Stepmother

Jia Fan

Li Ya could only shut her mouth knowing that nothing good would come if she were to argue with Wan Meirong right now. Not only was she the richest in the family but she was also their source of financial support currently, and she also had her husband's unwavering support. Many would think that a husband would hate such an overbearing wife who never gave them any sons but Zhang Kai loved his wife dearly and loved his children even more. So even if Li Ya was the favored daughter-in-law she didn't have much of an advantage in facing Wan Meirong.

"I didn't mean that sister-in-law, it's just that you're always doubting Fu'er," Li Ya responded gently.

"I would not have doubted him if he did not have the habit of lying before," Wan Meirong responded as she looked at her freshly painted vermillion nails. Zhang Fu had always been spoiled so he always thought that the world was at his feet and that everything belonged to him. They cooked a decent amount of meat a week ago because an important guest was coming over but Zhang Fu sneaked in and ate it all in secret and then had the audacity to blame, Wan Meirong's children. Wan Meirong of course was furious and proved her children's innocence on the spot and embarrassed Zhang Fu and his parents. But Old Lady Zhang and Li Ya were still in denial and decided to discipline the children by not giving them food while Wan Meirong was not there. Of course, Wan Meirong was furious when she heard of this, so she stopped providing for the family and started to feed her children meat every single day. Showing that her children didn't need to steal meat as she could afford to feed them it every single day. 

"Can you all stop talking? Fu'er what did you see?" Old Lady Zhang asked in a gentle voice.

"I saw them walking to Song Xia's house, they were all wearing rare new clothes. Their hair is no longer that dry and yellow, and they are not dirty anymore. Though they are still skinny they don't look like they have been starving." Zhang Fu explained.

"Really? Did they say anything to you?" Li Ya asked.

"Well I went up to them and asked them where they stole the clothes but they told me that their mommy made it for them. I knew they were lying because their mom had abandoned them long ago, but they told me that it was their new mommy. But that's also a lie since a stepmother never likes the old wife's children." Zhang Fu reasoned surprising both Li Ya and Old Madam Zhang.

The last sentence almost made Old Lady Zhang jump from her seat. She was also a stepmother and she did not like the children left behind by the first wife. She was the second wife of Old Man Zhang, but she could never outdo the First Old Madam Zhang no matter what she did. She has had a crush on Zhang Dai, who was now known as Old Man Zhang since they were teenagers, but Old Man Zhang liked someone else. He had liked Qi Shuchun, and just like her name she was indeed a beauty. Her beauty was said to rival that of noble ladies in the capital, and her kindness knew no limit. Every single man in the village had a crush on her but the only lucky person to marry her was Zhang Dai.

Zhang Dai loved his wife at the beginning of their marriage but after she gave birth to two kids and became ill he started secretly meeting Jia Fan who is now known as Old Madam Zhang. When she got pregnant, she was taken in as a concubine.  Qi Shuchun died leaving behind seven years old daughter and son. Right after her death, Zhang Dai married Jia Fan as his official wife and she gave birth to five children for him, but others still talked about his first wife causing her to become more hateful. So when Zhang Jinhai's sister was of marriageable age, she was married off to an abusive widower, while Zhang Jinhai was sent off to the army. Because of what she did her reputation in the village was ruined, but nobody dared to speak up to her. So hearing what Zhang Shu had to say about stepmothers made her heart jump a little.

"Are you sure that they said that?" Li Ya asked.

"Why would I lie?" Zhang Shu grumbled unhappily. "Anyways I want new clothes!" Zhang Shu demanded.

"Well if you all will excuse me, I need to go." Wan Meirong excused herself. She was going to visit Sun Baohai to see if what Zhang Shu said was correct with her own eyes. When Sun Baohai married over she tried to help him because her husband had a good relationship with Jinhai, but this new sister-in-law of hers was very stubborn. He refused to listen and only followed Li Ya and Old Madam Zhang around.  So she instead tried to help the children, but when she helped them she seemed to have brought more trouble to them. She still helped them but it was in secret. But of course, the family noticed, because how could the children to whom they never gave food survive? So around the You hour (5- 7 pm) she made her way to Jinhai's house.

Since teaching the kids this morning, Sun Baohai had been busy farming and cleaning the yard. So he had been farming for about four to five hours now. Though he cleaned the house the first time he got there, that was just surface cleaning. He farmed for about another hour and then went on to do deep cleaning. He rearranged the whole house and took all the junk in the yard away. The house was still well-painted so he didn't have to worry about repainting the house. What he needed to do the most was decorating. He first started with the kid's room.

He painted flowers and the starry night in the kid's bedrooms. Well, he attempted to, but the wall of the house wasn't very smooth, and though it didn't ruin the painting, one could still see its shortcomings. He then cut out paper and cut out paper flowers and then hug them in the room. He then started knitting the kids' names and to put them on the kang. He hadn't made beds for them yet, and when he did make it for them he would glue their name on their bed. He also noticed that the rooms did not have doors. One of the first things he will do when he earns money is pay a carpenter to make some home necessities for him. 

It's not that he couldn't do it as he was a literal DIY expert. That's how he survived in his past life, by making and selling DIY stuff. But he took a long time to make these things, and he needed these things urgently so he would rather pay someone for it instead. After rearranging the house he realised that he needed a lot of things. 

For example, except for the dining table, there was nowhere guests could seat if they came to visit. Their kitchen also needed some work done in it. There were no doors. The floors in the house needed some work done. Most of the basic home necessities were missing in this household. Seeing that he needed so much stuff as soon as he finished cleaning, he draft up a list and went to shower. 

After he got out of the shower, he dried his hair and then braided them into two dutch braids. His hair had been a mess for a while now and he was finally able to tame and wash it, so he would not make the mistake of leaving it out after washing it. Seeing that it was getting late he went in the kitchen to cook. As he was making his way to the kitchen he heard a knock on their front door, hence he went over to open it.

Question Of The Day

One thing you can't live without?