Chapter 24: Easing Tensions Between Mother-in-Law and Daughter-in-Law
"Big sister-in-law, let me put it this way—those who like this fruit love it to death, while those who don't can't stand the sight of it. For people who can accept the smell of durian, it smells wonderful, but for those who can't, it stinks to high heaven."
Su He tried to explain as she described durian.
"In that case, aren't you worried about losing money? And you even rented half of Aunt Niu's sloped field," Chen Sufen asked curiously.
"I won't lose money. I'm confident," Su He said, her eyes lighting up.
Seeing her so self-assured, the sisters-in-law started feeling hopeful too.
Though they never expected to make much money from this, even scraps would be something.
Su He took out the steamed buns she had prepared from her basket and handed them to her sisters-in-law. They had brought their own water, so she didn't need to provide that.
"You even brought buns!" Seeing the food, the three sisters-in-law couldn't help but grin from ear to ear.
They had thought they'd have to work until noon and only eat after going home to cook lunch.
It had to be said that Su He had really changed for the better. After just half a day together, their impression of her had done a complete 180.
She was hardworking, thoughtful, and good with words—she was easy to be around, and working for her felt entirely happy.
"Of course there's food. Later, I'll head back early and cook at my place today. You sisters-in-law just need to come and eat," Su He said with a smile.
"That won't do. We've got so many people in our family. We can't possibly eat at her place, or you can come over to ours," Eldest Sister-in-law Zhang Xiaohua quickly replied.
Su He's household only had three people, while the Fu family had over a dozen. It wouldn't be right to impose on her for a meal.
Rumors said Su He's family had even gambled away their rice—whether it was true or not, she must've come back to the village when times got tough.
"It's fine. There's still food at home. That's that—I'll go tell Mom later and ask her to bring the kids over for dinner," Su He said warmly.
If she wanted to fix things between them, she had to take action.
She could handle feeding the Fu family a couple of meals, even though they really did have a lot of people.
After giving a few more instructions, Su He said goodbye to her sisters-in-law and headed home to cook.
Some time after she left, Chen Sufen sighed, "Who knew Ting Hua's wife would really change for the better?"
"Maybe we never really understood her before. We barely spent any time with her," Zhang Xiaohua also felt that Su He was genuinely good.
"Su He is only twenty-one, right? She's several years younger than us. She really does have that city-girl way about her—it's hard to describe, but she just seems so poised," He Fangfang couldn't help but remark.
"Have Mom and Dad mentioned when Ting Hua will be back?" Chen Sufen suddenly asked.
"No, they haven't. They don't even dare bring it up. Why did Ting Hua go all the way to the border? I heard it's dangerous there, with fighting breaking out now and then," He Fangfang said, stabbing the dirt hard.
"Was it to avoid Su He? She's lost some weight now and doesn't look as bad as before," Chen Sufen whispered.
"Yeah, right after giving birth, she was so fat her features disappeared. Now that she's slimmed down a bit, you can see her face now, and she's actually quite pretty. Plus, her skin is so fair," Zhang Xiaohua said, wiping sweat from her forehead.
Naturally, Su He couldn't hear their conversation—she was busy cooking.
After preparing the meal, Su He went to the Fu household. Her two children were playing jump rope with their older cousins at the courtyard gate, though they were still too young to jump properly and could only hold the rope for others.
The moment they saw her, the two kids immediately dropped the rope and came running, yelling, "Mama! Mama!"
With one leg hugged by a child, Su He smiled and asked, "Did you have fun at Grandma's house?"
"Yes!"
Before, Su He kept them cooped up at home, rarely allowing the two kids outside, so they mostly played by themselves. This time, they finally got to play with older children.
Hearing the noise, Wu Yanhua came out of the house and met Su He's gaze.
"Mom," Su He quickly greeted.
"Hmm, why are you back so early? Where is your sister-in-law?" Wu Yanhua asked.
"She's still on the mountain. I came down early to cook. Come eat at my place today—I've already prepared the meal," Su He said with a smile.
Without another word, Wu Yanhua went into the kitchen to get the vegetables picked from the backyard and said, "Let's go."
Taken aback by how readily her mother-in-law agreed, Su He paused briefly before heading to her house with the children in tow.
On the way, they passed many neighbors, all of whom greeted Wu Yanhua warmly.
"Hey, Yanhua, where you off to with the kids?" someone asked.
"Going to my younger daughter-in-law's for lunch," Wu Yanhua replied cheerfully, clearly in good spirits.
That's when everyone noticed Su He walking beside her, and many were startled—had Su He gotten that much thinner? More importantly, had their relationship actually gotten better?
The Fu family had once been the model family in the village, known for their harmony and unity.
But Su He's arrival ruined all that.
Many villagers had secretly envied the Fu family, but when they saw them end up with such a disappointing daughter-in-law, they couldn't help but gossip behind their backs.
Who would've thought that Wu Yanhua and Su He's relationship would now seem to have gotten better?
Su He wasn't exactly slim now—standing around 163 cm tall, she probably weighed about 180 pounds.
But before, she must have been over 220 pounds, and looked much heavier.
Losing weight wasn't easy, and Su He wondered if she could ever slim down to around 110 pounds.
But whether it was a benefit of crossing over or just her constant physical activity since arriving, she had noticeably lost weight.
At least she was thinner than when she first returned to the village—back then, many villagers had gone to the Fu household just to gawk at her.
The truth was, Wu Yanhua still disliked Su He. No matter how well Su He behaved, she simply felt Su He wasn't good enough for her son.
But dislike aside, there were no real fights between them, and Wu Yanhua was capable of peaceful coexistence.
Besides, she didn't want the villagers laughing at her family anymore, nor did she want her son's wife and children to suffer mistreatment under her watch.
Earlier, Fu Dajun had scolded Wu Yanhua. Though he usually deferred to her in most household matters, when he made up his mind about something, he had the last say.
Fu Dajun had told Wu Yanhua that her behavior as a mother-in-law had made the Fu family the laughingstock of the village.
Why did the Fu family hold such influence in Shangyao Village? For one, Fu Tinghua was the only university graduate from the village, always willing to help fellow villagers get medical care at city hospitals or secure discounted rates.
Another reason was the Fu family's unity—no one dared to mess with them.
With so many men in the household, who would dare provoke them? But now, because of Wu Yanhua's dislike for Su He, they'd started fighting among themselves, and it was downright embarrassing.