Chapter 192: Shen Lan?

Hu Qian, however, felt that building a wall was no easy task.

Once the military finished most of the construction on the naval base, they would likely find time to renovate the Family Quarters, but it would certainly take some time.

Moreover, she hoped to have her own courtyard soon; it would be more private, and she wouldn't have to see that pretentious woman Shen Qingyu the moment she stepped outside.

"Fine!" She gritted her teeth. "We'll build a courtyard wall too!"

After getting off work, Fang Ting came over to their house with her child to visit.

Upon hearing about their plan to build a courtyard wall, she didn't quite trust the mother-in-law and daughter-in-law's ability to build one.

After all, having lived in the same compound as the Jiang Family since childhood, she knew Hu Qian well enough to say she was a good woman, but not exactly capable.

As for Si Rong, a capitalist's daughter, she probably couldn't even tell cement from lime.

"Wait a few more days; when Dacheng and I have time, we'll build the courtyard walls for both our houses together."

Si Rong thought that made sense. "Alright, then where do you put Yueyue when you go to work?"

She wanted to offer to help watch Yueyue, but thinking about how she also wanted to work, the task of watching the child would still fall on her mother-in-law alone, so she swallowed the words.

"The military nursery."

Although she was reluctant, both she and Dacheng had to work, so there was no other way.

"It will be better when the child is older."

Si Rong thought the same. She was teasing her daughter when she suddenly heard her daughter speak, calling out clearly, "Ba-ba~"

!!!

Si Rong was jealous; her daughter's first words were actually "Papa"!

She had known them for over nine months longer than Jiang Cheng had.

Jiang Siyu seemed to have finally figured it out, calling out "Papa" repeatedly, each time more clearly than the last.

Hu Qian had also been a mother, so she naturally understood that a daughter-in-law put much more effort into the child than a son did.

She coaxed her patiently, pointing at Si Rong to teach her granddaughter, "Juzi, call Ma-ma."

"Ba-ba," Juzi called out clearly again.

But soon, Si Rong discovered that nine-month-old Jiang Siyu could only make this one sound.

Whether calling Hu Qian or her brother Jiang Sinian, she only knew how to say "Ba-ba."

And so, she felt relieved.

"The 'Papa' sound is easier to make," Hu Qian added.

As for Jiang Sinian, he didn't have his sister's glib tongue and could still only say "ah-ah."

A few days passed in a flash, and Si Rong gradually adapted to the life on the Haidao, following the schedule of the bugle calls.

Jiang Cheng took the time to take a boat to a small town a hundred kilometers away and bought two thin mattresses.

The mother-in-law and daughter-in-law finally got a good night's sleep, no longer waking up with sore backs every day.

Fang Ting found the military leadership and swapped her courtyard to the one next to Si Rong's. One evening, Jiang Cheng and Jiang Dacheng worked overtime to finish building the courtyard wall and installed an iron gate.

In short, the home was looking more and more like a home.

Meanwhile, Shen Qingyu, who had been so eager to build her own wall, started arguing with Political Commissar Tao again.

She complained that Political Commissar Tao wasn't as capable as Jiang Cheng, wasn't as doting on his wife as Jiang Cheng, and complained that Si Rong and her mother-in-law had knocked down the wall she had built.

Under the long-standing pressure, Political Commissar Tao struck her for the first time.

He slapped Shen Qingyu hard. "You troublemaking woman! You built the wall right up to their doorstep; if they hadn't pushed it down, you would've pushed your luck and built it right into their bed!"

"If you want to live this life, then live it; if you can't, then let's divorce!"

Si Rong listened with great interest while eating; as a woman herself, she couldn't bring herself to sympathize with Shen Qingyu.

Men get tired too; with the intensity of military training, no one could stand her causing a scene at home all day long without a moment of peace.

Strangely enough, ever since that slap, Shen Qingyu seemed to have quieted down and stopped making scenes all day.

But to say she was completely well-behaved would be an exaggeration.

This day, Si Rong was taking a nap with the two children, and Hu Qian was in the courtyard washing diapers for her granddaughters.

She wasn't good at cooking, so she did as much housework as she could.

Shen Qingyu entered through the half-open iron gate. "Auntie, washing clothes? I came to hang out with you."

Hu Qian scrubbed the diapers while waiting to hear what kind of nonsense she would spout.

"Is your daughter-in-law taking a nap?"

Hu Qian nodded.

"Then why is she letting you wash the clothes here?"

Hu Qian then understood that this little bitch had come to sow discord.

She simply went along with Shen Qingyu's words. "Can't help it, who told me to be the mother-in-law?"

Doting on a daughter-in-law is only right; besides, if she hadn't married her son, Si Rong would surely be well taken care of in Huaiyang right now.

But Shen Qingyu didn't think so. Every day, seeing Si Rong do nothing but look after the children, and even having her meals brought back from the cafeteria by Jiang Cheng, she was incredibly jealous.

As a woman, why was it that she did all the housework and childcare every day, and even learned to build walls, yet Political Commissar Tao didn't know how to cherish her?

Was she worse than Si Rong?

"You are so lucky to have a mother-in-law like you," Shen Qingyu said, jealous from the bottom of her heart. "But you are kind, and your daughter-in-law should be considerate too. After all, you're at such an age; what if you tire yourself out?"

"It's fine, if I tire myself out, you can serve me," Hu Qian retorted with a fake smile.

Shen Qingyu felt that Si Rong's mother-in-law didn't play by the rules; the smile on her face stiffened. "How could I possibly manage all that?"

What kind of relationship did they have? How could she have the nerve to say that and ask her to serve her?

"But you sure are meddlesome! I thought you belonged to the ocean, meddling in everything."

Although Hu Qian wasn't capable at chores, her tongue was certainly sharp.

Her tone of voice was not high, not at all like she was arguing, but rather like she was joking.

Shen Qingyu could not say anything more.

Just as she wanted to get up and take her leave, she heard Hu Qian say, "I see you working so hard cooking and taking care of the children by yourself every day; why doesn't your mother-in-law come to help you?"

"Let me tell you, the first ten years depend on the mother-in-law, the next ten years depend on the daughter-in-law; only with a good mother-in-law can there be a good daughter-in-law. I plan to help my daughter-in-law look after the children while I'm still young to ease the burden of life for the kids."

"But then again, even if your mother-in-law doesn't help you look after the children, in the future when she is old, with Political Commissar Tao there, could you really ignore the old woman?"

These words from Hu Qian simply struck straight at Shen Qingyu's sore spot; this trip to the Jiang Family not only failed to sow discord, but instead made her feel increasingly dissatisfied with her current life deep down.

She also wanted to have a good mother-in-law like Si Rong to take care of her!

Otherwise, on what grounds would she support her mother-in-law in her old age?

Si Rong slept until evening, just in time for the low tide.

Fang Ting came to call the mother-in-law and daughter-in-law to go to the pier to forage for seafood.

Si Rong changed into plastic sandals and shorts, and Hu Qian pushed the two children, letting Fang Ting put Jiang Yue into the stroller as well.

Back when she was in Huaiyang, Si Rong would occasionally go to the seaside with friends, but she would always hold a parasol and rarely went foraging for seafood with the goal of eating it like this.

Because these little things were troublesome to process, the cafeteria did not make them.

Swimming crabs, stone crabs, mud crabs, Manila clams...

Si Rong was picking them up with great delight, and just as she was immersed in the foraging, she suddenly heard a loud shout from the pier, "Shen Lan!"

She instinctively looked over in the direction of the voice.