A Good Country Wife
Chapter 346 - 340_1

Chapter 346: Chapter 340_1

Zhang Chunhua had just set aside her work to make a trip to Zhao Erhu’s house when she saw her mother-in-law carrying in two large baskets. "Mother, why are you carrying such big baskets? What’s inside?"

"It’s what Erhu’s wife sent over. She said to bring it for you. Inside are peach-shaped birthday buns and several cold dishes." Chunhua’s mother-in-law had smelled the aroma coming from the baskets earlier, which was temptingly strong. It wasn’t appropriate to lift the cloth covering the baskets in front of others outside, but now in the kitchen, she put the baskets on the table, lifted the floral cloth, and repeatedly praised what she saw.

"Tsk tsk, how does Erhu’s wife have such good culinary skills? Look, these birthday buns are made to look just like real peaches. And this braised pork and the cold dishes, I wonder what she added to make them so fragrant. Even city restaurants probably can’t compare."

When Zhang Chunhua saw the contents of the two baskets, she understood that Lin Yue had specially prepared these to help her save face in front of her two sisters-in-law. She felt extremely comforted. Hearing her mother-in-law praise Lin Yue, she felt no jealousy but instead replied with pride, "That goes without saying. Erhu’s wife’s culinary skills are not something ordinary people can match. Erhu doesn’t know what good fortune he’s cultivated to have married such a great wife."

Madam Wu, hearing Zhang Chunhua speak this way, feared her daughter-in-law might misunderstand and promptly said, "It’s true that Erhu’s wife is good, but you’re not bad either. Now isn’t the home still supported by your help? As for your eldest sister-in-law, well, let’s not talk about her."

Speaking of her eldest sister-in-law left Zhang Chunhua speechless. Her sister-in-law wasn’t a bad person per se; it was just that she had a difficult temper. When she quarreled with her elder brother, she didn’t even care that today was her father-in-law’s birthday. Just yesterday, she had gone back to her mother’s house and hadn’t returned yet. Otherwise, Chunhua wouldn’t have been this busy. No wonder her mother-in-law disapproved; it was too thoughtless.

"Mother, you know what kind of person my eldest sister-in-law is. When she gets angry, she doesn’t care about anything else. It’s not intentional. Once she cools down, she’ll come back." Zhang Chunhua thought of the generally good relationship she shared with her eldest sister-in-law and couldn’t help speaking a few words in her favor to her mother-in-law.

"You don’t need to speak well of her for me. I don’t have such a daughter-in-law. Who else among daughter-in-laws is like her? Having a disagreement with her husband is one thing, but today is her father-in-law’s birthday, and she actually hides at her mother’s house and doesn’t come back. With such unfilial and disrespectful behavior, she might as well never come back." Madam Wu grew angrier the more she spoke, but in the end, she did not voice the extreme suggestion of her son divorcing his wife.

Zhang Chunhua also knew that her mother-in-law was speaking out of anger and did not dwell on the subject. "Mother, today is Father’s birthday, let’s all be happy. Don’t be angry. I think it’s almost time. Could you help me put the birthday buns and dishes that Yueyue sent onto plates? We can directly serve them later."

"Okay, I’ll get them ready." Madam Wu felt better after venting a bit and, heeding her daughter-in-law’s words, took out plates from the cupboard, divided the birthday buns, braised pork, and several cold dishes into two portions for the plates, and took out another two bowls. She left some of the birthday buns and a portion of each dish aside for Zhang Chunhua. After all the hard work of her daughter-in-law for most of the day, it wouldn’t do for her not to have any good food to eat. All in all, Madam Wu was still a decent mother-in-law.

Seeing her mother-in-law do this brought a few more smiles to Zhang Chunhua’s face. She was lucky, having married into the Wu Family, where her husband treated her well and her mother-in-law was easy to get along with. Although over the years, she had only given birth to Xixi, her daughter, and although her father-in-law and mother-in-law had their complaints, they blamed her only in words and never really did anything to harm her. Since ancient times, being a daughter-in-law has always been difficult; compared to others, her days could very much be considered good ones.

Wu Qiang and his wife had been working at Lin Yue’s home in the past few months, earning a considerable amount of silver coin. To impress her two younger sisters-in-law, Zhang Chunhua had originally prepared a very lavish meal, and with the few items sent over by Lin Yue, when laid out on the table, it boasted a full array of dishes both fragrant and flavorsome. Even the two usually critical younger sisters-in-law found themselves with nothing to pick on.

Especially those peach-shaped birthday buns, they truly looked exquisite, arranged on the plate so delicately that it seemed a shame to eat them. Both younger sisters-in-law thought they had been bought from a big restaurant in the city and secretly admired Zhang Chunhua for her willingness to spend money. Those two large plates of peach buns alone would have cost at least one or two taels of silver. Though they both had married well-off farmers, their families, at most, only had savings of ten or twenty taels of silver, and did not have spare money to buy such luxurious items. They both thought about taking some home but couldn’t bear to lose face.

While Zhang Chunhua was busy in the kitchen, she purposefully carried the dishes to the front to show off to the two younger sisters-in-law. Seeing their eyes fixed on the large plate of intricately made peach buns, the corners of her mouth curled up.

"I say, big sister, little sister, what are you spacing out for? Start eating already. Although our house can’t compare to the affluence of your husbands’ families, today is our father’s birthday, and we’ve spent good money on this tableful of food. Please don’t hold it in contempt."

Zhang Chunhua’s words were uttered with humility, but to her two younger sisters-in-law, it sounded like a show-off and a provocation. Of course, there was indeed an element of showing off on Zhang Chunhua’s part, which also meant the two younger sisters-in-law were now determined not to ask for anything from their parental home to save face.

"Hmph." Unable to find fault with Zhang Chunhua, the two younger sisters-in-law snorted in frustration and resentfully buried their heads in the food. But truth be told, the flavor of the dishes was excellent, particularly some of the cold dishes they had never tasted before. They suspected it was another expensive item, which would explain why villagers said that husband and wife had made money working for Zhao Erhu; otherwise, how could they afford to spend so much?

Returning home from Wu Qiang’s place, Lin Yue saw a horse-drawn carriage parked at her doorstep. Zhao Lingxiang had visited their home a few times before, and Lin Yue recognized the carriage as belonging to the Wei Residence. Coming again? These people were really persistent, having snatched away their family’s business, and now they had the audacity to come knocking at the door so boldly. Lin Yue wondered what kind of scheme old Master Wei had in mind this time.

As Lin Yue approached, she saw no one on the carriage. She had locked the door when she left because no one was home, and naturally, people from the Wei Residence couldn’t get in. But where could they have gone? She glanced around and saw no one.

After thinking for a moment, Lin Yue headed towards the workshop area. Sure enough, she found old Master Wei and his entourage stopped at the entrance of the workshop. Since she and Zhao Erhu had ordered that no outsiders were allowed in the workshop, Master Wei and his group were barred from entering. Zhao Lingxiang was being carefully supported by two maids, dressed even more luxuriously and adorned than before, with two gold hairpins on her head, looking utterly doted upon. Old Master Wei’s two attendants were disputing with Liu Aniu, who was blocking the workshop entrance and not letting them in.

"The master has ordered that no outsiders are allowed in and out of the workshop; you can’t go inside."

"We are not just anybody; I’m Zhao Erhu’s own sister. You, dimwit, better move aside at once."

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