Chapter 57: Chapter 57: Mother-in-law’s Concern
"As long as you know what you’re doing. Nothing is more important than yourself. Tell me, if something were to happen to you, what would happen to her and the child in her belly?" Although his anger had cooled, Zhou Kun still felt the need to knock some sense into him.
"Dad, I know. I’ll be more careful from now on." Seeing that his father-in-law had calmed down, Li Xiu quickly reassured him.
Zhou Lian pouted. ’He charmed his way out of it again. I never realized he was so silver-tongued.’ As far as she was concerned, the blasted man just needed a good beating to straighten him out. Too bad no one could actually do it. Her own father was his father-in-law and couldn’t hit him—it wouldn’t be proper. Li Xiu’s father didn’t have the guts to. His uncles doted on him too much and wouldn’t dream of it. As for everyone else, they either weren’t qualified to discipline him or didn’t dare.
"Bao’er, want some sour pears?" His survival instincts kicking in, Li Xiu looked at Zhou Lian with a placating smile and asked. ’My wife is in a mood. I hope she doesn’t get sick from being so angry.’
Mrs. Zhou, who had come over to ask Zhou Lian if she was craving anything, let out a chuckle. ’This son-in-law really spoils our girl!’
"Mom, we’re back! Is there anything to eat? I’m starving!" Third Brother Zhou shouted as soon as he entered the courtyard.
"Oh, Brother-in-law is here!"
"Brother-in-law’s here."
"Second Sister is here."
...
The five Zhou siblings chattered away as they came into the house, greeting Li Xiu and Zhou Lian. After a round of pleasantries, everyone took a seat. Only then did Mrs. Zhou ask, "Daughter, is there anything you’d like to eat?"
Before Zhou Lian could answer, Li Xiu stood up and said, "Mom, let me go cook with you. She’s been mentioning she wants fish these past couple of days. I brought five carp, so it’s a good time to cook them for everyone to try."
Mrs. Zhou was stunned for a moment. Her daughter and son-in-law had brought a large bamboo basket when they arrived, and she hadn’t had a chance to look inside yet! "Alright then. We don’t eat fish often, so I’m not very good at cooking it."
"Second Sister, what did you and Brother-in-law bring?" Zhou Ying asked curiously. ’Every time they visit, they bring so much meat. I bet they did this time, too.’ At the thought of eating meat, Zhou Ying’s mouth watered and she couldn’t help but swallow.
"I don’t know. Your brother-in-law packed everything. Go see for yourself!" Zhou Lian said dismissively. Ever since the autumn harvest, Li Xiu hadn’t let her do a single thing—he was just one step shy of spoon-feeding her. How was she supposed to know what he brought? ’It’s a lot, that’s for sure. I saw him busy with it all morning!’
Hearing this, Zhou Kun, who was drinking water, looked up at his daughter. ’What a hands-off manager she’s become.’ He then asked, for the first time ever, "Daughter, what do you even do at home? Did you help in the fields during the harvest?"
Zhou Lian, sipping her red date tea, glanced at her father in surprise. She said slowly, "I didn’t work in the fields. Li Xiu went to the team captain early on and requested leave for me. During the harvest, I stayed home, cooked, and brought him his meals!"
"That’s it?" Second Brother Zhou asked in surprise when his sister stopped talking.
"That’s it, Second Brother. What more did you want to hear?" Zhou Lian looked at her brother, her expression blank. ’He’s just one of those people who loves to stir up trouble. How did I never realize how much of a meddler he was?’
"But wait, so you do nothing at home on a normal day? What about the chores? Who does them? Does Brother-in-law do everything? The laundry, the cooking, feeding the livestock...?" Third Brother Zhou chimed in, equally curious. ’Everyone knows he dotes on Second Sister, but for her to do absolutely nothing... that seems a bit unreasonable, doesn’t it?’
"When I get up in the morning, the clothes are already washed, the livestock are fed, the house is clean, and breakfast is cooked and waiting for me to eat. What do you want me to do?"
Staring at his sister’s placid face, Second Brother Zhou asked quietly, "What about lunch? When Brother-in-law is working in the fields, you don’t cook?"
"I only cooked during the busiest few days of the autumn harvest."
"What about when it’s not so busy? He must be tired from working in the fields, too!" Third Brother Zhou sensed his sister’s mood was off, but his curiosity got the better of him, so he steeled himself and asked anyway.
