The Stepmother's Counterattack: Raising a Child in a Bygone Era-Chapter 36 - The crying child gets the candy, the well-behaved child gets no love
Chapter 36: Chapter 36: The crying child gets the candy, the well-behaved child gets no love
Chapter 36 -36: The crying child gets the candy, the well-behaved child gets no love
It wasn’t until the sky gradually darkened that Shen Mingzhu leisurely returned home with Pei Ziheng.
As soon as she entered, Qin Jinlian, who was busy in the courtyard, glared at her.
“You still know to come back!”
Shen Mingzhu: “Should I leave then?”
Qin Jinlian: “…”
Seeing the mother and daughter starting to squabble upon meeting, eldest sister-in-law Du Juan hurriedly greeted Shen Mingzhu, “Let Xiaohuan play with Daya, and Mingzhu, help me cook dinner in the kitchen.”
Shen Mingzhu agreed, patted Pei Ziheng’s head, said, “Don’t bully Daya,” and then followed Du Juan into the kitchen.
Pei Ziheng pursed his lips, watched Shen Mingzhu’s retreating figure for a while, and then turned and walked over to the little girl by the wooden horse cart.
Daya is the daughter of Shen Chaobei and Du Juan, three years old this year.
Possibly because she lives in the countryside, her skin is a bit dark and her figure slim.
She has wide cheekbones but a sharp chin, with big, black eyes similar to a cat’s features, and in the glint of her eyes, she bears a resemblance to Shen Mingzhu.
Although Daya is young, she does not behave like other children who are prone to runny noses and crying at the slightest provocation.
Give her a torn leaf, and she could quietly play with it all afternoon.
At the moment, she was sitting alone on a wooden horse cart made in the countryside, her large black eyes unblinkingly staring at Pei Ziheng, the handsome cousin from the city.
Annoyed at being stared at, Pei Ziheng curled his lips maliciously and threatened in a voice only the two of them could hear, “Keep staring, and I’ll gouge your eyeballs out.”
Not sure if she was scared stiff or hadn’t reacted yet, Daya stared blankly at Pei Ziheng for a while, suddenly dropped the wooden horse cart, ran to Qin Jinlian’s side, and hugged her legs.
Qin Jinlian looked down at her granddaughter and then at Pei Ziheng not far away, quietly asking Daya what was wrong.
Daya said nothing, only burying her face between Qin Jinlian’s legs.
Qin Jinlian didn’t press the matter, continuing with her work.
Pei Ziheng, feeling bored, seated himself on the wooden horse cart, rocking it back and forth while looking up at the sky.
Daya beside Qin Jinlian’s legs stealthily watched Pei Ziheng, who had taken her wooden horse cart, her little face puffing up with anger.
Inside the kitchen, Shen Chaobei was persuading Shen Mingzhu not to be angry with Qin Jinlian.
“Mom still cares about you, always talking about you.
If it hadn’t been for the bustle of Xiangnan’s wedding lately, she would have visited you in the city long ago.”
Shen Mingzhu said, “She’s probably just concerned about my money.”
“Mingzhu, don’t talk like that about Mom; it makes her seem so bad.”
“Well, she’s not that great either.”
“…”
Shen Chaobei looked at Shen Mingzhu with confusion, “You never used to talk back like this.”
Shen Mingzhu also looked at Shen Chaobei, “Don’t just try to placate me.
You’d be better off comforting Du Juan.
She married into our family, bore you children, and joined you in hardship.
It’s not fair she should also endure grievances.
Any decent man would know to protect his own wife.”
Originally chopping vegetables, Du Juan stopped short when she heard her sister-in-law mention her.
Listening to the rest of Mingzhu’s words, she felt an unbidden warmth swell in her eyes.
Luckily, the kitchen was dimly lit, and neither sibling noticed her reaction.
She wiped the corner of her eyes and continued chopping vegetables with a “chop chop.”
Shen Chaobei, embarrassed by what Shen Mingzhu had said, glanced at his wife but, at a loss for words, found an excuse to leave.
Now, only the sisters-in-law remained in the kitchen.
Shen Mingzhu, looking at her frail and enduring sister-in-law’s back, spoke candidly, “Good days and bad days are all made by ourselves.
If you don’t want to be wronged, you have to dare to speak out your dissatisfaction and thoughts.
The more you endure, the more you’ll be ignored in the future.
The crying child gets the candy, while the sensible child gets no affection.
Du Juan, think about whether what I’m saying is right.”
“Yes.”
“Mingzhu, thank you.”
Turning around, Du Juan’s smile towards her was especially grateful.
There were two tables of people for dinner, including Shen Mingzhu’s family, relatives who would help with the wedding procession tomorrow, and fellow villagers.
After the meal, everyone began to prepare the carrying poles for the wedding procession. freёnovelkiss.com
Chicken, duck, pork, sweets, and fruits were all packed into baskets, then covered with red cloth, ready to be shouldered to the bride’s home for the wedding procession early the next morning.
