NOVPUB
Chapter 437: Chapter 427: Preparing to Return to My Mother-in-law’s Home (Extra for Anitaqing)
Shen Yunfang settled down in her hometown comfortably, and when she had nothing else to do, she would ponder over the things in her family’s backyard. The vegetables and grains need not be mentioned, since she had come back, she took those for herself without courtesy, but her ambitions were not limited to these; she had her eyes on the two big fat pigs in her yard.
Dashuan and his wife also knew Shen Yunfang’s character, and once she set her sights on something, there wouldn’t be a good outcome, so they didn’t resist. Not long after Yunfang returned, the couple slaughtered the two fat pigs in Yunfang’s yard that weighed over a hundred jin each.
Of course, all the meat ultimately belonged to Yunfang. Her excuse was that she needed to visit the county and the city to see Hongjun’s comrades-in-arms and some friends, such as Jian Hui, and so on. Of course, she couldn’t just take the big fat pigs the couple had painstakingly raised for half a year for free. After some polite refusals, she bought the two big fat pigs for one and a half yuan per jin. Dashuan repeatedly exclaimed that the price was too high, as the highest price for pork in the county was only around one yuan twenty-three.
Yunfang had money, and since it was with her own people, she didn’t care about that extra eighty cents, so she still paid on the basis of one and a half yuan per jin.
At first, Dashuan and his wife said they didn’t want anything, but they couldn’t withstand Yunfang’s persuasive power. In the end, they accepted the money, but to compensate Yunfang, they carried a hundred jin of rice to her house, telling her to eat as much as she wanted — they would cover her food for the days she stayed at her old home.
After the pigs were slaughtered, she packed the pork into sacks, borrowed Dashuan’s bicycle, and headed to the county.
She did indeed visit Jian Hui and brought her pork, but the amount had significantly decreased, leaving only five jin for Jian Hui. Five jin of meat was actually quite a lot, but taking more would be too conspicuous, so she stored the rest in her own space.
In this way, she would go once in the morning and once in the afternoon, finishing off one pig in the process. In two days, she had gone through the two pigs in the backyard.
Yunfang was still not quite satisfied with this. Eating pork alone could get tedious, and it was also more nutritious to have a variety of meats. Consequently, Dashuan and his wife were tormented by her to get some beef and donkey meat as well.
Yunfang was never stingy when buying meat. Whenever she found out where it was sold or heard of a place, she would buy half a carcass directly. If it weren’t for Dashuan’s timely intervention, her behavior could have been considered quite brazen.
In the blink of an eye, Yunfang had been living in her hometown for over half a month. Uncle Shen’s family had her over for a visit when she first arrived, but after that, there was no more contact.
Yunfang didn’t mind; she and her child had spent a relaxed and comfortable half month. Besides the few trips to the county, she spent her time tinkering in the backyard or taking her child for strolls up the mountain. Ah, being on the mountain made her and her children lament the fact that they didn’t bring Taxue home — otherwise, they might have rabbit meat to eat.
But at that point, taking a dog on a train wasn’t an easy task. From now on, if she wanted to go anywhere with her family members in tow, she would have to buy a car.
After goofing around with her child for over half a month, Granny Wang couldn’t stand it anymore and asked her, "You’ve been back to your hometown for so long, aren’t you going to visit your mother-in-law’s place?"
Yunfang hesitated. According to her own wishes, she definitely did not want to go. After all, she wasn’t close with that side of the family, and her interactions with the elders there weren’t very pleasant. If she were to go there eagerly, she might still be disparaged by them.
"You didn’t visit your mother-in-law’s house the last time you came back, and if you don’t go this time, people will talk. You may not realize it, but news travels fast in our small community. Your in-laws might already know about your return. I think you should go take a look, it’s just a matter of giving away some stuff. Consider it like eating less for a day and don’t give people a reason to talk. Your reputation is still important, even though you’re now a city person. It’s not worth it if bad rumors start to circulate because of this." Granny Wang advised her.
"I’m not really concerned about people gossiping like that. But you know, last year my father-in-law hurt his leg, and Hongjun specifically came back for this. However, due to his elder sister’s child’s affairs, he didn’t even stay a day and left again. Logically, I should visit my father-in-law now that I’m back, but you also know how my mother-in-law is — she might not even want to see me, let alone the possibility of bad-mouthing me," Yunfang also started to think about this matter.
"There’s also this matter, you should hurry and make a trip. Your mother-in-law is your mother-in-law, and you’re not counting on her to be fond of you to get by. Why bother with her? Just do what you’re supposed to do and make sure nobody has anything to criticize. Besides, making a trip would give you some peace of mind, and Li Hongjun could be reassured as well. Didn’t you still have some pork at home? Bring a piece for your father-in-law to help him regain his strength, and that should be good enough." Wang Da Nainai promptly made the arrangements for her.
Shen Yunfang mulled it over a bit before nodding in agreement. She wasn’t just thinking of visiting her father-in-law; she also wanted to check on Li Hongjun’s eldest sister.
Even though Li Xianglian and Liu Jia had returned home and sent two or three letters, they only wrote of the good things, and Li Hongjun was somewhat worried after reading them. Since she was so close, she decided to go see Li Hongjun’s eldest sister and niece herself.
After deciding to visit her in-laws, Shen Yunfang didn’t dawdle. The next day she packed her things, dropped the kids off at the Wang Family’s place, and cycled to Taoshu Village.
Since she arrived around eleven o’clock at noon, the villagers were just getting off work to go home for lunch, and many people were out and about. Some, upon seeing Shen Yunfang riding into the village, started whispering and speculating about whose relative she might be.
When they saw Shen Yunfang stop at the Li Family’s house, even more curious folks gathered around to ask her, "Hey, who are you looking for?"
Knowing that she hadn’t returned to the Li Family’s place many times after getting married and consequently wasn’t recognized by many people there, she explained, "I’m the second daughter-in-law of the Li Family. I’ve come to check on the elders."
With that revelation, the villagers suddenly realized and recalled that the Li Family’s second son indeed married a few years ago, and his wife was from the countryside. But this woman didn’t seem like a rural person at all.
Shen Yunfang exchanged a few words with them and then confidently pushed her bicycle into the Li Family’s yard.
People outside watched her enter the courtyard, commenting, "The Li Family is doing quite well now. I heard his youngest son graduated from university and got a government job in the county. Now it looks like the second son is not doing bad either."
"That’s for sure. He’s been in the military for so many years, and I heard he holds a decent rank. Just look at the wife he married, she’s obviously from the city."
"Ah, you’re out of touch. The second son’s wife is also from our countryside, don’t you remember old Qiu’s wife nagging about how her daughter-in-law is this and that? That’s her."
"Right, I also heard that this second daughter-in-law is from Gaijiatun, and that place isn’t even as good as ours."
"Even so, look at her now, the way she dresses and looks, she’s entirely like a city person. Isn’t it said that being born in a good family is nothing compared to marrying well? For a woman, finding the right man can set her up for life."
"Mhm, the Li Family’s second son is indeed not bad, but his mother is another story. This daughter-in-law has come home without her husband; she’s bound to catch flak from old Qiu’s wife."
"Let it be, let it be, it’s their family’s business, no matter what, it’s not your concern. Hurry back home and cook."
