Chapter 86. The best mother in the village
Lin Qing He exited with a sway of her hip. She continued to cut out red date petals. She cut the red dates into small petals with a scissor and removed the seed. Then she used it to make red date buns.
As for Mother Zhou.
Even though Lin Qing He express understanding, Lin Qing He didn't approve.
They had already separated, so even if she cares about this side, there should be a limit. Routinely nagging, can it not be bothersome?
If it was a goody-two-shoe, maybe they won't see it that way and be grateful to Mother Zhou for being so concerned about her family.
However, Lin Qing He won't accept such kindness.
She was the mistress of her family and did as she likes. If there was something wrong, Zhou Qing Bai can correct her. But outsiders absolutely can't.
This was the bottom line for her as family head.
So in the following days, whatever delicious stuff was made at home never got delivered to old Zhou Family.
"I passed by today. I saw Da Wa and his brothers were eating mantou. They said it was red date mantou and very delicious." Second Brother mentioned.
He wasn't purposely sowing disorder. It was just a casual comment.
Father Zhou paid no heed, while Mother Zhou was silent.
"I assume there weren't much and was a new treat for Da Wa and his kids." Third Sister-in-law voiced out.
"Why didn't they send a portion of new treat over for Father and Mother." Second Sister-in-law raised an eyebrow.
"They have separated, they got to live their life there." Eldest Sister-in-law smiled.
After eating, they returned to their own rooms. Third Brother questioned with an awkward expression: "What's going on?"
Third Sister-in-law snorted: "It's Second Sister-in-law. She tattered to Mother about Fourth's wife giving something to her third brother. Mother became unhappy. She probably when over to give some reminders as Fourth's wife didn't share anything with the elder. "
"Huh, they already moved out. It doesn't matter what Qing Bai's wife does have nothing to do with our side ah. What is Mother going over to criticize for?" Third Brother said.
"Mother has always favored Fourth Brother-in-law, and now the whole family burden sits on Fourth Brother-in-law's shoulders, Mother definitely won't agree to Fourth's wife supplementing her maternal family." Third Sister-in-law pointed out.
Eldest Brother discussed this with Eldest Sister-in-law when they returned to the room.
"Second's wife was stirring trouble. Why did she talk about this to Mother." Eldest Zhou said.
Eldest Brother responded: "Mother is also nosy. She knows then she knows. The family had already divided, whatever happened there has no relation to here, so why does she always goes there and badger them?"
"Who knows." Eldest Sister nonchalantly replied.
As for Second Sister-in-law, she rewarded Second Brother with a hug and kiss once they entered the room. Second Brother had a disgusted look: "What are you doing?"
"What, you're averse to me?" Second Sister-in-law immediately glared.
Second Brother twitched his mouth and thought, 'if you're like Fourth's wife, I would welcome all the kisses. But look at your own face, how can it be comparable to Fourth's wife.'
Speaking of this, usually when the men talked in private, they talked about Fourth's wife. Of course, he listened to it silently. He dared not say it to them.
They all said that old Fourth was blessed.
Second Brother also felt that his fourth brother was lucky.
See how well Fourth's wife had nurtured him after he came back? He heard she was being creative with the food.
He also witnessed it with his own eyes this summer harvest. At lunch, it was white meat buns, or spring pancakes, or fried dumplings. The worst was cornmeal mantou.
But it was still served with a lunchbox full of a dish with numerous meat for old Fourth to eat.
After a bustling summer harvest, who hadn't become skinny from exhaustion except for old Fourth. Not just that, he was obviously nourished well. This had him envious.
"I'm speaking, what are you thinking?" Second Sister-in-law uttered.
"Nothing, what else can I think about." Second Brother sighed: "I don't know when our family will make something delicious?"
Passing by Fourth's house, he wanted to go in and scrounge a meal. Watching how the kids' red date mantou and the sweet fragrance it emitted had a lot of children gathering around, he became too embarrassed to enter in the end.
"Our Mother lives frugally. It's not a special day, so don't think about it" Second Sister-in-law waved her hand.
At this time their son came in and said that Elder Brother Da Wa nad others had delicious treat again, he wanted to eat it too.
