After listening, Sister-in-law Yulan's gaze slowly fell on He Tiantian's belly.
She hesitated for a moment before saying, "Mama, what if you give birth to a boy next year? Won't Old Lady Zhao be furious? No, won't she come and try to take the child from you?"
These days, baby boys are a rare breed.
Given Old Lady Zhao's temperament, she most likely wouldn't be able to swallow this insult.
He Tiantian lowered her head and thought about the problem very seriously. What Sister Yulan said was not without reason.
However, she had taught Old Lady Zhao a lesson last time, letting her know that she wasn't someone to be trifled with. If she dared to come again, He Tiantian would settle all the old scores with her.
"We'll see when the time comes. That old woman said I'm having a daughter, so maybe it really is a daughter," He Tiantian said.
Sister Yulan continued working on her cross-stitch and stopped talking.
Today is the last day of rest at the mine. The next day, most of the men in the village will go to work at the mine.
The two remaining sons of the Zhao family, Zhao Xiangnan and Zhao Xiangbei, also worked in the mine. In the evenings, the whole family, young and old, would gather together for dinner.
Because it was Chinese New Year, Tao made several fried pancakes for dinner and also cooked a large pot of buckwheat porridge. She added chopped radish and cabbage to the porridge to make it thicker.
This year's Spring Festival was clearly not a very happy one for Granny Zhao.
Everyone knew that the old lady missed her second son, Zhao Xiangyang.
Tao and her husband Zhao Xiangbei were both honest and simple people, and they silently ate the rice in their bowls.
Seeing the old woman's unhappy expression, Cheng was secretly overjoyed. She even wished that the old woman only had one son, Xiang Nan, so that all the family property would belong to them in the future.
"Sigh..." Old Mrs. Zhao was very depressed. She put the bowl she was holding heavily on the dining table.
In previous years, when her second son, Zhao Xiangyang, was around, the New Year's Eve dinner was incredibly lively. Her son had left home at the age of fourteen or fifteen to make his way in the world, and she had heard a lot about him. Every time he came back, he would reminisce about his experiences.
Old Mrs. Zhao had never left Changfeng Village in her entire life. Her favorite thing was listening to her second son tell her about the things happening outside.
But now...sigh...
Old Mrs. Zhao felt very uncomfortable.
Old Mrs. Zhao put down her bowl, and the others dared not continue eating either.
Tao glanced at Old Lady Zhao and asked weakly, "Mother, is the food not to your liking today?"
"It's none of your business, you guys keep eating. I'm not eating what's left in my bowl, you can take it and share it," Old Lady Zhao said wearily.
As soon as she finished speaking, Madam Cheng quickly got up and took the bowl in front of her.
"Zhao Shou, you need to eat more. Look how skinny you are, you'll get bullied by other kids when you go out." Madam Cheng poured half a bowl of vegetable porridge into her youngest son Zhao Shou's bowl.
Zhao Xiangnan glanced at Cheng Shi with dissatisfaction and muttered, "Why are you in such a hurry? Can't you just persuade Mother to eat by herself?"
“She herself said she took it and divided it up…” Cheng also argued softly.
Old Mrs. Zhao glanced impatiently at her third son's family, feeling annoyed; not one of them was easy to deal with!
She looked at the smug-looking Mrs. Cheng and ordered, "Hurry up and finish eating and wash all the dishes."
Then, her gaze fell on her eldest son's family, and she felt even more worried.
She's useless and cowardly! If it weren't for her backing her up all these years, her eldest son and his family would have been completely exploited by the third son.
"Boss, boss's wife."
Tao and Zhao Xiangbei looked at Old Lady Zhao with confusion, "Mother, what's wrong?"
"Mother, what's wrong?"
Old Mrs. Zhao's gaze fell on Zhao Niu. "Da Niu is seventeen this year, how come he still hasn't settled down in terms of marriage? All the other girls in the village who are the same age as him have already had their babies."
"What are you two thinking? Have you taken a fancy to any girl?"
"This..." Tao was somewhat troubled. Of course she was anxious about her son's marriage. But she couldn't manage the household day after day, so she didn't have time to talk to matchmakers on weekdays.
When Old Lady Zhao saw her eldest daughter-in-law acting like this, she knew there was no hope for her.
She immediately stated her intentions, "You've met my brother's eldest daughter, Wan Cunhua, who's a couple of years younger than Da Niu. It's about time she started talking about marriage. If you have no objections, I'll go home next spring to discuss it with her."
Zhao Niu blushed with embarrassment upon hearing this, and lowered his head, remaining silent.
Tao thought about it and realized that Wan Cunhua was quite pretty, but they hadn't spent much time together and didn't know what her personality was like.
However, since Mother has said so, if I go against her wishes, I will inevitably have to give her a hard time again.
“In that case, we’ll listen to Mother.” Tao nodded in agreement.
Old Mrs. Zhao looked at Zhao Niu, who was bowing his head and remaining silent, and asked, "Da Niu, it's your turn to get married. What do you think of Wan Cunhua?"
“I’ll listen to Grandma,” Zhao Niu echoed.
Cheng listened from the side with amusement, thinking to herself that none of her sister-in-law's family members had any opinions of their own. This Wan Cunhua was from the old woman's maternal family, and the entire old woman's family was all the same kind of person.
How good could Wan Cunhua be? If he were to actually marry her, this woman would be caught in the middle, with her mother-in-law above her and her daughter-in-law below her, she'd have a lot to suffer.
“Mother, you can’t be so biased. Zhao Pang is also your grandson, and he’s already fifteen and still not married,” Madam Cheng quickly said, as she also wanted to settle her son’s marriage.
"Mother, I don't want to get married yet..." Zhao Pang quickly pulled his mother back.
Cheng glared at her eldest son and scolded him angrily, "How old are you and you're still not married? Do you want to become a monk in a temple if you don't get married? You have no right to interrupt your elders. Shut up!"
Zhao Pang was scolded mercilessly by his mother, so he silently chose to shut up.
"Alright, the child is old enough to talk less." Old Mrs. Zhao interrupted impatiently. "The family has already settled Da Niu's marriage. Cheng Shi, you should also keep an eye on which girl you like. If you find anyone you like, let me know."
After finishing her sentence, Old Lady Zhao leaned on her cane and went back to her room.
None of her family members were easy to deal with; they nagged all day long, which annoyed her.
Everyone quickly finished the vegetable paste in their bowls. When Zhao Xiaocao saw her brothers run off after finishing their food, she put down her bowl and prepared to go outside to play.
"What are you so busy with? You stay home and do the dishes!"
Seeing that her daughter Zhao Xiaocao looked like she had nothing but weeds in her heart, Cheng was very displeased and called her to stop.
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