oh my, you've really married a good daughter-in-law."
"Your in-laws are so generous..."
Zheng Xiulan just smiled and didn't respond. After a moment, she sighed softly and said, "If only the second son's wife were like that, their family would ask for that much..."
Zheng Xiulan stretched out her index finger and shook it.
Everyone exclaimed, "A thousand! That's quite a lot!"
"Who says it isn't?"
A group of colleagues sighed for Zheng Xiulan, "It's tough on you two, saving money all year round to get your son married."
Zheng Xiulan laughed.
That's alright. "The eldest son asked for eight hundred back then. I was discussing it with my husband yesterday. If the second son's family insists on asking for one thousand, then we have to find a way to make up the difference of two or three hundred for the eldest son's family."
That was an extremely well-said statement.
Everyone in the office praised Zheng Xiulan as a good mother-in-law.
"Sister Zheng, you should also take care of yourself. You've already married into your eldest son's family, what else is there to give?"
The others laughed and agreed.
Zheng Xiulan laughed, "We have to treat everyone fairly. For the sake of our children, we're willing to sell everything we own..."
Su Hongying didn't detect anything wrong with what these words said.
She even smiled smugly at Li Banxia, telling her, "My mother-in-law treats everyone equally and is very good to me."
"You asked for an eight hundred yuan dowry? How come I didn't know about this?" Li Banxia asked Su Hongying with a frown.
Su Hongying froze, meeting Li Banxia's gaze. "Oh, right, I only asked for five hundred. I'd only been married a few days when my mother-in-law came to me crying, saying she was sorry I'd been wronged, that her family was too poor to afford me good food and drink, and that I..."
Su Hongying opened her mouth blankly, then finished speaking.
"...I gave her all five hundred to use for household expenses."
Li Banxia, "..."
The woman who led the way, and a group of female workers who were watching the commotion, were speechless.
The woman's eyes lit up, and she whispered to Li Banxia, "Your in-laws are something else, treating your daughter like a monkey..."
After saying that, he realized it was inappropriate, so he coughed lightly and moved halfway to the side.
Li Banxia nodded and hummed in agreement.
The sound of Zheng Xiulan's colleague complaining came from the office again, saying, "Young people these days are all obsessed with money. Unlike us back then, we didn't care about money, we only cared about people..."
"That's right. Back then, if two people liked each other, even a penniless man would be willing to marry her. A good life is something that two people work hard for together..."
"People these days are never satisfied..."
A colleague asked Zheng Xiulan, "You just give them whatever they want; you're too honest, you don't even haggle over the price?"
Zheng Xiulan gave a wry smile.
“A well-mannered girl like her wouldn’t haggle over prices. It’s not like we’re buying something… Besides, my daughter-in-law is a very nice person.”
Upon hearing this, Su Hongying spoke slightly, looking at Li Banxia, "Mom, listen, my mother-in-law is still a good person. She keeps speaking up for me. I guess she cares about her reputation and doesn't want people to laugh at her in public."
Su Hongying's words made Li Banxia and the woman glance at her sideways.
As soon as she finished speaking, Zheng Xiulan's voice came from inside the house, "...She's great, she doesn't pick and choose what to eat, and apart from not liking to do housework, there's really nothing else wrong with her..."
A group of people exclaimed in surprise.
Someone scoffed, "Sister Zheng, did you marry a tyrant?"
"What's the point of marrying a daughter-in-law like that who doesn't do any work?"
"Yes, didn't her mother teach her anything?"
Zheng Xiulan laughed, "Young people are like that, I can understand. Maybe things will be better after having a child. Besides, there's not much work for her to do at home. People marry their daughters into my family, and I treat them like my own daughter. She can sleep in as late as she wants."
The office was filled with sounds of disdain and skepticism.
"Sister Zheng, you're too easy to bully."
“How can you accept a daughter-in-law like this? You need to stand up for yourself, Sister Zheng.”
"She's lazy and greedy, and she doesn't do any housework. I really don't know what your family saw in her."
"That's true, it's admirable that Sister Zheng always speaks up for her daughter-in-law..."
Su Hongying gritted her teeth as she listened, and said angrily, "They're just jealous that my mother-in-law treats me well."
"Jealous? You're naive! Would someone who truly cares about you speak ill of you to outsiders?"
Li Banxia glanced at her.
He continued, "I gave you a brain, where is your brain?!"
Su Hongying, "..."
The woman almost burst out laughing when she heard Li Banxia say that about her daughter.
Having had enough of the commotion, Li Banxia had no time to listen to her embellishments and strode into the office first.
"Oh, Mom..."
Su Hongying chased after them and met Zheng Xiulan's gaze as she looked over upon hearing the noise.
"Hongying, what are you doing here?"
Zheng Xiulan frowned in surprise, then her eyes flickered when she saw Li Banxia beside Su Hongying. "The in-laws are here too..."
Upon seeing the gossipy female workers following behind the two, their expressions changed drastically.
"You... what are you doing here?"
The woman smiled and said, "This lady says she's your in-law and needs to see you. She doesn't know the way, so we'll show you the way."
Zheng Xiulan nodded distantly, thanked them, and asked them to go to work.
The woman led her entourage out of the office, but didn't leave.
Zheng Xiulan greeted Li Banxia with a smile, "Why didn't you let Hongying tell me first, so I could ask for leave and wait for you at home? I'm not exaggerating, you really know how to raise children. Hongying is beautiful and has a good temperament. She's been married into our family for three months, and she's always been considerate of me. No wonder people say daughters are like warm cotton-padded jackets. I'm only able to enjoy the blessing of having a daughter thanks to you..."
Li Banxia didn't respond to her.
Zheng Xiulan's words were somewhat uninteresting, and she ended with the sentence, "...Don't worry, I will definitely treat her like my own daughter."
"Yeah?"
Li Banxia gave a forced smile and stared at her, asking, "In front of your colleagues, you said I raised my daughter to be lazy and good-for-nothing, and that you, as her mother-in-law, have to serve her inside and out. Is this how you treat your own daughter?"
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