Chapter 107 Sharing hardship does not guarantee sharing prosperity
Jiang Nian'an and Tian Rong both despised their eldest daughter-in-law and granddaughter's behavior, but they had no choice because they felt guilty towards them.
Jiang Min, in particular, was sent down to the countryside at a young age. Although they doted on her, she still suffered a lot in the countryside.
The two of them could grant their eldest daughter-in-law and granddaughter's every request, but Jiang Ruzhen didn't owe them anything. It was the old couple who had insisted on not involving their daughter in the matter.
The youngest daughter is a married child; as long as no one pursues the matter, nothing will happen.
Moreover, their youngest daughter has been sending them money every month for many years, even after losing her husband.
When they were sick, we traveled a long distance to deliver medicine, which was already doing everything we could.
She even asked someone to help her family get back to the city ahead of time. After they returned, she gave each of her children two thousand yuan. According to the elderly couple, their youngest daughter had done more than enough.
As the father-in-law, Jiang Nian'an felt it was inconvenient to speak ill of his daughter-in-law, but Tian Rong couldn't help but say a few words.
"Bai Hua, don't bring up that kind of talk about gratitude or not again. Didn't Ru Zhen risk her life to bring medicine to save your daughter when she was sick?"
Our early return to the city was also thanks to her. In addition, Ruzhen already gave you two thousand yuan last time, so we have repaid even the greatest kindness.
You always talk about gratitude and kindness, but you've never let your family grow apart.
Bai Hua had never been criticized like this by her mother-in-law in all these years, and her face turned somewhat unpleasant as she replied.
"Mom, I was just joking. We're all family, so my little sister shouldn't take it personally."
"Yes, Grandma, Auntie has money, she won't care about these things. Right, Auntie?"
Jiang Min spoke these words as if it were the most natural thing in the world, but a greedy look welled up in her eyes as she stared intently at Jiang Ruzhen's bag.
Tian Rong frowned, wanting to say more, but Jiang Ruzhen quickly smoothed things over, taking out five hundred yuan from her bag and stuffing it into Jiang Min's hand.
"Xiaomin, this is your aunt's allowance for you. It's almost Chinese New Year, so go buy some new clothes for yourself tomorrow."
"Is that all? My aunt is so stingy." Jiang Min glanced at the five hundred yuan in her hand and pouted unhappily.
"Five hundred yuan, and you still think it's not enough? That's a year's salary for an ordinary worker."
Since returning to the city, Tian Rong has become increasingly disappointed in his only granddaughter. Not only does she spend her days indulging in pleasure with her cronies, but her attitude towards the couple has also deteriorated.
If they hadn't heard that their daughter was coming, the mother and daughter would never have taken the initiative to visit them.
"There's already so little. Isn't my aunt a clothing seller? I heard that those clothing store owners make money so easily, earning ten or twenty thousand is nothing to them."
"My aunt must have more than tens of thousands of yuan in her pocket after working for so long, right? Why can't she spend more on her niece?" Jiang Min argued vehemently.
Seeing Jiang Min's attitude, Jiang Ruzhen couldn't help but retort, "Xiao Min, who told you that selling clothes is easy? If you don't put in the hard work and don't have a good eye, you can still lose everything."
"Alright, alright, I know my aunt just doesn't want to spend money on me. After all, I'm not your biological child. Mom, it seems we're not welcome here with Grandpa and Grandma either. Let's go."
Jiang Min pulled Bai Hua up and left, completely disregarding the feelings of the two elderly people.
"Oh dear! What a tragedy! How could we spoil such a heartless wretch like this?" Jiang Nian'an muttered angrily.
Tian Rong shook his head and sighed, "Old man, it's not wrong for us to spoil her. Look at our old daughter, what's wrong with her character and virtue?"
Xiaomin has been corrupted by her mother; she always thinks our Jiang family owes them a debt. If she continues to think like this, we can forget about our eldest daughter taking care of us in our old age.
"Mom, it's all my fault. I should have gone to see my brother and sister-in-law beforehand and brought them some gifts. They're angry with me, it has nothing to do with you," Jiang Ruzhen comforted her gently.
The elderly couple exchanged a glance and shut their mouths, unwilling to say anything more. They got up and went to the kitchen to cook dumplings for Jiang Ruzhen, muttering something under their breath inside.
