"That's true. Society is just that difficult to navigate. There's nothing we can do about it."
At lunchtime, Lijuan acted without restraint, using her fingers as chopsticks. Her mother kept piling food onto her plate, saying, "Why are you eating like a starving ghost? Is there nothing else to eat at home?"
"You have no idea how awful Yaping's mother's cooking is. I felt so sorry for Yaping's first 18 years of life while I was eating. What a wasted life! It's amazing that the child has grown up like that! He's been here for six days, and he's only eaten pork stew with cabbage for five of them. It seems like that's all his mother knows how to cook. When she makes braised pork, it's like she's wasting a precious delicacy. She throws in all sorts of ingredients, and the meat tastes like ginger. And what's more, his mother seems like she was born a child bride. She looks so pitiful, like she finds pleasure in torturing herself. Even ascetics aren't as miserable as her. She works all day and doesn't eat. I don't know how she survived."
After listening, Lijuan's mother snorted, "That's just a ploy. She's putting on a show for you, implying that this is how her daughter-in-law behaves. Ignore her, pretend you don't see it. If you play right into her hands, you'll suffer for the rest of your life. I raised my daughter not to be someone else's maid. If Yaping is capable, he can hire a nanny so his mother won't be tired. If he's not capable, then his mother is willing to take care of you. Don't be soft-hearted and help her. Once you help, you won't be able to back down. First you'll be a subordinate, then a pillar of the family, and later the whole family will be lying around while you're the only one working. Just wait and see."
"Don't worry, I see through it. I'm just following your plan."
"You little brat, you're so smart! You learn without being taught! Have a chicken foot!"
Yaping's mother was also chatting with him: "Yaping, have you noticed that finding a wife to live with is different from dating? Those who look good aren't necessarily good at managing a household. On the other hand, those who might not seem so appealing are often the best at managing a household. People say an ugly wife, a meager plot of land, and a tattered cotton-padded jacket are a man's three treasures, and there's some truth to that. Look at Lijuan, she's alright in everything else, but she's not good at managing a household. She's oblivious to chores, and when she gets home, she either sits down or lies down, even if the bed is a mess like a pigsty, she'll still dig a hole and lie down. When she has nothing to do..." She's either watching TV or using the computer. When I came in, I saw how thick the dust was. Shanghai's pollution is so bad; even wiping it three times a day doesn't make it look shiny, let alone you only do it once a week! A little mess is tolerable, but dirt is unacceptable. Over time, bugs and cockroaches will infest the house, and the furniture will get moldy. Everything costs money, so how can I not cherish it? Winter clothes and blankets have to be brought out to air in the sun, and the range hood has to be wiped clean after each use, otherwise it'll get clogged and unusable. People say Southern women are hardworking, but she doesn't seem like a Southerner at all to me. Also, she's good at... She especially loves eating. She keeps chewing, and the house is overflowing with plastic wrappers from various packaging within days. Her eating habits are particularly bad; she only eats vegetables and not rice. The vegetables are meant to be eaten with rice, but she eats meat straight from the pot, piece after piece, without any consideration for the elderly or men. She has no regard for anyone else. When I try to subtly criticize her, she says that eating makes her fat. Oh! Eating makes you fat, but eating meat makes you thin? No matter how big the family fortune is, it can't last forever! There's a saying, "Sitting idle will deplete your resources," and she's truly both sitting and eating. Sigh! I wanted to try and change her, but look at her that night... "Her temper is unpredictable. If I don't tell her, I'm afraid you'll suffer later. Neither of you has experienced hardship. If something happens to you someday, she definitely won't be the one to stand by you. Back during the Cultural Revolution, those who were criticized were mostly talented men, and most of their wives escaped. Those who stayed by their side were either their original wives from the countryside or their former maids. True feelings need to be tested in fire, and I'm afraid that if something happens to you, you won't be able to withstand her blows. Of course, I hope your life will be smooth sailing, without having to go through trials."
Yaping comforted his mother, saying, "It's not that bad, Mom. Although Lijuan is a bit spoiled, she's a Shanghai girl, and among Shanghai girls, she's considered quite good. At least she's not vain. I'm not a rich man, and when she married me, I wasn't wealthy or successful either. I was just an ordinary working-class person. Her mother disagreed at the time, but she still insisted on marrying me. Just based on that, it shows she still cares about me. Everyone has flaws. We should focus on her strengths. In this day and age, how many families can't afford meat? When she eats something, don't keep staring at her. You're making me uncomfortable."