After finishing the preparations around 10 o’clock, the helping relatives and villagers each went home to sleep.
The Shen family also arranged to rest, as they were set to rise at 5 a.m.
the following day.
But sleeping arrangements posed a problem.
Shen Mingzhu’s room was no longer available, and she had Pei Ziheng with her.
According to closeness, Shen Mingzhu should have slept in the same room as Qin Jinlian, but since Shen Mingzhu had some issues with Qin Jinlian, she suggested sleeping with her older sister-in-law, Du Juan.
Although Qin Jinlian didn’t say much, her facial expression showed she was unhappy.
Shen Mingzhu didn’t care at all and took Pei Ziheng to Du Juan’s room.
In the countryside, everyone sleeps on a kang, and it wasn’t crowded at all for two adults and two children to share one.
The wedding the next day was lively and festive, with a total of eighteen tables.
Almost the entire village came, along with relatives from both sides.
As the younger sister-in-law, Shen Mingzhu had to look after the bride on one hand and greet guests on the other, so busy that she was on her feet the whole time.
It wasn’t until the bridal chamber frolics ended and the guests had left in the evening that she found time to sit down and take a breath.
No sooner had she sat down than Pei Ziheng found his way to her side, his dark eyes looking at her as he asked, “When are we going back?”
Shen Mingzhu teased him, saying they weren’t going back and would stay in the countryside from now on; instead, she got mercilessly mocked.
“You don’t even have your own room, what are you going to do, sleep in the pigsty?”
“…”
Damn.
As soon as Shen Mingzhu stepped through Qin Jinlian’s door, everyone in the room turned to look at her.
This was her first visit to Qin Jinlian’s house after their quarrel.
Qin Jinlian was sitting cross-legged by the side of the kang, Shen Dad Shen Jianguo was sitting at the other end, brothers Shen Chaobei and Shen Xiangnan were standing, and older sister-in-law Du Juan was sitting on a stool, holding Daya.
Everyone was present except for the new bride, Yang Lizhen.
Shen Mingzhu was succinct, “I’m going back tomorrow.”
Qin Jinlian remained silent, and seeing his wife not saying anything, Shen Jianguo didn’t open his mouth either.
But it was the eldest brother, Shen Chaobei, who spoke up to retain Shen Mingzhu, “You hardly ever come back, aren’t you going to stay a bit longer?”
Shen Mingzhu wanted to ask if they were expecting her to sleep in the pigsty, but she held back her words; it was a joyous occasion, why spoil it for others?
“Xiaohuan needs to go back to kindergarten.”
“Fine, go then.
Who’s keen on keeping you?”
Shen Mingzhu was already tired and wanted to go back to her room to lie down, but after hearing Qin Jinzhi say that, she stubbornly stayed put and sat down beside her older sister-in-law Du Juan, clearly intent on aggravating Qin Jinlian.
Qin Jinlian glared at her, then continued to count the cash gifts they had received that day.
Shen Mingzhu amused Daya while whispering to Du Juan, “Sis, if you have time, come to the city to find me, and I’ll take you around.
Xiaohuan has quite a few clothes he can’t wear anymore.
I’ll sort them out when I get back, and then you can take them for Daya; they’re all good clothes.”
“Sure.”
Slept until dawn.
When Shen Mingzhu opened her eyes, she smelled something frying, as if someone was cooking something.
She got dressed and went to the kitchen to fetch water for washing, but as soon as she stepped over the kitchen threshold, she saw Qin Jinlian with an apron on, busy in front of the stove, with a big winnowing basket full of fried tofu and crispy pork next to the wok.
Shen Mingzhu initially thought that Qin Jinlian was making these for the newly arrived sister-in-law to eat, but when breakfast came, the table only had corn bread and some leftovers from yesterday; there was no sign of fried tofu and crispy pork.
If she wasn’t given any to eat, she couldn’t care less.
Agitated, Shen Mingzhu thought, she finished eating and left the table to go pack her things.
There wasn’t much to pack, really.
Although she had arrived with big and small packages, they were all for the Shen family, things to eat and wear.
Besides a change of clothes, she and Pei Ziheng only had small items like towels and toothbrushes.
Before she had finished packing, Qin Jinlian came in, her face sour as she placed a big bag on the kang table.
Mother and daughter stared each other down for a long while.
“What are you looking at?”
“If you didn’t stare at me, how would I know you were staring?”
Shen Mingzhu’s retort made Qin Jinlian feel a painful sting in her heart, “Can’t you stop talking back to me for once, will it kill you?”
“A moment of patience may prevent an ovarian cyst, a step back may prevent breast hyperplasia.”
Qin Jinlian, infuriated, could only stare; she then pushed the stuff on the kang table towards Shen Mingzhu, “This is for you.”
“What is it?”
“Dog shit!”
“…”
