Lijuan put down her rice bowl and went straight to the living room. She saw her father-in-law sitting on the sofa, holding a remote control and trying to figure out how to use it. She wanted to tell him how to use it, but remembering his sudden blush and embarrassment just now, she didn't go over. Instead, she went to the study, closed the door, and started writing.
After seeing Lijuan close the door, the mother-in-law quietly placed a cup of tea on the coffee table and said to the old man, "Drink some water to soothe your throat. Those coughs you just coughed made my heart ache."
The old man sighed and lowered his voice, saying, "Did I say something too harsh just now? It didn't sound right. I didn't want to say it, but I couldn't hold it in. Isn't it inappropriate for an old man to talk about his daughter-in-law? Lijuan is probably angry."
"It's alright, it's alright. He's our own child, so speak frankly. He needs a little guidance, but other issues aren't major problems. Having a child is a major event affecting the country, society, and family; it's a matter of principle, and we can't ignore it. However, we need to be careful with our approach. If things get tense from the start, the child is prone to rebellion. We need to be gentle and patient, working on him slowly. We also need to talk to our son. As for Lijuan, I liked her at first sight. She's innocent and cheerful, unlike some wives who always have a long face and never smile, which is disheartening. Don't you think Lijuan and my Yaping are a perfect match?" "Looks? The two of them look like siblings, truly birds of a feather flock together. But this child isn't very considerate, is she? After finishing her meal, she didn't even offer to help clean up, just turned around and went straight to her room, leaving everything to me. I'm not afraid of chores, and this isn't tiring, but I'm not a hired maid. She doesn't have to do all the work, but at least she should stand by and talk to me, hand me something, or something. That's what makes it feel like a home. Otherwise, she leaves early in the morning and comes back at night without me even seeing her, without a chance to chat, and the house feels too cold and empty. Don't you think so?"
"Who says otherwise?! Yesterday, she sat down in front of the TV right after dinner, all high and mighty, hogging the remote control, without even inviting the elders to watch with her. I was planning to continue watching the drama, but seeing her sitting alone in the middle, I had no choice but to go to sleep. She has no manners at all."
"Honestly, if you want to see her, just say so. Why wait for someone to ask you three or four times? If you just say so, do you think she'll refuse?"
"What's the point of talking about the taste? Some things shouldn't be said at all, like respecting elders and having children—these are basic human virtues. Do we really need to teach these things? I'm not going to teach them. I'll sit down first today and set some rules, let's see if she understands later." Ya Ping's mother laughed, nudged the old man's shoulder, and said, "What kind of rules are these? Don't let her interpret this as whoever finishes eating first gets the TV, turning eating into a competition. Give me a break!"
When Yaping returned, only a wall lamp cast a dim light in the room, and his mother, wearing her reading glasses, was mending socks under the lamp. The television was off, and the living room was quiet. Seeing Yaping enter, his mother quickly stood up and said, "You're back? My son, you've worked so hard. You must not have eaten yet? Would you like me to make you some noodles?" Yaping waved his hands repeatedly, saying, "No, no, I ate at the company. Why don't you rest? What are you still busy with?"
“We’re waiting for you, and the socks are just sitting there empty anyway. Why not take them out and mend them? These socks look pretty new. I’ll just poke a hole in the toe for your thumb, stitch it up a couple of times, and it won’t hurt them at all. Wait here, I’ve made you some tea, have a couple of sips.” Yaping’s mother handed Yaping a stainless steel thermos.
"Where's Dad? Is he asleep? I'll go check on Lijuan." "Okay."
Yaping pushed open the door and saw Lijuan typing on the computer with her back to him. She didn't turn around when she heard him. "Juanjuan, your husband's home." Yaping placed a teacup beside Lijuan and rubbed her shoulder. Lijuan didn't turn her head, her tone reproachful, "You're back, why did you make someone kneel to greet you? Why did it take you so long?"
"Setting up a new server, testing it out, a bit busy. How are you?"
