Li Wanzhen received a call from the slaughterhouse, informing her that the sales of wild chickens and rabbits from last year were very good and that they would book 150,000 birds this year. If everything was in order, they would send someone to sign the booking contract that afternoon.
Li Wanzhen looked at her husband.
Li Weiyan nodded.
Li Wanzhen agreed to the offer on the phone.
After hanging up, she excitedly called her mother.
Before the Lunar New Year, Shen Jianfang had regretted not being able to help with sales, lamenting her overconfidence.
Later, upon hearing that Captain Tian had suggested selling to the slaughterhouse, she angrily slapped herself. How could she not have thought of approaching the slaughterhouse herself?
Now, hearing her daughter say that the Ling County slaughterhouse had ordered 150,000 birds, she was happy for her daughter. However, she said, "Wanzhen, you're raising livestock again with the baby..."
"It's okay."
Li Wanzhen smiled, "He's still young now, I'll carry him. When he's older, I'll leave him with Grandma and let Grandma watch him. I'll take care of him after I'm done with work."
"Your father and I have nothing to do. They agreed to me starting a farm, and Weiyan also agrees."
"That's good."
Shen Jianfang was relieved, "I'll come see you and Siyu after the fifteenth."
"Okay."
...
After Li Wanzhen hung up the phone, her husband ordered her to rest under the covers:
"Leave the slaughterhouse contract signing to me. You focus on your postpartum confinement. If you can't manage this year, hire people to help."
"Mhmm."
Li Wanzhen pulled her arm back under the covers, "What's going on with An'an and Xiaojie?"
"Don't worry about it."
Li Weiyan said, although still continuing, "Everyone has different ideas and pursuits. Your pursuit is stability and family, while others pursue fame and status."
"Oh."
Li Wanzhen nodded, but in her heart, she felt sorry for Hou Xiaojie. Didn't women who chased fame and status eventually return to their families?
In the afternoon, representatives from the slaughterhouse came to sign the contract. Li Weiyan handled the price negotiations and cage release times, reviewed the contract, and filled in the blanks before asking his wife to sign.
This was because the slaughterhouse only recognized the signature of the legal representative.
...
Chen An spent two days idly at home, preparing to depart for Kyoto.
Li Min, who had been holding back for two days, finally found an opportunity to scold her son when she saw him off at the station:
"You are the first man in the Li family to be dumped by a woman. If you don't achieve something, don't come back. I can't afford to lose face, unless you bring your wife back."
Chen An remained silent.
Tian Jing, who was driving, glanced in the rearview mirror and said to her sister-in-law,
"An'an was hurt by Xiaojie, and instead of comforting him, you're stabbing him again."
"I..."
Li Min wanted to say something but didn't know what to say. After uttering a single word, she fell silent.
The atmosphere in the car became heavy.
As they neared the train station, Chen An suddenly spoke, "Auntie, I want to ask Sister Lili to open a branch company."
Tian Jing nodded, "If Sister Lili agrees, I have no objections. If you have the ability and courage, go for it."
Chen An thanked her sincerely, "Thank you, Auntie."
...
On the afternoon of the sixteenth of the first lunar month, Shen Jianfang came to see her grandson.
Accompanying her were her two sisters-in-law, Jiang Yuanzhu and Sun Xuelan.
The three sisters-in-law drove over and unloaded a lot of items from the car.
They brought several sets of clothes, shoes, socks, and hats, as well as two blankets and two bags.
Ouyang Meihua welcomed the three sisters-in-law into her eldest son's small Western-style house.
Jiang Yuanzhu and Sun Xuelan gave red envelopes.
Shen Jianfang, as the maternal grandmother, also gave a silver bracelet and a silver lock.
Ouyang Meihua chuckled, saying that since the grandmother's gifts were so grand, the paternal grandmother should also entertain them properly. She then went to arrange dinner.
Her first stop was naturally to the courtyard house to ask her mother-in-law and sisters-in-law, "Why are Wanzhen's two aunts here?"
Mother Li shook her head, "Who knows? Just entertain them well. If they have something in mind, they'll speak up."
Tian Jing agreed, "Just treat them as if they're visiting the postpartum confinement mother, and entertain them here. You don't have New Year's goods prepared at your place."