"I wanted to cook, but he locked the kitchen door! How was I supposed to cook anything?!" Zhou Lian took a gulp of water to calm her nerves. Just bringing it up made her furious. To stop her from cooking, Li Xiu had moved all her fruits and snacks into the main hall, locked the kitchen, and claimed he was afraid she’d tire herself out. ’Tired my foot! All I do all day is eat and sleep. I’m going to turn into a pig at this rate!’
The room fell silent for a moment before erupting in a roar of laughter. They had never heard of such a thing—locking the kitchen door because you can’t bear to have your wife cook. He really was one of a kind!
The laughter drew Mrs. Zhou out from the kitchen where she was cooking. "What’s all this about?"
"Mom, Second Brother-in-law was afraid Second Sister would get tired from cooking, so he locked the kitchen door when he went to the fields," Zhou Ying said, clutching her stomach as she laughed.
Mrs. Zhou shook her head and returned to the kitchen. ’I need to have a word with my son-in-law. It’s one thing to dote on your wife, but this is too much. Yes, it’s my daughter he’s spoiling, but relationships are a two-way street, especially marriage. If only one person is doing all the giving, the scales become unbalanced, and an unbalanced marriage isn’t secure.’
"Son-in-law, you spoil her too much." Watching Li Xiu work nonstop with a smile on his face, it took Mrs. Zhou a long moment to finally say it.
"What is it, Mom?" Li Xiu glanced at his mother-in-law without stopping what he was doing and asked.
"Your father and I are happy to see you dote on your wife. She’s my daughter, so of course we’re happy she married well and has a husband who cherishes her. But a family isn’t built by one person; it’s carried by two people working together. You can help her with her tasks, but you can’t do all of them for her."
Mrs. Zhou looked at Li Xiu. He was listening intently, but his hands never stopped working.
"You have to work the fields, and we all know how tiring that is. We know you care for her and can’t bear to see her do farm work, but the housework still needs to get done. You can’t do it all by yourself. You’ll run yourself into the ground."
After hearing his mother-in-law out, Li Xiu put the fish into the wok, covered it, and pulled up a stool. He sat down next to Mrs. Zhou, who was tending the stove fire, and said, "Mom, I understand what you’re saying. But Lian’er is pregnant, after all!"
Seeing his mother-in-law glare at him, he smiled and continued, "That little bit of work doesn’t tire me out. Lian’er will only have it easy for this short while. Once the baby is born, she won’t be able to rest even if she wants to. Just one baby will be enough to wear her out. I wouldn’t have time to help her then even if I wanted to, right?"
"Oh, you. Always defending her. But as elders, we worry about you too! Between the fields and the house, it’s so much work. Just working on the farm is tiring enough. If you don’t rest when you get home, what will you do if you collapse from exhaustion!" Seeing how insistent he was on protecting her daughter, Mrs. Zhou’s heart truly went out to him.
’It’s been a year since their engagement, and every single time he visits, he comes laden with gifts. It was never about the gifts themselves, but the heart behind them. At my age, I can tell when someone is being genuine and when they’re just faking it.’
’It’s precisely because I know what a good person Li Xiu is that I truly worry about him. His own parents don’t dote on him. Now that he’s married, his wife should be the one to cherish him, shouldn’t she? Even if she is my own daughter, she can’t just take and take without giving back!’
"Mom, that little bit of work at home, I can get it done in an hour. Lian’er doesn’t have much strength; it would take her most of the morning. Besides, she’s pregnant and doesn’t have a mother-in-law to help her out. If I help her a little more, her life will be a bit easier."
Seeing his mother-in-law’s disapproving look, Li Xiu smiled. "Mom, I know you’re worried about me, but you also know how hard pregnancy is. To me, those chores are nothing, almost like a game. But for Lian’er, they’re exhausting. She’s carrying my child. If I don’t dote on her, who will? Right now, with her big belly, it’s difficult for her to even roll over in her sleep. How could I have the heart to make her do more work on top of that?"
’My wife has such a big belly now, she can’t even sleep well at night. She has to get up over and over, her back aches, and her legs cramp up. It breaks my heart to see it. I wish I could take her place. I could never bear to make her work while she’s carrying that big belly!’
Mrs. Zhou was speechless for a long moment. ’What could she say? She was a woman, too, and this was her own daughter they were talking about. Isn’t pregnancy always hard? Weren’t they all expected to just get through it? For her son-in-law to understand this and to cherish her for it... that was her daughter’s good fortune. She had married a good man—a considerate man who would dote on her and protect her.’
"In that case, you must take care of yourself, too. Don’t overwork yourself. Those two, mother and child, are depending on you. Your family depends on you," Mrs. Zhou said, full of concern. ’Her daughter is truly blessed to have married such a good man.’
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