Witty Wife, Better Life

Chapter 524: 514 temperament

"Sister-in-law, you’re here, come on in," Shen Yunfang turned her head to gesture for Dashuan’s wife to come in and talk.

"I thought you were asleep too. We can’t talk without waking the kids, can we?" Dashuan’s wife saw the children were all asleep and feared waking them, so she planned to go back first.

"It’s fine, they sleep like little pigs. They won’t wake up unless there’s thunder or fireworks. It’s cold outside. Hurry up and get into bed to warm up."

Dashuan’s wife didn’t stand on ceremony. She took off her shoes and crawled into the covers.

"You know, I came to give you money," Dashuan’s wife said, handing the purse in her hand to Shen Yunfang directly.

Shen Yunfang understood immediately, "I guessed you were coming to bring money. Have you discussed it with Brother Dashuan?" She knew Dashuan’s wife wouldn’t be able to resist and would surely follow suit in buying a house.

"We’ve discussed it. Thanks to you, we made a lot of money this time. I figure after buying an apartment in the Capital, there will still be enough left over to build a few houses back home." She then asked worriedly, "I brought three thousand yuan. Is that enough to buy a house here?"

"It’s hard to say. It’s been over two years since I bought my house. Back then, it was less than three thousand. I haven’t inquired for several years, so I don’t know what the current price is. Okay, just leave the money with me. We’ll settle any difference later."

"Alright, you just go ahead and handle it." Having finished talking about the serious matter, Dashuan’s wife started to gossip, "Hey, there were too many people the other day; I felt it wasn’t right to ask. But I noticed Shen Yunxiu didn’t seem like a city person at all that day. She didn’t seem any different from us rural folks."

Shen Yunfang found her comment amusing, "What do you mean ’doesn’t seem like a city person’? What are city people supposed to look like?"

"Just like you, standing up straight with your back, and that crafty look when you watch people," Dashuan’s wife couldn’t describe it, but she imitated Shen Yunfang’s typical scrutinizing gaze and glanced at her.

"Oh, come off it, when have I ever looked like what you’re doing?" Shen Yunfang was inwardly flustered; she wouldn’t admit to having ever looked at people that way.

"How can you say that? I’ve noticed it clearly. You walk like that, and when you look at others, that’s how you do it," Dashuan’s wife insisted she was right.

"I certainly do not, and your imitation looks awful." Shen Yunfang was both amused and embarrassed. She had poise, for goodness’ sake. How could her sister-in-law’s impression turn her into a mix of a nutcase and a fool? "Besides, didn’t you just say we are all rural folks? Why are you calling me a city person now?"

"Well, it’s hard to explain. Even though you moved to the city now, you don’t seem to have changed much to me. You’re still like that little girl from our hometown, innocent and kind to everyone. But it’s not like you haven’t changed at all. Haven’t I told you? When you walk out onto the main street, with your chest out and head up, you look at people all..."

"Enough, stop imitating, will you? I have poise, not like what you’re copying." Shen Yunfang firmly did not want to see Dashuan’s wife’s impression of her scrutinizing gaze anymore. It would give her a complex about going out when she really wasn’t like that at all.

"Right, the temperament, she has got a temperament now, like a lady from a distinguished family." Brother Dashuan’s wife finally found the right adjective. "So you, on the outside, you look almost like a city person, but inside, you’re still as sincere as us country folk."

Shen Yunfang nodded after listening, "I’ll just take that as a compliment then."

"Hehe, it is a compliment," Brother Dashuan’s wife said affirmatively, "Shen Yunxiu is not like you, though. You’d think with all the time she’s spent in the Capital, she’d be different, but no, she’s still the same."

"This isn’t something you can measure by the length of time. Besides, temperament isn’t something just anyone can have if they want it." Shen Yunfang had never thought highly of Shen Yunxiu, a woman with less than a full deck and still managed to cause a ruckus, and then to have hooked up with such a man, marrying into that kind of family, if she ends up with any good fortune, it’d mean the heavens were blind.

"Tell me, how is she really doing now, is she living well?" Brother Dashuan’s wife was quite curious, "I heard from your aunt that Shen Yunxiu’s man even got into college, and now Shen Yunxiu herself can act like the wife of a scholar, just waiting to enjoy the good life."

Shen Yunfang curled her lips, not wanting to say that the aunt was daydreaming, she could only share the current situation of Shen Yunxiu.

"Whether she enjoys fortune in the future, I don’t know, but right now, she definitely isn’t. When I went there, her husband, Fang Chengjian, had already quit his job to focus on studying at home, determined to get into college. At that time, both of them were doing nothing, just cooped up in the house. Imagine, nearly ten people cramped in a tiny house, and those two, being so big and doing nothing, just waiting to be fed, it’s no wonder they weren’t well-liked."

Brother Dashuan’s wife nodded after listening, such lazy people indeed wouldn’t be well-liked.

"I heard that she and her eldest brother-in-law’s family were at each other’s throats, and her mother-in-law, because she’s a daughter-in-law from the countryside, didn’t bother with her either. Just think about what kind of life she had." Without thinking much, one could tell that it must have been a scene of utter chaos.

"Ah, she was living with her eldest brother-in-law’s family? That would be a recipe for endless trouble," Brother Dashuan’s wife said, fretting over Shen Yunxiu, "It’s hard enough dealing with the mother-in-law, and sisters-in-law are even tougher."

"Later, both of them somehow managed to break their legs, and the old Fang Family said they didn’t have enough money to treat both, so they could only choose one to cure. Of course, they would take care of their son first. It was only after Shen Yunxiu sent a letter to my uncle and aunt, and they sent money over, that she was able to stand again," Shen Yunfang revealed another big secret.

She guessed that the aunt couldn’t possibly spread such things around the village, having an in-law treated so poorly is nothing to boast about, and with her aunt being so prideful, she surely had to swallow her grievances.

"What? That really happened?" Brother Dashuan’s wife said, utterly shocked, "The old Fang Family is too heartless, no matter what, Shen Yunxiu is still their daughter-in-law, how can they treat her so poorly. And that Fang Chengjian is no good either, his wife is in such a state, and he doesn’t even speak up?"

"Mmhmm, they did bully her like that, and what’s more, Shen Yunxiu just let them, didn’t make a fuss or anything afterward, just quietly carrying on as if nothing had happened. And her husband, Fang Chengjian, was never a good man to begin with, how could a decent man have dragged her into doing something so disgraceful as sneaking through the cornfields? Now I have even less respect for Shen Yunxiu. In her own home, she’s all high and mighty, but at her in-laws’, she’s nothing, everybody walks all over her, and she meekly continues to be the Fang Family’s daughter-in-law."

"After I came back from home last year, Shen Yunxiu came looking for me, telling me how Fang Chengjian got into college and how capable he was going to be, flaunting it in my face. I didn’t indulge her, though; so Fang Chengjian got into college, what does that have to do with me? I never had any interest in basking in her light. What does his getting into college have to do with me? So I sent her away with a piece of my mind."