The next morning, when Xu Qingning woke up, the quilt beside her was neatly folded, and Zhao Jingyu was no longer in bed.
The sound of children playing and laughing came from the courtyard, and Yang Yuelan was cooking in the outdoor kitchen.
Wu Xiufang and Zhou Chunyan were whispering outside the window, saying that Zhao Jingyu had been up for quite some time while Xu Qingning still hadn’t gotten out of bed. They never expected someone like Zhao Jingyu to be so considerate toward his wife.
Damn, they were gossiping about her right outside her window, completely unabashed.
Xu Qingning glanced out the window. The feeling of being envied and resented wasn’t so bad after all. Whatever, let them talk—as long as it didn’t involve any interests, it didn’t matter.
The water in the ceramic mug on the writing desk was still steaming. After folding the quilt, she picked it up, took a sip to settle the churning in her chest, and grabbed her red tooth cup to go brush her teeth.
The tooth cup had been bought by Zhao Jingyu at the department store the day before, identical to his own. Men were like that when shopping—they’d just grab whatever they saw and bring back a bunch of miscellaneous items, like towels and soap dishes.
The courtyard was filled with the curling smoke from cooking, carrying the aroma of food.
Xu Qingning quickened her pace and headed to the communal faucet to wash her face and brush her teeth.
Seeing Xu Qingning come out, Wu Xiufang and Zhou Chunyan finally fell silent, taking the vegetables they had picked to the washing basin to clean them.
Zhao Jingyu’s dormitory was right next to the west wall of the compound. To prepare the braised meat, Zhao Futang had built a makeshift stove by the west wall that afternoon when he arrived, serving as a temporary kitchen.
For the past two days, all the braised meat and stir-fried dishes had been prepared there.
Breakfast was simple. Yang Yuelan had cooked corn porridge, steamed vegetable buns, and boiled a few eggs—the eggs were brought from their hometown.
There were also leftovers from yesterday’s banquet, all mixed together in a basin, along with a plate of pickled radish, which Yang Yuelan had made herself.
With so many people, the room was too cramped, so breakfast was served in the courtyard. The tables, chairs, and benches were borrowed from the unit and hadn’t been returned yet.
Xu Qingning had hardly stepped outside all day yesterday, so today was the first time she truly shared a meal with the family. Mainly, she had been cooped up indoors all day and wanted to get some fresh air.
During the meal, Yang Yuelan peeled an egg and placed it in Xu Qingning’s bowl. “You hardly ate anything yesterday. Try the eggs from our hometown.”
She had boiled three eggs in total.
One for Xu Qingning, and one each for her two grandsons.
Zhao Jingyu, sitting beside her, glanced at the egg in her bowl but said nothing.
“Thank you, Mom.” Xu Qingning accepted it without hesitation. The yolk was richly yellow, fragrant and delicious. Free-range eggs were the best—tasty and nutritious.
Seeing this, Wu Xiufang and Zhou Chunyan exchanged glances and looked at Xu Qingning’s stomach. No need to guess—she must be pregnant.
Noticing their gazes, Xu Qingning remained composed. That was just how things were—they could think whatever they wanted.
Zhao Jingwen and Zhao Jingwu simply kept their heads down and ate, unconcerned about trivial matters like who got the eggs. The two brothers had talked all night and hadn’t slept well, their eyes slightly bloodshot.
They had witnessed yesterday’s wedding feast, which was lavish, with large plates of pork and lamb served one after another. Everyone said Zhao Jingyu was generous.
It really was better to work in the city.
The fist-sized vegetable buns were made by mixing cornmeal with greens, kneaded into balls, and steamed in a pot. They looked tempting but tasted rather ordinary.
Xu Qingning took one bite and didn’t want to eat anymore. She wasn’t used to the taste of the greens, and if she ate any more, she’d vomit. Not wanting to put it back, she casually handed it to Zhao Jingyu, whispering, “I can’t finish this.”
