Chapter 40: The Man Handles the Outside, the Woman Manages the Home

In this household, it appeared that Madam Li was in charge, but in truth, the person with the greatest authority was Master Li.

After Madam Li spoke, Master Li cast a cool, sweeping glance around the room, and immediately everyone straightened their backs, sitting upright and attentively gazing at the old lady.

"Your eldest brother and sister-in-law are now married. Once your sister-in-law has entered the family, she becomes the mistress of the house. Remember, from now on, she will be managing things here."

Madam Li was unlike most mothers-in-law; she had no intention of setting up her new daughter-in-law to establish her own authority. Instead, she seemed eager to hand over all responsibilities in one fell swoop, so she herself could enjoy a lighter burden.

Li Kai, Li Jiang, and Li Hai took it well enough. They had grown up under Master Li's guidance, always believing in the division of labor: men handle affairs outside, women manage the home.

Household matters had always been overseen by the old lady, and they never interfered. Now, with the change to their sister-in-law, it made little difference to them.

The one who was astonished was Li Xiyue. She immediately muttered at Madam Li, "Mother, how can you do this? You're the mother-in-law—you can't let sister-in-law bully you."

Madam Li glared fiercely at her youngest daughter. "Stop your nonsense. How would your sister-in-law ever bully me?"

She continued, "The keys to the cupboards, the arrangement of food, and so forth—all must be handed over to your sister-in-law. From now on, she’ll organize your meals, clothing, and daily life. As for you all, whatever work you used to do, you’ll keep doing. If anyone dares to slack off, your father and elder brother will see to it."

Father's heavy stick and elder brother's iron fist were the reasons the younger members of the Li family truly respected authority.

Everyone’s tasks remained unchanged. Li Xiyue calculated silently and promptly asked, "Mother, then what will sister-in-law do?"

"She’ll be responsible for managing and teaching you, and she’ll also help me with the cooking."

Li Xiyue pouted, muttering, "Help with the cooking? Hmph, isn’t it still you doing the work?"

This meant that as soon as sister-in-law entered the family, she would be running the household. The so-called help with cooking was hardly needed, since mother was so diligent in the kitchen.

What new bride had it so easy—marrying in and enjoying a life of comfort?

The more Li Xiyue thought about it, the angrier she grew. Her parents had always favored her elder brother, and now their hearts seemed set on treating her sister-in-law well.

And what about her? Was she still the cherished little daughter in her parents’ hearts?

Seeing Li Xiyue’s pouting lips—almost able to hang an oil bottle from them—Tang Xin smiled and said, "Rest assured. I’ll see to it that the family gets good things. I’ll buy meat and sugar so everyone can eat well."

Whoever worked more and obeyed more would eat more and eat better—and vice versa.

Of course, how much and how well was for her to decide.

Thinking of this, Tang Xin felt a surge of happiness, as if she was playing at being the boss of a group of children.

Buying sugar and meat to eat?

Almost instantly, all of Li Sheng’s younger siblings were won over, exclaiming in unison, "Alright, we’ll listen to sister-in-law from now on!"

Including Li Xiyue.

She wasn’t foolish. She knew the money Tang Xin would use to buy nice things came from her elder brother.

But she also knew her elder brother never gave her money; he handed it all to mother for safekeeping.

Mother, meanwhile, was stingy with oil in her cooking and would never cut meat for them.

Given their circumstances, even wanting to eat sugar was impossible—they didn’t have ration tickets to buy it.

Sister-in-law was different, though. Her parents lived in the city and sent her good things every month.

Not to mention the big apple they’d eaten that morning—Li Xiyue was aware of the incident at the educated youth station when sister-in-law had fallen out with that Meng girl.

So she knew Meng had received many gifts from sister-in-law in the past.

Would those things be shared with them now?

Thinking of this, Li Xiyue’s face was dreamy. She longed to buy a red ribbon and a pretty hair clip like the one her sister-in-law wore.

After the formal announcement that the household management would be handed over to her daughter-in-law, Madam Li took Tang Xin around the home after dinner to help her get acquainted with everything.

Li Sheng accompanied them, holding a flashlight to illuminate their way.

Aside from the front yard, there was a pigsty, a latrine, and a chicken coop in the back—the family raised a pig for their quota.

Come New Year, the pig had to be handed over as part of their duty, so there was little left for themselves, though the team would issue some meat tickets as compensation.

Now, although the number of poultry was restricted, the Li family, being numerous, was allowed six chickens.

They raised hens, so in a month, they could collect over a hundred eggs. They saved them to exchange for other goods, but occasionally, Madam Li would use some for cooking to nourish the family.

Eating eggs for health?

Tang Xin was speechless. In her previous life, though her family was not wealthy, eggs were a staple—fried or boiled, always tasty.

As for nourishing the body with baked eggs...

Did it really help?

Tang Xin’s face paled as she realized she was now living in the early seventies.

This was a time of material scarcity. No one went truly hungry, but to eat one’s fill, to eat well—such a thing was virtually impossible!

Li Xiyue insisted on tagging along behind them, simply for amusement. After all, rural evenings offered little to do.

Seeing Tang Xin’s pale face, she deliberately teased, "Sister-in-law, did you eat so many eggs that you don’t like them anymore?"

But to Tang Xin, the city-bred girl who found eggs unappetizing, these eggs were the greatest treasure for this rural family.

"Don’t worry. If you want eggs, you’ll have your fill. If you want meat, that’s possible too," Tang Xin declared with bravado.

Li Xiyue scoffed inwardly:

Boasting. At the educated youth station, you never earned work points—without your city parents, you’d starve every day in the countryside.

But she knew her mother and elder brother were nearby, so she kept such thoughts to herself.

Tang Xin, however, meant what she said.

With her space farm, improving the Li family's living conditions would be a matter of moments.

At the very least, rice, flour, and eggs would be plentiful, and once she upgraded the pasture, the family could indulge in meat as well.

In truth, Tang Xin wasn't especially covetous of the supposed household authority. She gladly accepted her mother-in-law’s arrangement because she felt that being in charge meant having power.

Her younger brother-in-law and sister-in-law were not bad at heart; with proper guidance, they might avoid going astray in the future.

And only by being the mistress of the house could she have the authority to rescue Li Xihua from that pit of misery.

Starved to death?

It was outrageous—she could not tell if the original author of that book was too malicious or if Li Xihua’s in-laws were utterly inhumane.

Having decided to thoroughly hand over household management to her daughter-in-law, Madam Fang held nothing back, carefully explaining every detail of the family’s situation.

She included sources of income, work points, the private plot, the annual grain allocation, the current grain reserves, and the family finances, among other things.