Zhou Zhimei had a sister who worked at the cotton mill. Someone in her family worked at a food company. As soon as fish balls came on the market, the sister's family started eating them. After eating this fresh food, the sister showed off to Zhou Zhimei, making her blush.
Wang Xiaoqiang's family was just an ordinary one in the county town. His parents worked in a factory, and he had no relatives of note. Zhou Zhimei was always a step behind others in understanding what was trending in Yuyuan County.
Before Zhou Zhimei, Wang Xiaoqiang had pursued that girl. However, because her family was well-off, she didn't like Wang Xiaoqiang. Zhou Zhimei only learned about this after they got married, and she felt resentful, thinking she had picked up Wang Xiaoqiang, who was no longer wanted. Therefore, Zhou Zhimei especially liked to compete with that girl.
Seeing her younger sisters showing off, Zhou Zhimei felt a little dissatisfied. Taking advantage of the opportunity to go back to her parents' home, she decided to weigh two pounds of fish balls to taste.
After Wang Xiaoqiang said this, Wu Jinfeng had to give him some face and nodded, acknowledging Zhou Zhimei's contribution.
Zhou Zhimei put the fish balls in her hand into Wu Jinfeng's kitchen and beckoned Wang Xiaoqiang to sit down and prepare a snack. After getting up so early and tossing around in the morning and riding for over an hour, the thin porridge they had eaten at home in the county town had long since dissolved into water.
Whenever her son-in-law comes to visit, her mother always cooks two bowls of poached eggs for him. She is hungry now!
Seeing her daughter's attitude, Wu Jinfeng had no choice but to go to the kitchen to light a fire. It was almost time for lunch, and Wu Jinfeng had originally planned not to cook snacks today and just eat lunch directly.
Wu Jinfeng worked, but she was filled with suspicion. The fish balls Zhimei brought back looked exactly like the ones her third daughter-in-law, Zhao Yunxiang, had made that day. Zhimei had told her that these things were incredibly popular in the county. How had Zhao Yunxiang learned to make something so precious?
"Mom, let's cook these fish balls for lunch! I heard they're especially delicious when cooked with Chinese cabbage," Zhou Zhimei said as she sat on a stool waiting for her poached eggs. Honestly, of all the conversations she had with Wu Jinfeng upon arriving home, this one was the most important.
Zhou Zhimei was a shrewd person. Every time she went back to her parents' home, she would either bring a piece of meat or a fish. These things could be cooked by her mother and served directly on the table, and the three of them could still go home with a full stomach. If she wanted to take fabric or something, she would just take it. Would she take it back?
"Okay," Wu Jinfeng replied. In front of Wang Xiaoqiang, Wu Jinfeng had always been kind and sensible. No matter what Zhou Zhimei asked, Wu Jinfeng would do it. Besides, Wu Jinfeng had been smelling the aroma wafting from Zhao Yunxiang's kitchen every day these days, and she was quite curious about the taste of these fish balls.
When Zhao Yunxiang returned home, Zhou Zhimei had already finished eating the fried eggs and was picking her teeth with her fingernails.
Seeing that Zhao Yunxiang didn't even glance in and just pushed her bicycle to the backyard, Zhou Zhimei's eyes widened.
"Mom, was that person just now my third sister-in-law?" Zhou Zhimei turned around and asked.
Wu Jinfeng was busy washing and cutting vegetables. When she heard Zhou Zhimei's question, she looked up and saw Zhao Yunxiang pushing a bicycle.
"It's not the one with the plague." Wu Jinfeng replied unhappily.
"Why doesn't your third sister-in-law come over to help you cook? That's too much. I'll go find her!" Zhou Zhimei stood up from the stool, rolled up his sleeves and rushed out the door.
Zhou Zhimei, with her sharp eyes, noticed that the bicycle Zhao Yunxiang had just been riding was a new one, a Forever brand. A batch of new bicycles had arrived at the supply and marketing cooperative the day before yesterday, and Zhao Guohui had taken the opportunity to get one for his sister. Zhao Yunxiang had earned enough money from making fish balls to buy a bicycle, and she had already returned her father, Zhao Qingshan's old one.
When Zhou Zhimei saw the shiny bicycle, her first thought was to get it. Wang Xiaoqiang's bicycle was old, and getting a new one would give her a lot of face in front of her in-laws and colleagues.
"Third sister-in-law, third sister-in-law." Zhou Zhimei called out twice before Zhao Yunxiang finally heard her. It was getting late, and Zhao Yunxiang was busy cooking as soon as she got home. Although she vaguely saw that there seemed to be guests in her mother-in-law's kitchen, Zhao Yunxiang ignored them.
During this time, because Wu Jinfeng hadn't sent her fish balls, she was so disgusted by Zhao Yunxiang's appearance that she didn't want to get close to her and cause trouble. Her younger brother was right. The Zhou family wasn't easy to deal with. She couldn't treat them like family. She should just stay away from them.
"Zhimei, are you going back to your parents' home today?" Zhao Yunxiang said casually while washing rice by the well.
Honestly, if it weren't for the sake of face, Zhao Yunxiang wouldn't have bothered to bother with her sister-in-law, Zhou Zhimei. Zhou Zhimei's personality was obvious; she'd always argue, whether she was right or wrong. She wasn't the type to bother with anything.
Zhou Zhimei circled the bicycle twice, feeling very satisfied. The bicycle's exterior was completely free of wear and tear, revealing it was a new bike no more than a week old.
"Third sister-in-law, your bicycle is really nice!" Zhou Zhimei praised.
"Yes, I just bought it, only three days ago." Zhao Yunxiang paused for a moment before continuing to wash the rice in the basin. From Zhou Zhimei's tone, Zhao Yunxiang knew without a word that she had her eye on her bicycle again. That was the first thing Zhou Zhimei said when she asked for a women's bicycle her parents had bought her.
Somehow, ever since returning from Zhaojiagou, Zhao Yunxiang has often reflected on herself. The first day she delivered fish balls to Sanhe Town, the two children were almost beaten, which made Zhao Yunxiang heartbroken towards the Zhou family.
Over the past few days, Zhao Yunxiang has dug up every detail of her life since marrying into the Zhou family, carefully reviewing it. Late at night, the more she pondered, the more she felt she had been pathetically foolish. There's nothing wrong with being kind and well-intentioned, but it depends on the person and whether it's worth it.
Of the seven or eight people in the Zhou family, who was kind to her and the children? The two elders were extremely partial, treating their own son Zhou Zhixin like an outsider, let alone her, a daughter-in-law from another family?
"Third sister-in-law, you stay at home and don't have much chance to go out, so please lend me this bicycle for a while!" Zhou Zhimei looked at the bicycle, becoming more and more happy, and said what she wanted to say in a commanding tone.
"Aunt, are you thinking that since my mom can't use it anyway, why not just give it to you for free?"
Before Zhao Yunxiang could speak, Zhou Yuanyuan squinted her eyes angrily and spoke up.
Zhou Yuanyuan knew that Zhou Zhimei would definitely cause some trouble when she came back, so she got up without even bothering to sleep in.
Zhao Yunxiang did not go home, and Zhou Yuanyuan did not want to come out of the room. In Zhou Zhimei's eyes, Zhou Yuanyuan and Zhou Jiasheng were "annoying people" and "debt collectors."
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