Second Sister-in-law's son was called Zhou Xia, about the same age as Er Wa. He was older than Eldest Sister-in-law's eldest son Zhou Yang, because Eldest Sister-in-law had daughters in front.
"Eat what? Why not go and become their family's son." Second Sister-in-law scolded.
"Can I?" Zhou Xia's eyes lighted up even more.
Second Brother laughed: "Son, you don't have that life. Let's eat cornmeal pancake at home."
His son's face dropped.
He really wanted to be Fourth Uncle and Fourth Aunt's son.
Elder Brother Da Wa got yummy food every day. It was either meat or noodles or white mantou. Also, they ate white rabbit candy, malted milk powder, and huge watermelon!
Their life was so blissful. He also wanted to be his uncle's son.
Da Wa and his brothers weren't just envied by Zhou Xia. Zhou Yang, Eldest Sister-in-law's son was envious too. Same with Third Sister-in-law's Zhou Wu Ni.
These were old Zhou Family's. There were still the children in the village. Once it got out, who didn't feel envious?
They heard adults say Da Wa's Mother doesn't know how to live, but they felt that there was no mother in the world who can live more properly than Da Wa and his brothers' Mother.
If she was their mother, how good it'll be?
Lin Qing He didn't know that she had become the most ideal mother in the eyes of the children in the village.
She was only experimenting with the red date mantou this time, but she didn't expect it to work out so well. She liked it.
But red dates weren't cheap, but they will be much cheaper when new ones come out. At that time, she can buy more back to make them. She never thought of making red dates mantou before.
Once Zhou Qing Bai came back from work, he went fishing for ricefield eel, catching loach, capturing fish, and shrimp. Even the snail was brought back by him. His wife's cooking skills were excellent, and these can become delicious things in the hands of his wife.
"If I go to the county city next time, I'll bring you a bottle of Maotai wine. Serving this and drinking the wine will have you delighted." Lin Qing He fried the snail and said to Zhou Qing Bai.
Zhou Qing bai beamed: "The next time you buy a bottle back, let's drink together?"
"Alright." Lin Qing He raised an eyebrow.
At this time, the eel was also very fat and delicious. The important thing was that it was a pure free-range. It got a lot of nutrition. If Zhou Qing Bai wasn't exhausted from farm work, Lin Qing He would send him every day to go fishing for eel.
"Let's keep the loach for tomorrow. Go exchange the soybean dreg and bring back some tofu. I will make some fried tofu." Lin Qing He said.
"Okay." Zhou Qing Bai nodded.
Life at home was unquestionable. Lin Qing He took Er Wa and San Wa back to the county city after seven or eight days.
Must say, the brothers became smarter day by day after following Lin Qing He on her trip.
Lin Qing He exited with a sway of her hip. She continued to cut out red date petals. She cut the red dates into small petals with a scissor and removed the seed. Then she used it to make red date buns.
As for Mother Zhou.
Even though Lin Qing He express understanding, Lin Qing He didn't approve.
They had already separated, so even if she cares about this side, there should be a limit. Routinely nagging, can it not be bothersome?
If it was a goody-two-shoe, maybe they won't see it that way and be grateful to Mother Zhou for being so concerned about her family.
However, Lin Qing He won't accept such kindness.
She was the mistress of her family and did as she likes. If there was something wrong, Zhou Qing Bai can correct her. But outsiders absolutely can't.
This was the bottom line for her as family head.
So in the following days, whatever delicious stuff was made at home never got delivered to old Zhou Family.
"I passed by today. I saw Da Wa and his brothers were eating mantou. They said it was red date mantou and very delicious." Second Brother mentioned.
He wasn't purposely sowing disorder. It was just a casual comment.
Father Zhou paid no heed, while Mother Zhou was silent.
"I assume there weren't much and was a new treat for Da Wa and his kids." Third Sister-in-law voiced out.
"Why didn't they send a portion of new treat over for Father and Mother." Second Sister-in-law raised an eyebrow.
"They have separated, they got to live their life there." Eldest Sister-in-law smiled.
After eating, they returned to their own rooms. Third Brother questioned with an awkward expression: "What's going on?"
