Transmigration: The Evil Mother-In-Law Is Actually Innocent!
Chapter 231: Impulsive Mind_1

Chapter 231: Chapter 231: Impulsive Mind_1

Zhulan reflected that plans could not keep up with changes, but without a plan, there was no clear direction. Although there were changes, fortunately, the general direction remained the same. "We had agreed that after we moved, you would come live here and help watch the house. We moved first, so of course you can move in early. However, the year’s rent you paid can’t be refunded. After all, we are family, and we had an agreement for one year."

Xue Mei and her mother didn’t need to hide their thoughts. She indeed wanted to move in early. The new stove wall built at her maternal home was warmer than the rented house in the winter. Moreover, by moving in early with Jiang Sheng, her in-laws would no longer have an excuse to come over unreasonably.

Xue Mei said, "Mother, I am a person who understands limits. I won’t ask for the rent back."

Jiang Sheng listened to the conversation between his mother-in-law and his wife. It was not his place to speak. He had also guessed that his wife’s family might be moving. He supported his wife’s idea to move in early, not because of better conditions, but because he wanted to avoid his parents. He wished to focus on his studying without them badgering him, putting additional pressure on him. Of course, he also felt a profound disappointment with his parents, having been truly hurt by them this time.

Zhulan knew her daughter’s family didn’t have many possessions and thought about the numerous items in her own home. Many of them would not be used if taken along, so it would be better to leave some behind.

Zhou Shuren returned, and Zhulan, together with her daughter, started to prepare lunch. Lady Li had bought ten jin of pork, three jin of ribs, four pig’s feet, and even half a liver. She chose big fish, buying four carp, each weighing three to four jin. And in the end, she even bought a wild chicken and a wild rabbit.

Xue Mei estimated the cost of the silver coins and took a sharp breath. She whispered in her mother’s ear, "Mother, is this really the sister-in-law I know?"

Despite her maternal family’s increasingly prosperous life and her sister-in-law being the person with the most silver, after Lady Li, in the household, the sister-in-law was still not generous. The last time Mother admonished her sister-in-law, she begrudgingly bought a few cakes costing half a tael of silver. Her sister-in-law dared not show her displeasure in front of Mother, but she wasn’t so polite to her, giving her a cold shoulder for several days!

This time, not only did she willingly spend silver, but she was also in high spirits. Xue Mei couldn’t help but wonder if her sister-in-law was possessed.

Zhulan, ".... Right now, her mind is just overheated. Once she cools down, she’ll regret it."

She didn’t need to guess to know that Lady Li, flattered by the compliments, had overspent. Sigh, she was going to suffer from buyer’s remorse later, which was a good opportunity for Lady Li to learn her lesson.

Xue Mei, "....."

That was indeed something her sister-in-law would do!

Lady Li leisurely turned around. The volume of Mother’s voice hadn’t been low, and her mind was clear now. Oh no, she indeed got carried away. The whole village knew her in-laws had bought sixty mu of land and a big house, and she basked in the envious stares of the young wives in the village, as well as the flattery of the butcher’s and the hunter’s wives, which led her to overspend.

Lady Li looked at the wild chicken and rabbit on the ground, her heart aching; her hand holding the knife was unstable.

Zhao’s wife quietly moved away from her sister-in-law, fearing that Lady Li, overcome with regret, would be unable to use the knife properly, and she didn’t want to be accidentally hurt.

Zhulan coughed once, "Lady Li, hurry up and kill the rabbit. Don’t just stand there doing nothing."

Lady Li gripped the knife, "Mother, I think there’s already enough food for today. Killing the rabbit would be too troublesome because we’d have to skin it. Mother, let’s just not eat it, alright?"

She thought she might be able to salvage the situation by returning the rabbit. The wild chicken couldn’t be returned; it was already dead and couldn’t be brought back to life.

Zhulan smiled faintly, "Indeed, we have enough dishes for lunch already."

Lady Li felt relieved, "Exactly, Mother. We already have ten dishes without killing the rabbit. Mother, listen to the ten dishes I plan to make: boiled fish, braised fish, stewed wild chicken, soy sauce beef, soy sauce pig’s feet, stir-fried liver with chili, braised pork, braised ribs, and two vegetarian dishes. Isn’t that enough, Mother?"

