"Don't worry, once your situation is resolved, you can start knitting sweaters in bed. All your family's sweaters will be your responsibility."
Tian Jing waved her hand, assigning the task. Knitting was a painstaking chore.
"But I don't know how to knit."
"I do," Tian Jing puffed out her chest. "I'll teach you. If anyone sees you knitting, they won't say I'm mistreating you. It's light work."
"Okay," Li Min was delighted. It was best that her sister-in-law was willing to teach her. In the countryside, hardly anyone could afford to buy yarn, let alone knit sweaters.
"As for fabric, you'll have to wait a bit longer. Once Mother's body has recovered a few more days, she'll make clothes for us. Then you'll see the patterns."
"Oh." Li Min was impatient. She wanted to see the patterns now. This morning, her sister-in-law didn't get up, then she was busy making noodles, and in the afternoon, there was trouble. Now she was confined to the bed.
Tian Jing wasn't going to indulge her. "Lie down properly. Who knows if anyone else will come. Besides, Accountant Li's family still has to send a hundred red eggs. You behave yourself." Su Dan Fiction Network.
"A hundred red eggs?"
The Li family of three was astonished. They hadn't gone to watch the commotion. Had they missed out?
"Yes," Tian Jing nodded. "Accountant Li went back on his word and begged to keep Zhang Fangcao healthy and whole for the family division. So, I asked for a hundred cooked red eggs. This trick won't work anymore."
"Why?" Li Min asked.
"Because after the division, Accountant Li won't be responsible for them. They won't be as committed to their promises as Accountant Li. If they cross me again, it'll be a hands-on fight."
Tian Jing felt a little regretful that she wouldn't be able to extort anything in the future.
"My excuse is to treat everyone to eggs. The eggshells will be buried in the soil to fertilize the land. One for each family. Li Zhengguo will deliver them. We'll eat the remaining forty-odd eggs slowly. I want to save the eggshells, dry them, grind them, and try them out."
Li Mother didn't begrudge these words.
Li Min felt a bit of a pang, but considering that her sister-in-law had obtained all one hundred eggs, she didn't have the right to complain. So, she stopped talking nonsense and said something useful.
"Sister-in-law, I was pushed down. I saw that it was quite high, so... do you think someone wanted to harm me?"
Li Mother's ears perked up. "Minmin, did you see who it was? Why didn't you say so just now?"
"Cough, cough, cough."
Tian Jing coughed forcefully. Seeing her mother-in-law and Li Min look over, she lowered her voice and said, "I pushed you. I thought the height was just right. You were too slow, so I gave you a nudge."
Li Mother and Li Min stared at Tian Jing in astonishment.
"Sister-in-law," Li Min's throat felt a little dry. "Aren't you worried about me getting hurt?"
Tian Jing held up two fingers. "First, when you looked down at the bottom of the slope, you had already put yourself in an unsafe position."
"Second, didn't you notice your speed slowing down as you fell? There were many tree roots there. You were caught by the tree roots, so you couldn't have been injured."
"When I act, I can control the extent of it. You are clumsy and careless. If someone really wanted to harm you, with your reaction time, they would have long since escaped."
Li Mother saw that her son had no reaction. Recalling that her daughter-in-law had followed her son closely when they went to the foot of the mountain with the basket, she assumed they had discussed it and felt relieved.
She had witnessed her daughter-in-law's combat prowess when she beat up Zhang Fangcao. She knew she was capable.
Li Min didn't mind being mocked by her sister-in-law. After realizing she had been tricked by Zhang Fangcao for two or three years, she had completely accepted herself.
As long as her sister-in-law didn't dislike her, she didn't care if she was criticized. It wouldn't cost her anything. Since no one had deliberately harmed her, she was relieved.
...
At Accountant Li's house, Hu Hongju counted the eggs at home. There were only forty-odd. She had to go back inside to get money to exchange at the village.
She didn't want to say anything more. She was tired. Anyway, after dealing with these hundred red eggs, they would be dividing the family.
Zhang Fangcao hadn't spoken since being kicked and beaten, and finally crying out for her mother-in-law.
When she returned home, she quickly went into her room, searching her body for injuries and bruises. Nothing? Everywhere hurt, yet there were no injuries.
She sat dejectedly on the kang. She had thought that by summoning her mother-in-law, her formidable mother-in-law could handle Tian Jing. She had thought that her sister-in-law's previous defeat, costing the family one hundred and twenty yuan, was because her sister-in-law was too foolish.
But when Tian Jing asked her mother-in-law why she couldn't beat her, and her mother-in-law personally uttered the word "lying-in period," she realized her mother-in-law was also quite foolish.
The subsequent events proved that it wasn't her mother-in-law and sister-in-law who were foolish, but Tian Jing who was too formidable. With a few words, she rendered her mother-in-law speechless. Moreover, the young wives and older sisters-in-law sided with Tian Jing.
That Tian Jing was utterly unyielding. If you were soft, she was hard. If you were hard, she was even more unreasonable, using a specious argument and threatening her mother-in-law with future village lying-in period nannies.
What's more, such a person had decent fighting skills, beating her until her whole body ached, yet she couldn't find a single bruise or injury, leaving her with no evidence to counterattack.
Now, judging by her mother-in-law's attitude, division was inevitable. Fine, once divided, no one would be above her, and she would be more at ease.
Now, she needed to find her husband, Aiguo, to discuss the family division. At least, because of her sister-in-law, the family had lost one hundred and twenty yuan. Their second branch should also get one hundred and twenty yuan, right?
Well, finding Aiguo wouldn't work. That man was a weakling who only listened to his parents and older brother. She had to find her own family.
Hu Hongju was busy exchanging and boiling eggs. She wasn't watching carefully, and her younger daughter-in-law had run off again. When she finished boiling the eggs and called the two daughters-in-law to help dye them red, she realized her younger daughter-in-law wasn't home.
She sighed. She couldn't control her anymore. In total, she had only completed five days of her lying-in period, and she couldn't stay at home. Her heart had grown wild.
When she and her elder daughter-in-law delivered the red eggs to the Li family at the end of the village, they returned to find that the younger daughter-in-law had indeed called her own family.
"You're here? Perfect. Let's finalize the family division today. Tomorrow, after we register our household registration at the brigade, we can apply for a plot of land."
Hu Hongju was exhausted after an afternoon's work and didn't want to waste any more words.
"Mother-in-law," Mother Zhang began. "These children are still young. Why are you dividing the family? They still need your guidance and care."
Zhang Fangcao tugged at her mother's sleeve. What was her mother trying to do? Division was good! She would get over a hundred yuan.
Mother Zhang shook off her daughter's hand. A hundred yuan seemed like a lot, but was it enough for a separate household?
The Li family hadn't built separate houses. How would they divide? Divide the stove but not the family? Or would the second branch be separated, with the elders living with the eldest son?
This second branch was her daughter and her husband. Where would they live if they were separated? One hundred yuan wouldn't be enough to build a house. Would the in-laws provide money for building a house?
Earlier, her daughter had rushed home, mentioning the Li family's intention to divide and bringing up the one hundred and twenty yuan.
Family division was a major event. Was it about the one hundred and twenty yuan?
Hu Hongju saw the subtle actions of the Zhang family mother and daughter clearly. She remained silent. No matter how wonderful their plans were, they wouldn't work with her.