Transmigration: The Evil Mother-In-Law Is Actually Innocent!

Chapter 304: Chapter 304 Real Sincere Family_1

Having traveled a whole day’s journey from Pingzhou, they reached the Li Family Village mansion. The return had been somewhat rushed—by modern standards, it was around four in the afternoon when the carriage entered the village, and all the people of Li Village knew it.

Lady Li’s father, Li Cong, came running. Arriving at the gate, Zhou Shuren was just dismounting the carriage. Li Cong, barely catching his breath, congratulated him, ”Congratulations, in-laws, on your son becoming a Graduate.”

Zhou Shuren hurriedly reached out to help Li Yong off the carriage, ”In-laws, you’re too polite. Please, come and sit for a while.”

He really liked the nature of the Li family—honest and simple. Just look at him, sweating through his clothes. The in-laws were genuinely sincere, following without a word of complaint. It even moved his usually cold heart.

Li Cong was indeed finding it hard to stand still and sat down, massaging his legs, ”I’m getting old; just a few steps tire me out.”

Zhulan had just stepped out of the carriage, ”.....”

How far is it from the Li family to the mansion? A thousand meters, right? Anyone would be out of breath after running that distance in one go!

Zhou Shuren also felt speechless; his own physique certainly wouldn’t allow him to run a thousand meters at once.

The eldest Zhou brother helped Lady Li out of the carriage, with her holding a water flask in hand, ”Father, take a deep breath and then drink some water. Look at you, all covered in sweat.”

Li Cong chuckled, delighted to see his stout daughter again, ”Looks like you’ve put on even more weight since last time, good, good, gaining weight is good.”

In Li Cong’s view, being plump meant living well. Despite the Li family’s generally robust build, not one of them looked wealthy, except for his daughter. She was the most well-fed looking of them all, plump and fair-skinned.

Lady Li, ”.....”

A stab from one’s own father truly hurts. She glanced at her father with resentment, isn’t it just their Li family’s build!

The second Zhou brother and other family members disembarked from the carriage one after another. The eldest Zhou brother opened the main door; they hadn’t brought much luggage this time, just a few days’ worth of clothes for changing. With not much luggage, a single room contained less than two boxes, so their belongings were moved in quickly.

The hired carriage, paid with silver coins, left, and Lady Lixu arrived with her son and daughter-in-law. Zhulan looked into the distance and saw more people steadily approaching.

Lady Lixu came over and said, ”Mother-in-law, I guessed you would be returning today. We just finished cleaning the mansion a short while ago.”

Zhulan, gripping Lady Lixu’s hand, ”Thank you, mother-in-law.”

Lady Lixu, hurrying to withdraw her hand, ”My hands are full of cracks, I wouldn’t want to hurt mother-in-law’s hands.”

Zhulan’s hands had been well cared for over two years, delicate and fine. Lady Lixu’s indeed had quite a few cracks. Zhulan took Lady Lixu’s hand again, ”Mother-in-law, I don’t want to hear such things. Come on, let’s go inside to talk.”

Lady Lixu was indeed worried about the mother-in-law looking down on her, not wanting to provoke any dislike. Not expecting the mother-in-law to show no disdain at all, she quickly agreed, ”Yeah!”

Lady Li, watching her mother laugh with her mouth open wide, curled her lip inwardly. She has always said her mother-in-law loved and favored her the most, yet her own mother wouldn’t believe her, thinking she was only reporting the good and not the bad. Was she such a person?

Lady Li quickly followed them, sidling up to her own mother, ”Mom, do you believe it now?”

Lady Lixu, ”....”

This simpleton daughter of hers—wasn’t she just telling the mother-in-law how often she asked about her daughter’s life?

Not afraid of her mother, Lady Li chuckled, and said to her mother-in-law, ”Mom, dad gathered some firewood for our house; I’ll go and start a fire for cooking.”

Lady Li also said to her own mother, ”Mom, you should stay for dinner too!”

Lady Lixu was embarrassed; she actually hadn’t had dinner yet, and the Li family usually ate after dark so as not to get too hungry during the night. Glaring at Lady Li, who was everywhere, she said abruptly, ”Mother-in-law, this girl is so straightforward, please don’t take it to heart. I should head back now.”