Zhulan went along with the conversation, "So the rabbit can be returned, and you can exchange it for some silver, which won’t make it so painful."

Lady Li nodded repeatedly, "Yes, Mother, how did you know?"

She didn’t finish her sentence when she realized her mother-in-law had deliberately led her to reveal her inner thoughts. She shivered, for although her mother-in-law had a smile on her face, she found her terrifying. Every time Mother smiled, it meant she was about to discipline her. She silently reflected on her recent behavior.

Lady Li, "....."

She seemed to be floating on air a bit too much lately. Since buying the land, she had scarcely stayed home, either returning to her maternal home to enjoy the fawning of her elder and second sisters-in-law, or wandering through the village, enjoying everyone’s sarcasm and jealousy. It seemed she had indeed gone a bit too far.

Zhulan had no real intention of admonishing Lady Li this time. Boasting is human nature, and now that everyone knew, there was nothing particularly harmful about Lady Li’s boasting. She knew the villagers looked down on Lady Li and spoke ill of her behind her back. As family, she was actually happy for Lady Li to go out and annoy others; she just wanted to tease Lady Li a bit.

What she forgot was that Lady Li had let her imagination run wild, and this time, Lady Li had indeed scared herself.

Zhulan was now stuck between a rock and a hard place, not wanting to laugh and inadvertently frightening Lady Li even more. After coughing once, she said, "I need to discuss something with your father, I’ll leave the kitchen to you."

Lady Li was a bit confused. What did it mean for her mother-in-law to leave? Was she intending to scold her, or not?

Zhulan returned to the main room, but before she could say anything, Zhou Shuren sent his sons and son-in-law off, "You all go and keep yourselves busy!"

The sons of the Zhou family were used to this and promptly left.

Jiang Sheng, although he had witnessed this a few times, was still not accustomed to it, but luckily he knew how to read the room and followed suit.

Zhulan didn’t actually have anything to discuss with Zhou Shuren; she had just used that as an excuse to avoid scaring Lady Li. "You don’t need to keep me company, I just came back to rest for a bit."

Zhou Shuren said, "If it weren’t for you cooking, I wouldn’t be finding ways to pass the time with a few sons."

Zhulan, "...."

The young men must have already felt they were superfluous; hearing this, wouldn’t they be ready to cry?

Zhou Shuren, seeing Zhulan’s expressionless face, could guess her thoughts and laughed, "Alright, I’m just teasing you. Indeed, I had things to instruct the boys, and I’ve already finished, so there’s nothing more to say. I sent them off to do their own things."

Zhulan snorted, not believing Zhou Shuren was just teasing her. The instructions were real, as was the passing of time. She reached out and gave Zhou Shuren a twist.

Zhou Shuren actually wanted to play around, but conditions didn’t permit it. Thankfully, they were moving soon. Plans can’t keep up with changes, and he could see the benefits of these changes were not so small. The dejection Zhou got from being threatened by Elder Zheng before he left was also gone.

The midday meal was a bit overdone and all quite troublesome; the time for eating had long passed the noon hour. In addition to the already complex dishes, another spicy rabbit dish replaced one less green vegetable.

Today’s housewarming was a big celebration, and leave had been taken from study sessions. The whole family gathered together, with both men and women cheerfully drinking.

Zhulan had quite a tolerance for alcohol, even though she couldn’t quite match those who had trained in modern times. She drank several cups without getting dizzy or blushing.

Xue Mei and Xue Han followed Zhulan and Zhou Shuren’s lead and also had good alcohol tolerance. Xue Han was still young but didn’t get drunk from drinking, which surprised Zhulan. She hadn’t expected Lady Zhao to also be good with alcohol, but her face turned red from drinking.

Lady Zhao trusted her in-laws but not Jiang Sheng, her son-in-law, who hadn’t revealed his true character to her, although he hadn’t hidden it from Xue Mei.

Xue Mei was touched by her sister-in-law’s trust and didn’t think hiding things from her husband was wrong. Her sister-in-law’s appearance would bring trouble to her natal home; it was better for fewer people to know.

It wasn’t that she didn’t trust her husband; she didn’t trust the people in her husband’s family!

The alcohol tolerance of the women in the family unexpectedly surprised Zhulan the most with Lady