“Is that what she calls eating a little? I cut a bowl of braised pork into 28 pieces, you eat 8 pieces, your dad eats 7 pieces, and she eats 13 pieces all by herself! If this bowl of meat were at home, with some radishes and potatoes, your dad and I could eat it for a week! If you do the math, how much food money would be wasted every month? This isn't a gold mine, and if everyone just eats whatever they want, no amount of money can withstand such waste! Not to mention clothes and housing. Look at your closets full of clothes! How many bodies does one person have? You could change outfits every day for a month without repeating the same one. Gas, electricity, phone bills, your cell phones, transportation—everything costs money! You think you earn a lot, but you spend here and there, and you can't save much at all. You don't have any sense of crisis at all. What if one of you gets sick? What if you have a child? When you need money, crying and begging won't help. I've been through this, and I want to tell you things you haven't experienced before, so I can't just watch you walk on the riverbank and not help you. Your lives are too precarious!” Yaping nodded in agreement.
"Just keep what I'm telling you in mind, but don't tell Lijuan, otherwise I'll have done all the work and won't get any credit. If she's willing to change, she can; if not, that's fine too. That's all I can do as her parents."
After a while, Yaping asked, "Mom, you've been here for a week now, shouldn't you meet Lijuan's parents? We had separate weddings, and it's not easy for us to get together, so let's go out for a meal together!"
Who invited them?
"Of course we'll treat!"
"Why go out to eat? It's just a get-together to chat, right? Eating out isn't very comfortable, and people feel awkward. It's better to eat at home. Or, how about we invite her parents over for a meal next week?" Yaping thought for a moment and said, "Okay! Remember to buy plenty of groceries!"
It was completely dark when Lijuan got home. Yaping's mother heard the doorbell ring and opened the door to find Lijuan rushing in with bags of various sizes. "Yaping! I went to Printemps this afternoon, and they had amazing discounts on the spring clothes as they were ending their season! I couldn't resist, so I bought you and me each an outfit. Come on, try them on!" Yaping, following Lijuan's directions, put on casual clothes and twirled around. "Mom, do you think this looks good?" Lijuan asked her mother-in-law.
"He has a similar one in his closet, it's blue, it seems like the only difference is the color."
"It's so different! That was last year's style with a small collar, but this year it's collarless. Also, this one is white, inspired by Richard Gere's look in his new movie. It looks so cool on him!"
"It's just a collar, right? As long as the clothes keep you warm, that's enough. You're always chasing fashion trends, and you'll never catch up. Otherwise, how would we empty your pockets? Look at this sweater I'm wearing, I bought it ten years ago, it's not torn or damaged, and it's not outdated at all."
"Haha, Mom, if everyone were like you, society wouldn't progress, and all the factories would go bankrupt. No wonder your factory closed down a long time ago. You're the ones dragging down socialism. You need to develop a consumer mindset, be able to earn and spend wisely. Spending money is the motivation to earn money. If you spend 150 yuan a month on food, even if you had 10,000 yuan, it would be a waste, since it's all in the bank anyway. If everyone lives in houses from ten years ago, wears clothes from ten years ago, and earns wages from ten years ago, how can we reflect the development of the past ten years? Things are changing rapidly now, you need to keep up with the times!"
"I can't keep up anymore, how much does this dress cost?"
"480. It was 1280 before the discount. This is a new style that was only launched on New Year's Day. It's only been 4 months, and the price has dropped so much. Isn't that a good deal? When buying clothes, don't buy the newest ones. Buy the discounted ones. It's more cost-effective."
Yaping's mother gasped! "480?! Humph! The clothes are nice, but the money is even nicer!" Yaping's mother turned and went into the kitchen, no longer looking at the young couple, and started scrubbing the clothes on the washboard, the basin rattling loudly. Lijuan stuck out her tongue, Yaping flicked her nose, and led her back to the bedroom.
Lijuan stripped down to her genitals while trying on summer clothes. "Does it look good?"
“You look good. You look good in anything. Lijuan, let me tell you something. From now on, when you buy clothes, don’t mention money in front of my mom. If she asks you, just deduct a zero, so everyone will feel better. Otherwise, she won’t be able to eat tomorrow.”
