Mother Qi entered the room and plopped down, so angry it truly made her liver and heart ache. After all these years, there had never been such a shameful incident in the family.
And yet, now, during the Chinese New Year of all times, tales had spread, painting her eldest sister as overbearing and domineering, and even she, as the mother-in-law, was described as formidable.
She was formidable? It was clearly Cheng Su who had the temper!
Who else would run back to her parents’ home just because the elders scolded her a bit? Look at Wenjing, the daughter-in-law of the eldest sister’s family. When the eldest sister coughed, she wouldn’t even dare to grunt.
It was only Cheng Su who could storm the heavens!
And Taiguo as well, for her sake he had said that they should lessen contact in the future. It’s like gaining a wife and forgetting his mother. Doesn’t he think about who it was that raised him from a baby?
The more Mother Qi thought about it, the more suffocated she felt inside, and the tears welled up in her eyes.
Father Qi entered the room with a cigarette in his mouth, saw her wiping away tears, but didn’t ask anything. He just walked over to the cupboard, grabbed the thermos, and drank some water.
Mother Qi glanced at the coat he was wearing, and thinking about how he had persistently taken Cheng Su’s side, couldn’t help feeling angry and remarked, "Aren’t you grand? Our family can’t even move around outside during the New Year."
"What is it you’re getting worked up about now?" Father Qi turned his head to give her a look.
"What am I doing? It’s all because of your precious daughter-in-law. You go outside and listen, what are people saying? They say my eldest sister is domineering, they say I am formidable, banding together to attack the daughter-in-law, driving her back to her parents’ home! How disgraceful!" Mother Qi shouted.
Father Qi was startled for a moment, then scoffed coldly, "But what they say is the truth, isn’t it? It was indeed the two of you sisters who drove Taiguo’s wife away. They haven’t said anything wrong!"
"You!" Mother Qi raged, "How much benefit have you received from her, always speaking well of her? Oh, just one hundred yuan is enough to buy your favor as a father-in-law!"
Father Qi said, "Whether she gives me money or not, I would still stand on her side and say good things about her, because I know what’s right and wrong, I know priorities, I know the degrees of kinship!"
Mother Qi was taken aback.
"She is my son’s wife, the Qi family’s senior daughter-in-law. When I die, she will be the virtuous wife who performs the funeral rites for me, the mother of my grandson. If I don’t stand by her, should I stand by your eldest sister instead? Can your eldest sister perform the funeral rites for me? You say you’re not foolish, yet you can’t recognize that you deserve the bad things people say about you! You go outside and look, whose family is like this? Can’t differentiate primary from secondary!" Father Qi scolded back sternly.
"What have I done to her? Am I not her mother-in-law, can’t I say a thing or two to her?" Mother Qi cried out in frustration.
"You say it, go ahead and say it. If you speak in a way that distances her from you, that’s when you’ll know you’re wrong. Just wait and see. You too will grow old one day, and you will need to ask for help. Just keep acting this way!" Father Qi sneered.
"I ask her? Am I only going to have her as a daughter-in-law?" Mother Qi sneered back.
"Yes, why don’t you just burn more incense, pray more to Buddha, and desperately beg the gods to grant you a daughter-in-law like the one in your eldest sister’s house." Father Qi taunted, "As for Taiguo and the eldest daughter-in-law, you’d best give up hope, treat it as if you don’t have that son and daughter-in-law, and just look forward to Jianguo’s future wife, to see if you have that kind of good fortune! I think you just don’t recognize what’s good for you, not knowing what’s right or proper."
After saying that, he didn’t waste any more words with her and left, slamming the door behind him.
Mother Qi listened, her heart aching even more and unexpectedly she began to panic.
Was what that old fool said true? What would become of her in her old age?
No, Taiguo was her own flesh and blood; he wouldn’t treat her like this. When it came down to it, she would just need to restrain herself a bit in front of him.
Thinking this way, her heart steadied again. But then she thought of the rumors spreading outside and, gritting her teeth, wondered who was tossing out such idle gossip?