Chapter 48: The Best Sister-in-law

One of the parties involved in the topic had a hurt butt and needed to see a physician, so the people watching the excitement couldn't crowd around anymore and left, still wanting more.

"This Lu family's drama is better than the one at the educated youth spot. Just watch, there will be more lively times in the future."

"Old Lu Woman and Yizhou's sister are both not easy to deal with. Why did Yuxian think so little of herself that she had to marry in? Sigh! The bitter days are still to come!"

The village head's wife was still cracking her pumpkin seeds, her chin slightly raised, as if she knew everything.

"What else could it be? She's not young anymore; if she doesn't marry, she'll become an old maid. Although the Lu family boy has been married before and has a little drag-along bottle, he's a soldier and has a monthly allowance. The Su family girl couldn't find a better target than Baozhen's father, so of course, she clung to him."

If she wasn't mistaken, Su Yuxian was also planning to follow him to the army.

If she followed him to the army, with the mother-in-law far away, wouldn't she be comfortable?!

"Tsk tsk, Yuxian is becoming more and more like her mother," said a woman wearing a dark blue patched jacket.

"People want to live a good life; there's nothing wrong with that," another person said.

The village head's wife shook her head, not optimistic in her heart.

There's nothing wrong with that, but she couldn't help it; she had entered a wolf's den.

Everyone said Lu Yizhou was good, a righteous youth, just like the Gu family's third son. She inexplicably felt the Lu family boy was a bit hypocritical.

She had no evidence, so she just considered him not to her liking.

What everyone didn't know was—in the original book, after Lin Zhao died, Lu Baozhen used the buns and candies she "exchanged" from the Black Koi to care for and accompany Gu Da Cai and Ercai, making them treat her as a good friend.

Thus, the Black Koi got what it wanted.

Lu Baozhen relied on it to get more and more good things, the Lu family's life got better and better, and Su Yuxian only needed to please her stepdaughter to live a good life.

And Gu Da Cai and Ercai began to have bad luck, gradually losing everyone they could rely on, and lived a difficult life until adulthood by digging wild vegetables and relying on the help of villagers.

Now.

The twins' mother hadn't died and even taught them to stay away from the Lu family. Lu Baozhen couldn't get close to Gu Da Cai and Ercai, so she could only set her sights on her stepmother.

Su Yuxian had just married in and was already saddled with the bad reputation of an unlucky wife, starting in hell mode, lying on the bed and doubting herself.

Lu Yizhou also felt she was unlucky, didn't even want to enter the room, didn't even pack his luggage, and went straight back to the army.

Upon learning of this, Su Yuxian rolled her eyes and fainted.

Before fainting, a thought flashed through her mind: *This shouldn't be, it shouldn't be like this! *

*She should be able to live a good life! *

Yuanbao ran to the Gu family's old house, spitting everywhere, and told Gu Da Cai, Ercai, and the others about the Lu family's affairs.

Laimei slapped his thigh hard, his expression regretful. "It's a pity I didn't get to eat the hot stuff; it was already over by the time I arrived."

Gu Da Cai generously distributed spicy strips to everyone and said seriously, "Watching excitement isn't as fragrant as spicy strips."

Mom didn't let them deal with the Lu family, and he hoped Bangbang and the others would also stay far away from that family, but he didn't know how to say it. A flash of inspiration came to him, and he thought of using good food to bribe them.

"You're right! Thank you, Gu Da Cai!" Laimei took the spicy strip, reluctant to take a big bite, and took a small bite; his eyes suddenly brightened.

"Gu Da Cai, you and Ercai's life is really beautiful; Third Aunt buys you good things every day."

He was tired of saying the word "envy."

And also, he was about to start school and hadn't even seen the hair of a schoolbag, yet Ercai, who ran around the village, had one.

*God, you are really unfair, woo woo woo. *

"Brother Laimei, what's wrong?" Gu Da Cai saw Laimei was heartbroken, blinked his black-and-white eyes, and asked doubtfully.

"Nothing." Laimei bit the spicy strip as if venting his anger, then smiled again.

A candy, a mouthful of snacks, could make him very satisfied.

