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墨書 Inktalez
The daughter-in-law made quite a scene at the door in front of so many people, yet it only served to make Zhao Meirong and Hu Qihua incredibly happy, turning into a delightful story that spread throughout Hu Family Village and the surrounding Three Miles and Five Villages.
More than half a month later, when the house was completed, Zhao Meirong took the money back to her maternal family to settle her debts. Her sister-in-law nearly lost her temper: "Eldest Sister, didn’t we agree that you could just use it? You don’t need to rush to pay it back; our family certainly won’t get upset over this!"
Zhao Meirong placed the money in her sister-in-law's hands. "Feng Cai, that's not acceptable! You don’t know how fierce our Mao Na is. Last time, she came over quietly and lectured me and your brother-in-law right in front of all the neighbors..."
Her mother nearby looked a bit confused. "Didn’t you always say that girl was quite good? She hasn’t even officially joined the family yet, and she’s already causing trouble with her in-laws? How are you all going to live together once she moves in?"
Zhao Meirong laughed and replied to her mother, "Mother, you seem more anxious than I am! I haven’t finished my story yet."
She continued to "complain": "You have no idea how she stormed in, her little face stern and her mouth firing off like a machine gun."
Then she mimicked Mao Na’s tone and demeanor vividly: "Auntie, Uncle, are you not planning to let us live in this house?"
...
"Isn’t it only right for Hu Ruoyun to lend you money for building the house? Why does everyone have to be so clear-cut about things? Are Xiao Hu and Mei Feng not going to need us as their older siblings when they get married?"
...
After finishing her lively demonstration with a smile, she felt deeply moved.
Her sister-in-law and mother joined in with agreement: "You’re really lucky; it’s hard to find such a daughter-in-law!"
Friends who have been following this story might remember that when Woodzi's eldest son Wu Mingyang got married, his wife had exchanged fifty dollars for what was supposed to be one hundred dollars for the brother of the new bride. The brother called her out on it right there, and instead of pulling off a clever trick, she ended up losing out. Ultimately, under pressure from the bride's aunt, Woodzi's woman reluctantly paid five hundred dollars just to bring the eldest daughter-in-law into the family.
Woodzi's woman was a classic case of someone who remembers only what benefits her; because of that incident, she had developed a grudge against this eldest daughter-in-law.
Normally, from the time a new bride enters until they split off into their own household, they wait until after the first child is born (don’t ask why; that’s just how things are done around here).
Half a year after Wu Mingyang's wedding, with his wife’s belly growing larger by the day, Woodzi's woman began plotting. She figured that this family would eventually split up anyway; rather than waiting until after the child was born to separate, it would be better to do it now (according to local customs, the grandparents would have to pay for the first month celebration). This way, they could save some money—if they saved on the first child, it would naturally follow for the second child and Third Sister.
The eldest daughter-in-law Mu Xiumei was quite open-minded about it. Life had improved; Wu Mingyang worked with the village construction team and earned over eight dollars a day. If they separated, so be it—it would save everyone from stirring up trouble together every day.
As August 15th approached in the year following their marriage, Xiu Mei gave birth to a chubby baby boy. The whole family was thrilled and made plans for the month celebration. Woodzi's woman told everyone: "The month celebration will be handled by me and Mingyang’s father..."
Xiu Mei was also happy; since her mother-in-law was taking such an initiative, she felt there was no need to bring up their financial matters again.
A month later, Xiu Mei’s parents and relatives—uncles and aunts, cousins—came bearing gifts of red sugar eggs and small clothes for their grandson... They even gave ten or twenty dollars as meeting gifts for the little one. Friends and relatives from Wu Mingyang’s side did the same; neighbors also contributed three or five dollars as neighborhood gifts.
The full moon celebration was lively and bustling.
That evening, Mu Xiumei counted the gift money and felt something was off. How could it only total a little over two hundred yuan? She clearly remembered that just the gifts from her maternal family alone had almost reached three hundred, and the relatives from her in-laws were about the same amount (not to mention the neighborhood gifts, which were all contributions from her parents-in-law; they had organized the banquet, so that portion belonged to them). There was no way it could only be a little over two hundred!