Third Sister-in-law snorted: "It's Second Sister-in-law. She tattered to Mother about Fourth's wife giving something to her third brother. Mother became unhappy. She probably when over to give some reminders as Fourth's wife didn't share anything with the elder. "
"Huh, they already moved out. It doesn't matter what Qing Bai's wife does have nothing to do with our side ah. What is Mother going over to criticize for?" Third Brother said.
"Mother has always favored Fourth Brother-in-law, and now the whole family burden sits on Fourth Brother-in-law's shoulders, Mother definitely won't agree to Fourth's wife supplementing her maternal family." Third Sister-in-law pointed out.
Eldest Brother discussed this with Eldest Sister-in-law when they returned to the room.
"Second's wife was stirring trouble. Why did she talk about this to Mother." Eldest Zhou said.
Eldest Brother responded: "Mother is also nosy. She knows then she knows. The family had already divided, whatever happened there has no relation to here, so why does she always goes there and badger them?"
"Who knows." Eldest Sister nonchalantly replied.
As for Second Sister-in-law, she rewarded Second Brother with a hug and kiss once they entered the room. Second Brother had a disgusted look: "What are you doing?"
"What, you're averse to me?" Second Sister-in-law immediately glared.
Second Brother twitched his mouth and thought, 'if you're like Fourth's wife, I would welcome all the kisses. But look at your own face, how can it be comparable to Fourth's wife.'
Speaking of this, usually when the men talked in private, they talked about Fourth's wife. Of course, he listened to it silently. He dared not say it to them.
They all said that old Fourth was blessed.
Second Brother also felt that his fourth brother was lucky.
See how well Fourth's wife had nurtured him after he came back? He heard she was being creative with the food.
He also witnessed it with his own eyes this summer harvest. At lunch, it was white meat buns, or spring pancakes, or fried dumplings. The worst was cornmeal mantou.
But it was still served with a lunchbox full of a dish with numerous meat for old Fourth to eat.
After a bustling summer harvest, who hadn't become skinny from exhaustion except for old Fourth. Not just that, he was obviously nourished well. This had him envious.
"I'm speaking, what are you thinking?" Second Sister-in-law uttered.
"Nothing, what else can I think about." Second Brother sighed: "I don't know when our family will make something delicious?"
Passing by Fourth's house, he wanted to go in and scrounge a meal. Watching how the kids' red date mantou and the sweet fragrance it emitted had a lot of children gathering around, he became too embarrassed to enter in the end.
"Our Mother lives frugally. It's not a special day, so don't think about it" Second Sister-in-law waved her hand.
At this time their son came in and said that Elder Brother Da Wa nad others had delicious treat again, he wanted to eat it too.
Second Sister-in-law's son was called Zhou Xia, about the same age as Er Wa. He was older than Eldest Sister-in-law's eldest son Zhou Yang, because Eldest Sister-in-law had daughters in front.
"Eat what? Why not go and become their family's son." Second Sister-in-law scolded.
"Can I?" Zhou Xia's eyes lighted up even more.
Second Brother laughed: "Son, you don't have that life. Let's eat cornmeal pancake at home."
His son's face dropped.
He really wanted to be Fourth Uncle and Fourth Aunt's son.
Elder Brother Da Wa got yummy food every day. It was either meat or noodles or white mantou. Also, they ate white rabbit candy, malted milk powder, and huge watermelon!
Their life was so blissful. He also wanted to be his uncle's son.
Da Wa and his brothers weren't just envied by Zhou Xia. Zhou Yang, Eldest Sister-in-law's son was envious too. Same with Third Sister-in-law's Zhou Wu Ni.
These were old Zhou Family's. There were still the children in the village. Once it got out, who didn't feel envious?
They heard adults say Da Wa's Mother doesn't know how to live, but they felt that there was no mother in the world who can live more properly than Da Wa and his brothers' Mother.
If she was their mother, how good it'll be?
Lin Qing He didn't know that she had become the most ideal mother in the eyes of the children in the village.
She was only experimenting with the red date mantou this time, but she didn't expect it to work out so well. She liked it.
But red dates weren't cheap, but they will be much cheaper when new ones come out. At that time, she can buy more back to make them. She never thought of making red dates mantou before.
Once Zhou Qing Bai came back from work, he went fishing for ricefield eel, catching loach, capturing fish, and shrimp. Even the snail was brought back by him. His wife's cooking skills were excellent, and these can become delicious things in the hands of his wife.