Growing boys got hungry fast. Ercai's stomach rumbled, and he asked his brother, "Brother, when can we eat watermelon?"

Tiedan sucked his fingers and turned to look at Gu Da Cai: "Third Aunt bought you watermelon again? Gu Da Cai, why do I feel like you two are just like city people?"

Gu Da Cai and Ercai pursed their lips and stole a smile.

That's not it.

Mom said they lived even more beautifully than city people.

The little brothers found time to go home and returned to the old house holding a watermelon.

Bangbang and the others were shocked and happy.

"Gu Da Cai! Ercai!!" Tiedan couldn't believe the guess that vaguely emerged in his heart and lowered his voice.

"Mom said to share this watermelon with everyone," Gu Da Cai said. He didn't feel pained about sharing with his brothers and sisters.

Tiedan jumped three feet high with a full "wow," shouting excitedly: "Wow! Third Aunt is the best Third Aunt in the whole commune!!"

Huang Xiulan was also happy. She cut the watermelon, let the cubs take it themselves, and sent a few pieces to the main room.

"Mom, eat watermelon."

Gu Mu couldn't rest. Letting her lie down and do nothing was worse than killing her. She sat up halfway and was making cloth shoes for the children in the family.

Children running all over the mountains and plains wore out shoes the fastest; in just two days, their big toes could poke through. She took advantage of the free time to make a few more pairs, as there might be no time later when the third branch started building the brick and tile house.

"Did Third Aunt send this?" Gu Mu looked at the slice of watermelon in her eldest daughter-in-law's hand and asked.

"Yes, Gu Da Cai and Ercai brought it back from home, saying their mother told us to eat it together," Huang Xiulan explained with a smile.

Knowing everyone was eating together, Gu Mu wiped her hands, took it, and took a bite; it was sweet and juicy.

"Third Aunt really knows how to buy melons; this melon is really good. Eating a bite makes me feel less stuffy."

Huang Xiulan knew why her mother-in-law felt stuffy—she couldn't sit still, just like when she was in confinement, wanting to go out immediately and plow three acres of land.

"Mom, just bear with it for now. Once the injury is healed, you can move however you want."

Gu Mu naturally listened to advice.

Listening to the sound of the children talking and laughing outside the courtyard, the time didn't feel hard to pass anymore.

With sweet watermelon to eat at home, the busy Gu family members appeared one after another upon smelling the scent.

Sitting in a row, eating fruit.

Gu Chan returned to her maiden home today. Just as she reached the village entrance, she heard a few women cooling off gossiping.

"I don't know how Yuanshan's mother is doing. She lost so much blood yesterday; I don't know when she'll be able to make it up."

*Mom? *

*Mom is hurt! *

Gu Chan felt like she had been hit by a club; her eardrums exploded with a buzz, and the bamboo basket on her arm almost slipped out of her hand.

Her complexion changed abruptly, and she ran home.

She stumbled over a stone on the road, and her braids came undone, but she had no heart to care.

When she reached the door, she was panting heavily, her heart thumping.

She pushed the door open.

"?"

*Look at what she saw! *

The family was sitting in a row, eating melon.

"..." Gu Chan was stunned.

"This...?" She was full of question marks.

Ercai stood up with a *whoosh*, a brilliant smile blooming on his face. "Big Sister! Big Sister, come eat watermelon!!"

Gu Chan shifted her gaze to his face, her expression dull.

This is... Er... Ercai?

Spiky, super-short hair, a black short-sleeved shirt and shorts without patches, sandals she had only seen once at the supply and marketing cooperative on his feet, and a military green bag slung over his body.

His little face had gained some flesh and was white and tender.

He was simply more... what was the word... *yangqi* (foreign/stylish), yes, stylish, than city children!

"Ercai?!" She was dumbfounded, shocked to the point of stuttering: "You, are you Ercai!?"

If this weren't at home, she wouldn't dare recognize him at all.

The Gu family saw him every day and didn't feel it, but Gu Chan hadn't returned to her maiden home for more than half a month, and the impact she received was not ordinary.

