Cheng Su left decisively, leaving Mother Qi staring in astonishment, pointing at the doorway and trembling without stopping, before finally mustering a sentence, "What, what kind of attitude is this?"
It was indeed an eye-opener; a new bride dared to show her disdain on the very first day?
Everyone knew she had a fiery temperament, but no one expected her to still be so temperamental even after crossing the threshold into the family.
She was furious!
"It's fine. She's young. We'll teach her slowly over time. Besides, isn't she going to make breakfast?" Father Qi didn't seem to care much. It's natural for a new bride to be shy; they could teach her gradually.
Mother Qi's face darkened. It was precisely because of the old man's attitude that the Qi family had ended up with such a daughter-in-law. Her Taiguo had been wronged.
She looked at her eldest son, Taiguo. His face was impassive, and he said nothing, leaving her guessing what he might be thinking. But to Mother Qi, it seemed he was displeased.
Indeed, how could he be happy with such a bride?
Father Qi asked Taiguo when he planned to return to his military unit.
"I'm leaving tomorrow," Taiguo replied succinctly.
His holiday time was already strict. Such a big event as marriage would allow him more leave, but he didn't want to take it, so he had only scheduled three days of wedding leave.
And Cheng Su, she did not seem to have any desire for him to stay.
"Then you..."
"What's that smell?" Taiguo interrupted his father's words, wrinkling his nose as if something was burning.
"Is someone burning firewood?" Mother Qi also smelled it.
Taiguo looked outside and upon seeing smoke, he stood up abruptly.
A sharp scream altered his expression.
"Fire... Ah."
Taiguo rushed out, and as soon as he stepped out of the main entrance, he saw someone rushing out of the separate kitchen, while thick smoke billowed inside.
"What, what..." Mother Qi and the others also came out and couldn't help but cry out loudly at the sight, "There's a fire!"
Taiguo had already sprinted to the well in the courtyard, swiftly drawing water and dashing to the kitchen.
The fire wasn't too big, merely burning the woodpile next to the stove, spreading along it.
Pshhh.
With a splash, a bucket of water was thrown, and Taiguo emerged from the kitchen, with his father following close behind, having brought more water.
Father and son worked together, bucket after bucket, quickly extinguishing the flames.
Clang.
Taiguo dropped the iron bucket on the ground, then turned to look at Cheng Su.
Cheng Su was covered in soot, her face betraying the shock she still felt, with her fair complexion streaked with black ash, looking utterly disheveled.
Feeling Taiguo's gaze, she glanced back at him, somewhat sheepishly, but quickly straightened her back.
It was true that in her previous life she had been an orphan, but she had grown up in an orphanage and had a benefactor to support her, so she had never done such rural work. The most traditional way of cooking with firewood, she had only experienced it during camping with classmates and had never really dealt with it before.
This time, as a daughter-in-law making breakfast, she thought it would be straightforward, but who knew...
"Oh my Lord, what a calamity, you wretched woman, even making breakfast you managed to burn down my kitchen, are you useless or what?" Mother Qi, after seeing the kitchen that survived the ordeal, was heartbroken and cursed Cheng Su relentlessly.
A stream of profanities, spat out with splashes of saliva, hit Cheng Su's face. The volume was so intense; it only lacked amplification from a loudspeaker aimed directly at Cheng Su's ears.
Poor Cheng Su, she dug at her ear and took a step back, saying, "I'm just not very skilled yet, it won't happen next time."
"There's a next time?" Mother Qi shrieked, "You burned half the kitchen in one go, will the entire house be burned down next time?"
"From what I see, sister-in-law did it on purpose, didn't she? By burning it intentionally, she won't have to work in the kitchen again," a young girl's voice suddenly chimed in.