Mu Xiumei asked Wu Mingyang what was going on.
Wu Mingyang replied, "Mom took the money!"
Mu Xiumei questioned, "Why did she take it? I can understand if she keeps the neighborhood gifts, but why does she need to take the gifts from relatives and friends?"
Wu Mingyang explained, "She said the banquet was organized by her and Dad! These relatives came because of them..."
Mu Xiumei felt a surge of anger; her mother-in-law really never spoke up about anything (implying she was unreasonable)! Without hesitation, she set down her nursing child and headed towards the front yard where her in-laws were.
Wu Mingyang cautioned, "You just gave birth; why are you going out?"
Mu Xiumei replied irritably, "To collect what’s owed!"
Wu Mingyang had to stay home to look after the baby. Although he knew trouble was brewing, he couldn't stop his wife.
Upon reaching the front yard and seeing what was happening inside, Mu Xiumei became even angrier. Her mother-in-law was selling off the gifts of noodles, brown sugar, eggs, and other items sent by friends and neighbors to people coming from the market (there were too many guests for everyone to crowd into the room of a new mother, so these gifts had been placed in the front yard)... Even if there were many items to deal with, she should at least inform the rightful owner first!
Suppressing her anger, Mu Xiumei asked, "Mom, what are you doing?"
Her mother-in-law awkwardly smiled and said, "Xiu Mei, I saw there were too many things, so I found someone to help handle some of them. Otherwise, if they sit too long, they might spoil."
The person collecting the items felt uncomfortable: "Sister-in-law, you didn't discuss this with the kids before handling these things?"
Mu Xiumei didn’t dwell on that issue. Steadying herself, she said, "Mom, today my brother said we need to buy a tractor at home but don’t have enough money. Can you return that over one thousand yuan you took from Mingyang? Let my brother take it for a few months!"
Who would have thought her mother-in-law would play dumb: "Xiu Mei, that money was spent on the baby’s full moon celebration today!"
Mu Xiumei's anger flared up instantly; her voice rose an octave as she stopped calling her 'Mom': "So you’re using our money to save face while pocketing our gift money? How can you be so meticulous with your accounts? Even if you used our money for this event, it wouldn’t cost more than six or seven hundred! You can’t just keep all of Mingyang’s hard-earned one thousand six or seven hundred for yourself!"
Feeling wronged and furious, she first choked up and then burst into tears.
Neighbors came over under the pretense of offering comfort and quickly understood what was happening as they listened to Mu Xiumei cry and speak.
The next day, Mu Xiumei directly took her child back to her maternal family. Soon after, her maternal family—her aunt and sisters-in-law—found her mother-in-law: "Our Xiu Mei won’t be living with your Mingyang anymore!"
Surprisingly, not a single neighbor stepped forward to say even a word in defense of Mu Xiumei's mother-in-law.
The woman, Woodzi, was once again foolish. Not to mention her daughter-in-law, but that chubby grandson of hers certainly bore the surname Wu! Mingyang's Aunt and the elder lady came over to mediate, saying all the right things. Only then did Xiu Mei's Aunt slightly relent: “You must give the money that is due to my niece without any deductions, and apologize to her in front of all of you!
Furthermore, because of this incident, my niece is so upset that she has stopped producing milk. After calculating, we found that the formula alone will cost around eight or nine hundred yuan this year, and her mother-in-law should also contribute to that. If she doesn’t agree, we’ll start looking for another family for my niece. Whatever surname that family has, that child will take on as well, and there will be no connection to your Wu family whatsoever!”
This last statement became the final straw for Woodzi, forcing her to comply with each demand.
Why did it have to come to this? Cang Fusheng, the author of "Medical Path to Success," once said, “Kindness may not always be rewarded, but evil will eventually backfire.” I don’t know if Woodzi’s actions could be considered evil, but she certainly faced the consequences of her behavior.
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