In short, Granny Hua found she had no reason to refuse izi’s arrangents. If she tried to voice the slightest objection, izi would imdiately cry out, "Mother..." and stare at her as if she’d seen a ghost. It was as though Granny Hua wasn’t from the village and had just committed so grave violation of Qingnan Village’s rules.
And so, izi began her life as a new wife, organizing the household with perfect order. Her days were hectic but fulfilling, and she felt very happy. anwhile, Granny Hua began her life of hardship as a mother-in-law, bidding farewell to her past comfortable life. She was constantly being called "Mother" here and "Mother" there by izi, so busy her feet barely touched the ground.
That evening, Li Changming thought about the way izi and his mother had acted during the day. He wanted to ask izi how she was communicating with his mother, so he asked hesitantly, "izi, is... is Mother doing all right?"
izi had been busy all day and was exhausted. She leaned languidly against his chest, letting him rub her shoulders, and answered casually, "She’s fine. Mother isn’t as lazy as everyone says, you know. She’s actually quite diligent, just a bit slow at her chores. But don’t worry. I’ll just hurry her along a little more from now on. She’ll get better once she gets used to it."
Li Changming could hardly believe his ears. ’His mother? Diligent?’ That was as likely as the sun rising in the west. But izi wouldn’t lie or waste ti with pleasantries and flattery, so what was going on?
So, he started asking izi, bit by bit, what they had done that day.
But asking was pointless. Although izi listed everything she and Granny Hua had done, she couldn’t explain why Granny Hua had followed her instructions every single ti.
Li Changming racked his brain but couldn’t for the life of him figure out why his mother had suddenly beco so obedient.
In the next room, Li Laoda looked at the much tidier space, then at Granny Hua sorting scraps of cloth by the light of an oil lamp. He really couldn’t get used to it.
Just as he was about to ask his wife a question, he watched her pick out the larger scraps, stuff them haphazardly into a small basket, and rub her eyes. Instead of pestering him with her usual rambling and pointless questions, she simply climbed into bed without a second thought and was snoring in no ti.
Li Laoda blew out the oil lamp and slowly got into bed as well. He lay there with his eyes open, staring into the deep darkness. Thinking back to the scene at dinner that day, the corners of his mouth curved up in a silent smile.
「Several days passed like this.」
Gou Dan’s mother was still worried about her daughter. On several occasions, she asked izi whether Granny Hua was bullying her or slacking off on her chores.
izi’s answers left her mother just as incredulous as Li Changming. Full of suspicion, she could only instruct her daughter, "If that old woman bullies you, you have to tell . I’ll co and sort her out."
izi nodded. "Okay! She’s pretty diligent, actually, just a little slow. It’s much better now that I’m there to keep an eye on her and hurry her along."
Gou Dan’s mother refused to believe that Granny Hua had beco diligent. But izi didn’t look like she was being mistreated, and she couldn’t get anything useful out of her. izi would just list off all the chores Granny Hua had done, which only left her mother more confused the more she heard.
Since asking wasn’t getting her anywhere, she decided she would have to go and secretly see for herself how this mother-in-law and daughter-in-law were getting along.
And when she did, she certainly discovered what was going on.
In the third month of spring, a ti of red flowers and green willows, Juhua was also feeling lively. She invited Liu Xiaoi and izi to go pick green mugwort to make sweet cakes.
Juhua looked at the ridges between the fields before her. All sorts of wild vegetables and weeds had sprouted in a lush layer of green. The fields beside them were still fallow, the old rice stubble now rotted. When it was ti to plant the seedlings, it would be turned over to serve as fertilizer.
A patch of yellow daylilies grew in the fallow field, spreading low to the ground and blooming with small, tender-yellow flowers. So of the village won were digging them up with small trowels to feed their pigs.
She used a pair of scissors to snip off the tender mugwort shoots, placing them in her small basket. She also picked a good amount of Indian aster, which piled up fluffy in the basket, releasing a fresh fragrance.
The damp air of early spring was wonderfully refreshing. She watched izi, her cheeks rosy and a smile on her face as she diligently snipped mugwort. Recalling sothing Little Shitou had told her, an idea struck her, and she decided to probe a little into izi’s married life.
She wasn’t being nosy; she was genuinely worried about izi, afraid she wouldn’t be able to handle that mother-in-law of hers.
So, she asked, "izi, your mother-in-law isn’t giving you a hard ti, is she?"
She and izi had been friends for a long ti; there was no need to beat around the bush.
Hearing this, Liu Xiaoi, who was up ahead, turned around and quickly chid in, "Yeah, I was wondering too. izi, she’s not bullying you, is she?"
izi blinked her big eyes and shook her head. "No. I’m not lazy, so why would she give a hard ti?" In her mind, only lazy daughters-in-law were disliked by their mothers-in-law.
Seeing her innocent and naive expression, Juhua grew more concerned. She tried a different approach. "Well... does she do any work? Or does she make you cook all the als for her every day?"
izi stopped snipping mugwort. She twirled a shoot between her fingers, a little bewildered, and replied, "I do cook for her every day—her cooking is terrible, I can’t even eat it. But she does work. See, when I left today, I told her she had to do the laundry, feed the pigs, and sweep the house and the yard. And, um, if she finished all that, she could work on sewing shoe soles."
Juhua and Liu Xiaoi both stared at her, their mouths hanging open in disbelief—how had Granny Hua beco so diligent?
Seeing that everyone kept asking her about Granny Hua’s work ethic, izi felt it was necessary to defend her mother-in-law’s reputation. She didn’t think Granny Hua was lazy at all, just very slow.
So, she said to Juhua and Liu Xiaoi in all sincerity, "Mother really isn’t lazy at all. She does all the chores I tell her to do, she’s just very slow. Her needlework is slow, too."
Seeing Juhua’s skeptical expression, she nodded emphatically to show that she was telling the truth. She was used to hearing people say that Granny Hua was lazy and a gossip, but after being married for a while now, she felt her mother-in-law wasn’t that difficult to deal with at all.
Little did she know, it was Granny Hua who found *her* difficult to deal with. (To be continued. If you like this work, you are welco to co to Qidian to vote with recomndation and monthly tickets. Your support is my greatest motivation.)
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