Chapter 54: Intent on Making Her Lose Face

Before the three brothers could make up their minds, Li Xiyue spoke up from the side, “Our family is poor, we don’t even have any sugar.”

Ever since their eldest brother came home, any goodwill she had managed to muster toward Tang Xin over the dress had vanished entirely. She was back to opposing her sister-in-law at every turn.

So she continued to egg her two younger brothers on: “Since this idea came from our sister-in-law, obviously she should be the one to pay and do the work. Xiaojian, Xiaohai, you can’t let her be stingy with you.”

Tang Xin, however, merely smiled at them, unconcerned by Li Xiyue’s attempts to sow discord. “So, have you thought it over? Once this chance is gone, it’s gone. I’m not going to be offering this deal every day.”

The three younger ones had already been won over by Tang Xin’s offer, but after hearing their second sister, they began to wonder if they were somehow being shortchanged.

Seeing their hesitation, Mrs. Fang finally decided not to remain on the sidelines. With a heavy sigh, she drew attention to herself.

The ever-dutiful Li Jiang hurried over, kneading his mother’s shoulders. “Ma, what’s wrong?”

“I’m just envious of you all. When I was your age, I wanted nothing more than to go to school, but I never got the chance—I had to stay home and work. You three rascals get to go to school and even get money and sweets on top of it. How can life be so good for you?”

The truth about Mrs. Fang’s background was that it wasn’t poverty that kept her out of school, nor was it the reason later on. But these things, of course, she would never tell the children outright.

Even when gossipers tried to speak ill of her in front of the children, she never explained the real reasons in detail. Thus, the three children had no idea their mother was simply coaxing them, and, fearful of losing the benefits, they hurriedly nodded and agreed to their sister-in-law’s proposal.

Seeing her three younger siblings so easily won over by the “witch,” Li Xiyue was indignant, glaring at Tang Xin with resentment.

The so-called “witch,” however, only smiled more sweetly, adding, “Actually, Xiyue, you could join us in learning to read and write too.”

Li Xiyue’s face paled. “Sister-in-law, I…”

In just two years she would be old enough to marry; to have her start learning now would be nothing but an embarrassment.

Tang Xin’s smile was impossibly sweet. “Don’t worry. At your age, it wouldn’t be appropriate to send you to school, but you could start learning with me at home.”

Then she turned to the three children. “Tomorrow, I’ll go to the commune primary school and enroll you. From your first day, you’ll get a piece of candy before school each morning. As for the money, that will come at the end of each month.”

“Of course,” she added, “if you deliberately skip school during the month, you won’t get the money, and there will be other punishments as well.”

As a gesture of good faith and to prove her sincerity, even though they hadn’t started school yet, Tang Xin gave each of them a piece of candy that very day.

The three children grabbed their sweets and dashed away, afraid their sister-in-law might come up with another request they couldn’t fulfill.

Li Xiyue wanted to run off too, but her sister-in-law’s words lingered in her mind. Unwilling to give up, she sidled over and asked, “Sister-in-law, do I really have to learn too?”

“It’s always good for girls to learn more,” Tang Xin replied earnestly. “With knowledge as your weapon, whether you get married or move to the city in the future, you’ll live better than others.”

Li Xiyue was momentarily stunned, but said nothing more. She simply gathered her things and left.

After all, she had no one to do farm work for her; everything depended on her own two hands.

Mrs. Fang witnessed the entire scene, her heart blooming with delight. Her daughter-in-law was truly remarkable.

What mattered most was that Mrs. Fang could tell right from wrong and knew her daughter-in-law’s efforts to encourage the children to read and write were for the good of the Li family.

In truth, Mrs. Fang was well aware—her five children, from the eldest, Li Xihua, to the youngest, Li Hai, were all filial and good-hearted. But each had their own flaws and shortcomings, and the middle two, Li Kai and Li Xiyue, were the most troublesome.

She and Old Li lacked the skill and resolve to discipline them properly.

Especially with Li Xiyue—how could Mrs. Fang not worry?

Xihua had suffered greatly because she wasn’t properly raised, and her temperament had led to countless grievances in her husband’s family. Mrs. Fang ached for her daughter, but there was nothing she could do to help.

When it came to her youngest daughter, Mrs. Fang only hoped she could marry well. By marrying well, she didn’t mean joining a wealthy family, but simply that Xiyue’s future in-laws wouldn’t be as harsh as those of the eldest.

Yet she knew her own daughter—when the family was at its poorest, Xiyue was still a child, and though she suffered, she didn’t remember any of it. By the time she was old enough to remember, Li Sheng was already driving for the commune, and the family’s situation had improved. At least no one went hungry anymore.

Xiyue was raised better than her elder sister, and as a result, she became more headstrong. She aimed high but had little to show for it. Yet what good was it to be so ambitious? The Li family’s resources were limited. Even if she married into a family that could feed her, what if her life wasn’t any better?

Now, with her daughter-in-law managing things, and seeing her youngest daughter being put in her place and gradually improving, Mrs. Fang felt greatly relieved.

These past days, watching her daughter-in-law keep the unruly children in check, Mrs. Fang found it all quite entertaining.

Tang Xin also discovered her mother-in-law was truly capable. Although there weren’t many ingredients at home, Mrs. Fang’s skills made up for it.

She managed to create a variety of dishes, and every day, they could eat well.

Even without fish or meat, her mother-in-law could still make meals that left Tang Xin satisfied.

Just with flour, she could make flatbreads, steamed breads, and noodles, each prepared in many different ways. They could have noodle soup, fried noodles, noodles with gravy, noodles with soybean paste, or cold noodles. Even porridge could be made with different vegetables for a variety of flavors.

Tang Xin was deeply moved, for Li Sheng had told her that things hadn’t always been this way.

These days, every family was like this—just having enough to eat was already something; no one thought about making meals more delicious or changing things up to avoid monotony.

In fact, many housewives feared that cooking too well would increase everyone’s appetite and leave them short on grain.

It was only after Tang Xin married into the family that Mrs. Fang started making these efforts.

Tang Xin understood that Mrs. Fang was striving to treat her well, to welcome her sincerely into this struggling family, and to help nurture a better relationship between her and Li Sheng.

Originally, Li Sheng had planned to take his wife to the commune for a stroll, but unexpectedly, as soon as he returned, the brigade leader drafted him to help with some urgent work.

Tang Xin knew the brigade leader valued Li Sheng highly and recognized her husband’s talents, so she wouldn’t stand in his way.

But Li Sheng, for his part, was always worried his wife would become bored staying at home.