"No. I don't want to talk to you, I don't want to talk to you."
"How did I offend you, darling?"
"I'm asking you, why didn't you call me when you weren't coming home tonight?"
"I called Mom, didn't she tell you?"
"She can say what she wants, and you can say what you want. I'm your wife. Are you going to talk to your mother or not me? It doesn't matter who you talk to, as long as the message gets through."
"That won't do. If you tell your mom, it means she's more important to you than me. I'll get jealous. You're mine now, so you can only cherish me."
"Okay, okay, I'll be more careful next time. I'll tell you once, and I'll tell Mom once. Isn't this a waste of phone calls? Really. People just make trouble for themselves. If I were Sun Wukong, popping out of a stone and not having a wife, I don't know how much trouble I could save! Give me a kiss."
"Since you served me tea, I'll allow you to kiss the back of my head." Lijuan was thirsty, so she opened the cup lid and drank the lukewarm water in one gulp. Yaping paused for a moment, then pecked Lijuan on the cheek and said, "I'll wait for you in bed. I'll come over in a bit." He gently closed the door.
Yaping's mother was waiting outside the study. When she saw Yaping come out, she smiled and asked, "My son, would you like to take a bath? I've already heated the water, and it's probably quite hot now. Go take a shower to relax!" Yaping had been hesitating about whether to take a bath, thinking that waiting for the water to heat up would take more than an hour, which was too long. He was planning to wash up and go to sleep. Hearing this, he was very pleased and said, "Thank you, Mom. I really want to take a bath!"
Yaping walked into the bathroom. Dry towels were on the shelf, clean underwear was neatly arranged next to the cabinet, and toothpaste was already squeezed onto the toothbrush on the sink. "It's so good to have a mother," Yaping thought.
Yaping walked towards his room while drying his hair. Yaping's mother busied herself drying the bathroom floor with Yaping's clothes, turning off the water heater, and taking the dirty clothes and socks downstairs to the washing machine. "Mom, I'll do it! You go to sleep."
"No need for you, go and rest. You have to go to work early tomorrow morning, you're really working hard. What I did was nothing, just a small favor. You don't need to worry about things at home, just do your job well and that's enough for me." Mom shooed Yaping out.
Yaping was lying in bed reading. Lijuan pushed open the door and came in.
After locking the door, Lijuan threw herself into Yaping's arms like a sandbag. "Ouch! You've crushed me, you've broken me, it's useless now! People are setting up a tent, how could you be so barbaric? Your later life is ruined." Yaping pretended to be in pain. "Oh dear! Let me check it over, if it's not good, I'll have to send it to the hospital to be stitched up, and while I'm at it, I'll take half a donkey whip." Lijuan laughed heartily.
"You little slut, you're already oozing lustful fluids after just two days without cleaning up, and you still think it's not long enough? You're like Tahitian, I'll test the waters." Ya Ping groped his hand under Li Juan's underwear, while turning off the light with his other hand.
"Ah! Ah!" Lijuan's voice began to rise and fall, with dramatic intonation. Yaping loved this tune; it had both the inspiring spirit of a bugle call and the allure of celestial music. Normally, it would have exhausted Lijuan until she was too weak to scream. But not today. "Shh! Shh!" Yaping moved his hand from Lijuan's breast to her mouth. "Grandma, be gentle! My mom and dad are right here!"
"Ah! Ah! I want it!" Lijuan's voice became increasingly unrestrained. "Hmm, here, here, keep your voice down!" Yaping covered Lijuan's mouth with his own, slowing down his movements, moving and stopping intermittently.
Please! Hurry up!
"Here, give me a pillow, I'll cover your mouth." Yaping shoved his pillow over Lijuan's head and began to speed up. "Ugh! Ugh! Ugh!" Lijuan's voice was muffled and suppressed, revealing a dying despair. This illicit pleasure stimulated Yaping like a BMW with an eight-cylinder engine, flooring the accelerator and rushing towards the top of a cliff before letting himself fall off—a decadent pleasure. Amid Lijuan's moans and the pain of her long fingernails scratching his back, Yaping finally released.
