AYLS – Chapter 70

Mother Xu, feeling that she had been wronged by her daughter-in-law, couldn’t help but want to vent. It was just like in the old days back in the village—whenever a daughter-in-law didn’t meet her expectations, she’d want the whole village to know, joining in to criticize the daughter-in-law so that she would be looked down upon. That way, everyone would have to listen to the mother-in-law.

Thinking that the neighbors next door had recently fallen out and left with their daughter-in-law, she figured they wouldn’t be on her side anyway. So Mother Xu decided to take her own daughter out to find a new target to complain to, to vent properly, making her daughter-in-law unable to settle in the military compound—ideally forcing her to return to her hometown. Then her son’s money would surely start coming home, right?

After all, who said it wasn’t reasonable for a daughter-in-law to hold the money when there are still parents-in-law around?

When she herself had been a daughter-in-law, she had been extremely filial to her parents-in-law—always eating only after they had, volunteering for all the household chores, never keeping even a single copper coin for herself.

Now it was a new society, giving these daughters-in-law some boldness.

Although spring planting hadn’t officially started, the military wives weren’t idle; they were all busy cleaning their homes. Mother Xu stood outside someone’s courtyard and greeted them, “Comrade, you’re here with the troops too, huh?”

Inside the courtyard was Mrs. Li, Xiao Ming’s mother. She was straightforward and friendly; she greeted Mother Xu back and warmly invited the mother and daughter in to sit.

Once the introductions were made, Mrs. Li realized this was Xu Yuanzheng’s mother and sister. She laughed and said, “So you’re relatives of Company Commander Xu! He’s a good man. Whenever he goes out, he always brings something back for us.”

“That’s right! My son’s a good man—he’s the most promising in our unit. Who doesn’t give him a thumbs-up?”

No matter how she felt about her own son personally, deep down Mother Xu truly considered Xu Yuanzheng her pride and her face in society.

After a cheerful chat, Mother Xu asked about her daughter-in-law, Su Weizhen. She was careful this time not to speak badly of her right away, to avoid a reaction like the one she had gotten from Li Ermei before. “I’m not saying she’s a bad person… I’m just worried she might be inconsiderate and offend people here.”

Mrs. Li had previously been a bit unfriendly toward Su Weizhen, thinking she didn’t quite fit in and sometimes acted superior. She remembered once smiling at Su Weizhen before greeting her, only for her to ride off on her bicycle without even responding. Since then, she had kept a cold front toward her.

However, later on, because of Lin Qiao, she hadn’t been openly cold, but she also hadn’t greeted her.

Hearing Mother Xu’s words, Mrs. Li replied perfunctorily, “We haven’t interacted much, so I don’t really know. She’s always busy here and there—I really don’t know how she is.”

Hearing this, Mother Xu perked up, frowning. “Ah, I’m not afraid of you laughing at me. My daughter-in-law really doesn’t make life easy. When she first got married, she didn’t stay home long before turning everything upside down, insisting on coming here after my son.”

She clapped her hands for emphasis. “She came, but no one knows how she managed to coax my son. She hasn’t returned home for years, not caring about us old folks at all. Otherwise, I wouldn’t have to drag myself here at my age. Don’t you agree?”

Mrs. Li listened, half in disbelief. “Su Weizhen is like that? I didn’t notice—thought she was just quiet.”

“You don’t understand. I’m her mother-in-law; would I lie about her?”

“Women are different from each other. Some care for the family and know how to be filial—they’re good women. Others only think of themselves.”

“My daughter-in-law Su Weizhen is one of those.”

Mrs. Li remained silent. What could she say? After all, Li Ermei had already come with the same complaints, spreading stories about Su Weizhen everywhere. They had heard it all and were somewhat immune.

Besides, there was also Lin Qiao—such a good person. Surely her friends couldn’t have ill intentions… Even someone like Li Ermei hadn’t caused trouble, right?

Moreover, as fellow daughters-in-law, they weren’t really interested in joining a mother-in-law in criticizing another daughter-in-law.

Seeing that she had been talking for a while with no response from Mrs. Li, Mother Xu felt a bit awkward and wanted to continue, but Mrs. Li said she had to cook and went into the kitchen.