Ouyang Meihua did not stand on ceremony and busied herself in the courtyard house.
Li Weiyan stayed for a while, then excused himself to help, leaving the space for his mother-in-law and the others.
Only then did Li Wanzhen ask her second and third aunts why they had time to visit.
Jiang Yuanzhu looked at her eldest sister-in-law and asked Li Wanzhen where she had sold the wild chickens and rabbits from last year.
Li Wanzhen shook her head, stating it was a trade secret.
Jiang Yuanzhu said sarcastically, "I didn't expect Wanzhen's temper to flare up after getting married and having a child."
Shen Jianfang retorted irritably, "Jiang Yuanzhu, if you're looking for trouble, don't blame me for not giving you face."
Jiang Yuanzhu was annoyed, "You..."
Sun Xuelan quickly pulled her, "Second Sister-in-law, if you want to start a farm, just say so. Why are you trying to trick Wanzhen?"
"The place she sells to must be local. Kyoto is so far away, and the transportation costs would be considerable."
Jiang Yuanzhu's expression softened, "Wanzhen, I'm planning to start a farm. Prepare some wild chicken and rabbit chicks for me."
"None."
Li Wanzhen refused without hesitation. She still had a quota of 150,000 birds this year, so where could she get chicks for her second aunt?
"Wanzhen, even though you're married out, you're still a member of the Li family, don't..."
Jiang Yuanzhu's tone was unpleasant, adopting the attitude of an elder to suppress the younger generation.
Before she could finish, Shen Jianfang pulled her away from the bedside:
"Shut up. If this escalates, do you think the Li family will let you off? Even though the matters of the Tang, Gong, and Huang families happened some time ago, you should remember the recent Tu family incident, shouldn't you?"
"Who was it behind, laughing and saying they were all too stupid? You haven't seen yourself as particularly clever."
"You?"
Jiang Yuanzhu, nearly falling as her eldest sister-in-law pulled her, gnashed her teeth in anger, "Wanzhen's mother-in-law is Ouyang Meihua."
"Heh."
Shen Jianfang sneered, "Then what about Wanting's mother-in-law?"
"So what?"
Jiang Yuanzhu said mockingly, "Wanzhen is already pregnant, but Wanting still hasn't shown any signs. Perhaps she's a..."
"Slap!"
Shen Jianfang slapped her sister-in-law across the face, "Jiang Yuanzhu, let me tell you, my two daughters are already married, and they've married well. I don't care about falling out with you at all. The tolerance I showed you in the past will not happen again."
Jiang Yuanzhu, covering her face in shock, was about to rush forward and claw at Shen Jianfang upon hearing her words.
Sun Xuelan immediately stopped her, "Second Sister-in-law, this is the Li family's house, not your domineering Li family!"
"You?"
Jiang Yuanzhu glared at her sister-in-law angrily, "Are you siding with this woman now?"
"Yes!"
Sun Xuelan admitted without hesitation, "If it hadn't been for the ugly scene at the Li family, I wouldn't have agreed to come here with you. This time, we will clarify things properly."
"Eldest Sister-in-law is always Eldest Sister-in-law, she is the eldest in the Li family. As the second, you've been focused on fighting for your eldest son Cheng Zhi, and I have no objections. After all, Cheng Xu from Eldest Sister-in-law's family is younger and chose to go to university."
"But you still need to pay attention to seniority and respect. Your disrespect for Eldest Sister-in-law will not only teach your children badly but also break my heart."
"What I see is your rudeness and arrogance. You don't even respect Eldest Sister-in-law, so what am I in your eyes?"
"Eldest Sister-in-law used to be weak, so you were arrogant, and I could tolerate it. Now that Eldest Sister-in-law has risen, you're still arrogant; it's simply foolish to the extreme."
"Investing further in you, I see no future. I cannot tolerate my teammate being a pig teammate, so I have decided to side with Eldest Sister-in-law."
"Hahahaha."
Jiang Yuanzhu sneered, "You weather vane, you just want to curry favor with the Li family, with Captain Tian. If you want to be a lapdog, you have to see if they'll let you lick."
Sun Xuelan's face turned ugly. In the past, why hadn't she noticed that her second sister-in-law spoke so nastily? And that she had no manners when provoked?