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Chapter 196: Chapter 189 What Are You Two Here To Do?
The next morning, Shen Yunfang got up from the kang with a long face. Someone had been grinding their teeth next to her all night, disturbing her sleep so much that she barely had a wink of rest. It was no wonder she wasn’t in good spirits.
After getting off the kang and seeing the mother-daughter pair still sleeping soundly, drooling, her mood really couldn’t lift.
She simply decided not to make breakfast and went to the backyard to feed the livestock instead. She let the chickens, ducks, and geese out and soaked several basins of worms that were ready, before heading up the mountain with her basket on her back.
Meanwhile, the mother and daughter at home continued to sleep until the sun was high in the sky before they opened their eyes.
Li Xianghe stretched and complained to Qiu Shuping, "My sister-in-law really knows how to make a fuss. I was sleeping just fine last night when she woke me up several times. I bet she did it on purpose."
Li Xianghe had been upset the first time she was woken up last night, shouting at Shen Yunfang several times, but Shen didn’t pay any attention to her. And the second time, Shen got up just as she was supposed to and even lied about going to the west room to make a fire. Hmph, as if there was anything special in that room. She and her mother had checked it out the day before; the things inside were common to find in the fields, and she didn’t see any need for a fire outside for the worms. Only her sister-in-law’s things were considered precious.
"What can we do but endure? We still have times when we need to ask her for favors," Qiu Shuping had also not slept well last night, not realizing that she was the one grinding her teeth and always feeling like others were the ones delaying her.
As for Li Xianghe, she’d been sleeping with Qiu Shuping since she was a child and had long since grown accustomed to her habits, so she no longer found it bothersome.
Feeling aggrieved, Li Xianghe got dressed and went outside only to see the stove cold and untouched. She shouted "sister-in-law" into the outdoors several times.
"What are you shouting for?" Qiu Shuping was combing her hair inside.
"Mom, my sister-in-law didn’t make breakfast or boil water," Li Xianghe complained as she came inside.
Qiu Shuping looked out the window and guessed the time, "Go check the backyard to see if your sister-in-law is there. Hurry."
Li Xianghe was reluctant, but she’d rather go find her sister-in-law than do the work herself. But after a round outside, except for the pigs and goats, there wasn’t a breathing soul in the backyard. Of course, she got a fright from the several basins of worms placed against the wall and cursed Shen Yunfang in her heart as a freak.
"Mom, Shen Yunfang isn’t at home." Now Li Xianghe didn’t even bother to call her sister-in-law, feeling extremely dissatisfied with her. "I told you she did it on purpose. Not fixing breakfast for us this early in the morning, she wants to starve us mother and daughter."
She hadn’t considered at all why their mother-daughter pair had come, sleeping in until the sun was high and then blaming others for not taking care of them.
Qiu Shuping was already angry, and her daughter’s provocation only deepened the resentment in her heart. However, with Shen not being home and still worrying about matters, she suppressed her anger and then shouted at her daughter, "Always relying on others, don’t you have hands and feet? Get out there and boil water and make breakfast right now."
"Why are you scolding me? It’s not my fault you can’t find her," Li Xianghe was naturally unhappy at being scolded for no reason.
"You little brat, what’s wrong with your old mother scolding you? If you don’t want to stay, get out of here right now," Qiu Shuping was displeased and upon seeing her daughter talk back, she felt as if the world had turned upside down. She found a target for her frustration and ranted at her daughter, hands on hips.
Indeed, the mother-daughter pair, which had not been in harmony for a few days, crumbled once again under the aggravation of Li Xianghe’s brainlessness and Qiu Shuping’s explosive temper. 𝘯𝘰𝘷𝘱𝘶𝑏.𝑐𝘰𝑚
Li Xianghe reluctantly went to the main house to prepare breakfast.
Days quickly passed, and more than ten days had gone by since Qiu Shuping and her daughter Li Xianghe had been living in Gaijiatun for half a month.
Ever since Shen Yunfang got used to the sound of Qiu Shuping grinding her teeth at night, they had been getting along fairly well. Oh, their contact was usually just during the night when they slept; during the day, Shen Yunfang was either up the mountain gathering pig feed or in the fields checking on the crops, which minimized their conflicts.
As for Qiu Shuping and her daughter, they were quite content. They slept until the sunshine warmed their backs each morning, a luxury they never had at home. If Shen Yunfang had cooked the meals, they would join her, otherwise, Li Xianghe would cook.
During the day, when there was nothing to do, they would calculate how many eggs Shen Yunfang’s chickens and ducks laid each day, and how much money they’d get from selling them. They repeatedly raised their expectations for the amount they would pillage, until they had calculated everything in the house. Then, they went about gossiping, and before long, everyone in Gaijiatun knew of them.
Of course, there were downsides.
During these days, Qiu Shuping and her daughter had turned the house upside down but had not found a single cent. At first, they thought Shen Yunfang must have hidden the money in the wardrobe since it was always locked. However, after Qiu Shuping teased and provoked Shen Yunfang, There was no further trace of a lock in the house. Despite that, after countless searches in the wardrobe and feeling through the quilts, they still hadn’t found any money.
After some analysis, mother and daughter were sure that Shen Yunfang must be carrying the money with her wherever she went. Qiu Shuping grimly clenched her teeth, Shen Yunfang was guarding against her.
Although they hadn’t found any money, a comfortable life had temporarily quelled their discontent. But good times do not last forever, and by late August, the autumn harvest officially began, marking the end of Qiu Shuping and her daughter’s privileged days.
That evening, after Shen Yunfang finished work, she said to Qiu Shuping, "Mom, we’ll start harvesting corn tomorrow. We need to get up early in the morning to gather our own corn from the private plot before starting work."
Qiu Shuping was taken aback, then calmly responded, "Alright, tomorrow let your sister join you in the fields. I’ll stay at home and cook for you." She hadn’t worked in the fields for many years, and it was hardly likely she would start while at her daughter-in-law’s home.
Li Xianghe, who was listening by the side, was displeased, but she knew that since her mother agreed for her to go, it was likely futile to resist.
Shen Yunfang looked at her and said with a smile, "Mom, just boil a pot of polenta in the morning. Whatever’s left, just scoop it out with cold water, and it’ll be ready to eat when we come back at noon. There’s no need to stop and cook especially." She knew her mother-in-law was the laziest person in the Li Family.
"But that’s not enough, just eating polenta won’t do. How can you work without a proper meal?" She had said this back at home many times.
"Don’t worry, I’ve been doing this for years. Besides, in the past, I was the only one working in the fields. Now that you and Xianghe are here to help, I reckon we could finish picking all the corn in two days." Her words subtly reminded mother and daughter why they were really there.
Qiu Shuping pursed her lips and said no more. She had come under the pretense of assisting her second daughter-in-law with the harvest, so it would be somewhat unreasonable to refuse to work in the fields now.
So, early the next morning, Shen Yunfang dragged the reluctant mother and daughter out of bed, then took them to the private plot with puffed cheeks.
Harvesting corn wasn’t too bad; as long as they covered themselves up well, working in the cornfields to pick the ears wasn’t too taxing.
Shen Yunfang worked with them until it was time to start her shift, then she left for the collective work. She left her mother-in-law and sister-in-law to continue working, setting them a task to finish harvesting all the corn in the fields within the day.
