The General's Delicious Wife Chapter 058: Marrying A Wife and Forgetting A Father
Madam Sheng returned to the room after washing up and saw that Xue Liang Ping already lying on the quilt and snoring.
"Old man, don't sleep yet, I have something to tell you."
Xue Liang Ping was very tired as he went out to buy seeds today. He was pushed awake as soon as he fell asleep, he frowned with his eyes closed, "Leave the talk to tomorrow, I'm so sleepy."
Madam Sheng suddenly became angry and stretched out her hand and harshly pinched Xue Liang Ping's arm.
"This must be clarified today!"
Xue Liang Ping had no choice so he sat up resignedly, draping on his clothes, "Say it let's talk!"
Madam Sheng told him about Xia Yue Chu going to the Cui's house as a main chef and earned money, going through the story with additional oil and vinegar (Meaning: extra spiteful information).
Xue Liang Ping's eyelids kept fighting, he finally heard her finished so he replied hazily, "The eldest daughter-in-law has the capability, isn't that a good thing... ..."
"As good as a fart!" Madam Sheng was almost maddened to her death by him, "She made so much money by moving her hands a little and cooking dishes, but she didn't know to give home allowance, why would anyone want this kind of daughter-in-law? I might as well raise a pig, I can still eat some meat and sell it for money!"
"Da Zhuang is in such a situation now, it's good enough that Yue Chu is not scornful, can you just stop messing around? If Yue Chu ran away angered, what will Da Zhuang do for the rest of his life?"
"Who said she was going to be chased away." Madam Sheng naturally did not want to take over the responsibility of Xue Zhuang, that mess and burden, "I am just thinking, you go and talk to Da Zhuang tomorrow, in the future let his wife give the money she earned to the family... ..."
"Nonsense!"
Before Madam Sheng's words were finished, Xue Liang Ping interrupted loudly.
"How do you only recognize money money money every day? You want to take even the daughter-in-law's private savings that she earned. If this is spread to the outside, are you still going to be a decent human being? You don't want your face but I still want it (Meaning: You want to be shameless but I don't)!"
Madam Sheng knew that she was not being reasonable on this matter, but she just did not feel happy and wanted to rant it to Xue Liang Ping. Who knew that as soon as she started he would give her such a harsh lecture, and all of the sudden, she could not hold it in any longer.
"Xue Liang Ping! What do you mean by that?" Madam Sheng's face drooped, "Do you think I am willing to calculate this measly bit of spare change everyday? How do we spent our daily expense if we don't calculate? If you are a person who can make a lot of money, I would be happy to be free and idle. If the money in our hands cannot be used up, I would not have to be so calculative. It's a pity that you have no money! Earning only three melons and two dates every day is not enough for the whole family to chew on. Can I do it without calculating? If I don't calculate won't the entire family will be eating air and drinking wind?"
Xue Liang Ping was so distressed by her, he sighed and said, "You should at least think about it for the children. Don't talk about the further things, just with what's before our eyes, Xiao Qin has yet to marry, if there are rumors of our family having a bad reputation, how will she find her in-laws in the future?"
This was indeed what Madam Sheng was concerned of. Xiao Qin was born a bit prettier than Da Ping. She expected her little girl to quickly find her a successful son-in-law. She was usually reluctant to let her do any of the chores in and around the house, fearing that she would get tanned or her hands would roughen, so listening to Xue Liang Ping mentioning Xiao Qin's marriage, she naturally had to worry about it.
"That's enough, I'm just ranting about it." Madam Sheng's lips puckered, her eyes suddenly rotated a few times, and she came up with another idea. She leaned close to Xue Liang Ping and whispered, "Why don't you see if this is okay? Let Da Zhuang's wife teach Da Li and Da Yong her cooking skills, so that they can be equipped with a craft. In the future, maybe they can go to the city to open a restaurant or something, and they don't have to be like us, digging the ground for food for the rest of their lives."
There was some truth in what she said, and Xue Liang Ping could not help being a little tempted.
But he still hesitated and replied, "This, this is not very good, right? Although I don't know where she learned this craft, it should be good to have been invited by the Cui family repeatedly. This is her specialized skills to make a living, will she just teach it to other people like that?"
"Listen to what you said, how can Da Li Da Yong be other people!" Madam Sheng gave him a push and said, "As the saying goes, the eldest sister-in-law should be like a mother, and so the younger brother-in-law is a son. Although she is not that old, she is still the eldest daughter-in-law of the family. It is not her duty to help the younger brother-in-law out."
