0p0 Chapter 111: Moral blackmail?
Chapter 111: Moral blackmail?
Hua Rendong said, "Do Xiaoya and Xiaoyue have anything else to do this afternoon? If not, take me to the peach forest on the mountain."
"That's fine. What else can they do besides delivering water? It's just right for them to take you up the mountain with them."
Fang Yanhong nodded when she heard this. Since her two daughters were taking honeysuckle to the mountains, she could stay at home to take care of the children. Otherwise, if she always left her little daughters to be taken care of by her niece-in-law, her eldest sister-in-law would have something to say.
Zhou Xiaoya and Zhou Xiaoyue were also very happy to hear this. They loved playing with this generous and quiet cousin.
As soon as they entered the yard, they heard a baby crying. They took a few quick steps and saw Wang Xiuli holding Fang Yanhong's little daughter Zhou Xiaomei and walking around in circles in the yard to coax her. Gangdan and Tiedan surrounded Wang Xiuli's legs and called her "Auntie". It was a very warm sight.
Seeing Fang Yanhong coming back, Wang Xiuli was sweating, "Second Aunt, you are back. Xiaomei has been crying since you left. She really can't leave her mother for even a moment."
Fang Yanhong hurried over and picked up the child. She clearly saw a black finger mark on Xiaomei's face, which, judging by the size, must have belonged to a child.
Fang Yanhong glanced at Wang Xiuli, who said awkwardly, "Tiedan wanted to play with his aunt, and he accidentally poked her."
Fang Yanhong was obviously unhappy, but Tiedan was still young, so she didn't say much. She just carried Xiaomei back to the house to feed her.
Wang Xiuli said to Grandma Zhou, who had an unhappy look on her face, and Hua Jindong beside her, "Children like these, fighting and quarreling is inevitable."
Hua Rendong was not very familiar with this cousin's wife, but she was asked to help look after the child for a while, and her son poked a finger mark on her face. The mark was not far from her eyes, and it would have been a big problem if it was a little bit off. It would have been fine if she didn't apologize, but she is still trying to make up for it?
It turns out that she and her mother-in-law are not from the same family and should not be allowed to enter the same house.
Hua Honeysuckle has never been a saint, and she won't pretend to like someone she doesn't like. She took out the furnace fruit that she had put into her pocket to give to Gangdan and Tiedan, and said with a wooden smile, "Well, it's inevitable. Second aunt should be more careful in the future."
After saying that, he helped Grandma Zhou into the house.
Grandma Zhou came into the house and sighed, "It's all my fault. Yanhong was worried about me, so she asked her to look after the child for a while. In the past, Yanhong always looked after their children, and they didn't dare to miss a thing. How could I have known that after just letting her look after the child for a while, something almost happened? It's really fatal that people have bad consciences!"
Hua Honeysuckle didn't respond. It was good enough that Grandma Zhou understood this matter. It was not easy to see her daughter-in-law, and she was already better than most mothers-in-law.
After feeding the child, Fang Yanhong asked Zhou Xiaoya and Zhou Xiaoyue to look after her sister, and then went to the outer room to cook. Soon, the smell of fish mixed with sauce wafted out, and even Hua Yindong felt a little greedy.
Lunch has just been prepared and those who went to the fields to earn work points have returned.
During the busy farming season, every family eats better, and the most important thing is that they can eat their fill without having to drink porridge for every meal.
There was a large pot full of river fish of all sizes, half of which was stewed, and each person got a spoonful during the meal.
Although there was no box with brain-crushed egg filling, Fang Yanhong used eggs, cornmeal and white flour, added brain-crushed cakes to make two large pots of cakes, and gave each person two palm-sized pieces and a bowl of cornmeal batter.
The pancakes, which were baked without much oil, were not very delicious, but Hua Honeysuckle still ate two pieces with the salty river fish.
After dinner, the Zhou family went to work. Hua Rendong asked the two sisters to take her up the mountain. Zhou Lanxiang and Zhou Xiahe also said they wanted to go.
Hua Rendong didn't like those two, but since she said it in front of the whole family, she couldn't treat them too differently. Even if it wasn't for the sake of Grandma Zhou and Grandpa Zhou, Zhou Laicai was good to her, and she couldn't be too disrespectful to his daughter.
So, the originally agreed three-person trip became a five-person trip.
Along the way, Zhou Xiaoya and Zhou Xiaoyue were running around like happy chicks, while Zhou Lanxiang and Zhou Xiahe surrounded Hua Jindong and asked about her work situation.
They would reach out from time to time to touch and pinch Hua Rendong's clothes, with jealous and envious expressions on their faces. Hua Rendong even wondered if they wanted to take off her clothes and let them wear them!
Hua Honeysuckle was really annoyed by the snobbery of these two sisters, but she had to patiently pick out some things to say and make up some stories.
The two girls listened with hope in their eyes. Zhou Lanxiang held Hua Rendong's hand and said, "Second cousin, do you think I can go to work in the city? I heard that some big leaders in the city need to hire people to work at home. Can you talk to your leader's family and let me work at their home? I am not afraid of hardship or fatigue. I can do any job."
Hua Rendong frowned, "Isn't this bad? The leaders' families need to have at least a junior high school graduate when they are looking for a aunt. You two haven't even finished high school, so it's probably not going to work."
"Why don't you go and have a good talk with your boss? What if he doesn't stick to it for your sake?"
Hua Honeysuckle snorted, "How can I be so proud? How can they know who I am?"
This girl really thinks highly of her. If she is someone who is perceptive, down-to-earth and smart, she might be able to help inquire about it.
But after getting to know them, she found that the two sisters learned from their mother and were really bad at nothing. They were never satisfied with what they ate and liked to compete with others when working, for fear that they could do more.
The most important thing is that they are too narrow-minded and too petty. If you introduce them to work in other people's homes, any good things they have will be secretly put into their mouths.
Seeing that Hua Rendong was unhappy, Zhou Xiahe also came over and held Hua Rendong's other hand, "Second cousin, please help my sister. We two sisters are not welcomed at home. The marriage arranged by our family is based on which family offers more betrothal gifts. With those betrothal gifts, our family can live a better life. My sister didn't choose the person herself. If she can find a job in the city and marry a city person in the future, she won't have to marry someone she doesn't like and live a hard life in the countryside all her life. We two sisters will also remember your kindness. If you don't help, my sister will not live a good life after marriage. Will you feel at ease watching it?"
Moral blackmail? This time, Hua Rendong frowned even more deeply, "Are you two telling the truth? Didn't Lanxiang agree to be engaged to someone of her own accord?"
Zhou Lanxiang felt uncomfortable with her serious look, but she still said, "Of course it's true. He and I haven't met much, but his family gave too much as a betrothal gift, and my family..."
The latter part of the words was vague, and Hua Jindong couldn't hear it clearly even with her ears pricked up, but the previous words had revealed too much information. Just when she was about to say that if you don't want to, I can help you cancel the marriage, Zhou Xiaoyue jumped over, pointed at Zhou Lanxiang and scolded:
"You're talking nonsense! I've seen him bring you food several times, and you were very happy when you ate his food."