“…”

Xu Xiaomei whispered, “Mom, what’s going on?”

“Maybe she’s just busy,” Mother Xu told herself, standing up. “Let’s go find another house.”

She shouted a goodbye to Mrs. Li, then pulled her daughter away. Mrs. Li politely saw them off and closed the gate after they left.

Mother Xu visited several more houses, but the results were unsatisfactory.

It was largely thanks to Li Ermei’s previous efforts. She had already made a scene in the compound, and after the excitement died down, everyone was content with the current calm and friendly environment.

So no one joined Mother Xu in criticizing her daughter-in-law.

Especially when they met Sister-in-law Wang. Seeing the newcomers, she was extremely enthusiastic, asking when they arrived and whose family they were.

When she heard it was Xu Yuanzheng’s family, she smiled. “Comrade Xiao Xu is really quite good. My husband often praises him.”

Mother Xu asked, “Your husband knows our Yuanzheng too?”

Sister-in-law Wang replied, “Of course! My husband is the one who led the soldiers; he’s Yuanzheng’s company commander.”

When Mother Xu heard that Sister-in-law Wang’s husband was a battalion commander—and still in charge of her own son—her attitude immediately changed. She spoke more warmly, and her complaints grew even more intense. She started by praising Xu Yuanzheng, saying he was still a very filial son.

The real issue, she said, was her daughter-in-law. “Ah, I really can’t get all my grievances out. Before the wedding, I never thought she’d be this kind of person. You see, after getting married, she’s like a completely different person. So all the good things before were just lies.”

“This old body of mine came here, and she gave me such a cold face, couldn’t stand it. She even wanted us to go back.”

“My life is so hard…”

Mother Xu spoke so passionately that Sister-in-law Wang felt a bit impatient. She thought Su Weizhen had it tough—first Li Ermei, and now even her mother-in-law had come to scold her. But she couldn’t just ignore Mother Xu like others might or watch for amusement; she had to manage the situation. After all, this was her husband’s battalion, and she needed to try to keep the family harmonious.

She said, “Auntie, actually Su Weizhen isn’t living very well here either. You should try to understand her.”

Mother Xu replied, “She’s living the good life here, eating well and drinking well, so how could she not be living well? You don’t know what life was like for us back in our hometown.”

Sister-in-law Wang sighed. “Life here isn’t easy either. If it were, I wouldn’t have sent my other two children back home. As her mother-in-law, you can’t go around saying she’s bad. She’s already been slandered and gossiped about by Li Ermei… I mean, it hasn’t been easy for Comrade Su Weizhen either. As family, you need to protect her.”

“Who said she was gossiping?” Mother Xu got fired up.

“Well, they might have had a little conflict. It’s not that anyone here is at fault, it’s just that they had a bit of a quarrel. At that time, Comrade Ermei is a bit hot-tempered and said some gossip, which caused quite a stir. Things had finally settled down, but now that you’ve come, isn’t it making things difficult for Comrade Su Weizhen again?”

Mother Xu ignored everything else and just caught the name Li Ermei. “Who’s Li Ermei?”

“She lives next door to Comrade Su Weizhen. Why are you asking? Don’t go looking for a fight—Comrade Ermei has changed now.”

“…” Mother Xu was dumbfounded. Li Ermei—the shrew who had driven her and her daughter out before?

Seeing that complaining to Sister-in-law Wang had no effect, Mother Xu left in a sulk with her daughter.

Xu Xiaomei said, “Mom, people here can’t be trusted. Let’s just tell our brother to divorce Su Weizhen. Our brother is so capable—why would he have trouble finding work?”

“What nonsense!” Mother Xu pinched her. “Your sister-in-law now has a salary. Isn’t that better than finding someone with nothing? If your brother looked for someone else, it would cost money, and the new person wouldn’t help the family at all. Su Weizhen is still better.”

Xu Xiaomei was unhappy. “Before, you always said we should replace her… so what do we do now? Everyone here is on Su Weizhen’s side.”

Thinking of this, Mother Xu was displeased too. “If worse comes to worst, I’ll go talk to Su Weizhen’s boss. If she doesn’t agree, I’ll make sure she can’t work properly.” If her daughter-in-law really lost her job, Mother Xu wouldn’t care.

