Old Lady Wang was an expert at managing the household. Besides the stored grains in the house, there were two large kang cabinets, many of which contained items sent by Wang Haiyang’s military unit. He couldn’t bear to use them himself and instead respectfully offered them to his mother.
Unfortunately, Old Lady Wang was a miser. Clearly, she refused to enjoy blessings but expected the whole family to share hardships. Even with good food at home, she couldn’t bring herself to give it to her sons, grandsons, or granddaughters. With so many items stored in the room, various odors mixed together, and staying there a moment longer would make her feel faint. Fortunately, there was a villa in her space—otherwise, she might as well be dead.
The knocking outside continued, the sound tinged with caution.
“Mother, why are you pacing around? Are you feeling better?”
Wang Yongqiang pushed the door open and saw his mother circling the room. His heart tightened—was the old lady looking for a suitable spot to hang herself?
Su Qing turned to look at this nominal son who was almost the same age as her actual self.
She now possessed all of Old Lady Wang’s memories. Wang Yongqiang was a child born in her later years. His father had passed away when he was just one year old, so he had no memory of what his father even looked like. Because of this, Old Lady Wang doted on him excessively.
She treated him like a treasure—afraid he’d get lost if held in her hands, afraid he’d melt if kept in her mouth.
This upbringing turned him into an erlizi (layabout). He spent his days fighting, causing trouble, and teasing animals. He barely made it to third grade before stubbornly refusing to go to school anymore. He never worked a day in his life—a typical parasite that everyone despised and even dogs avoided.
Others wouldn’t dare push open the old lady’s door, but he would!
“What are you doing?”
Those listening outside with perked ears relaxed when they heard the old lady speak. It still took the youngest son to handle her—if the old lady really got angry to death, the whole family would be criticized behind their backs.
Wang Haiyang and Zhou Chunxia were too panicked to move, standing in the yard with Tiezhu, waiting for the old lady to come out.
“Mother, I heard Seventh Brother made you so angry you fainted. I’ve been so worried about you—I’ve lost weight from concern! Sister-in-law made noodles for you today with a drizzle of sesame oil. You should go try some!”
Hmph, speaking so sweetly—clearly up to no good.
Su Qing slowly turned around, ignored him, and walked straight out of the room.
“Mother.”
“Mother, you’re out.”
“Grandma…”
………..
The crowd of dark figures spoke up, and Su Qing felt her ears ringing.
They really knew how to reproduce—in this not-so-large courtyard stood about thirty people, young and old. Heavens, this was insane!!!
“Mother, you must be hungry. Juying’s mother made noodles for you, still warm!”
Wang Baoguo stood beside her, bowing and keeping his eyes lowered submissively. Qian Maizi slightly extended the bowl of noodles toward her, not daring to look her in the eye. This was unavoidable—when she had given birth to her second daughter, the old lady had nearly drowned the child in a chamber pot. It was only because she, still weak from childbirth, knelt and kowtowed desperately that her daughter was spared. Since then, she had been as scared of the old lady as a mouse facing a cat.
After briefly recalling this memory, Su Qing waved to the crowd.
“Sit down and eat!”
“Mother, let me help you. The noodles have sesame oil today—you should eat more later. Take good care of your health so those outsiders won’t bully you.”
In the past, if Wang Yongqiang had spoken like this, the old lady would have long pushed her bowl of noodles in front of him. But now, Su Qing was starving, and no one could take her food.
Wang Yongqiang stared eagerly at his mother, but seeing she had no intention of sharing, he swallowed hard, craning his neck with craving.
Hearing his brother’s veiled criticism, Wang Haiyang and Zhou Chunxia lowered their heads even further, while the trembling Tiezhu, whom they held by the hand, shook all over.
Good heavens! That little child was dark and skinny, his eyes filled with terror as if he had fallen into a den of wolves.
Li Hongmei, the wife of the sixth son Wang Haifeng, looked at the family of three standing in the middle of the courtyard with a face full of schadenfreude.
“Oh dear, there isn’t much food cooked today. Why don’t the seventh brother and his wife just eat whatever they can find? Ah, look at my mouth—I really ought to be slapped. Mother hasn’t acknowledged her yet, so she can’t be considered a sister-in-law.”
“Sixth sister-in-law, you can’t say that. After all, Seventh Brother has already registered the marriage with her. She should be considered part of the Wang family. But Seventh Brother, how could you secretly get married without telling anyone? Isn’t that slapping Mother in the face?”
After all, Mother was still hoping you’d come back and use your discharge money to build me a nice, spacious house!
The brother and sister-in-law sang in harmony, neither of them easy to deal with.
Wang Haiyang clenched his fists, pulling Zhou Chunxia and Tiezhu to kneel directly before Su Qing. He then turned his head and gritted his teeth, glaring at Wang Yongqiang and Li Hongmei.
“It was my fault for not telling Mother. I am unfilial. My wife, my child, and I kneel and kowtow to you, Elder. You can hit or scold me as you wish, but Chunxia and Tiezhu are innocent. Our marriage was arranged by our superiors and was registered before my discharge—it counts as a military marriage. You’d better show some respect to my wife and child.”
Li Hongmei instantly took offense. The moment this new sister-in-law entered the house, her brother-in-law was pointing at her nose and scolding her, clearly stepping on her to support this widow!
“Hey…”
“Hey what? I said it’s time to eat, yet you keep chattering nonstop. If Sixth Son’s wife doesn’t want to eat, then get lost. Seventh Son, help your wife and child stand up. I’m not dead yet—what are you kneeling for? Trying to send me off? Hurry up and eat. Anyone who speaks again can put down their chopsticks and stop eating.”
The moment the old lady spoke, everyone fell silent, intimidated by her authority.
Wang Haiyang’s eyes lit up, and he quickly stood up, helping Zhou Chunxia and Tiezhu to the dining table. Zhang Xiulan, the second son’s wife, served them rice. Like Qian Maizi, she was a kind-hearted person.
However, her treatment was far better than Qian Maizi’s, mainly because her womb had been fruitful—she had given birth to three sons.
Zhou Chunxia smiled gratefully. Since arriving at the Wang family, this was the first person to show her kindness, and she felt a sense of closeness.
The old lady had lain in her room for three days, and as soon as she recovered, her tone changed. The others watched with mixed thoughts. The Wang family was very poor—everyone wore clothes patched layer upon layer. Yet, Wang Haiyang and Zhou Chunxia were dressed in clean short-sleeved shirts and black pants, and even the stepchild wore clothes without patches. It seemed they had saved up quite a bit.
After the meal, Li Hongmei, who had been holding back for a long time, coughed twice and looked flatteringly at Wang Old Lady.
“Mother, from what you said earlier, it seems you intend to let Seventh Brother and his wife stay. It’s not entirely impossible for them to stay, but our family is large, and every mouth needs to be fed. They can’t just stay here and eat for free, don’t you think?”
Idiot! No one else was speaking, yet she had to be the quickest to open her mouth. Wang Haifeng couldn’t stop his wife and could only let her act as cannon fodder.
Su Qing scanned the group of Wang family members, each harboring their own calculations in their hearts. No one wanted to be the first to speak up—not even Wang Yongqiang, the apple of the old lady’s eye, who was merely staring at her with wide, bright eyes, waiting for her to speak.
“Old Seventh, before the meal, you said that yours is a military marriage and that everyone should show respect to your wife and child. Now, your mother wants to ask you: you got married without your own mother knowing—did you show any respect to me, your mother?”