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The daughter-in-law caused quite a scene in front of so many people, yet it only made Zhao Meirong and Hu Qihua feel delighted, turning it into a tale of joy that spread through Hu Family Village and the surrounding areas.
More than half a month later, when the house was completed, Zhao Meirong took the money back to her maternal family to settle the debt. Her sister-in-law nearly got upset: "Eldest Sister, didn’t we agree that you could just use it? There’s no rush to pay it back; our family won’t get angry over this!"
Zhao Meirong placed the money in her sister-in-law's hands. "Feng Cai, that’s not how it works. You don’t know how formidable our Mao Na is. Last time she came over quietly and scolded me and your brother right in front of the neighbors..."
Her mother, who was nearby, looked a bit confused. "Didn’t you always say that girl was pretty good? And now she’s already causing trouble with her in-laws before even moving in? How are you all going to live together if she acts like this?"
Zhao Meirong laughed and replied to her mother, "Mother, you seem even more anxious than I am! I haven’t finished my story yet."
Then she continued to "complain": "You wouldn’t believe how she stormed in, her little face stern, her mouth firing off questions like a machine gun."
She mimicked Mao Na’s tone and manner 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 particular about it? Does that mean Xiao Hu and Mei Feng won’t need us as their older siblings when they get married?"
...
After finishing her performance with a smile, she felt deeply moved. Her sister-in-law and mother joined in, saying, "You’re really lucky; finding a daughter-in-law like that is no easy task!"
Friends who have been following this story might recall an incident: when Woodzi's eldest son Wu Mingyang got married and gave the bride's brother money for a washbasin, Woodzi's wife exchanged fifty dollars for the agreed one hundred. The bride's brother called her out on it right there—what was supposed to be a simple transaction turned into a loss for her. Eventually, under pressure from the bride's aunt, she reluctantly paid five hundred dollars just to secure her eldest daughter-in-law.
Woodzi's wife is a typical example of someone who forgets past grievances easily; because of that incident, she developed a grudge against this eldest daughter-in-law.
Normally, from the time a new bride enters until the family separates to live independently, they wait until the first child is born (don’t ask why; that’s just how things are done around here).
Six months after Wu Mingyang's wedding, as his wife’s belly grew larger, Woodzi's wife began plotting. She figured that since the family would eventually split up anyway, it would be better to do so now rather than after the child was born (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 carry over to subsequent children.
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 had to split up, then so be it—better than having everyone stirring up trouble together every day.
As August 15 approached in the following year and with the baby due any day now, Xiu Mei heard that the construction team was settling payments for half a year’s work. She estimated there should be around sixteen or seventeen hundred dollars and asked Wu Mingyang for that money. However, he hesitated and said, "Mom took the money..."
Xiu Mei didn’t think much of it; asking for money from their son wasn’t unusual. She figured they could settle things after the baby was born and celebrated its first month.
On October 10 of the lunar calendar, Woodzi's eldest daughter-in-law Xiu Mei gave birth to a chubby baby boy. The whole family was overjoyed and made plans for the celebration. Woodzi's wife boasted to everyone: "The celebration will be handled by me and Mingyang’s father..."
Xiu Mei was also happy; since her mother-in-law had taken such an initiative with their funds temporarily unnecessary, she didn’t bring up any further discussions about money.
A month later, Xiu Mei’s parents and relatives arrived with red sugar eggs and clothes for their grandson. They also brought ten or twenty dollars as gifts for him. Friends and neighbors from Wu Mingyang’s side did similarly, giving 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 from the the Wu Family was once again foolish. Let’s not even mention the daughter-in-law; that chubby grandson of hers certainly bears the Wu surname!
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 need to hand over every penny that should go to my niece, and apologize to her in front of all of you! Also, because of this incident, my niece is so upset that she has stopped producing milk. Calculating it out, the formula alone will cost around eight or nine hundred yuan this year, so her mother-in-law should contribute that too. If she doesn’t agree, we’ll start looking for another family for my niece. Whatever surname that child ends up with will be what they inherit; it won’t have anything to do with your the Wu Family!”
That last statement became the final straw for the woman from the the Wu Family, 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 the woman from the the Wu Family can be considered evil, but she has certainly faced the consequences of her actions.
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