As they returned home, both looking frustrated, Li Ermei had also come back. She was waiting at the courtyard gate, sitting on a bench with her chin in her hands, frowning and sighing.

She felt utterly ashamed and shameless at the same time.

She had been foolish to agree to take on this task.

If only she had done it earlier, she could have worked with Mother Xu against Su Weizhen without guilt. But now, Mother Xu had arrived late.

While sighing, she noticed the mother and daughter returning.

Li Ermei quickly pretended to be calm and, as they approached, called out, “Auntie, you’re back?”

Mother Xu didn’t even want to respond. This was the same woman who had previously driven her and her daughter out—the audacity!

She just snorted at Li Ermei to show her anger.

Li Ermei’s heart burned with resentment, but her face wore a smiling mask. “Oh, Auntie, you’re still angry? That matter before was just a misunderstanding.”

Seeing Li Ermei humble herself, Mother Xu felt somewhat gratified but still didn’t let her off verbally. “What misunderstanding? You didn’t say it like that before.”

Li Ermei glanced around and then whispered, “It was all out of necessity. Come over, and I’ll tell you. You’ll understand my difficulties.”

Seeing this, Mother Xu exchanged a glance with her daughter and then turned a corner into Li Ermei’s courtyard.

Speaking of gossiping about Su Weizhen, Li Ermei readily admitted it—no one in the compound disputed her claim to fame.

Now, talking to Mother Xu, she had a whole act ready. For instance, Su Weizhen really did live better here, ate better, and often looked down on her, snorting in contempt. Not a good person at all.

“I just couldn’t stand her, always thinking she’s so great, looking down on us hardworking army wives. Especially me, living next door—I was so unlucky. You see, we’re on the same level, and I sent stuff back to our hometown, and she was unhappy about it. How could she be a good daughter-in-law?”

“Of course not!” Mother Xu finally found someone she could resonate with at Li Ermei’s.

She slapped her thigh. “There’s no one like her in the whole country. She’s only tolerable because of that one face of hers. Can you eat with that?”

“Exactly! I used to be the village beauty in my village. Am I proud?” Li Ermei said.

“…” Mother Xu thought, I really can’t tell. Su Weizhen is still prettier.

But this didn’t stop Mother Xu from reevaluating Li Ermei. She asked, “Then why were you defending her before and even made me leave?”

“That was all for the act!” Li Ermei said indignantly. “You don’t know how good she is at pretending. She fooled everyone here. People even started isolating me. I had no choice but to pretend to get along with her for my livelihood. Just now, I saw her at home, and I was afraid she’d notice me. Otherwise, she’d make things hard for me again.”

“She dares?!” Mother Xu exclaimed angrily. “She actually does such mean things to bully people.”

“Who says otherwise? That’s why, Auntie, on the surface I get along with her, but in reality, you’re the one who’s truly on my side. You don’t even know how happy I am to see you today—it feels so familiar, like I’ve found my own people. I feel like you’re the one here to take care of Su Weizhen and save me.”

Hearing this, Mother Xu also smiled. “Honestly, I kind of felt that too. Seeing you just feels so natural. I feel like you can understand my hardships.”

Li Ermei was moved. “Auntie, this is fate.”

Inside the house, Lin Qiao was peeking through the gap in the window behind someone, trying to see what was happening outside, while talking to Su Weizhen, “I wonder if Ermei can convince them.”

Su Weizhen said, “Maybe she can. Honestly, I feel their energy is quite harmonious. They gossip about me in exactly the same way.”

Lin Qiao thought: Well, you’ve revealed the truth. Aren’t they just villain number one and villain number two?

Nearby, Xiao Ming’s mother, Mrs. Li, was patching a shoe sole. She looked up at the two of them and asked, “What are you looking at?”

“Oh, just seeing if Ermei is back. Isn’t this a chance to get together and chat?” Lin Qiao hurried over to sit down. There was no other way—Xiao Ming’s house had the best view, right facing Ermei’s courtyard.

Lin Qiao wanted to move closer to get a better look, but just watching wouldn’t help, and they couldn’t hear anything either. They would have to wait until evening to ask Ermei.