After her parents left, Jiang Ruzhen relaxed and reclined on the sofa.
Jiang Ruzhen, who was already exhausted from the day, really didn't want to bother with the mother and daughter, but her mind was full of all sorts of thoughts and she couldn't help but think about it.
Human nature is truly complex. Are my sisters-in-law only able to share hardships but not happiness?
In the countryside, though life is tough, the people are kind and honest, and we can still get along. But when we return to this bustling metropolis, we are blinded and lose our way, and we can no longer remember the good old days.
Lost in thought, I drifted off to sleep without realizing it.
When she woke up again, the room was completely dark, her parents had gone to sleep, and her stomach was growling with hunger.
He went to the kitchen to find something to eat, and when he turned on the light, he saw a large steamer on the gas stove.
She touched the pot gently; it was still warm. As soon as she opened the lid, she smelled the aroma of dumplings.
This must be because her parents recently warmed her up again, and seeing that she hadn't woken up, they kept her warm here and didn't have the heart to wake her.
The cold night seemed to warm up instantly.
With each bite of warm dumplings, Jiang Ruzhen's cold stomach gradually warmed up.
After finishing her meal, she went back to her room and lay down, forcing herself not to overthink things, thinking about having to set up her stall the next day.
But she seemed to be tired and couldn't fall asleep, so she went back to her room and took a nice bath before finally falling into a deep sleep.
The next morning, Jiang Ruzhen ate a bowl of noodles that Tian Rong had personally made, and went out to set up her stall with satisfaction.
When she arrived at her stall, she noticed a sudden increase in foot traffic. It must be because those who bought her products yesterday had gone out and promoted the stall for her, as almost half of her customers had come after hearing the news.
Jiang Ruzhen was busy running around, somewhat flustered. She sat on the pile of goods, watching as things were stolen and struggling to keep everyone in line.
Jiang Ruzhen's voice was almost hoarse from shouting, but the crowd was still incredibly dense.
Just when she was overwhelmed, a bright voice rang out, "Mom, I'm here."
Jiang Ruzhen looked closely and saw two people squeezing into the crowd. They were her daughter Xin Xin and Xie Hui, whom she hadn't seen for a long time.
"Xin Xin, Xie Hui, what brings you here?" Jiang Ruzhen was truly pleasantly surprised.
Shen Shuxin and Xie Hui were already very familiar with the process of selling clothes. After asking about the prices, the two worked together seamlessly to help Jiang Ruzhen sell clothes.
This immediately relieved Jiang Ruzhen of a lot of pressure. Shen Shuxin took a moment to tell Jiang Ruzhen, "Our school is on holiday, so I went home first and found that you weren't there."
My older brother told me you came here alone to sell clothes, so I came along because I was worried about you.
"Godmother, I was worried about you, so I came along," Xie Hui chimed in with a smile.
Jiang Ruzhen pursed her lips, looking at the two of them but smiling without saying a word.
After chatting for a bit, the three of them focused on dealing with the customers in front of them. With the help of Shen Shuxin and Xie Hui, Jiang Ruzhen sold three hundred down jackets in one morning.
However, many customers who had just received the news rushed over but missed out on buying clothes, and they were clamoring for Jiang Ruzhen to bring more goods.
Jiang Ruzhen had no choice but to go back to the small storeroom to get the goods, and brought back a few steamed buns for the two of them. The three of them quickly ate a little something, then rolled up their sleeves and got back into the fray.
It wasn't until after 3 p.m. that the crowd gradually thinned out, and the three of them finally had some free time to sit together, selling their goods and chatting casually.
Knowing that the mother and daughter had endless topics to talk about, Xie Hui took the initiative to lead most of the customers over.
Jiang Ruzhen held Shen Shuxin's hand and asked her all sorts of questions, worried that her daughter might be bullied at school. When she heard that Shen Shuxin had joined the school's student council and even won the election for publicity minister, she praised her repeatedly with delight.
"Hey? Auntie, so this latest down jacket is yours? You're really something, having such a nice thing and not thinking of getting one for your niece, making me come all the way here to buy it."
"Jiang Ruzhen, I'm not trying to be mean, but are you trying to play tricks on your sister-in-law? Why didn't you bring such warm clothes to me and your brother?"
"If I hadn't heard from my colleague today that they sell down jackets here, were you planning to sell them all, make a profit, and then rush back to Liancheng overnight?"
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