Chapter 118: Chapter 117 Really Stingy

In the morning, the village chief beat the gong to convene a village-wide meeting, and those who went out to work during the day heard about it from family members when they returned at night.

There would be work in their own village; they wouldn’t need to walk so far to the county or other villages, which would save them effort and perhaps they’d even earn more money.

They thought they had heard wrong–how could their village have such good fortune?

Upon further inquiry, they learned that the richest family in the county, the Tang Family, intended to buy land and build a factory in their village, in collaboration with a local, Hongji–naturally, the factory would deal with the lumber business.

The construction craftsmen, hearing that their village might build houses, were certain there would be work for them.

Those who were strong but without a skilled trade felt that, given the magnitude of the factory construction project, there would certainly be a need for laborers to dig foundations and do other arduous tasks.

Many others hoped to become factory workers themselves; even if it meant starting as apprentices, who knew, perhaps they would eventually become master craftsmen.

Every family had different thoughts, and those who were selling their land no longer hesitated. They only hoped that tomorrow’s discussions would yield conditions that would allow their families to benefit from employment at the factory.

Ye Shuying was also among the crowd at the meeting that morning, holding her son and standing next to her sister-in-law and mother-in-law.

They too were discussing among the crowd and urging Ye Shuying to speak up. After all, she was Hongji’s sister, and it stood to reason that the family’s eldest brother, being a small boss, would certainly have advantages to share.

“Shuying, say something, your big brother is also in the village chief’s courtyard. If you speak up, your husband, your younger uncle, and your uncle will have work too,” her sister-in-law incessantly whispered in Ye Shuying’s ear. Among the noisy debates of the crowd, only she and Ye Shuying’s mother-in-law could hear her clearly. The other villagers were too preoccupied discussing with their families and were more concerned about their own interests.

The more Ye Shuying listened, the more irritated she became. She was somewhat at odds with her family, having gone to her parents’ home yesterday to collect some gifts and even had a conflict with them.

At this moment, her feelings were very complex, and not immediately concerned with her family’s interests, because she knew her family could truly succeed in the collaboration.

With Hongji as the factory’s small boss, there wouldn’t be a problem finding work for her husband, her younger uncle, and her uncle.

All she needed to do was lower her head and ask her parents’ family or to request from her brother, yet Ye Shuying felt a prideful notion that her weak elder brother, now well-off, should think to support his sister. Why hadn’t it occurred to him?

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Wishing for her own brother to automatically invite her husband, or to take them along to fortune, she had her pride and didn’t want to beg this always weak brother.

Ye Shuying’s complicated emotions prevented her from raising her voice. She simply watched silently during the meeting and then, amidst the nagging of her sister-in-law and mother-in-law, quietly returned home after it ended.

Back at home, her sister-in-law lingered, not willing to return to her husband’s household, saying she was waiting for her two brothers to return from a construction site to discuss some matters.

Although her sister-in-law’s home was also in the village and just a few steps away by foot, she insisted on staying at their home for meals.

At this moment, she and her mother-in-law went off to a room, whispering secret conversations, leaving her grandson behind.

Ye Shuying, with her son on her back, prepared the fire for cooking. She hadn’t been this diligent in her parents’ house, but after marriage, she had no choice.

Like her own mother, she wore down her daughter-in-law, hoping that when her time came to be the mother-in-law, she could exert a bit of authority.

Ye Shuzhi endured, convinced that one day she would emerge on top, burying these matters one by one in her heart.

She finished cooking lunch–a dish of pickled vegetables, a dish of stir-fried greens, both without a hint of meat, and a pot of plain rice.

She brought the two dishes to the table and served up four bowls of rice based on the number who were to eat lunch at home today, getting everything fully prepared. Sitting at the table with her son in her arms, she began to feed her son first.

Her son couldn’t eat pickled vegetables and he couldn’t eat green vegetables either; she could only add a few drops of oil and sprinkle a pinch of salt onto his rice, serving him oil-and-salt rice.

Her aunt and mother-in-law, upon hearing the call for mealtime, finally came out from their room, sitting down at the table with unwashed hands and started to eat their rice.

“Shuying, entertaining your aunt without any meat on the table, you’re quite stingy, aren’t you?”

Picking through the two dishes with her chopsticks, the aunt expressed her dissatisfaction with Ye Shuying in a complaining tone.

“Shuying, I know your husband and you have saved some private money. We shouldn’t be so frugal with our meals. You’re about to become the sister of the small boss, and our family is soon going to strike it rich.”

Ms. Ding, Ye Shuying’s mother-in-law, backed her up after her daughter spoke.

As Shuying continued to feed her son, her head lowered, neither her mother-in-law nor her aunt could see the expression on her face; she had to muster great effort to suppress the urge to curse.

If she were to curse in front of her aunt and mother-in-law today and argue with them, when her husband and younger brother-in-law returned in the evening, her mother-in-law would surely cry and complain. Then she might even end up being beaten.

Her husband didn’t often beat her, but she had once experienced her mother-in-law’s crying skills. After being disciplined by her husband as a result, she learned to endure in everything she did thereafter.

Even after being beaten by her husband, she didn’t go back to her parental home to complain for the sake of her pride, not wanting the villagers to laugh at her and especially not wanting her sisters to mock her.

Ye Shuying actually cared a lot about face as well. Otherwise, she wouldn’t often ask her family for help, just to gain a bit more respect from her in-laws.

She managed to hold back from cursing, but she couldn’t help but let slip words laced with mockery.

“Aunt, if you wanted me to cook meat for lunch today, you should have brought some when you came. If you had work to do, you should have told us in advance that you were coming to eat. Mother-in-law didn’t use the public money to buy meat in preparation either.”

As Shuying said this, her aunt glared at her, her unoccupied hand pointing at her and saying, “You…”

Shuying didn’t care about her aunt’s anger, and she continued, taking another look at her mother-in-law:

“As for not using my private money to buy meat, that’s because mother-in-law said that the food expenses she collected included the cost of buying meat. We who haven’t worked at home can’t eat too well.

“Only the husband and younger brother-in-law, who work so hard outside, deserve to have meat for dinner when they come back late.”

Ms. Ding, who had wanted to defend her daughter, held back when she looked at her daughter shaking her head after Shuying spoke.

The two women seemed to have a tacit understanding, feeling that Shuying was so defiant because she had her family’s ascending fortunes to rely on.

The mother and daughter knew very well why Shuying dared to speak like that today; they had calculated that they did not dare to lash out, especially since the men of both families needed Shuying’s work.

The mother-in-law and aunt silently ate their meal, no longer provoking Ye Shuying.

For the first time, Shuying felt the exhilaration of rebuttal. The weepy and sly nature of Ms. Ding could also be dealt with, so long as the interests of her son and the aunt’s husband were involved.

While her son was enjoying his meal, Shuying took a few bites herself and said with a smiling face to her son:

“Son, make sure you eat your fill, grow up fast, and earn lots of money for your mother in the future.”

“Mm-hmm, son needs to eat his fill, grow up quickly, and in the future, you can earn as much money as Uncle, strike it rich.”