Chapter 59: The Ugly Daughter-in-Law and the Wicked Mother-in-Law

The first snow of deep winter fell on Xiliu Village.

As cold air moved south, the snow came suddenly and heavily. It fell in thick flurries, and by the next day, the ground was covered in a blanket of white.

Jiang Shi was curled up in his blanket, not wanting to get out of bed, but the noise outside was unbearable. In truth, it was only Jiang Xue’s voice, cursing and muttering, without a single good word to be heard.

Listening for a while, Jiang Shi seemed to remember something. He shot up, grabbed his jacket, threw it on, and went out of the room.

Opening the door, he indeed saw Cheng Ye standing at his own doorstep.

His face was wrapped in a simple gauze dressing, and in front of him was a brand-new washing machine. He looked honest and helpless.

Jiang Xue stood opposite him with her hands on her hips, her brows furrowed in anger. “Take your things back. I wouldn’t take your things even if I froze to death.”

“Auntie Jiang…” Cheng Ye began meekly.

“Who’s your Auntie Jiang?” Jiang Xue said. “I don’t know you well, and don’t you show up at my door again.”

She turned and found Jiang Shi standing behind her at some point. He was just wrapped in a padded jacket, his eyes sleepy, clearly having been woken up by the noise.

The cold wind made Jiang Shi shiver, waking him up completely. “Mom, what are you doing?”

“What am I doing?” Jiang Xue crossed her arms. “You might as well ask him what he’s trying to do.”

Jiang Shi looked over. Cheng Ye stood with his hands down, his clothes looking particularly thin against the snow. “I just saw that the weather was getting cold and wanted to bring a washing machine for your family.”

In fact, Cheng Ye had mentioned this to Jiang Shi before. But they weren’t related, and suddenly giving them a washing machine seemed strange no matter how you looked at it. Jiang Shi had refused, thinking he would buy one himself someday with the living expenses he had saved up.

But now that the cat was out of the bag, Cheng Ye wasn’t even pretending anymore.

His actions had clearly infuriated Jiang Xue. She even wanted to grab the broom next to her to hit him, but seeing the gauze on his face, she suppressed her anger. “My family doesn’t need your things. Take it back yourself.”

“My family doesn’t need it.”

“Then take it back and return it.”

Cheng Ye said, “I tore up the receipt. I can’t return it.”

“…”

He continued, “Anyway, my family doesn’t want it. I’ll leave it here. If you really don’t like it, you can just sell it for scrap metal.”

Jiang Xue: “…”

Jiang Shi tasted a hint of a familiar flavor.

As Cheng Ye spoke, his eyes glanced toward Jiang Shi who was standing in the doorway. The boy’s hair was messy, his small face pretty, his cheeks flushed red, his eyes reflecting the vast white snow.

The next second, Jiang Xue stood in front of Jiang Shi. “What are you looking at? Don’t think I’ll agree just because you’re trying to please me. Hurry up and take your things away.”

Cheng Ye reached out and grabbed both sides of the washing machine. With a grunt, he easily lifted it. Not only did he not leave, but he also carried the washing machine under the eaves by the door, familiarly reached through the window to grab the extension cord from inside, took the washing machine’s plug, and inserted it with a click.

“I’ve had a look. This spot is the most suitable. The faucet isn’t far, so you can just connect a hose when you do laundry. But it seems your family doesn’t have a hose that long. I’ll bring one from my place later.”

“As for the drainage problem, we can build a drainage channel when the weather gets better.”

Jiang Xue: “…”

Honestly, she had never seen such a thick-skinned person.

She gritted her teeth. “This is my house!”

“I know,” Cheng Ye said. “But you can’t wrong yourself just because you’re angry with me. This is all free. I’m not asking for anything in return. If you really feel that I’ve wronged Jiang Shi, you should accept it even more. Otherwise, wouldn’t you be at a great loss?”

The logic was sound, but what she wanted and what was being forced upon her were completely different. Jiang Xue had never felt so aggrieved. It was difficult to accept, and difficult to refuse.

Cheng Ye was still finding things to do for himself. “Auntie Jiang, there’s a lot of snow at your entrance. Do you need help shoveling it?”

Jiang Xue used a shovel to “shovel” Cheng Ye out of her yard.