"If I go to the county city next time, I'll bring you a bottle of Maotai wine. Serving this and drinking the wine will have you delighted." Lin Qing He fried the snail and said to Zhou Qing Bai.
Zhou Qing bai beamed: "The next time you buy a bottle back, let's drink together?"
"Alright." Lin Qing He raised an eyebrow.
At this time, the eel was also very fat and delicious. The important thing was that it was a pure free-range. It got a lot of nutrition. If Zhou Qing Bai wasn't exhausted from farm work, Lin Qing He would send him every day to go fishing for eel.
"Let's keep the loach for tomorrow. Go exchange the soybean dreg and bring back some tofu. I will make some fried tofu." Lin Qing He said.
"Okay." Zhou Qing Bai nodded.
Life at home was unquestionable. Lin Qing He took Er Wa and San Wa back to the county city after seven or eight days.
Must say, the brothers became smarter day by day after following Lin Qing He on her trip.
thank you!!!!
ReplyDeleteEveryone complains about her being wasteful but she manages the finances properly. They are never desperate or in need of a hand out. Yes, they eat well and have a luxury or 2, however it doesnt make the husband work to death to provide for the family and everyone is healthy and happy. I can understand the jealousy and not wanting to see someone do better than you, but how can the mum not see what her sons and daughter in laws and husband see. Its not her place to get involved, her son and grandsons are happy and healthy and none of them seem like they are overworked or exhausted any more than others in the village. Why can't she be happy that her son finally has a happy marriage and the kids are being treated well?
ReplyDeleteNot to mention that she has over 3k saved.
DeleteA lot of this has to do with the original owner, remember that she has a reputation for being wasteful and she had 6 years to perfect that image. She would snub the other villagers because she was expecting her husband to be promoted and therefore give her even higher status than she already had, as the wife of a soldier rather than a farmer, who sends back 30-something yuan every month and sometimes more. It was established that she would spend the whole 30 in a month and only think about her husband when she was short on money and expecting his next check to arrive. A good example of how wasteful this was is comparing her to Xaoi Mei(i think thats her name? The youngest sister of the Zhou family.) She had an income of 15-ish yuan and only sent three back to her family, which made Mother Zhou frustrated because she had hoped her daughter would send more back, but her daughter likes to shop and such. So if you do math, she could be sending probably 5-8 yuan back and still live frugally, which is what was expected culturally at the time, compared to her 4thSIL who received double that and saved none of it, using all of it on herself in a month or less. With that image built up along several years the fact that her husband suddenly retired (not sure if it was openly explained to other villagers that he retiring because was injured, 2nd SIL might know but i think its just M&F Zhou and 4th's family that do) meant that there was no additional income except whatever money he brought home with him. Its mentioned early on that the villagers expect him to have gotten 300 yuan or very close to it because thats what the other soldier in their village got at retirement. Its said that the bike was upwards of 240(?) yuan which would basically wipe out his entire retirement money, added to the fact that she is constantly going out and making large purchases of 15+yuan every single time makes them wonder why she isnt pulling back her spending to stretch every penny to the next meal like the rest have to do. They call her wasteful because she uses expensive luxury foods like flour and oil and meat in nearly every dish when the family could survive on a much smaller meal for a lot longer. they dont understand where shes getting the money or how much is left and find it frustrating which is why they complain constantly.
DeleteTLDR; They want to eat good food but cant afford to which is why they expect her family to run out of good food and have no money to buy any
Isn't the word "mother-in-law" enough to explain it?
DeleteThey are busybodies by nature!!!
The issue is they are thinking she’s draining her husbands retirement fund and any of the kids future prospects for a decent life. Think of her as one of those ppl who buy luxury clothes using their college fund only so many times worse.
ReplyDeleteThe son never actually told the Motjer how much he money he sent home. So they think she is literally bankrupting him.
DAMN!!!!
ReplyDeletehe said "Can I?" when his mom asked if he wanted to be the fourth family child! hahahah I can't
Actually felt quite bad for the second brother's son when he legit thought it was possible to be the fourth brother's son. 真的是同人不同命
ReplyDeleteМда. Жизнь в деревне ужасна. Особенно в прошлом - все пересчитывают твою еду.
ReplyDelete