“There are many reasons why your mother can’t eat. I would make up so many lies to get her to eat that the cart and the cart would be overflowing. Look how careful your mother is with her daily life. When she buys a bunch of vegetables, she walks from one end of the market to the other, asking at each stall. She cares about whether there is one more or one less. She doesn’t have the straightforwardness of a northerner at all. She’s more like a southerner.”
"Hehe, my mom said today that you're like a northerner, so extravagant." Lijuan immediately walked over to Yaping, lifted Yaping's head and asked, "Was your mom particularly happy today? While I wasn't home, she went on and on about you? What did she say about me? Let me hear it. If it's true, I'll correct it; if not, I'll be honored."
"I didn't say anything bad about you, I just praised you. But Lijuan, when your mother is home, you should at least show some respect. I'm not saying you have to do housework, but my mother isn't a maid. When she's working, you should at least sit next to her and talk to her, right? That's a form of filial piety. How much trouble can it cause you to just let someone overhear you?"
“I don’t know what to say to her. Look at the topics you all talk about at the dinner table! From your aunts and uncles to your cousins who live far away, down to your brother-in-law’s mistress, I don’t know any of them. You all talk so enthusiastically, I can’t get a word in edgewise. I feel like a complete outsider.”
"Just respond with a couple of replies, smile when you should, and make a face when you should be upset. Actually, I don't know most of the people they're talking about. It's just casual conversation, why do you have to know their family history?" "Nonsense, I don't know anyone, how would I know what you're talking about? It's like listening to an English listening comprehension exercise, without any background information, you suddenly get interrupted, how can you know the answer? Besides, I'm not interested."
"Aren't you just trying to make the elderly happy? It's not like you're looking for a soulmate, you have to find common ground. Your parents like to play mahjong, I don't know how, but I still learn to play with them, right? That's what 'filial piety' is, understand? Now the elderly don't need us to support them anymore, all we can do for them is to spend more time with them and listen to them talk more."
"I'm trying to please her? Who's trying to please me? The moment I stand next to her, she tries to impart her family's generations-old daughter-in-law skills to me, without holding back a single word, like working without eating, never stopping for 24 hours a day as long as you're awake, and only making money without spending it, giving all the money back to you. I believe your family's daughter-in-law skills are like an old martial arts manual, passed down only to daughters-in-law, not daughters. I don't believe your mother taught your sister like that. How could I go against my own wishes and flatter what she told me? If I agreed, wouldn't we be back to square one? Chairman Mao's revolution would have been for nothing. I can't even imagine myself like your mother, haggling over a penny or two at a street stall. I could earn that much by writing an article."
"What's wrong with my mom? At least my mom haggles with people. What about your mom? She goes to the market to buy some vegetables and tries to rip people off by a few cents for scallions. Compared to your mom, my mom is actually quite decent!"
"All the money my mom extorted went to me! Where's the money your mom saved? My mom paid 100,000 for this house! What about your mom? I haven't even said anything to your mom yet, and look how big you are! If the roof hadn't been built, you would have been launched to the moon by now. If you're a filial son, you go be one, don't drag me down with you. Li Yaping! My mom has been so good to you for nothing! She should have insisted on not letting me marry you back then!"
"She didn't want you to marry her back then! You married me because I'm a good person, I don't feel any gratitude towards her. I respect her only because of you, and I hope you can do the same for me and treat my mother better!" Ya Ping's voice couldn't be suppressed anymore.
Lijuan's lips were already trembling. Realizing that the argument would spiral out of control, she turned and went into the study. She rushed to the door, then returned to the bedroom, grabbing her blanket and pillow.
A bed without a blanket and a lonely pillow were left for Yaping.
Having learned from their previous experience, Yaping was exceptionally agile. She darted forward, wedging her foot through the half-closed door, then forced her way into the study, slamming the door shut behind her. "Lijuan! Stop arguing, okay? Look at what we're doing! It's not even a matter of principle, yet we've escalated to sleeping in separate beds. That's not a good habit. Couples who quarrel in bed make up before they get out of bed. You should give me a chance to reconcile. I have a request: from now on, you can't just close the study door and not let me in. No matter how unhappy you are, you can't sleep separately. Understand?" With that, she snatched the blanket from Lijuan's hands, threw it on the floor, and then hugged and shook Lijuan a few times. Lijuan pouted and looked up at Yaping, her face full of grievance. After a minute of silence, Lijuan chuckled and said, "I specially brought a blanket to see if you would come over. I've discovered that whoever has the blanket has the high ground. No matter how arrogant you are, you can't withstand the cold. Haha!" Lijuan hugged Yaping's head and kissed him wildly, kissing his neck and ears. Before long, Yaping couldn't resist anymore, put Lijuan on the ground, and began to feel a surge of passion under the soft blanket.