Cheng Ye’s clothes were slightly dirty. Standing on the small path under the pear tree, he said goodbye to Jiang Shi. “I’m leaving. I’ll come see you again tomorrow.” After speaking, he politely said goodbye to Jiang Xue. “Goodbye, Auntie Jiang.”

Jiang Xue: “…”

Jiang Xue turned her head and glared at Jiang Shi. “Is this how he pesters you?”

Jiang Shi: “…”

With Cheng Ye’s thick skin, he would succeed at anything, really.

To prevent certain people from carrying on in secret, Jiang Xue did nothing today but keep an eye on Jiang Shi at home.

When Jiang Shi was doing his homework, she would move a chair and sit next to him, sewing a shoe sole.

“Let me tell you, you’re not going anywhere today. Not just today, but from now on, don’t even think about going out.”

Jiang Shi looked at the physics problem he couldn’t solve, flipped to the other side, and still couldn’t solve it. He scratched his leg. “Mom, there’s no need for this. I’m not some chaste maiden.”

“You’re right, you’re not some chaste maiden. It’s not the thief you fear, but the one who covets.” Jiang Xue poked Jiang Shi’s forehead. “It’s not that I’m lecturing you, but can’t you be a little more reserved? Do you think that Cheng Ye is easy to handle? He’s begging for you, and instead of playing hard to get, you’re eagerly throwing yourself at him.”

“Will people cherish something they get so easily? Back when I was chasing your father…”

At this point, Jiang Xue stopped herself. “Anyway, you just stay at home for me. You have to be a chaste maiden whether you want to or not.”

Jiang Shi said, “But you can’t treat him like that either. That washing machine costs at least a thousand. They don’t even deliver to the door. It must have taken him a long time to carry it up from the intersection by himself…”

Jiang Xue glared at him. “Whose side are you on? You’re still speaking up for him.”

Jiang Shi felt like an honest husband caught between a wicked mother-in-law and his wife, unable to please either side. He simply bit his pen and kept quiet.

Jiang Xue sat beside him, stabbing the needle viciously. “If I don’t give him a hard time, does he really think things will be that easy? If he can’t even endure this little bit of hardship, what’s he talking about being with you for? I think it’s better to just break up early.”

“Back then, when your grandmother was still alive, when your father wanted to marry me, he had to work at our house for three months. He had to fetch water from the well before dawn, and after fetching water, he had to cook, carry corn, and carry manure. Do you think marriage is just a matter of saying so…”

Jiang Shi: “…”

So being a wicked mother-in-law was hereditary.

Jiang Xue was determined to be the villain. Jiang Shi couldn’t persuade her, so he could only play the part of the mama’s boy to the wicked mother-in-law and honestly bury his head in his test papers.

Lincheng was in the south, so even when it snowed, it didn’t pile up for long. By noon, it had gradually started to melt.

The day the snow melted, it was bone-chillingly cold.

Just after lunch, Liu Yuying ran up. “Xue, something’s happened!”

She burst into Jiang Xue’s house, her forehead covered in fine sweat. The first thing she did was lift the lid of the water vat and ladle out a scoop of cold water to drink.

She shivered from the cold and, after catching her breath, continued, “Something happened to Uncle Liu’s family next door. His son was driving back, it was snowing outside, the road was slippery, and he flipped over at the village entrance.”

Jiang Xue was so scared she stood up. “Goodness! Is he okay?”

“Fortunately, the slope wasn’t too steep. They say he just broke his leg and was sent to the hospital. His car is still in the ditch. The village chief said to ask everyone to help see if they can push it out. If not, they’ll have to call a tow truck.”

“I heard them say that tow trucks are very expensive…”

Jiang Xue dropped the shoe sole in her hand and grabbed the apron she used for work, tying it around her waist. “Then I’ll go with you.”

After taking two steps, she turned to look at Jiang Shi. “You be good and stay at home. If you’re hungry, make yourself something to eat. Don’t run around, you hear?”

Jiang Shi stood obediently and nodded in response.

The moment Jiang Xue’s front foot was out the door, his back foot followed.

---

The light from the snow was dazzling, so bright white that it hurt the eyes.