"It's me." Ercai's little face was confused.

He put down the melon, stepped forward on his short legs to his sister, raised his head, pinched his own little fleshy face, and displayed it to Gu Chan in all directions.

Once on the left, once on the right.

After repeating it several times.

"Big Sister, look at me carefully. I'm Ercai; don't you recognize me anymore?!"

He wished he could show his round back of the head to his big sister.

Gu Chan held Ercai's face with her hands and fixed his head. "I recognize you, I recognize you. But why did you change?"

Thinking of something, her eyes brightened: "Did your dad come back?"

She searched everywhere anxiously. "Where is he? Where is your dad?"

Gu Da Cai walked over and said clearly, "Dad didn't come back. The new clothes were made for us by Mom, the new shoes were bought for us by Mom at the supply and marketing cooperative, and Mom also bought us baby cream."

*Hmm? *

*Ah!? *

*Zhaozhao bought them?! *

Gu Chan's brain was almost scorched.

She couldn't come back to her senses for a long time, until a piece of watermelon dripping with juice was stuffed into her hand.

She suddenly came to her senses and asked Huang Xiulan: "Eldest Sister-in-law, how is Mom? I heard at the village entrance that Mom was hurt."

Huang Xiulan had originally been puzzled; they hadn't asked anyone to pass a message, so how did A-Chan know about her mother-in-law's injury?

Now she knew; it turned out she heard it from the villagers.

There were no secrets in the village; bad news traveled a thousand miles—that wasn't just talk.

"She was hurt, but the physician prescribed medicine, and Mom's spirit has been okay these past two days."

Gu Chan didn't see her mother, so she was worried after all. She took the watermelon and went to Gu Fu and Gu Mu's room.

"Mom, are you okay?" She asked as soon as she entered.

Gu Mu was being watched while drinking brown sugar water. Suddenly, the bamboo curtain moved, and her eldest daughter's anxious and worried face appeared.

She immediately gave the bowl to Gu Fu and patted the edge of the bed. "I'm fine. Why are you here? Are you tired? Rest for a while."

Gu Chan stepped forward in two or three steps, sat down, and scanned Gu Mu.

"Mom, where were you hurt?"

Gu Mu said: "It's all superficial wounds. Changing the medicine frequently, I almost don't feel anything anymore."

Country people weren't that delicate. Some women worked the fields with big bellies and gave birth directly to the yellow earth, and some went to the fields the day after giving birth... Her little injury counted for nothing.

Hearing her say this, Gu Chan finally felt relieved and handed over the watermelon in her hand.

Gu Mu refused. "We've all eaten. You eat. This was sent by your sister-in-law; it's sweet and juicy and quenches thirst. You must be thirsty after the journey; eat quickly."

Gu Fu nodded.

Gu Chan was indeed thirsty and hadn't tasted anything sweet for half a year, so she started eating immediately.

After quickly finishing the watermelon, she wiped her hands and asked: "Mom, what's going on with Zhaozhao?"

"Are the clothes and shoes Gu Da Cai and Ercai are wearing all bought by her?!"

Gu Chan was full of doubts. "Why? I haven't been home for half a month, and I feel like the family is terribly unfamiliar."

Gu Mu told her about the changes in the family during this period.

Learning that her sister-in-law was attentive to the four cubs and had become a salesperson at the supply and marketing cooperative, Gu Chan was overjoyed.

"This is a good thing!" She said in a light tone.

Then she looked at Gu Mu with dissatisfaction: "Mom, you didn't even know to send me a message. It's fine if you didn't tell me you were hurt, but Zhaozhao becoming a salesperson is such good news, why didn't you send me a message?"

Gu Mu said: "You come back once every half month; why would you need anyone to send a message? You know now, don't you?"

"..."

Gu Chan had business to attend to when returning to her maiden home.

After seeing her mother, she familiarly came to the Gu family's third branch.

Led by the twins, she entered Lin Zhao's room and found that there were many more clothes for the four cubs in this room.

"Gu Da Cai, Ercai, why are your clothes in this room?"

Gu Da Cai's ears burned. He felt he was already a big child of five and a half, and sticking to his mother wasn't manly at all, so he didn't make a sound.

