Chapter 3: All Daughters-in-law Are Trouble-makers
Translator: Flying Lines
Proofread by Claire.KK
The person standing at the door was Mrs. Xiao née w.a.n.g, the elder daughter-in-law of old Mr. Xiao. In the Xiao family the eldest was old Mr. Xiao, that was, Baoshanâs grandpa who had three sons. Mrs. Xiao née w.a.n.g was the wife of his eldest son, Li Hongmei was the wife of his second son, and the last, Mrs. Xiao née Chen, was his third daughter-in-law.
Li Hongmei was a prost.i.tute in her early years, so she was picked on by the eldest and third sonsâ wives since she married in. In the Xiao family, no one looked up on her apart from her husband who died early. Fortunately, she was born optimistic and cheeky. No matter whether they beat her or scolded her, she pretended to be alright.
Now, as soon as Mrs. Xiao née w.a.n.g came to shout at them, Li Hongmei also stood akimbo and scolded back. âWhat work? What work? Have you ever been a bride or not? You havenât been through a wedding night before? Your husband was incompetent and didnât serve you well back then, did he? You envy my Baoshan for having such a manly body, donât you?â
âYouâ¦you indeed come from the house of ill fame. I bet you know better than I do,â Mrs. Xiao née w.a.n.g continued her scolding. âYou donât do the work and whoâs going to cook todayâs lunch?â
âIâll do it, wonât I?â said Li Hongmei.
In fact, Li Hongmei was just arguing for the sake of it but she didnât really mean it. After all, she was a widow, and her second son just came back. Besides, there were another two little ones as well to feed. She had to work in order to survive in this family.
After quarreling with Mrs. Xiao née w.a.n.g, Li Hongmei immediately turned around and chuckled to Ye Xiaoxian. âLittle Ye, just lie down. Let your ma cook the lunch and bring it to you.â
Ye Xiaoxian looked at Li Hongmei. Although Li was a little coa.r.s.e, this mother-in-law was defending her in any case, so her affection for Li Hongmei had increased.
Li Hongmei left the room, and Mrs. Xiao née w.a.n.g was still standing there with her eyes staring at Ye Xiaoxian. Ye Xiaoxian didnât evade either. She also stared at Mrs. Xiao née w.a.n.g and said coldly, âDoes elder auntie want my ma to work alone? Itâs almost noon. If the lunch is served late, Grandpa will scold again.â
Mrs. Xiao née w.a.n.g rolled her eyes to Ye Xiaoxian and murmured, âItâs just a night the two spent together, does she really regards herself as the daughter-in-law of the Xiaoâs? Look at how arrogant she is. I havenât seen her being like this before.â
â¦
After Mrs. Xiao née w.a.n.g and Li Hongmei went out, Ye Xiaoxian thought that she could finally have some quiet time herself. However, a few sisters-in-law started quarreling outside.
âHow can you wash vegetables like that?â
âHow should I wash them if not like this?â
âDonât wash the pork so many times. Youâve washed all the oil off. There will be no oil left when itâs stir-fried.â
âSecond sister-in-law, can you be careful? The water has spilled on my feet!â
âThird sister-in-law, can you stop holding the kitchen knife like this? Knives have no eyes, and it almost killed me!â
â¦
The three daughters-in-law of the Xiao family were all trouble-makers. They quarreled every time they got together. Old Mr. Xiao, who was living in the East Room of the courtyard, couldnât stand it. He came out on crutches and scolded them. âStop it all of you! Your men are all working hard outside and what about you? Just cooking a lunch and you end up quarreling like this!â Old Mr. Xiao had always been the authority. He was the eldest of his family, and especially despised women. With such a roaring of his, all the women in the courtyard immediately calmed down. Old Mr. Xiao went back to his room and lay down after shouting at them. In this house, he only gave orders and scolded people but do nothing else. He also had to be served with meals on the dot or he would scold others for being one minute late.
Ye Xiaoxian suddenly felt a little fidgety again. This was a feudal family. It stressed that four generations should live together. All the money earned in the family should be handed over to Old Mr. Xiao to take care of and then distribute to each houses.
Xiao Tieshu, the eldest son of old Mr. Xiao, and Xiao Tongshu, the third son, both worked in the town. They earned two taels of silver every month, however, these were the accounts as they claimed them to be, but they must have kept some private savings for themselves.
Both the elder and the third sonsâ families were well off. They could afford new clothes for their own children during the Spring Festival, and the boys could go to school in the town.
The second sonâs wife Li Hongmei whose husband died early and her reputation was not good, so all the familyâs hard and dirty work fell onto this incomplete family, such as chopping firewood and cutting gra.s.s.
Ye Xiaoxian had accepted the fact that she had time-traveled and knew that it was not easy for a married woman to change her destiny in this era. All she could do now was to stay and make the life of the family better and improve her own life as well.