Li Shulan was so startled that her hand trembled.The egg fell onto the table.
Her two daughters-in-law immediately looked over.“Mom, what’s wrong? Are you feeling unwell?” Su Xiao asked.Meng Yue also looked on, concerned.
Li Shulan shook her head. “It’s nothing, I just got lost in thought.” She picked up the egg that had fallen onto the table and placed it back in the bowl. “Hurry up and eat.”
After finishing the meal, Meng Yue and Su Xiao immediately started competing to clear the table and wash the dishes.Li Shulan didn’t rush to help.
At this moment, she was too curious about the voice she had just heard in her mind.So she went back to her room.
Sitting on the kang (heated brick bed), Li Shulan carefully recalled the voice she had just heard.Soon, the mechanical voice sounded in her mind again:
[Ding! Congratulations, host! You have activated the Good Mother-in-Law System. As long as you treat your daughters-in-law well, you will receive rewards, ranging from cash vouchers to gold and silver jewelry, jade and gemstone treasures, even a courtyard house! ]
Good Mother-in-Law System?
Li Shulan was stunned.What kind of thing is this?
Fortunately, the system had a voice introduction.
Otherwise, this old lady, who hadn’t even finished literacy classes, would have had no clue about this strange device.
After fumbling around for half an hour, she finally understood the system.
This Good Mother-in-Law System was basically a tool to encourage her to be a good mother-in-law. As long as she treated her two daughters-in-law well, she would receive rewards.
She had just cooked a meal for her two daughters-in-law, and the system had rewarded her twenty yuan.She tried taking it out—it was just like the ten-yuan bills in circulation.The vouchers could be used nationwide.
In addition, she had gained a one-cubic-meter storage space.Items could be placed or retrieved at will, invisible and untouchable by others. Li Shulan immediately put her savings of over eight hundred yuan into it.She felt delighted for a long time.
Originally, she had planned to treat her daughters-in-law well in this life. Now, with the Good Mother-in-Law System, she was even more motivated.
In the afternoon, before work, she went to the kitchen to prepare two bowls of sweet egg soup.“To the first son’s, to the second son’s—get up, it’s almost time to work.”
Soon, the two rooms downstairs responded with echoes:“Got it, Mom, we’re getting up.”
When the two finished getting ready and came out, Li Shulan immediately served them the sweet egg soup.“Here, drink this before you go, don’t overexert yourselves. By the way, you haven’t washed the clothes and sheets you changed last night, have you? Bring them here and I’ll scrub them for you.”
“Mom, it’s not necessary. We’ll wash them ourselves after work,” Meng Yue said awkwardly.“Yes, Mom, we can handle it ourselves,” Su Xiao added.
“Bring them over when I ask you to. You’ve worked all day in the fields—come home and rest properly.”
Neither daughter-in-law dared to resist. Blushing, they brought the sheets and clothes out.“Put them in the washbasin. Now drink the sweet egg soup quickly and get ready for work.”
After the two finished the bowls of sweet egg soup, Li Shulan’s storage space added two pounds of White Rabbit candy.Before her daughters-in-law left, she quickly grabbed two large handfuls and stuffed them into their hands.
“When you’re tired, have one. Don’t overexert yourselves in the fields. There’s no shortage of work points at home—don’t ruin your health, understand? Now go.”
Meng Yue and Su Xiao left the courtyard holding a bag of White Rabbit candies.
After walking more than ten meters, Su Xiao whispered, “Meng Yue, don’t you feel… Mom seems a little… off?”
This wasn’t their first day in the countryside. Their mother-in-law was notorious in the team for being fierce and had already made it clear that to marry her sons, daughters-in-law had to be smart, capable, beautiful, and filial.
It wasn’t that they weren’t smart or pretty.
Not to brag, but Meng Yue and Su Xiao were among the most beautiful in the county.
When they first arrived in the countryside, the youth of the entire brigade came to sneak glances at them, and many even gave gifts, though the girls didn’t accept any.
Their parents had repeatedly warned them not to marry in the countryside.
Even this time, both marrying the Qin brothers was by accident.
As for intelligence, both had graduated high school, which in a rural village where some girls hadn’t even finished elementary school made them clearly smart.
But besides being smart and pretty, they were far from capable.
On a typical day, they could earn only three or four work points—a far cry from the capable daughters-in-law their mother-in-law expected.
When they first arrived in the countryside, their mother-in-law had even rolled her eyes at them several times, calling them fox spirits. They bore the brunt of these disapproving looks.
Initially, when they learned they could only marry the Qin brothers, they worried their mother-in-law would make life difficult for them.
But unexpectedly, there was no trouble. Instead, she treated them unusually well.
“Meng Yue, I feel a bit uneasy,” Su Xiao admitted.
Meng Yue squeezed the pocket holding the candy. “Don’t overthink it. Mom is treating us well. We just need to be filial.”
“You’re right. By the way, Meng Yue, should we pay Mom some food allowance for meals at home? How much should we give her each month?”
“We should. Let’s start with ten yuan each this month. We’ll give it to Mom tonight. If she thinks it’s not enough, we can add more later,” Meng Yue suggested.
“Sounds good, I’ll follow your lead.”
..
Li Shulan didn’t receive any extra reward for giving the White Rabbit candies—probably because it was part of the system itself.
But she didn’t feel disappointed.
After all, one meal earned her twenty yuan. Three meals a day meant sixty yuan, more than her youngest son’s monthly salary.
There was no reason to complain.
Since the establishment of the production team, Li Shulan had been the leader of the sewing group, responsible for making new clothes for the team, repairing old ones, and creating flags, work bags, and other necessities for the collective.
When her two sons were young, she earned two sets of work points alone—field work during the day, sewing at home after work.
Fortunately, her late husband left a small pension, which allowed her to raise her sons.
After her mother-in-law passed away and her sons had jobs, she no longer did field work and focused solely on sewing.
Ordinary sewing work wasn’t very busy—mending, stitching, maybe embroidery or hemming.
Only near New Year or season changes did work intensify, sometimes even working by lamp light at night.
In June, it wasn’t busy.
After cleaning the bowls used for the sweet egg soup, Li Shulan went to wash the sheets and clothes her daughters-in-law had changed.
Seeing two red plum blossoms in the middle of the sheets, she felt a spark of hope in her heart.
In this life, she would protect the children in her daughters-in-law’s wombs!
After finishing and hanging the laundry, the familiar voice sounded in her mind again:
[Ding! Washing the daughters-in-law’s clothes rewards 10 feet of cotton fabric * 2]