Seeing that Xue Liang Ping still looked melancholy, Madam Sheng continued, "Besides, Da Zhuang is like this now, it is still unsure whether he can have children in the future or not, he would have to rely on his brothers to help him live in the future."
Xue Liang Ping pondered for a long time, and felt that Madam Sheng's words did make some sense. If Da Zhuang really could not be cured, he would have to adopt a child from his two brothers in the future. No matter what, it was right for them to get along well.
Thinking up to this point, he nodded and agreed, "Okay, I'll talk to Da Zhuang tomorrow morning."
Madam Sheng got the confirmation she wanted, so she blew out the light and got into the bed and slept contentedly.
As soon as he had breakfast the next day, Xue Liang Ping was urged by Madam Sheng to go to Xue Zhuang's house.
"Da Zhuang ah, how are your legs and feet feeling these few days?" Xue Liang Ping was a little awkward in finding something to say.
"It's been pretty good lately, Father, sit down and talk." Xue Zhuang was also a little surprised when he saw him coming.
He knew that Xue Liang Ping cared about him very much, but there was a sense of distance between them. They were cautious and polite when they spoke, and they were so awkward that they did not look like a pair of father and son at all, that was why Xue Liang Ping rarely came over.
"Then that... ..." Xue Liang Ping sat down and rubbed his hands. He did not know where to start.
His words were stuck in a round-about in his mouth, and at last he picked a safe topic and said, "You are going to the city for the follow-up session in two days time, right?"
"Yeah!" Xue Zhuang replied with a smile, "Doctor Tang said that I am recovering well. As long as I persist on taking medicine and massage, there is still hope that I can stand up in the future."
"Good, good!" Xue Liang Ping did not know what else to say except for good. After all, when Doctor Tang had said this, he was standing right next to him.
"Father, if you have anything to say you can say it directly, we are father and son, what is there that cannot be said between us." Xue Zhuang saw that it was too difficult for him to voice out his intentions, so he had to give him a push.
"Yes, yes, there's nothing we cannot say between us father and son... ..." Xue Liang Ping fidgeted and changed his posture, and finally said, "Father just wanted to ask you, your wife is so good at cooking, so that, Father doesn't have any other meaning, I'm just thinking... You, you look at your two brothers, they are just like me, with no promising future. Anyway, I can still farm but they don't even understand farming. I originally wanted to send them out to learn some crafts or something, but our family is too poor, we can't even afford to gather enough for their apprenticeship gifts and ceremonies..."
The smile on Xue Zhuang's face gradually receded. Although Xue Liang Ping said it in a topsy-turvy manner, his intention was already very obvious.
With a heavy expression on his face, he looked at Xue Liang Ping sorrowfully and said, "Father, with Son's current state, maybe I would have to depend on Yue Chu for everything in the future, so can you don't make it difficult for Son?"
Xue Liang Ping was greatly sadden by what he said, and tears almost burst out from his eyes. How would he dare to continue saying anymore, he immediately called it off. "Can, okay, you just take it that Father had not said anything, as long as you are well, Father will not ask for anything else!"
Madam Sheng was still waiting for Xue Liang Ping's good news in her room, she ended up seeing him coming back with his eyes redden, upon asking, it turned out that the deal was called off which made her so angry that she threw down the wooden basin in her hands and screamed in the direction of the East wing room.
"I am really cursed through my eight incarnations, to have married into your old Xue's family, and being associated with such a white-eyed wolf (Meaning: an ungrateful and back stabbing person) who forgets his father when he got a wife*! Although I am not your real mother, but your father is always your father, can he be harming you? You don't help your own brothers, and only know to exalt that wife of yours, really treating her as a fragrant treasure? That person can cook well and can make money, as if she would stay with you forever? When the time comes, she will take all the money and run away with somebody else, even if you wanted to chase, you won't even be able to move your legs... ..."
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Translator Notes:
*Forgetting his father when he got a wife, the actual commonly used phrase in Chinese would be "Forgetting one's mother when he got himself a wife". Because similar to many other cultures, the relationship between the mother-in-law and the daughter-in-law is usually really intense. For people who would choose to protect their wives in this mother-in-law and daughter-in-law battle, they would usually be accused of forgetting their mothers.
So Madam Sheng used the same phrase, replacing the character in the parent position.
Translated by YellowBean.