As June arrived, Li Wenhui stopped going to work at the research institute and stayed home to prepare for childbirth.
Shen Yi's mother also moved in to personally take care of her daughter-in-law.
Although her daughter-in-law's parents were nearby, as the mother-in-law, if she didn't dare to come over at such a crucial time, her daughter-in-law's father would probably make her stay at her parents' home for postpartum care.
These were all things that Mr. Shen said jokingly.
However, Shen Yi's mother didn't dare to take this as a joke, and packed her things and moved in that very day.
"Mom, what do you think of this room?" Wenhui arranged for her mother-in-law to stay in the west wing, and the bedding was all new.
"That's right, no wonder you two didn't want to move back. I didn't expect it to be so convenient here."
After her son and daughter-in-law moved to the hutong, she never actually came to visit. Although she mentioned that living here was very convenient, she didn't really take it to heart.
She had visited a colleague's home before, which was also in a hutong (traditional alleyway). Goodness, she really didn't want to go to that kind of crowded courtyard again.
It's no exaggeration to say that you can hear a fart from here just by listening to it from the next door.
So even though her son said they lived in a detached house, she still thought it was very inconvenient, like having to queue to use the toilet in the morning.
Today's visit was quite an eye-opener for her. Not to mention toilets, people take showers in their own homes, and every house has one, along with a boiler, so they can boil water whenever they want.
"Huihui, are all the courtyards in your house like this?"
"Yeah, that's how my dad had the construction team fix it up."
"I think this place is even more convenient than your grandfather's!"
"That's right. It's inconvenient for my grandfather to go out to buy things. There's a department store not far from here."
"No wonder you two didn't want to go back to live there."
"Hehe, Mom, you and Dad can come and live here too, there are plenty of houses here."
"That won't do. Your grandfather is still at home. Although there are caregivers, I'm still not entirely at ease. It's fine for him to stay for a few days temporarily, but I'll get anxious if he stays for too long."
Mom isn't afraid to tell you the truth and make you angry. I wasn't even planning to come today. Your family is right next door, and no one else would take care of you as much as they do.
But your grandfather told me that if I, your mother-in-law, didn't come at this crucial moment, your family might get angry and prevent you from going to your postpartum period. So this morning, as soon as I got up, I packed two clothes and rushed over.”
"Oh, Mom, it's not as exaggerated as Grandpa said. My parents aren't that petty."
They know you have to take care of Grandpa at home. My dad often tells me that your mother-in-law takes good care of Grandpa, saving him a lot of worry. He says that sometimes caregivers aren't as attentive as family.
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Li Wenhui's quick wit and sweet talk made her mother-in-law beam with joy.
"Huihui, has your mother-in-law arrived yet?"
The mother-in-law and daughter-in-law were chatting inside when Li Qin's voice came from the courtyard.
"Auntie has arrived; she's in the west room."
"Welcome, Xiao Yi's mom."
"Big sister, the two kids are causing you trouble by living here. I've heard that these two lazybones don't want to cook and just freeload off you all the time. If they keep doing this, just kick them out."
Upon hearing that it was her daughter-in-law's aunt, Chen's mother quickly stood up to greet her at the door and pulled her hand to sit on the sofa.
"Haha, I'm a retired old lady with nothing to do all day except cook at home. It's more lively when they come to my place for dinner. We have walls connecting our houses, and my brother's family often eats there too. They're used to it. If the kids don't come to my place for dinner one day, I'll come over and call them."
"So, what do you think of this room, young lady? Is it alright? See if you need anything else, and I'll get it for you."
"Sister, please don't bother. This house has everything you need. I really didn't expect it to be so well-maintained. It's much more spacious than living in an apartment building."
"That's right, it was my younger brother who came up with this idea. He said that no matter what, people have to be comfortable living here first."
Huihui's grandma moved away last year, right? She couldn't stand living in an apartment building for a year, so she found her a new courtyard house here recently, and they're tidying it up these days. You should come stay here sometime when you're free; the alleyways are really interesting.”
"Indeed, I'll come and stay for a while whenever I have free time."
"Don't cook for the next few days. Eat in my room or at her dad's place."
"How can that be, big sister? I came here specifically to take care of Huihui. If we go to your place for dinner again, what's the point of me coming here? I'd just be causing you trouble."
"Don't worry about the trouble. This child is picky. You'll get tired of it after a couple of days. Listen to me, don't cook, just come to my place. This is what Huihui's dad specifically told me this morning before he left."
"Aunt, I'm not that picky."
"Hey, you're not picky at all. You're driving us crazy every day. I've never seen such a difficult pregnant woman to please. Talk to your mother-in-law and suggest she come to my place for dinner. Don't annoy her for two days, or she might want to return you, that would be a real problem."
"No way, a daughter-in-law as well-behaved as Huihui is hard to find even with a lantern. How could we possibly back out? Since you're so enthusiastic, I'll do as you say."
“That’s right. Huihui is about to give birth, it won’t be long. It’ll be more lively when everyone eats together, and the food will go down faster.”
Three women make a drama; they can have plenty to talk about when they sit together.
Seeing that it was almost noon, Li Qin got up and went back to cook. When Chen's mother saw this, she came over with her daughter-in-law.
Li Qin was quick and efficient, busy in the kitchen all by herself, with no one else able to help. So Wenhui took her mother-in-law next door for a stroll.
This was the second time that Chen's mother had stepped into her in-laws' house. As soon as she passed through the small gate, she was startled by the sight of eight large dogs running around. It was the first time she had ever seen so many dogs of such size. Last time she came, because there were many people, Li Chu had tied the dogs up in the back garden, so she hadn't seen them at all. She had only heard her son and daughter-in-law mention them.
"Huihui, does your dog bite?"
"Don't worry, Mom. They definitely won't bite anyone we bring in."
The dogs lined up and sniffed at Chen Ma's legs before lying back down under the eaves.
"Huihui, I heard from Xiaoyi that the police dog team's dogs are also descendants of your dog?"
"Yeah, we had too many dogs at home before, so my dad gave the extras to the police station to be police dogs. I don't know what's going on these past two years, but they seem to have stopped breeding. They haven't bred since last year."
Wenhui led her mother-in-law around the yard, and the back garden made Chen's mother stare in amazement, thinking to herself that this in-law really knew how to enjoy life.
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