Yaping removed the pillow, only to have Lijuan bite his shoulder tightly. Then he heard Lijuan burst into tears, which startled Yaping. He quickly turned on the light and asked, "What happened? What happened?" Lijuan was crying so hard she could barely breathe, her voice so loud that not only the whole house could hear it, but probably the entire neighborhood could hear it clearly at midnight.
Yaping's father next door woke up with a start and asked Yaping's mother, "What happened?" Yaping's mother panicked as well, saying, "I don't know! She was fine just a moment ago! Why is she suddenly crying so hard?"
"Aren't you going to go check on them? Don't let Yaping bully them."
"That young couple... I... how can I go? I'll just listen at the door."
Yaping's mother put on slippers and stood at the door of Lijuan's room, listening intently.
Inside, Yaping's voice was also urgent. She asked, "What's wrong? What's wrong? My little darling, say something."
"You're going to suffocate me! Waa ...
Yaping's mother went back to her room. "What happened?" "Nothing, nothing. Young couple. You go to sleep."
Yaping hugged Lijuan and swayed her a few times, kissing her a few times. Seeing that Lijuan had recovered from her shock, he fell into a deep sleep from exhaustion. Lijuan was left walking on a tightrope, suspended in mid-air, with nothing in front of her and her feet dangling in the air. She fell asleep resentfully, so much so that she woke up the next morning with swollen eyes and a pair of panda eyes.
As soon as she entered the office, Sister Cai at the next desk said, "Why do you look so pale? Are you sick?" Lijuan could only sigh and couldn't say anything.
"Did you have a fight with Yaping? I haven't heard from Yaping these past two days."
"How could I dare! His parents are here. Even if I'm angry with him, I wouldn't dare say anything!"
"Yeah, it's inconvenient to have elderly people around. When my husband's parents lived with me, I was always treated like a punching bag, but he was so arrogant, always ordering me around in front of them to show how much status he had at home. I finally got angry and gave him a good scolding in front of them, and now he's much more obedient. The harsher I am, the more he cares about his image." "Yaping isn't like that at all. He even poured me water last night! But... having elderly people around is inconvenient in many ways. You can't just run around naked. It's like a secret affair for the couple to do something. Yesterday morning, I went to the bathroom and his dad was inside with the door open. Sigh! Anyway, having two more people around makes it less comfortable than living alone. Actually, his parents are really nice people. His mom is very efficient; she even washes my underwear. I feel embarrassed."
“You’re so lucky! You have no idea how useless my mother-in-law is! She does nothing but make a mess of the house and waits for me to come home and cook. I’m working overtime every day now, so I ask my husband to come home and cook. Anyway, she’s his parents. If she doesn’t cook, everyone will go hungry. I can just eat instant noodles.”
"No wonder you've been behaving so well lately! You've been shirking work! You'll get the model worker award at the end of the year, so this is a blessing in disguise!"
"The devil may be one foot tall, but the righteous will be ten feet tall—a lesson learned from war."
“Yesterday, my father-in-law was lecturing me about having children to carry on the family line. After his lecture, I suddenly felt that my position was lofty and great, and that I was shouldering the important responsibility of carrying on the legacy and opening up the future. The emperor is not in a hurry, but the emperor’s father is.”
"Xiao Hu, let me tell you, never have a child out of filial piety or to ease tensions in your marriage. That's irresponsible to the child. Having a child is entirely a personal matter. Only have one when you feel psychologically prepared and truly looking forward to it. Otherwise, the subsequent complications will absolutely drive a normal woman crazy. If you give birth willingly, you won't complain no matter how hard it is. But if you have some ulterior motive, you won't be able to endure that kind of suffering. It's like going to work voluntarily versus being forced to do work by your boss—the results will be the same."