Cheng Ye boiled a pot of hot water and poured it into a copper basin. The color of the peony flowers on the basin had mostly faded, and it had been dented in several places from being dropped somewhere. It was a miracle it didn’t leak.

He righted the half of the mirror that had fallen from the shelf, bent down, brought his face close to the mirror, and uncovered the wound on his forehead.

He didn’t get a good look at the wound, but he did see in the mirror a penguin waddling toward his house.

The penguin was afraid of the cold, wrapped in a thick jacket. Because it was downhill and the snow was melting, he was afraid of slipping, so he grabbed onto the withered branches next to him with every step.

Cheng Ye straightened up and turned to look at Jiang Shi.

Jiang Shi held onto a tree and slid down the last few steps. Only after he was steady did he get a clear look at the wound on Cheng Ye’s forehead. “How’s the wound on your face?”

“It’s nothing.” Cheng Ye stared at him. “What are you doing here?”

Jiang Shi stomped his feet in the yard to shake off the snow from his shoes. “I heard there was a car accident or something. My mom went to help, so I came over to see you.”

He added, “I came here secretly. I can’t stay long.”

A smile appeared in Cheng Ye’s eyes, the joy on his face impossible to hide. “Is the young master here for a secret tryst with me?”

Jiang Shi: “…”

He thought to himself that he should have just left Cheng Ye to fend for himself.

But in the end, he couldn’t bear it. Looking at the bright red wound on his forehead, Jiang Shi sucked in a breath of cold air, feeling as if his own forehead was hurting too.

“How is it that your wound still looks like this after a whole night?”

Cheng Ye picked up the mirror and glanced at it. “It’s fine. It’ll be better in a couple of days.”

He didn’t want their time together to be affected by such unimportant things, so he grabbed a gauze and started to wrap it around his head. Jiang Shi couldn’t stand watching and stopped him. “That’s not how you treat it. No wonder it still looks like this after a whole night.”

It was freezing outside. Jiang Shi went into the house on his own and turned on the air conditioner, then called Cheng Ye over. “Come here, I’ll do it for you.”

Cheng Ye squatted in front of him.

Jiang Shi lowered his head and used a cotton swab dipped in iodine to disinfect the wound. The wound wasn’t long, but it was a bit deep. He frowned as he wiped it.

“Are you stupid? You don’t even know how to dodge when you get hit.”

Cheng Ye seemed to feel no pain at all. He reached out to smooth the frown between Jiang Shi’s brows. “If I had dodged, how would your mom’s heart ache for you?”

Hearing this, Jiang Shi applied more force with his hand. “Then you deserved it.”

After finishing, he leaned in closer and blew on it. “My mom is a typical case of being tough on the outside but soft on the inside. When she’s angry, she’s capable of anything. Don’t confront her head-on. Coax her a little more, and after a while, her anger will subside.”

“I know,” Cheng Ye said. “But this is what I owe her.”

Jiang Shi’s voice was muffled. “But this isn’t just your fault.”

“But people are ultimately biased. I’m biased towards you, and I hope she is biased towards you too.”

It was precisely because he had never been treated with partiality before that Cheng Ye knew what such favoritism meant to Jiang Shi.

He smiled. “In the olden days, a new daughter-in-law had to be tormented by her mother-in-law when she married into the family. Just think of me as that ugly daughter-in-law. Once your mom has had enough of tormenting me, she’ll naturally agree.”

Jiang Shi: “…”

Alright, alright.

He said, “Don’t blame me for not helping you then.”

Cheng Ye looked at the upward curve of his eyes and suddenly wanted to kiss those thin eyelids. But the words that came out of his mouth were very flippant. “The ugly daughter-in-law hasn’t even married in yet, and the young master is already feeling sorry for her?”

Jiang Shi pressed the cotton swab against the wound.

Cheng Ye let out a hiss of pain.

Jiang Shi said, “This face of yours has really suffered with you.”

The left side had been hit by a stone by him before, and now the right side had been hit by a plate by his mother. Not only was it symmetrical now, but even the culprits were from the same family.

At this thought, the movement of his hand paused.

Cheng Ye squatted, his hands resting on Jiang Shi’s knees, and looked up at him.

“If the young master really feels sorry for me, then give me a kiss.”