Free Web NovelChapter 255: Chapter 256: Mother-in-law Is Here
Stepping into the vast courtyard once more, Li Cuicui felt overwhelmed by the sight.
"Old Madam, our Madam is currently in the back courtyard. Please have a seat; she should be here shortly." Qing Lan led a young maid forward to serve tea, not forgetting to explain in a low voice.
Li Cuicui placed the basket she was holding on the table. "Tell her not to rush. She can finish whatever she’s doing before coming over."
As soon as she heard Jin Qianqian was in the back courtyard, Li Cuicui guessed, ’Seventh Wife must have run off to the workshop again.’
"Mother, you’re here." Jin Qianqian’s voice preceded her arrival.
Seeing Jin Qianqian and her baby bump, Li Cuicui quickly stood up to go and help her.
"I’m alright, Mother. I’m used to walking around every day," Jin Qianqian said, quickly waving her off. "You should have sent word you were coming. I would have had someone get the carriage to pick you up. The weather has turned cold, and the wind is bone-chilling."
To make future travel more convenient, Jin Qianqian had specifically spent some silver taels to have the road back to the village crudely repaired, just enough for a carriage to pass through. freeweɓnøvel.com
"It’s such a short distance; there was no need for all that. I just hitched a ride with your eldest brother’s delivery oxcart to the city gate," Li Cuicui said as she lifted the straw covering the basket.
"These are all the eggs our chickens at home have laid recently. I brought them for you, to help you keep your strength up."
Jin Qianqian was taken aback. This was the first batch of eggs. "Mother, I can’t take these. Father and the children at home need them too. Besides, the kitchen here is always well-stocked. I have more than enough to eat."
Li Cuicui’s expression turned stern. "This is from my heart. You and Seventh are always sending things home. Your brothers take care of us, and I can’t give you much, but I raised the chickens that laid these eggs with my own two hands."
"I’m also saving the chickens at home for you, so you can have a proper postpartum confinement."
Jin Qianqian was genuinely touched. After all, ever since she and her husband took over these bodies, they had helped the Gu family immensely. Yet, in all that time, this basket of eggs from Li Cuicui was the first real gesture of personal care she had received.
In the past, her and Ancient Wen Heng’s dealings with the Gu Family had been driven more by calculation than affection. They hadn’t done so much just to cultivate a good reputation, but also to prevent these people from dragging them down in the future.
And yet, after giving so much, to see this small return today still made Jin Qianqian breathe a quiet sigh of relief.
"How is it that Seventh still isn’t home? Is he really that busy?" Li Cuicui asked curiously, noticing that Ancient Wen Heng had yet to appear.
"My husband has been at the academy every day," Jin Qianqian explained. "Mother, if you want to see him, you won’t catch him until dinnertime."
"He’s that busy?" Li Cuicui was puzzled. "I thought you said he wouldn’t take the Advanced Scholar examination for another two years. Why is he so swamped already?"
"..." Jin Qianqian was suddenly at a loss. She didn’t know how to explain the concept of ’ten years of bitter study’ to her mother-in-law, so she just gave an awkward smile.
Li Cuicui suddenly realized she’d said the wrong thing. "How are you feeling? Have you seen a doctor?"
Jin Qianqian breathed a quiet sigh of relief. "I have a doctor check my pulse every month to make sure everything is alright. All is well."
"Oh, right, how is everyone at home? It’s not convenient for me to go back and visit in my condition, so I’ve troubled you to make this long trip."
"Everyone at home is doing well. Nowadays, whenever anyone in the village mentions you two, they give a thumbs-up. Your father and I are basking in your glory; everyone is so polite to us wherever we go."
Li Cuicui was crystal clear on one thing: the good life she was enjoying in her old age was all thanks to Seventh and his wife.
On top of that, her other sons in the village had become more capable and were now generous toward their parents, so she and her husband truly didn’t have to worry about having enough to eat and drink.
She would have never dared to even imagine such a life in the past.
"That’s good. If you’re short on anything, you must remember to tell us. All the families are doing better now, so you can live however you please."
Li Cuicui nodded, her face wreathed in smiles. "I know you’re both filial. We two old folks can only eat and drink so much. You and Seventh are out on your own; just take care of yourselves. If we need anything at home, we’ll go to your brothers."
Jin Qianqian suddenly asked, "Mother, how is Sixth Sister doing now? Is her life going well?"
Li Cuicui hadn’t expected the question and took a moment to respond. "She’s doing well. She came back for a visit with Da Yong a while ago. The smile never left her face, so I’d say she’s getting by just fine."
Privately, Li Cuicui had also asked Gu Yuanfeng, who always insisted that his sister was doing very well, with a considerate husband and obedient children.
Hearing this at the time had filled Li Cuicui with complicated feelings. ’My daughter is either incredibly carefree or just plain thoughtless,’ she had thought. ’She treats those stepchildren as if they were her own, as if she’s forgotten she herself has given birth twice, that her own flesh and blood aren’t even with her.’
Jin Qianqian had only asked casually. Seeing that her mother-in-law didn’t want to dwell on the topic, she suggested they take a walk in the back courtyard instead.
Li Cuicui had no objections. The last time she’d visited, the household had been in the middle of a large banquet, and she had only gotten a fleeting glimpse of the grounds.
On this visit, the gardens were much more orderly than she remembered. Watching the maids bustle in and out, Li Cuicui felt the gap between Seventh and his wife and the rest of the family growing ever wider.
The old woman couldn’t help but feel a bit dazed. ’How did my womb produce someone so remarkable? To think a figure so far beyond my imagination is my own flesh and blood.’
’What’s more, Seventh’s success seems to have had nothing to do with his father and me; he accomplished it all on his own.’
"The youngest has come to see you, hasn’t he?" Li Cuicui said, her eyes on the fruit trees in the courtyard. In their first year since being transplanted, they bore no fruit.
Jin Qianqian raised an eyebrow, unsure of her mother-in-law’s meaning. "Yes, he has."
"As his mother, I can’t say I understand the youngest completely, but I know him well enough. If he’s showing up now, it’s almost certainly for no good reason."
"It’s not that I’m a heartless mother, but I can’t let him ruin the goodwill between all the other brothers."
"But no matter what, they are brothers from the same womb. I’m just saying, if—if one day, he finds himself in a truly desperate situation, and you are able to... please, lend him a hand."
Jin Qianqian turned her head to look at her. "Let me also say ’if.’ If helping him would implicate our family, should we still do it?"
While she could understand a mother’s heart, Jin Qianqian was unwilling to cross certain lines.
Li Cuicui bit her lip. "Then don’t mind him. You can’t let one person drag all of you down."
Jin Qianqian found her admiration for the old woman growing. ’She’s so clear-headed,’ she thought, ’with a perfect grasp of what’s important and what’s not.’
’Even with her motherly feelings for Gu Yuanlei, she knew where to draw the line.’
Jin Qianqian nodded. "As long as he doesn’t do anything to harm others, if a day comes when he truly cannot get by, we will help him in a suitable manner."
Receiving this promise was more than enough. A weight was lifted from Li Cuicui’s heart. She adjusted her mood and continued to slowly admire the courtyard with her daughter-in-law.
