Chapter 100: The Pillar of the Household

Fortunately, Tang Xin had an excellent mother-in-law. After she prepared the ingredients and described the rest in words, Mrs. Fang could usually recreate the dish well enough.

Beyond that, Tang Xin also prepared salted duck eggs, preserved eggs, and all manner of pickled delicacies. The ever richer stores of food made her increasingly confident about the beautiful life ahead.

After all, ever since her farm had been upgraded, it had offered not only a wider variety of crops, but also meat and other savory dishes.

Especially once the cattle and sheep grew up and could be eaten for meat or milk—heavens, just imagining it made Tang Xin almost drool.

But apart from the three days of New Year celebrations, the little monkeys were not happy all the time, including Li Kai and Li Xiyue.

Because Tang Xin had assigned them homework: writing practice, arithmetic, drawing, and so on.

Li Jiang and Li Hai did not make a sound, because they knew that the sister-in-law was now the greatest force in the household, and the old tricks of the brothers and sisters before her simply did not work.

Gu Nan, however, let out a wail. He cried, "Good heavens, Sister-in-law, it is the New Year. Can't you let us off for once?"

Tang Xin treated him and the Li family exactly the same. Good things were shared together, and naturally homework had to be done together too.

Even schoolchildren had winter and summer assignments, did they not?

If they went too long without touching a book, they would forget everything.

Still, Tang Xin was very good at using both carrot and stick. She promised that once the homework was finished, she would make them something especially delicious.

She stressed that it would be something very special, something they had never tasted before.

With food dangling before them like a carrot in front of a donkey, the others quickly became obedient and sat there writing.

Even when their little friends outside called them to go play, they endured it.

This time, Li Xihua did not snap at her younger brother's wife. Instead, in private she said to Mrs. Fang, "Looking at it this way, Tang Xin is really quite good. She treats them like her own younger brothers."

Mrs. Fang gave her a sidelong glance. "I told you Tang Xin was very good, but you never believed me. You even kept saying I was biased."

Li Xihua said nothing, though she still felt a little unconvinced.

It was not that she was being unreasonable. It was just that she felt uncomfortable.

Her big younger brother was the pillar of the family.

Yet when Li Sheng stood before Tang Xin, where was any masculine authority? He was so obedient, so willing to lower himself.

Li Xihua had no idea that this was merely the couple's own private tenderness. A grown man needed only to be impressive outside and in bed.

To strut in front of his own wife behind closed doors was a thoroughly useless thing, and that had always been Li Sheng's belief.

Li Xihua did not understand any of this, which was why she could not stand her younger brother's wife.

In her usual understanding, whether inside the house or outside it, a man was always allowed to put on airs in front of his woman.

After a while, the older and younger brothers and sisters all finished their tasks, and Tang Xin prepared to keep her promise.

Last night she had quietly brought it out from the farm and hidden it in her room for the time being.

Now she simply went back to her room, took out a jar of honey, and scooped out a small spoonful for each of them. Mixed with warm water, it became honey water.

There was some for her father-in-law and mother-in-law, for her sister-in-law, her husband, the younger brothers and sisters, and even for Old Gu and his son. By the time everyone had their share, only half the jar remained.

Mrs. Fang felt such a pang of reluctance that she sipped her honey water very slowly.

At first, Li Xihua had not wanted to drink hers and had wanted to save it, but Tang Xin would not allow it and insisted that she drink it right then and there.

Mrs. Fang had once been like this too, always thinking that if she ate the good things herself it would be a waste, and that they should be left for the old man or the children.

But her daughter-in-law had brainwashed her, telling her that everyone in the family was the same; if she did not drink it, then no one else could either.

So in the end she had no choice but to obey the "head of the household."

Since even her parents did not dare disobey the "order," the troubled Li Xihua could only join the others and drink the honey water as well.

The adults were fine, but the children were delighted. How on earth could there be such delicious sweet water in this world?

It was even better than sugar water. If they could drink it every day, that would be perfect.

During the New Year, Tang Xin received a parcel and a letter from the Tang family in the provincial capital.

In truth, they had been sent before the holiday, but for some reason, perhaps a delay on the road, they had only arrived now. Today, the brigade captain happened to be going to the commune on business and saw them, so he brought them back.

Normally, items would have to be inspected by the brigade before being handed over after arriving at the commune, but the brigade captain had a good relationship with Li Sheng, so of course he would not inspect his wife’s things.

The letter was written by Mrs. Tang. As a housewife, she had no office and naturally not many chances to use a telephone, and it was not convenient for her daughter to take calls on her side either.

So unless something had been arranged beforehand, Mrs. Tang usually wrote to Tang Xin.

She said that the weather had turned cold, and since her daughter had married this year and had already used her leave to visit family last year, it was probably impossible for her to come home for the New Year.

Thus Mrs. Tang had gone to Mr. Tang and at least managed to send some things over, along with a hundred yuan, industrial coupons, and cloth coupons.

Fortunately, Tang Xin had seen this plot in the novel, so she knew this was not some sudden awakening of Mr. Tang's conscience.

In truth, this was all Mrs. Tang's private savings from many years, sent in one go to her precious daughter.

But in the novel, Mr. Tang had discovered it and confiscated everything, so the original Tang Xin had never received any of it and had ended up even more lonely and miserable in the Li household.

Now it seemed that because Tang Xin had entered the book and changed the fate of the male supporting character, many things had changed along with it.

From the wording of Mrs. Tang's letter, it was clear that Mr. Tang knew about this and had agreed to it, and she even wrote that she was still trying hard to persuade their daughter to humble herself and make peace with her father.

Tang Xin, however, was deeply unimpressed.

A man who could watch that sanctimonious woman force his own lawful wife to her death with his own eyes could hardly be expected to possess much affection.

Still, this only strengthened Tang Xin's resolve. After the New Year, besides dealing with her sister-in-law's difficulties, she also needed to find a way to go back to the city.

That was the original body's birth mother, the closest relative the original Tang Xin had in this world, and the elder to whom she owed the most, as well as the one who had been best to her.

Tang Xin felt she had an obligation to rescue Mrs. Tang from that pit of fire.

What truly made Tang Xin decide was this: the letter plainly contained two different handwritings. On the first page, Mrs. Tang merely asked after her daughter, wondering how life was going in the countryside, how things were after marriage, whether she had been bullied, and so on.

But on the second page, not only had the handwriting changed, even the style of the letter had shifted.

There, the writer asked Tang Xin about Meng Jia's current situation, whether she was being bullied, whether she was being helped, and the like.

It also reminded Tang Xin not to forget that Meng Jia's father had once risked his life to save Old Tang, and that she must not bully that orphaned mother and daughter.

Tang Xin read it and let out cold, repeated sneers.

Just as she had thought. That was exactly the sort of man her original father was—always speaking of repaying a debt of gratitude, while expecting his own wife and daughter to serve that other mother and daughter.