Liu Duo rolled her eyes at Ye Liu and shrugged when she realized he intended to withhold information and brew suspense. She forbade him to touch her.
“Sister Lian, I’m just fooling around, don’t take it seriously. Brother Li’s an honest family man. He’s not the sort to venture to those places. You have to believe him,” Liu Duo consoled her. She did not want one misunderstanding to get in the way of the couple’s relationship.
Then she took over Little Huzi while the two sorted this out.
Little Lian listened to her and confronted her husband, her eyes still puffy. She had to make sure. “You really didn’t go?”
“I swear, I’ve never been to that place! I’ve never even thought of it!” Li Wazi immediately struck a pose, ready to swear, in all seriousness.
Aunt Li, on her way to the outhouse, saw them huddled in a circle when she exited the kitchen. Curiously, she popped in to ask, “What are you discussing here?”
The group looked over at her, but before any of them could reply, she added, “Lian Er, what happened to your eyes? They’re all red.”
Then she looked over at Li Wazi, her eyebrows slightly creased. She thought he must have bullied her.
Little Lian glanced at her husband before she replied in her gentle voice, “Mother, a little bit of sand got into my eyes. I’ve been rubbing them, that’s why they’re like this.”
Naturally she would not speak about the incident, otherwise Aunt Li would never let Li Wazi hear the end of it. Little Lian did not want to see that.
Aunt Li relaxed when she said so.
Even though her daughter-in-law had a little problem with one eye, it did not stop Aunt Li from adoring her. Little Lian was diligent, down-to-earth, and exceptionally amiable. She would not want to see her suffer.
“Aunt Li, Li Wazi wouldn’t dare bully Sister Lian with us around. Even if we weren’t, he wouldn’t do so anyway, so there’s nothing to worry about.” Ye Liu managed to pick out the glare Aunt Li had shot at Li Wazi just now, as though he was the one who had married into the family.
Li Wazi stood there helplessly. Had he somehow run out of luck today? His wife had almost misunderstood him, and his mother viewed him as an outsider. None of these things were his fault!
“Mother, I have nothing but limitless love for my wife, how would I let her suffer?” Li Wazi explained to his mother, albeit powerlessly.
Aunt Li merely threw him another glance, as though saying, good that you know! Then she headed to the outhouse in the back.
Little Lian felt lucky to have such a loving mother-in-law.
“Sister Lian, why do I have a feeling that you’re the daughter here, and Brother Li’s the live-in son-in-law? Haha…” Liu Duo giggled.
Regardless of the times, it was extremely rare to have such a wonderful mother-in-law.
She was happy for Little Lian. She had a mother-in-law who treated her like she was her daughter, and a hardworking husband who treated her well.
Little Lian smiled shyly at her words.
After the conflict they just had, Ye Ling stopped pressing them for the real reason they had gone to town.
It was a long while later when Ye Yang and Lao Liu returned from the farm for lunch.
“Yang, you’ve arrived just in time. We’ve just started serving the food,” Ye Liu grinned happily at him.
It was nice like this, for the brothers and their wife to sit around the table every day, having meals together. This was home.
It would not be home if any one of them were left out.