Without a word, Zhao Jingyu took it and ate it.
The two little nephews scrambled to pick meat from the bowl, their mouths greasy all over. Zhao Jingyu picked a large piece of fatty and lean pork belly and placed it in her bowl. “Try this, it’s pretty good.”
“It’s too greasy, I don’t like it.” Xu Qingning immediately picked it up and put it in his bowl. “I’m full, don’t serve me any more.”
The bowl of meat had been poked and turned over repeatedly by the family with their chopsticks, and just looking at it made her nauseous.
Wu Xiufang and Zhou Chunyan were utterly shocked.
Their husbands would never eat their leftovers, especially not in front of so many people, nor would they serve them food.
“Jing Yu, when are you leaving?” Zhao Futang suddenly asked him. “Today or tomorrow?”
“Tomorrow morning,” Zhao Jingyu replied expressionlessly.
“I’ll help you pack later,” Yang Yuelan said, peeling eggs for her two grandsons while not having eaten herself yet.
“No need, I’m just taking a few pieces of clothing. It won’t take long,” Zhao Jingyu remained indifferent. He didn’t like the corn porridge, so he put down his chopsticks and poured himself a glass of water.
He also poured one for Xu Qingning, who accepted it and placed it beside her. She really liked the corn porridge, especially the kind cooked in a large pot—it was fragrant.
Wu Xiufang and Zhou Chunyan’s skills were limited to gossiping behind people’s backs. When facing Zhao Jingyu directly, they were still somewhat intimidated.
If they angered him, he was capable of flipping the table.
Yet the two brothers just kept eating without saying a word.
Wu Xiufang kept coughing, and Zhou Chunyan kept giving meaningful glances, but the two brothers didn’t respond at all.
It was Zhao Jingyu who finally asked them, “Sisters-in-law, do you have something to say?”
Wu Xiufang and Zhou Chunyan were caught off guard.
For a moment, they didn’t know how to respond.
Xu Qingning watched, finding it amusing. With just this little ability, Zhao Jingyu alone could handle ten of them.
“First, let me talk about the two pieces of jewelry in the rosewood box. I earned those when I was in the northwest, watching over a mining area for half a year. With the money I made, I had a gold bracelet and jewelry made for Grandma.”
Zhao Jingyu had no interest in playing guessing games with them and said calmly, “Grandma said she’d keep them for me until I grew up. When she passed away, she entrusted them to Mom, and now Mom has given them to my wife. That’s perfectly reasonable, so there’s no need for you to keep thinking about them.”
Wu Xiufang and Zhou Chunyan listened and smiled awkwardly.
Zhao Lei really had a big mouth—she must have told Zhao Jingyu that they knew about the gold jewelry.
Sure enough, this little sister-in-law was no good.
“Eldest Brother, Second Brother, I hope we can discuss everything openly,” Zhao Jingyu took a sip of water, his tone lazy. “Only by speaking up can we solve problems.”
Before, when he was alone, he didn’t care what they said or did.
But now it was different. He had a wife, and since he was often away from home, some things had to be made clear.
“Jing Yu, ever since you returned from the northwest, you’ve been working steadily with a decent salary, yet you’ve never contributed financially to the family,” Zhao Jingwen, the eldest brother, seeing him react this way, straightforwardly said, “We’re not coveting your money, but we feel that now that you’re married, you should take on this responsibility.”
“I haven’t contributed money to the family, but I also haven’t spent any of the family’s money. From elementary school through high school graduation, all my expenses were covered by my grandparents, so I took care of them in their old age and saw them off without causing you any trouble. Is there a problem with that?” Zhao Jingyu retorted to his older brother.
“Even so…” Zhao Jingwen was clearly losing ground but still argued on principle, “But you can’t forget the great debt of raising you. You can’t ignore Mom and Dad.”
“When Mom and Dad need me, of course I won’t ignore them,” Zhao Jingyu’s expression turned cold.