——————
Upon returning to her own home, Zhang Shan Ni finally breathed a sigh of relief.
However, she had no time to rest. After sending away the kind-hearted Sister Xiaxia and closing the door, she arranged for her father-in-law and mother-in-law to stay in the guest room, gestured to her little aunt to take good care of the elderly and children, and then she withdrew.
She went straight into the kitchen to light the fire and heat the stove—the house had been unoccupied for over ten days and was chillingly cold, the sofa felt as if it was covered with ice, and the cushions were no longer comfortable!
"Third Sister-in-law, take a break, let me do it!"
This was the first time Xie Jingzi had seen Third Brother’s house, and she was quite amazed. Following Zhang Shan Ni as they helped their mother into the guest room, she curiously surveyed the living environment. However, when she listened carefully, she heard the sound of water hitting the bottom of the pot.
She immediately followed the sound to the kitchen and saw Third Sister-in-law preparing to boil water and appearing to cook. Only then, feeling embarrassed, did she realize that she was expecting someone heavily pregnant to take care of things!
"It’s okay, you go check on how Dad and Mom are doing first, don’t let the elderly catch a cold! And Xiao Si and Xiaoqi, change them into dry cotton clothes, their outer cotton garments must be wet!"
"Oh, oh, I’ll go right now!" Xie Jingzi, upon hearing this, didn’t hesitate and quickly realized that not only might the family’s outer cotton clothes be wet, but her own outer cotton garment was also mostly soaked!
After sending her little aunt away, Zhang Shan Ni then dumped food like dumplings from the windowsill into the Space, and then changed into clothes from the Space.
Although the weather was cold and food stored in the homemade freezer would certainly not spoil, Zhang Shan Ni still felt it was dirty...
So, she quickly, while alone, moved dumplings, bones, frozen meat, and wonton fillings from the Space, arranged everything neatly, and waited another hour for the snow to cover up any traces of her movements.
Zhang Shan Ni was extremely busy at home, and meanwhile, back in the old house, several people were also thinking about her.
....
"Lin Caixia, that’s enough!"
Xie Jinggang had just returned home only to find the newly born baby continuously crying, yet she still managed to chat with her mother-in-law enthusiastically!
"Xie Laosan, why are you so fierce? My tender daughter bore you three sons, what more are you unsatisfied with? Even her confinement was handled by my wife!"
Madam Lin, hearing her son-in-law’s words, immediately retorted dissatisfiedly. Just now, the two women were discussing Zhou Xiuhua, who had conveniently fallen ill, thus escaping the responsibility of taking care of her daughter’s postpartum needs!
And yet, during her daughter’s confinement, the family fields were divided! Clearly, her daughter was a major contributor to the Xie Family! Among the Xie daughters-in-law, her daughter had given birth to the most sons!
In the end, the portion of fields they received was even less than what a son who had just gone through a divorce got!
This was why, as they chatted enthusiastically, their voices unconsciously got louder, not even noticing when Xie Laosan returned.
"Mother-in-law, no matter how many children she has, if they aren’t raised right, who would care? I’m not like Fifth who is soft-hearted. If you continue to spoil your daughter, do you want to become the next Wang Xiaocui? Hmph!"
His words were filled with cold harshness, and his final snort clearly expressed his indignation.
The next Wang Xiaocui?!!
"Mhm." Xie Jinggang initially didn’t want to pay attention to his wife. But thinking of his wife still being in confinement and that his own mother indeed couldn’t help with the postpartum care, he regained his rationality and scoffed before responding.
However many grievances he held inside, seeing that she had borne him three sons, he couldn’t really stay mad at his wife. Could he even bear to spoil the good days ahead?
However, it also made clear that his mother’s health is genuinely poor. His mother had been sick for so long, and he hadn’t found time to visit her. Now, hearing his mother-in-law’s targeted words made him feel really bad inside, thus he scoffed to self-mock.
The mother-in-law’s help sounded nice in theory, as if she was there to take care of the children. But besides cooking one meal, she hardly did anything.
At night when the children cried, she would sleep through it, undisturbed by noise. She even ate a lot, consuming most of his wife’s share of the meat, leaving him and the two children with just plain rice.
During the night when the baby cried, it was always the couple taking turns to hold him. He was primarily the one holding the baby, given that his wife had just given birth not long ago! Newly delivered, he dared not let her get out of bed to comfort the child!
Xiao San even privately told him that grandma’s snoring was louder than the brother’s crying! frёewebηovel.cѳm
But it can’t be denied that without the mother-in-law’s help, having a decent hot meal would have been difficult for his wife and children.
"I’m sorry... It was my fault." Lin Caixia carefully sat on the corner of the bed, holding her still infant younger son, and apologized to her husband.
Xie Jinggang’s expression slightly cleared upon hearing this. He then sat upright and wrapped his arms around his wife’s noticeably thinner shoulders, saying earnestly:
"My love, you know what kind of temperament my mother has. She didn’t ignore you on purpose; she’s genuinely ill. Also, even if Dad favored someone a bit in dividing the farmland, he did it seeing how pitiful Xiaoqi is. A niece without a mother, would you be jealous of her?"
——To be continued
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