Free Web NovelChapter 262: Chapter 263: Looking for Trouble?
Xie Ruyi smiled and clapped her hands. "Aunt Liu, you’ve hit the nail on the head. All of us sisters-in-law are so fortunate. With a mother-in-law who’s kinder to us than our own mothers, how could we not become as close as real sisters?"
Her words amused everyone present. Li Cuicui, holding her little grandson, was also smiling from ear to ear, feeling that at this moment, her life was complete.
Gu Benluo didn’t understand why so many people were laughing at the same time, but loving to join in on the fun, he also got excited, laughing while patting his legs. His giggles made everyone laugh even harder.
However, there was an exception among them. Jin Qianqian noticed Song Xiuyang hiding in a corner, wringing a handkerchief and constantly wiping her tears. fгee𝑤ebɳoveɭ.cøm
But she only glanced over for a moment before quickly rejoining everyone’s idle chatter.
"Seventh Wife, just how rich is your family?" Gu Yuanfeng squeezed over, holding her child, and asked in a low voice.
Jin Qianqian didn’t want to deal with her, but Li Xiaohua, who was beside her, retorted, "I say, Sister-in-law, your curiosity is a bit much. A few days ago you were prying into our business, and now it’s Seventh’s turn?
Actually, we’re also quite curious. That Stone Son-in-law has been moving a lot of goods these past two years. You must have saved up a lot, haven’t you?"
Gu Yuanfeng pursed her lips. She really didn’t know how much silver Shi Dayong had actually earned. Aside from giving her enough for household expenses, he said he was saving the rest to establish a family estate later on.
Having left the woman speechless, Li Xiaohua proudly raised an eyebrow at Jin Qianqian, as if to tell the Seventh Wife to take notes: when dealing with such shameless people, you don’t need to save them any face.
Jin Qianqian was left speechless. ’Maybe I’ll try that next time. Deliberately hitting a nerve like that isn’t a bad idea.’
"See that over there?" Li Xiaohua had been holding it in all day. She was dying to share her gossip with Jin Qianqian.
Jin Qianqian nodded. "Mm, what’s her act all about now?"
Seeing that she was on the same page, Li Xiaohua led her to a corner, which scared Qing Mei and the others into quickly following. "Look how nervous you all are. I’m her sister-in-law. What could I possibly do to her?"
Liu Qingmei said, "Third Madam, our Madam is heavy with child right now, so we have to watch her more closely..."
"Alright, I get it. If you’re not at ease, you can all stand guard here. I’m just going to have a chat with my Seventh Sister-in-law."
Ever since the family business took off, besides her own sisters-in-law, Li Xiaohua didn’t feel like she had anything to talk about with anyone else.
"The eldest branch really married the wrong woman. She has a perfectly good life but refuses to enjoy it, just whimpering all day long. No one likes to see that." Li Xiaohua first complained on behalf of her Eldest Sister-in-law before getting to the main point.
"Didn’t Eldest Brother tell the Le Family to learn from Brother-in-law Shi and take the tofu to sell in the neighboring towns? After all, many families in the village are doing the same thing.
But she’s ambitious and pesters the Le Family all day to take over her father-in-law’s tofu workshop, saying that since they’re all sons, why can the second son be a steward there while her husband has to run around everywhere outside."
Jin Qianqian raised an eyebrow. "Eldest Brother didn’t give away the secret recipe, did he?"
Li Xiaohua quickly shook her head. "I can vouch for that. The brothers are still keeping it to themselves. They haven’t even told us wives."
Afraid that Jin Qianqian would misunderstand, she added, "If you don’t believe me, you can ask Eldest Brother and the others later."
"I believe you," Jin Qianqian said, seeing how anxious she was, and quickly took her hand. "I was just wondering, if the secret recipe wasn’t given out, wouldn’t traveling to sell the goods earn more silver taels? Why is she so fixated on a steward position?"
