Lu Xiulian frowned and walked toward Xu Nian’an’s room, holding the cloth in her hands.
Her sister-in-law was good in every way, just like her mother had said—her fingers were too “loose” (clumsy), and her mother would need to find a chance to talk to her about it later.
Even when buying some seasonings, she still pocketed two yuan for herself.
Before she came, she used to wash all the clothes for the whole family. But the day after she got married, she stood up for herself.
At first, Lu Xiulian had taken Xu Nian’an’s clothes to wash together with hers. Seeing the pile, Xu Nian’an felt a little embarrassed and was about to wash her own clothes.
When she found out that the clothes of her second uncle’s family were also washed by Lu Xiulian, she immediately collected all of their clothes and threw them outside her second uncle’s door.
From that day on, Lu Xiulian only washed her own family’s clothes, plus her grandparents’.
Lu Xiulian couldn’t help but be happy. From that day, she became the “soldier” of her second sister-in-law!
Washing a few pieces of clothing? There was no way it could take her so much cloth.
Xu Nian’an wanted quite a few things, including three bottles of beer. Beer cost thirty cents a bottle, so she had to go to the town’s supply and marketing cooperative to buy them.
When Lu Xiulian was about to go out wearing her straw hat, Xu Nian’an suddenly remembered.
“Don’t go yet. It’s too hot outside. Let’s wait for Lu Xiuxiu to come back, then we can ride the bike to the supply store.”
She also wanted to check the prices. Before, she never paid attention to groceries at the cooperative—only to the things she liked.
Since Xu Nian’an was determined to split the family property, it was good to check the prices.
Soon, Lu Xiuxiu returned on her bicycle, with several strings of pig offal hanging from both the handlebars and the back seat.
Xu Nian’an’s face immediately darkened. It was a new bike—how could she ride it all smelly?
She didn’t hold back at all and started scolding Lu Xiuxiu fiercely:
“Lu Xiuxiu, you really have no shame! Yesterday you grabbed my jade pendant, today you ‘stole’ my bike. What’s next, are you going to kill someone tomorrow? And you made my bike stink like this—it’s brand new! You’ll pay me for this!”
Lu Xiuxiu was stunned. To her, it was just a bicycle. Xu Nian’an was petty and unreasonable. She shot back immediately:
“What are you yelling for? I didn’t steal it. It’s just a bike. If it’s so precious, who cares? You’re such a miser.”
As she spoke, she threw the pig intestines onto the ground. The basin at home was already soaking with field snails, and she was annoyed. She called for Lu Xiulian loudly:
“Xiulian, come wash these pig intestines!”
“No!” Xu Nian’an froze Lu Xiulian with a glance and then glared at Lu Xiuxiu.
“Taking things without asking is stealing, and it’s still just a bike? If you have the ability, buy your own instead of taking mine. You’re really shameless—like a stray dog burping after eating too much filth.”
Lu Xiuxiu’s face flushed red and green. She shoved Xu Nian’an’s bicycle and went back into the house.
Next door, Aunt Yi poked her head over. She loved to watch drama. The Lu family had already been arguing in the morning, and now they were at it again.
Listening in, she thought Lu Xiuxiu was in the wrong.
Looking at the brand-new bike, now covered in mud and stinking, she joined the conversation:
“Xiuxiu, who wouldn’t treat a new bike like treasure? Only your family has one in the village. And it’s new, yet you’re ruining it? Your sister-in-law’s bike, you’ve ridden plenty, haven’t you? Who would be okay with ruining a new bike like this?”
She then turned to Xu Nian’an: “Chengyu’s wife, don’t be mad. Go wash it by the river and hang it to dry. It’ll be clean in a few days.”
“Yes, sister-in-law, I promise to wash it really clean for you.”
Lu Xiulian also chimed in: “Sister-in-law, go rest in your room. I’ll wash it and bring it back to you.”
They pushed the bicycle toward the river.
Xu Nian’an’s eyes shifted. “I’ll go with you. After it’s clean, I’ll take you to the supply store.”
She pinched her own thigh hard, tears streaming down her red eyes.
Her family was well-off, and she came from the city. Her wedding had been lively, and the villagers were curious about her. Normally, she rarely went out.
Now, walking on this road, crying, everyone gathered around, asking questions.
Wiping her tears, Xu Nian’an looked even more pitiful:
“Everyone doesn’t know, yesterday Lu Xiuxiu wanted my necklace and demanded it from me. I said it was a gift from my mom when I got married, so I couldn’t give it. She pushed me into the river!”
Everyone in the village knew about Xu Nian’an and Lu Xiuxiu falling into the river yesterday but didn’t know why.
Hearing this, they realized Lu Xiuxiu was vicious. They warned their own family to keep distance. She could have killed her new sister-in-law over a necklace—it was terrifying.
“That’s way too cruel. I never thought Lu Xiuxiu would be like this,” said one villager.
“Not just that!” Lu Xiulian added. “Today, while my sister-in-law wasn’t paying attention, she rode off with her dowry bike and brought back a whole load of pig offal. My sister-in-law is a neat freak and got so upset she cried! And just now, she even called my sister-in-law a miser. Who would be so generous to treat someone like that?”
Xu Nian’an, wiping her tears, gave Lu Xiulian a subtle nod.
Encouraged, Lu Xiulian spoke even more energetically, and soon the whole village knew that Lu Xiuxiu was bullying the new bride of the Lu family.
Almost every household raised pigs. The smell of the bike full of pig offal was unmistakable, and everyone believed Xu Nian’an and Lu Xiulian’s story.
Lu Xiuxiu had no idea her reputation was already ruined—stinking like the pig intestines on the ground.
Seeing the intestines scattered, she panicked. She had to braise them today to sell tomorrow.
She definitely wouldn’t need Xu Nian’an’s bike anymore. She had to borrow a cart from the village; otherwise, she couldn’t carry all the offal herself.
Lu Xiulian couldn’t be relied on, so she had to deal with it herself.
Pig offal was hard to handle, and most people didn’t want to buy it. She decided to buy the rest herself, so the whole yard now reeked.
Even Aunt Yi next door rolled her eyes at the stench.
Cao Yanhua couldn’t take it either. She closed all the windows in the main house and took her eldest daughter out for a walk.
Lu Xiuxiu at home was miserable. She got some wood ash to wash the intestines, gagging as she did. Soon, all the water in the cistern was used up.
By now, the people who had worked in the fields all day returned. Zhou Guixiang had wanted to come back earlier.
At noon, Lu Xiulian delivered lunch and said Xu Nian’an was awake and feeling okay. With the chicken slaughtered at home, she could relax.
In the afternoon, with extra help, they returned home early.
Before reaching home, the stench hit them—they all guessed it was the pig intestines.
Lu Zhang’s mother-in-law was furious. That brat, demanding chicken in the morning, buying pig intestines in the afternoon, probably even more meat.
She yelled at the top of her lungs: “You little brat, reincarnated hungry ghost!”
Zhou Guixiang knew her mother-in-law wasn’t feeling well. The chicken at lunch hadn’t been eaten by her mother-in-law.
She remembered she had hidden a big chicken drumstick in her bowl—it must have been put there by An’an. No one else would dare.
She hurried to stop her mother-in-law from getting too upset.