It was Ercai who held his little face high, super proud: "We sleep with Mom."

The child's eyes were startlingly bright: "Mom also tells us stories."

"That's good. Big Sister can finally rest assured about you," Gu Chan laughed.

Afterwards, she nimbly changed the bed sheets, put the dirty sheets, dirty clothes, and dirty shoes in a basin, drew a basin of water, soaked the rags, wiped the table, wiped the cabinet, and cleaned everything inside and out.

After tidying up Lin Zhao's room, she tidied up the room next door, and after finishing, she went to the kitchen, washed the pots, bowls, and ladles in the kitchen, and organized them well.

Finally, she went to the backyard and saw that the vegetables in the backyard were growing quite well and that a fence had been built. After asking the two cubs, she learned it was done by their second uncle.

"It looks much more pleasing to the eye after doing this."

Gu Chan swept the front and back yards, picked up the big wooden basin, and went to the river to wash clothes.

Ercai took out the laundry soap for his big sister with a discerning eye: "Big Sister, use laundry soap."

"Ah? Why use this? Soap locust is fine. Laundry soap is so expensive; use it sparingly," Gu Chan said.

"Laundry soap is fragrant; Mom likes it." Ercai stood on tiptoe and put the laundry soap into the basin.

"..."

Who didn't know laundry soap was fragrant? It was just too expensive.

Looking down at the serious faces of her two nephews, Gu Chan compromised.

*Alright then, use soap locust first, and use a little bit of laundry soap at the end to give the clothes a fragrance. *

Gu Chan was about to go out holding the wooden basin when Da Huang and Xiao Xiao Hu Po, who had been roaming the village, returned.

Seeing a stranger, Xiao Xiao Hu Po grabbed the ground with all four legs, pricked up her little ears, and barked milkily and fiercely.

"Xiao Xiao Hu Po, this is my Big Sister; you're not allowed to be fierce!" Gu Da Cai rushed over and picked up Xiao Xiao Hu Po.

The little puppy's field of vision changed, and her dog face was confused. She couldn't be fierce anymore, let out a "wuh," and nestled in her little poop-scooper's arms.

"Big Sister, this is Xiao Xiao Hu Po, the name Mom gave her. Da Huang and Xiao Xiao Hu Po are the new members of our family," Ercai said loudly to his big sister.

Gu Chan's first reaction was that raising dogs was very expensive in terms of food.

"Is there enough food for your family?"

Gu Da Cai said seriously: "Mom said there is."

"As long as there's enough." Seeing Da Huang had gained some flesh and wasn't as skinny as before, Gu Chan was also happy.

After all, it was a life, and it was a hero's bloodline.

Soon, the villagers saw such a scene.

Gu Chan walked in front holding the big wooden basin, followed by a few children and two dogs, one big and one small, heading straight to the river.

"A-Chan, cleaning up the house for your sister-in-law again."

"A-Chan is really diligent. Even after getting married, she still comes back from time to time to help her brother's family. Really diligent."

There were those who sighed, and those who mocked her.

"Does your husband's family have any opinions about you helping Chenghuai's family like this? After all, you're married; your heart should be with your husband's family. Always thinking about your maiden family, be careful that your mother-in-law and the others have opinions," an elderly aunt said earnestly.

Her words were all about "I'm doing this for your own good," and "If you don't listen, you're ungrateful."

Gu Chan smiled and ignored her. She called Ercai, who wanted to fight with heaven, fight with earth, and fight with people, and went to the river with wind under her feet.

Her third brother was a soldier outside and couldn't come back once a year. If she didn't guard the home for Chenghuai, what would her brother do?

Not to mention anything else, just for the sake of her four nephews and nieces, she had to treat Zhaozhao well.

Afternoon, past three-thirty.

Lin Zhao returned home riding her bicycle.

As soon as she entered the door, she saw the clothes drying in the courtyard.

Before she could call for the two cubs, she saw her big sister, who was thin and small with wheat-colored skin, coming out of the backyard.

"Big Sister." ===== CHAPTER 49 =====