Chapter 541: Chapter 541: Being a Mother-in-law is Not Easy Chapter 541: Chapter 541: Being a Mother-in-law is Not Easy “You haven’t heard Deputy Director Luo say that he doesn’t meddle in his children’s marriages? As long as the kids like each other, that’s fine, but they need to have the chance to meet first.”
“That’s true enough, but the only one with that chance is the youngest, who’s at work all day and not in the family courtyard. The third one, being in the army, seldom comes home.”
“In a few days, Deputy Director Luo’s daughter should be back home, right? Who knows which lucky guy will get to marry her.”
“I heard she’s still studying, so that’s still in the future.”
At this moment, someone whispered, “I ran into Deputy Director Luo’s ex-wife a few days ago. She didn’t look as radiant as before, seemed to have aged several years.”
“That one’s a drama queen, giving up a perfectly good life for trouble. Deputy Director Luo is really unlucky to have ended up with such a troublesome ex-wife.”
“You can say that again. I wonder who will have the good fortune to marry Deputy Director Luo?”
“Deputy Director Luo already mentioned that he plans to spend the future just taking care of his children.”
“But Deputy Director Luo isn’t old at all, he looks quite young. Standing in front of others, he might be mistaken for someone in his thirties.”
“Sigh, if he finds another home-wrecker, life won’t be as comfortable as it is now. Besides, his sons are at the age for marriage talks; being a stepmom won’t be easy.”
“Enough with the nonsense. Deputy Director Luo already said he’s not considering remarrying, and you’re still gossiping about it. I’m done with you all.”
The group of onlookers finally shut their mouths and got back to work.
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In Ji City, next to Luo Qiao’s, the Wang family looked worried. Their son was caught gambling and was fired by the factory after they found out. Now the son was out of a job, and there was still a whole family to support at home.
His daughter-in-law, Wu Hongyue, laid down the law, saying her salary would only support her own little family; if they disagreed, she would take the kids and return to her mother’s home.
Wang Aijuan, the eldest sister, was also feeling a bit of regret. If she had known, she would have suggested that they move back first and get settled before bringing over the mother-in-law and brother-in-law’s family. Now their own days were troubled too, and she felt somewhat guilty.
With the New Year just around the corner, it wasn’t possible to send the mother-in-law and brother-in-law’s family back, but without sending them away, they didn’t know when they would settle down. So many mouths needed feeding, especially now that her brother had lost his job.
It was truly frustrating.
Wang Aiguo was also harboring some resentment towards his big sister. If she hadn’t brought everyone back with her, everything at home would have been fine. They had never argued with the neighbors before, but ever since his big sister and her family came back, the kids were always causing trouble with the neighbors.
He and his wife had done nothing but apologize to others recently. They had almost run out of neighbors to offend.
Normally he didn’t have a big gambling problem, just played occasionally, but now he suspected someone had set him up. It had always been fine before, so why did it have to happen on that particular day? And to make matters worse, he was caught during a crackdown. If it hadn’t been for the good relations he had at the factory, he might have ended up in jail this time.
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Luo Qiao directed her cousins to pick and wash the vegetables while she took care of frying the base for the pot. Then she sliced beef and mutton. The house had sesame paste and preserved leek flowers, but unfortunately, no fermented tofu. Once the three of them got the vegetables mostly ready, their grandparents returned home.
The grandfather brought out a small stove and lit it, placing the pot base on top. Just as they were settling the vegetables, Big Brother, Second Brother, and Stone also came back.
As soon as Stone walked in, he knew it was for hotpot and came up with a smile, “Sister, are we having hotpot today?”
Luo Qiao gave his nose a flick, “Really, such a dog’s nose.”
Everyone laughed, and Luo Qiao looked at her approaching elder brothers, “How was it? Did the aunties in the family courtyard welcome you warmly?”
Luo Xuyan replied, “If we knew it would be like that, we would have waited for you before heading back. They were too enthusiastic, unbearable.”
The pot started boiling, and Luo Xuyuan and the others also came after washing their hands.
Luo Qiao looked at Luo Xuyuan and said, “Second Brother, I bet those aunties are now talking about setting you up with someone.” She finished speaking and burst into foolish laughter.
Luo Xuyuan responded, “Stop joking, let’s eat properly.”