The bicycle had barely stopped, and Susu jumped straight off, charging into the house with her butt tingling from the bumpy ride.
"Grandma, Uncle and Aunt are back!"
Xiao Yu, who had been eagerly waiting, saw the two and immediately yelled into the house, dashing into Susu's arms.
"You're back just in time for dinner," Mrs. Lu's voice called from the kitchen.
Looking at her daughter-in-law's flushed face, and then at her silent son, the old couple exchanged a knowing smile.
Lu Xiaomei, puzzled, said, "Second sister-in-law, why is your face so red? Is it very hot?"
Upon hearing this, Xiao Yu, with a furrowed brow, said caringly, "Aunt, are you very hot? Do you want Xiao Yu to get you a towel?"
Feeling self-conscious under the gaze of the whole family, Susu's guilty complexion grew even hotter, "No, no, it's just a bit warm coming in, I'll be fine in a moment."
Lu Xiaoting raised an eyebrow, serving his wife some dishes.
He received an annoyed glare from her in return, which amused him slightly.
The two were to share a room again, and Susu's mind was a whirlwind of wild thoughts.
Fearing she might do something regrettable, she took the opportunity to go to bed while the man was helping the little one wash up, and despite tossing and turning, she fell asleep rather quickly.
When Lu Xiaoting entered the room carrying Xiao Yu, he saw the woman sleeping in a sprawled pose on the kang bed.
Xiao Yu covered his face, "Aunt doesn't sleep very tidily."
Lu Xiaoting chuckled and nodded in agreement, looking at the little guy in his arms, "Hmm, a little!"
Susu, who had assumed she would suffer from insomnia, stretched comfortably and shuffled off the kang with her hair in disarray.
In the courtyard, one big and one small were sweeping the floor with brooms.
"Aunt, you're up."
"Awake? Later, take me to buy vegetables. It's a good chance to discuss home delivery with them. You and mom can save some trouble too."
Having just woken up and still feeling groggy, Susu blinked and nodded, "Oh!"
"Sister-in-law, do you and Xiao Yu have any dirty clothes? I'm going to do laundry; you can bring them out, and I'll wash them together," Lu Xiaomei said, holding a few garments.
Susu was too embarrassed to let her little aunt do her laundry, hastily waving her hands in refusal.
Lu Xiaomei, feeling for her mother and sister-in-law who were busy earning money, simply pushed her second sister-in-law back inside.
"Second sister-in-law, hurry up. While I'm on break I can help out with some chores, otherwise when I go back to school, even if you want my help, I won't be able to."
"Susu, get your dirty clothes out for your little sister. You and Old Second get going to buy the vegetables already. We're all family here, no need to be polite."
Seeing her mother-in-law speak up, Susu didn't protest any further.
The couple rode their bicycle straight to the market.
After arranging a daily delivery time with the vegetable and meat vendors, they brought home today's goods.
Susu had been planning to discuss home delivery arrangements after settling in, and with everything arranged today, her mood was naturally good.
She prodded the man's waist, "Lu Xiaoting, thank you."
The man's body tensed, and he coughed lowly, "Ahem, wife, a man's waist shouldn't be poked casually; it could cause trouble."
The savvy Susu immediately got it, her face flushed red, and she quickly loosened her arm from around the man's waist.
…
As soon as the two arrived home, the whole family started bustling about.
The Lu Family had no rule against men entering the kitchen, and Lu Xiaoting had long been assigned tasks by his mother.
There he was, sitting on a little stool like a small mountain, deftly cleaning the pig intestines.
If this were in the Provincial City, it would probably cause a sensation throughout the Family Court.
Mrs. Lu saw her daughter-in-law glance at her son from time to time and teased her, "What's the matter? Missing your man?"
"Mom~" Susu cooed, playfully teasing her mother-in-law who was busy, "Mom, why are you still bossing Lu Xiao and Lu Xiaoting around?"
"Our family isn't like those unreasonable homes that insist on the daughter-in-law doing all the work."
Mrs. Lu reminisced about her youth, "When we first set up our own home, I had no one to help me with the kids. Sometimes, when I couldn't manage, your father was the one who cooked."
Susu raised an eyebrow, "These days, men who cook for their wives are probably only found in our Lu Family. Mom, you and Dad have such a great relationship."
Mrs. Lu felt a bit embarrassed by her daughter-in-law's words and quickly waved her hands to change the subject, "We're an old couple, it's laughable to talk about these things."
Lu Xiaoting packed the braised goods onto the bicycle and lifted Xiao Yu onto the crossbar, taking over the bike, "Mom, just rest at home today. My wife and I going is enough."
Mrs. Lu couldn't relax, thinking that with her second son's demeanor, he might scare away customers, but she didn't want to dampen his enthusiasm.
"No need, no need. What would I do at home?"
Lu Xiaomei was curious about what her sister-in-law and mother were selling and clamored to follow along.
In the end, the whole family set out together, and by late morning, Lu Xiaoting and Lu Xiaomei came back early to cook.
"Second brother, just go sit over there and wait. Having Mom and your wife here is enough," Mrs. Lu said as soon as they reached the entrance of the textile factory, trying to send him away.
Lu Xiaoting waved his hand in refusal, insisting that his old mother and Xiao Yu rest.
Mrs. Lu glared at her son unhappily, "Just go, will you? With your presence, you're negatively affecting our business here."
Susu, holding back laughter, watched her dejected husband, not expecting her mother-in-law meant that.
Lu Xiaoting glanced at his wife's face, flushed with suppressed giggles, and awkwardly touched his nose before quietly sitting down against the wall.
The siblings watched the bustling hustle and bustle of the two adults and the child, all smiles on their faces.
After a day out at the stall, Lu Xiaoting noticed his wife had changed quite drastically, her style of doing things was completely different from before.
"Wife, Mom, you two go rest. I'll clean up," he said.
Mrs. Lu, holding her daughter-in-law's arm, suggested, "Susu, let's rest, let the second brother do it."
"Yeah."
Susu happily nodded and plopped down onto the rocking chair to relax.
The mother-in-law and daughter-in-law, all smiles, watched the siblings bustle in and out.
"Thump thump thump—"
Followed by a series of urgent knocking and a man's anxious voice, "Second brother, second brother, come quickly, Xianyue has been beaten, her in-laws hit her... "
When Lu Xiaoting opened the door, Uncle Su's Su Chenghe was there, dripping with sweat from urgency.
"Wait for me, together."
Susu immediately sprang up from the rocking chair.
"Okay, second brother, second sister, let's talk on the way."
Mrs. Lu watched the three of them hurriedly leave on their bicycles, extremely worried.
On the way, the couple learned that it was a family in the village who was close to Su Xianyue and couldn't stand by watching, so they had come to the Provincial City to report the incident.
Uncle Su, Aunt, the two brothers from the Lu Family, along with Lu Xiaoting and Susu, six people rushed to Su Xiaomei Su Xianyue's husband's home as fast as they could.
From a distance, they saw Su Xianyue hobbling along, holding a broken bowl, apparently having just finished feeding the chickens.
"Oh, my child!"
Aunt rushed in and embraced her bruised and swollen daughter, crying bitterly.
Su Xianyue seemed unable to believe it and it took a long while before she reacted, and then mother and daughter wept bitterly together.
"Damn it, what a cheap hussy, even lazing around while feeding the chickens, let's see if I don't beat you to death, you worthless hussy," an old hag with a nasty look and upturned eyes raged out holding a sorghum broom.