Chapter 134: Whatever My Daughter-in-Law Says Is Right!

[Page 1 of 3]

Life went on in a lively, noisy fashion. On the whole, Madam Fang was quite happy. At the very least, the household was far more bustling every day now.

That noon, Tang Xin had eaten too much and did not feel like taking a nap, so she sat in the courtyard with Li Xihua, basking in the sun.

Well, Tang Xin was basking in the sun. Her elder sister-in-law was washing bed linens.

As she scrubbed, she kept muttering, “Just look at you. You knew the weather would be fine today and that I’d be airing everyone’s bedding, so why didn’t you get up earlier? It’s already this late. I don’t even know whether it’ll dry after I wash it.”

“It doesn’t matter if it doesn’t dry. I have another set. I can just change the bedding,” Tang Xin replied with a beaming smile.

Li Xihua was briefly rendered speechless. It was true: her younger brother’s wife was not like poor families such as theirs. If they washed the bedding they slept on, they would have nothing left to use.

There was no point comparing one person to another. The more Li Xihua thought about it, the more irritated she became, so she decided to stop thinking and simply concentrate on washing.

She would soap everything first, then take it to the river to rinse. After that, she still had to make a trip to the fields. Their father was getting old and could no longer work as he once had, so Li Xihua naturally had to go and lend him a hand.

After a while, however, she noticed that Tang Xin was still sitting nearby, her eyes narrowed as though she were about to fall asleep.

Li Xihua could not resist making another pointed remark. “Are you a pig or something? You sleep until the sun is high before getting up, and now you’ve just eaten and already want to sleep again?”

Tang Xin had already come to understand Li Xihua’s nature, so she was no longer bothered by her sharp words.

At least Li Xihua was merely harsh on the outside but kindhearted within. Wasn’t that far better than people who were honey-tongued to your face while harboring the heart of a venomous snake?

So Tang Xin continued smiling and said, “Sister, the spring sunshine is so warm and pleasant. Don’t you think it makes people even more sleepy when it shines on them?”

Then she recited a line of poetry:

“In spring I sleep, unaware of dawn;
Everywhere, birdsong fills the air.
Through the night came wind and rain—
Who knows how many blossoms fell?”

As Tang Xin recited the poem, Madam Fang silently committed it to memory as well, hoping she could learn a little more by following along.

Over the past few days, she had been studying and learning to read with them. Though her age made her less capable than the younger children, she could now recognize some basic, commonly used characters and could even write her own name.

Madam Fang was already thoroughly satisfied with that.

As usual, Madam Fang wanted to sigh at Li Xihua. She simply could not understand it. Neither Li nor his wife had particularly bad tempers, so how had they managed to raise such an unworldly daughter?

How could she be so lacking in foresight? Now that her younger brother’s wife was running the household, whether Li Xihua married again in the future or remained at home, would she not still have to rely on her family’s brothers?

Under such circumstances, instead of taking pains to curry favor with her younger brother’s wife, she openly disliked her and relentlessly provoked her.

Why? Why on earth?

Madam Fang almost wanted to mourn for her eldest daughter. With that temperament, Li Xihua would sooner or later offend Tang Xin beyond repair.

Fortunately, her daughter-in-law had a good nature and could still smile while speaking with Li Xihua. That left Madam Fang with no choice but to do everything she could to keep her daughter-in-law happy.

[Page 2 of 3]

Little did she know that Madam Fang’s deliberately yielding attitude was precisely what made Li Xihua uncomfortable.

Why should her mother, who was also a mother-in-law, be so good to her daughter-in-law—better than she was to her own daughter?

As a result, whenever she saw Tang Xin, Li Xihua felt even more resentful and kept finding ways to make trouble.

In truth, Tang Xin did not mind very much. It was not that she had an especially good temper or was particularly broad-minded.

She simply understood Li Xihua’s nature, and being subjected to a few unpleasant remarks did not really cost her anything.

In fact, Li Xihua insisted on doing the chores, which meant Tang Xin had become even more relaxed at home.

If Tang Xin had not objected, her sister-in-law might even have washed her underwear for her.

So Tang Xin truly did not mind. As long as her elder brother Li Sheng was capable, Li Xihua could live at her family home for the rest of her life if she wished.

Wasn’t it rather amusing to have someone bicker with you every day without harboring any real ill will?

That noon, Madam Fang was slicing cucumbers in the kitchen while Tang Xin helped beside her.

Well, according to Tang Xin, she was helping. But Li Xihua believed her younger sister-in-law was simply greedy and making a nuisance of herself.

And wasn’t she? Their mother had only just finished slicing the cucumbers, and the girl stuffed two slices into her mouth.

Then she stuck two more onto her face. Li Xihua, who had been repeatedly telling herself to treat her younger sister-in-law better, could not hold back again.

“You keep eating with your mouth, and now even your face has to eat. Does this family have so many good things for you to waste?”

The moment she finished speaking, Li Xihua regretted it. Just as their mother always said, she had a foul mouth and simply could not control it.

Come to think of it, Tang Xin was the only person in the household truly entitled to waste those cucumbers, since she was the one who had brought them out in the first place.

[Page 3 of 3]

That was why Li Xihua felt so guilty and uneasy. On the one hand, she could not stand many of her younger sister-in-law’s habits and ways of living.

On the other hand, she could not deny that her younger sister-in-law was genuinely a good person. The family’s life had become far more comfortable, and much of that was thanks to Tang Xin.

Take these cucumbers, for instance. They were not even in season, and ordinary families could not grow them in their fields or gardens.

Tang Xin had brought them back after making a trip to the county town. The family’s occasional extra dishes, as well as the good things they all enjoyed from time to time, were likewise provided by her.

So Li Xihua had begun wondering whether she was in the wrong—whether she should, as their mother advised, treat her younger sister-in-law better and sweeten her tongue a little.

But people often found that even the most beautiful intentions were not necessarily easy to put into practice. In Tang Xin’s words, if Li Xihua truly changed completely, she would no longer be Li Xihua!

Tang Xin reached over and stuck several cucumber slices onto her sister-in-law’s face as well. “The sun is especially strong today, and we’re just lacking water. These can replenish moisture and are very good for nourishing the skin.”

Madam Fang did not quite understand what she meant. But in her mind, whatever her daughter-in-law said was correct.

And if it happened to be wrong, then Madam Fang must have heard it incorrectly.

Thus, she kept nodding along and sliced another cucumber, setting it aside especially for her daughter-in-law.

Li Xihua rolled her eyes and could not be bothered to speak with the mother-and-daughter-in-law pair anymore. She simply removed the cucumber slices from her face and stuffed them into her mouth.

As for how Tang Xin could produce so many things, naturally it was all thanks to her farm in the mysterious space.

Ever since the farm had been upgraded and gained a pasture, the variety of her agricultural products had expanded considerably. Her warehouse was already piled high, and she had processed several batches of intermediate goods in the workshop.

So over the past half month, Tang Xin had found ways to visit the commune and the county town several times.

Her main purpose was to sell her own goods and exchange them for things the family needed. Naturally, she brought Li Kai along every time.

That little fellow was truly brimming with potential. After training him a few more times, Tang Xin felt that in the future she would only need to provide the goods, while all outside sales and transactions could be left to Li Kai.

The prices would be clearly marked. Tang Xin would supply the merchandise, and after the goods were sold and money earned, she would give Li Kai twenty percent as his payment.