"That’s why I say her mind is as small as the eye of a needle. Isn’t she just afraid that Eldest Brother will show favoritism and her family will end up with nothing?" Li Xiaohua pouted. "She’s been acting like this since we started getting busy yesterday."
Jin Qianqian shook her head. "Eldest Sister-in-law hasn’t said anything to her? Today is Mother’s grand birthday. Acting like this is so inauspicious."
"She did. Eldest Sister-in-law even warned her. Who knew? She was fine before, but now she’s putting on a show again."
At this point, Li Xiaohua gave Jin Qianqian a pointed look. "I reckon she’s putting on this show for you. After all, you’re the one who gave everyone the secret recipe. A word from you would be much more effective than any of our attempts to persuade her."
But Jin Qianqian just smiled at Li Xiaohua. "When I gave it away, I decided I wouldn’t interfere again. Besides, this is a business Eldest Brother and the others have worked hard to build these past two years. I can imagine all the effort they’ve put in, so I’m definitely not getting involved."
Li Xiaohua knew she had been meddlesome again. "Sister-in-law, please don’t laugh at me. I’m also doing this for the children in the family. I know you got the short end of the stick in this matter, but as your Third Sister-in-law, I promise you right here that from now on, I’ll be like your own flesh-and-blood sister. If Seventh dares to bully you, I’ll bring Eldest Sister-in-law and the others to come beat him up."
Hearing those somewhat familiar words, Jin Qianqian’s heart felt full. Although their families were all tied together by self-interest, she had made a contribution, and having others repay her with genuine affection was much better than receiving no gratitude at all.
"Third Sister-in-law is trying to be charming again," Liu Liu said, walking over with her maid. "I doubt Seventh would ever have the heart to bully our Seventh Sister-in-law. If he let Seventh Sister-in-law feel wronged, Seventh himself wouldn’t be able to live with it."
Jin Qianqian lowered her head to hide her face. "Fourth Sister-in-law, you’re exaggerating. You must be talking about yourself and Fourth Brother, right?"
"..."
Standing in the corner, Song Xiuyang received a warning look from her mother-in-law and didn’t dare cause any more trouble. However, her eyes remained fixed on Jin Qianqian, especially on her round belly.
Placing a hand on her own lower abdomen, Song Xiuyang felt that familiar bitterness well up inside her again. It had been more than two years since that huge misunderstanding on the road, and now the other woman was already pregnant with her second child, while her own belly remained stubbornly empty.
Now, not only did her parents-in-law have a problem with her, but even the Le Family wasn’t as warm to her as they used to be.
She had also secretly gone to see a doctor in the county town, but besides prescribing her a huge pile of medicine, the doctor never told her when she would be able to conceive a son.
Thinking of her increasingly cold husband and the wealth of this family that seemed just out of her reach, Song Xiuyang grew even more anxious.
She wanted to squeeze her way to Jin Qianqian’s side to plead her case, but before she could even get close, she was stopped by an old servant woman sent by her mother-in-law.
Dragged to a corner, she found Xie Ruyi standing there with her arms crossed, watching her. "Are you trying to make a scene for me?"
She had single-handedly organized this birthday banquet as the wife of the eldest son. If her own daughter-in-law made a fool of herself at a time like this, wouldn’t that be a slap in her face?
Seeing her mother-in-law’s stern face, Song Xiuyang’s tears began to fall before she could even speak. "Mother, you’ve misunderstood me. I just haven’t seen Seventh Aunt in a long time and wanted to go over and greet her."
Xie Ruyi said, "Since when were you on such good terms with your Seventh Aunt? Or were you planning to repay the silver you owe her?"
In truth, Xie Ruyi couldn’t care less about such a small debt, but because she was so displeased with Song Xiuyang, she had never settled the account.
She had privately discussed it with Jin Qianqian, wanting to put some pressure on the young couple and stop them from always trying to reap the rewards without sowing.
