Chapter 190: The Mastermind Behind the Trouble

Li Meng was different from the rest of the villagers—she was expecting a baby, and her hands were no longer tied for money.

She had opened a small shop. Although she wasn’t making a fortune, life was looking up.

Li Meng felt she now had the basic qualifications to become a rich man’s wife. A good start is half the battle, after all.

To become wealthy as soon as possible, Li Meng discussed with Lu Feng: after they had the baby and saved up some money, they should open a shop in town. There were way more people there than in the village, and business would surely be better.

Lu Feng was hesitant. Life was stable now, and everyone in the village respected him. The idea of going elsewhere made him uneasy. “We’re doing fine here in the village. Wouldn’t it be too risky to move to town?”

But Li Meng had seen more of the world. There were only so many people in the village, and at best, she could sell some oil, salt, soy sauce, and vinegar—how much money could that make? If she wanted to be rich, staying here was just a pipe dream.

So, she insisted they needed to move out: “The only reason we opened a shop in the village was because we didn’t have the money to go to town. But things are different now. We’ve saved up a bit. If we rent a place in town and open a bigger shop, we’ll make a lot more.”

But even after Li Meng gave birth, Lu Feng was still wavering.

Li Meng was getting anxious. Was Lu Feng destined to make his fortune in the village in his past life or something? Why was he so lacking in vision?

If things kept going like this, when would her dream of becoming the richest woman around ever come true? Li Meng was getting frustrated—she just couldn’t figure out what had sparked Lu Laoda’s (the eldest Lu’s) success.

A woman shouldn’t overthink things during her postpartum confinement, or she could easily fall into depression.

Li Meng wasn’t that sensitive, and though she didn’t get depressed, she did get worked up. The result? She stopped producing milk, and the baby went hungry.

Lu Laoniang (the old Mrs. Lu) even slaughtered the family’s old hen, but still couldn’t fill up her eldest grandson’s belly. It was enough to make anyone worry.

Lu Feng, being a caring father, took the baby to the neighbors several times to ask for food.

But he was stingy—he’d eat and leave, never so much as giving them a bag of brown sugar. After the second time, the neighbors weren’t so generous anymore.

Their own child was still young—who would want to shortchange their own kid? All this just put Lu Laoniang in a tough spot.

They even called the barefoot village doctor to check on Li Meng, who said she was suffering from “internal heat” (stress).

The doctor made some pointed remarks to Lu Laoniang: “She just had a son and she’s still upset? Does your daughter-in-law wish she’d had a girl, or is it that you, as her mother-in-law, haven’t been taking good enough care of her?”

If it weren’t for her eldest grandson, Lu Laoniang wouldn’t have bothered coming over, just to avoid being talked about.

Li Meng didn’t even lift her eyelids, let alone defend Lu Laoniang. To outsiders, it looked like Lu Laoniang hadn’t taken good care of her daughter-in-law.

Lu Laoniang felt terribly wronged.

Ever since her eldest daughter-in-law got pregnant, she’d been bringing her good food, cooking for her, and even paid for the shop. And what did her daughter-in-law do? Just sat there and watched others criticize her mother-in-law. What an ingrate!

After becoming mother-in-law to Fang Yuan, Lu Laoniang was no longer as soft as she used to be. She mustered up Fang Yuan’s assertiveness: “You know, Xiao San (the third son) hasn’t married yet, and we just built a house. The family is up to its ears in debt. Things really aren’t easy.”

She added, “If it weren’t for the fact that your own mother isn’t here to help you, I wouldn’t even have time to come look after you and the baby. Who’d have thought, even so, my daughter-in-law still gets upset.”

At the mention of her own family, Li Meng finally opened her eyes. “Mom, don’t say that. If you weren’t running around taking care of us, the baby and I wouldn’t even have enough to eat. It’s my fault—I just can’t feed the baby.”

Lu Laoniang replied, “It’s not your fault. Who’d want to see their own child go hungry? Don’t overthink it. As for your family, whether they come or not, your husband will make sure you’re fed.”

With that, she took her grandson and left. If nothing else worked, she’d just feed the baby rice soup. Get upset all you want—she wasn’t afraid of her.

After being put in her place by Lu Laoniang, Li Meng’s face turned awkward.

The barefoot doctor said, “So you’re missing your family. That’s understandable—everyone wants their own family around at a time like this. But honestly, with your family, if they came, you might get even more upset.”

Li Meng was so frustrated she couldn’t even get a word out. She couldn’t exactly say, “That’s not what’s bothering me.”

Whether it was the doctor’s folk remedy or Lu Laoniang’s tough talk, or maybe two negatives made a positive, but just as Lu Laoniang was about to buy formula for the baby, Li Meng started producing milk again and could finally feed her child.

Lu Laoniang genuinely wanted to be a good mother-in-law, to look after her daughter-in-law and dote on her grandson, but no matter what she did, it never seemed enough.

She’d cook, but her eldest son and daughter-in-law wouldn’t even look at her, never once asking, “Mom, have you eaten?” No one ever invited her to eat with them, or asked, “What will Dad and Xiao San eat?” Sometimes, they’d even finish all the food without a thought for her. They were like wolves. The way those two behaved was truly chilling.

Lu Laoniang would cook for them, then go home to cook for Xiao San. As for Lu Laoda (the old man), he was often away working at construction sites and rarely ate at home.

Seeing how hard his mother worked, Xiao San decided to just stay with his father at the construction site.

Lu Laoniang was fed up. She decided that after a month, once the postpartum period was over, she’d wash her hands of them. Let them fend for themselves.

Of course, she kept all this bottled up—family shame shouldn’t be aired in public.

But she couldn’t hide it from the neighbor, Sister-in-law Sun, who not only listened to gossip but also kept her eyes peeled.

When Lu Laoniang couldn’t get a meal at her eldest son’s house, she’d go home to cook for herself. After a couple of times, Sister-in-law Sun noticed.

In the countryside, visiting neighbors is common. Sister-in-law Sun came in and peeked into Lu Laoniang’s bowl. “Auntie, I thought you were sneaking home to eat something good behind your daughter-in-law’s back, but it’s just half a bowl of leftover porridge? That’s worth running home for?”

Lu Laoniang looked embarrassed. It wasn’t something she wanted people to know. “It’s hot—if I don’t eat it, it’ll go bad. We country folk don’t waste food.”

But Sister-in-law Sun was famous in the village as the “God of Investigations”—there was nothing she didn’t know. She took a look around the house. “When was this leftover? Don’t eat it if it’s gone bad.”

Lu Laoniang felt like the food was stuck in her throat. What business was it of hers?

Still, she had to be polite—she couldn’t let Sister-in-law Sun spread rumors, especially since she still had an unmarried son at home.

“It’s from this morning. Don’t worry, Sister-in-law, it won’t make me sick.”

Sister-in-law Sun pressed on, “You cook for your daughter-in-law, so why are you making breakfast for yourself at home? Your son doesn’t feed you? That’s not right.”

Lu Laoniang didn’t realize she was digging herself into a hole. “No, I had to heat the kang (bed-stove), and I happened to have some cornmeal that was getting buggy. It would have been a shame to throw it out. I figured I’d cook it for the chickens, but then I thought it’d be a waste, so I ate it myself.”

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