The lights were on, the door was closed, and Ya Ping's father was washing up at the other end of the corridor. His loud coughing could be clearly heard in the study; the curtains weren't even drawn. From the living room on the sixth floor across the hall, the shadowy figures on the television were clearly visible. Ya Ping, with Li Juan's finger in his mouth, lowered his head little by little. Li Juan was also aroused by this uninhibited stimulation. Li Juan's voice was low, muffled, like that of a newborn kitten, and occasionally, unable to resist the onslaught of pleasure, it would suddenly rise in pitch. "Condom!" Li Juan occasionally awoke from her daze. "No condom!" Ya Ping completely disregarded her words.
An hour later, Yaping, with disheveled hair, entered the bedroom carrying a blanket.
Five minutes later, Lijuan entered the bedroom carrying a pillow.
Lying in bed, Lijuan said, "Have you noticed that the more we argue, the more..." "Yeah, like lubricant. We need to argue often."
Lijuan did try her best to treat her mother-in-law better, just as Yaping had hoped. Yaping's mother, in turn, followed her plan step by step to reform her daughter-in-law's thinking.
"Lijuan, are you busy? If you're not, keep me company and let me wash the dishes while you hand them to me." Lijuan wanted to refuse, saying she had a manuscript to finish, but then she thought about how she hadn't touched any kitchen utensils or done any housework since her mother-in-law came to visit, and she also thought about Yaping's filial piety. So she decided to put aside her never-ending manuscript and help her mother-in-law wash the dishes. Even if it was an ordeal, it would only take ten minutes.
"Don't let Yaping's size fool you, he was only about a foot long at birth. I was so worried when I saw him, wondering how long it would take for such a tiny little guy to grow up..." "Right?" Lijuan responded according to the standard procedure, the key being not whether she listened, but to respond appropriately. "These days, essay contests are so outdated, aren't they? Advertisers have overused them. Why not try an interview with a famous person?" Lijuan muttered to herself. "I was so worried about him being malnourished, I took him to the check-up every few days. He couldn't digest his food, he would vomit everything he ate, and he wasn't even able to walk steadily until he was three years old..." "That's late enough!" Lijuan replied. "If the furniture pictures from last issue of Meike Home Furnishings hadn't been published, they would have been a perfect match for this issue."
"He really blossomed after he turned three, he ate so much! His older sister, Guanhua, was six at the time, and she couldn't keep up with him!" "He can eat so much?!"
My mother-in-law has already started cleaning the range hood. Wasn't she supposed to be washing the dishes? Why is she taking everything apart?
She'd already started wiping the cabinet doors. She glanced at her watch; half an hour had passed. Lijuan began to panic; she couldn't afford to keep them company at this rate.
Actually, Lijuan wasn't really bothered. She started by handing her a bowl, then spoke to her, and responded with a simple "uh-huh" when appropriate—it didn't affect her thinking at all. The problem is that while thinking can move forward, it can't rewind like a rewind tape. She might think of an important phrase and remind herself not to forget it, but then Yaping's mother interrupts, and she'll forget it completely. Searching for existing memories is more complicated than rebuilding them. She has to follow the clues, starting with a single remaining word, making connections, extending the meaning, and digging deep into her brain.
Watching her mother-in-law work, Lijuan was amazed. She realized that what seemed like a simple meal was actually quite complex; a meal might take ten minutes, but cleaning up would take over an hour. Even just wiping the stove required both wet and dry cleaning. And it wasn't just the stove; the surrounding tiles, soy sauce bottles, and salt containers were all scrubbed one by one. Finally, her mother-in-law removed the burner, picked up a used toothbrush, and meticulously scrubbed the serrated edges like brushing her teeth. "This burner is crucial," her mother-in-law said, "don't forget to clean it. If the gas isn't cleaned properly, the burner will get clogged. When you turn on the stove, you'll see the gas meter spinning wildly, but no flame—that's a huge waste, and you can't even see it. I never watch TV; I'd rather tidy up the house than listen to people's nonsense." Her mother-in-law taught her through her actions.