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Chapter 263: Chapter 263 Wedding 3
Tong Yao: She knows it’s cold when snow is melting, but Lin Fengying’s face seems even colder.
Usually, Lin Fengying doesn’t seem like the type to get angry, yet on the day of her younger son’s wedding, her mood changed unexpectedly.
But what exactly did she do to stir this up?
At this point, Tong Yao still doesn’t understand that Lin Fengying’s anger originated from her not doing anything at all.
After dinner, Zhang Lijuan took the initiative to help Lin Fengying clean up, but was stopped. "It’s totally unacceptable for a newlywed bride to wash dishes. There’s hot water in the pot, go take a bath and get some rest early. Xiaohui will help clean up."
At these words, the faces of Si Boyi and Zhang Lijuan turned as red as ripe apples in embarrassment. Both of them shyly kept their heads down. Finally, Si Boyi brazenly went to the kitchen to fetch hot water, while Zhang Lijuan quickly followed.
Hearing about doing the work, Si Xiaohui pouted discontentedly, "My hands are already frozen raw, and you still want me to clean up?"
It reminded her of the proverb, ’Three monks have no water to drink.’
Before, she was always willing to help tidy up when it was just her family. Now, with the addition of two sisters-in-law, she felt aggrieved to serve everyone like a nanny.
Lin Fengying, being sympathetic towards her daughter, chided, "There’s no need for you to do the cleaning, go warm your hands with the hot water."
Upon hearing this, an overjoyed Si Xiaohui chirped, "I knew you love me most, I will go to Xiaochun’s house to watch TV and sleep there." With that, she dashed out.
Si Chen silently rolled up his sleeves to help Lin Fengying clean the table. Seeing this, Lin Fengying sternly looked at him and said coldly, "You work in a hospital and might need to perform surgery at any time. What if you get frostbite? Stop doing this, I can clean up myself. If Yaoyao wants to help, she can."
These words were obviously aimed at Tong Yao.
Tong Yao curled her lips slightly, ’So it turns out they were waiting for me to do the work.’
The newlyweds, her daughter with frostbite, and her son with his medical responsibilities, none can do the cleaning.
Hence, it is only her who can do the work so that everyone becomes happy, right?
To be honest, if Lin Fengying didn’t show such disdain and straightforwardly asked for her help, Tong Yao wouldn’t refuse. She understood how hard things were for Lin Fengying, but with her sullen face and deliberately pointing at her to do the work, it didn’t sit quite right with Tong Yao.
As she was about to speak, Si Chen spoke first, "The kitchen is too cold and Yaoyao is nearing her period, she can’t catch a cold. I’ll wash the dishes with hot water to prevent frostbite, you can also take a rest."
Hearing spicy food during periods could cause chilliness was a first for Lin Fengying, who had already lived a good part of her life. The grievance in her heart condensed further and she angrily brushed her eldest son aside.
"I’ve been working my entire life, never got to enjoy myself, everyone else just rest! I’ll do it."
After saying these words, she put all the dishware into a basin, wiped the table with a cloth, picked up the water basin, and walked towards the kitchen.
Tong Yao turned to Si Chen and exclaimed, "What should we do? We’ve made our mother angry."
Si Chen nonchalantly responded, "It’s okay, if she wants to clean up, let her. Washing dishes isn’t tiring." In winter, they didn’t have to manage farmland, so besides regular home chores, there usually wasn’t much to do.
Their house was full of adults, and Lin Fengying didn’t have a ton of things to do anyway. Moreover, as they age, having something to do to stretch their muscles is beneficial for health.
Tong Yao: ’...’ He is indeed his mother’s beloved son.
The kitchen was already crowded, Tong Yao didn’t want to squeeze in, so she took Si Chen to their room to whisper.
"I always feel that mom’s mood isn’t great today. She seems to have some issues with me. Is it because I didn’t help her with chores in the afternoon that she’s upset?"
After thinking hard and considering the matter of Lin Fengying asking her to do chores, this seemed like the most reasonable explanation.
Si Chen, instead of hiding it from Tong Yao, nodded and said, "It has some relation. Maybe Wang Daoniang said something about you to her. Don’t overthink, day after tomorrow we’ll return to Kyoto."
There was no place for them to stay and if they stayed for a long time, everyone would become uncomfortable, so they might as well return to Kyoto sooner.
"It’s over," Tong Yao cheekily said, "Now the whole village knows you married a lazy wife, you’re going to be famous in the village."
Si Chen looked at her, "Haven’t I been famous for a while now?"
"You are teasing me, I’m going to strangle you."
Tong Yao pouted, jumped, and latched onto Si Chen’s neck. They played around for a bit, then noticing sighs from the living room and realizing Si Boyi and Si Xiaojuan had gone back to their rooms, Si Chen further proceeded to fetch hot water from the kitchen.
Seeing her eldest son approaching, Lin Fengying, who was cleaning the cooking hob without even raising her head, coldly said, "There’s no hot water, you’ll have to heat it yourself if you need any."
"Hmm."
Si Chen responded indifferently and began to heat water. Even though both mother and son were in the kitchen, neither of them tried to initiate a conversation, much like strangers.
All these years, Lin Fengying had gotten used to being timidity. Even she herself was surprised that the first person she’d ever acted coldly towards was her own family, and her son, who she used to be proudest of. Knowing that her eldest son would have to leave in a few days, she didn’t want any feud with him, yet he didn’t seem to intend to break the ice first.
Does this mean she, as a mother, would have to step down?
For a while, Lin Fengying felt grave uncertainty within, unable to distinguish whether she was too fussy or her son was heartless.
After tidying up the kitchen, Lin Fengying directly went to sleep in the hall without bothering to look at her eldest son. Si Chen, on the other hand, was unmoved. He emotionlessly heated a large pot of water, took it back to his room, and washed with Tong Yao.
The late evening was extremely cold, a thin layer of ice had formed on the ground. To ensure Tong Yao’s warmth, Si Chen, after cleaning up, drew half a basin of hot water for Tong Yao to soak her feet while sitting on the edge of the bed. He carried the basin of face-washing water and left the room, coming back shortly with an empty wooden bucket.
Tong Yao saw him placing the wooden bucket in the room. It appeared to her that it was the one Lin Fengying used to carry manure water in the field. It was spotlessly clean now, but having a dung bucket kept in the room didn’t feel quite right. She blinked her big, curious eyes and asked,
"Why are you bringing the dung bucket into the room?"
Si Chen seriously replied, "It’s cold outside. If you need to use the toilet in the middle of the night, you can use this."
Since there’s still un-melted snow outside and the toilet is quite dirty, it’s more tolerable during the daytime. But at night, it’s a whole different story. Even though Si Chen grew up in a place like this, he doesn’t enjoy this environment. Moreover, it’s quite chilly at night, and he worries Tong Yao might find it inconvenient. Hence, he brought the bucket into the room.
If it weren’t because he got back late yesterday and the bucket wasn’t cleaned, he would’ve brought it in last night.
A makeshift toilet?
Tong Yao’s mouth twitched a few times, "Are you joking? You want me to use the toilet inside the room?"
At this point, she could already vividly picture herself dumping the bucket the next morning.
She simply couldn’t imagine.