Zhulan didn’t take it to heart; Lady Li cared about her parents too. Although she hadn’t heard about the Li family’s situation from Lady Li, she could guess some of it. The hands of Lady Lixu proved her guesses—the Li family had too many sons, all of them strapping young men. After paying taxes and selling some grain, there really wasn’t enough to eat. ”What Lady Li said is exactly what I was thinking. Today, we’ll all eat at home. It’s been so long since I’ve been away; we haven’t had a chance to chat. I was in such a hurry last time I came home, I didn’t even visit, and I’m embarrassed about it!”

Lady Lixu was in high spirits, admiring her late mother-in-law once more. Her mother-in-law truly had a great eye—not only did she find a good mother-in-law for her daughter, but she also found a good match for the Li family. Even becoming a Graduate’s mother-in-law, her attitude hadn’t changed, holding her hand the whole time without letting go, which was so intimate. ”To hear my matchmaker mother talking like this is a bit much, considering the relationship between our two families.”

Zhulan smiled, ”Since the matchmaker mother has said as much, then you definitely must stay for the meal.”

Zhulan said to Lady Li, ”The dinner is up to you then. Take out the roasted chicken, soy sauce pork feet, and marinated meat you brought back from Pingzhou; don’t be stingy.”

This had been Lady Li’s intention; she had always been in charge of the family’s meals, a right given to her by her mother-in-law. ”Yes.”

Both Lady Zhao and Lady Dong felt a twinge of jealousy. Lady Zhao quickly spoke up, ”Mother, let me go help elder sister-in-law.”

Lady Dong also said, ”Mother, I’ll go too.”

Zhulan waved her hand, ”Xue Han, you go help out too!”

Xue Han complied, ”Yes!”

Lady Lixu, watching her daughters-in-law, knew that they would have a big meal today at her daughter’s in-laws. The matchmaker mother was even having her youngest daughter help, so her daughters-in-law should also stop standing around. ”You all should go see if there’s anything you can help with.”

Lady Lixu’s daughters-in-law were delighted; it had been so long since they’d eaten meat. They agreed and went out.

Lady Lixu felt a pang of heartache, ”I’ve made the matchmaker mother laugh at us. I can relate to my mother-in-law’s hardships now. Everyone says being a mother-in-law is good, but I would rather be a daughter-in-law. I wasn’t tired at all with my mother-in-law taking on the concerns. Now it all depends on my careful planning. Though times have gotten a bit better, life is still hard!”

Zhulan consoled her, ”Everything will be alright, a few more years of struggle and it will all get better.”

Zhulan did some calculations for the Li family; if the Zhou family’s land was farmed by the Li family for a few years, at the very least, all the unmarried ones could take wives, and in a few years, having enough to eat wouldn’t be an issue—assuming there were no natural disasters or calamities.

Lady Lixu smiled, ”Then I’ll take the matchmaker mother’s blessing.”

Lady Lixu saw her three sisters-in-law come in. Since they had farmed the matchmaker’s land, it wouldn’t be right not to come over and check. Besides, the matchmaker had become a Graduate, so it was natural to visit and offer congratulations.

Lady Lixu saw the baskets in the hands of her sisters-in-law; she had been so worried that she came over without thinking to pick some vegetables herself.

Lady Lixu slapped her thigh, ”Look at my memory, after the matchmaker mother’s return, there wasn’t much in the backyard garden, and I completely forgot.”

Zhulan stopped Lady Lixu, who wanted to go home to pick vegetables, ”With the three baskets of vegetables brought by my aunt, we have enough, please sit down matchmaker mother.”

Lady Lixu paused, ”Does the matchmaker mother mean to say that you won’t be staying for long this time?”

Zhulan nodded, ”This visit is mainly for ancestor worship and some clan matters. Once everything is settled, we will return to Pingzhou City.”

Lady Lixu had hoped to chat more with the matchmaker mother, ”Why not stay for a few more days?”

Zhulan was caught off guard, ”Hasn’t Lady Li told you?”

Lady Lixu was baffled, ”No, she just told me how good Pingzhou is now, nothing else.”

Zhulan thought that Lady Li probably forgot to boast in her excitement, and indeed Zhulan was right. After returning to Pingzhou, Lady Li remembered the most important thing she had failed to boast about and regretted it deeply.

Seeing everyone waiting for her reply, Zhulan spoke up, ”The head of the household is going to participate in the imperial examinations next year, so we need to head to the capital early. We’ll be leaving in a few days.”

Lady Lixu felt a flutter in her heart, her voice rising a few notches, ”You mean to go to the capital?”