Courtyard House: My Wife is Xu Huizhen

Page 14

“Dongxu is our only son. You two cannot separate the family after you get married.”

Tian Xiu quickly replied, "That's only right. Taking care of one's mother-in-law is a traditional Chinese virtue. Of course, we won't separate from the family and will continue to be filial to you."

Madam Jia nodded in satisfaction and continued, "It's good that you understand things. Also, since we're not separating the family, you'll have to hand over your salary from now on. I'll take care of things at home. You just focus on your job and having children so that the Jia family can have many descendants."

Tian Xiu's smile froze instantly. This was completely unexpected; she was being asked to hand over her entire salary. She then asked, "Is it all of my salary?"

Jia Zhangshi replied matter-of-factly, "Of course it's all the salary."

Tian Xiu didn't know how to respond to this.

Even during the Qing Dynasty, married girls had a share of private property, and their dowry was untouchable.

During the Republic of China era, women were liberated and could work after marriage. Although they contributed to the household income, they did not have to hand over everything to their mothers-in-law as Jia Zhangshi described.

Why work so hard if you can't even control the money you earn?

That would mean working like a slave for the Jia family to earn money, suffering the hardship without any benefit.

Tian Xiu couldn't help but think to herself, "When I first saw Jia Zhangshi, she looked kind and gentle, so I thought she would be easy to get along with."

I never expected that I would be given a hard time just a few minutes after sitting down. She wanted to put all my salary away and let my mother-in-law manage it after the wedding.

Wouldn't I have to ask my mother-in-law to reimburse me for every penny I spend?

Will such a marriage lead to happiness?

Tian Xiu asked cautiously, "Do we have to hand over all our wages?"

"Of course! You're still young and inexperienced. What if you spend money recklessly? It's better if I manage the money so we can make a living together."

Then he talked for a while, mainly saying that the current situation is still unstable, and many people are saying that the people in the south will fight back, so we should save money and not spend it recklessly.

Tian Xiu was already starting to regret her decision. How could she have fallen for Jia Dongxu's handsome face and agreed to the marriage so readily?

Then he asked, "Auntie, this house looks quite old. When will it be repaired?"

Jia Zhangshi said directly, "What's the point of repairing it? Money is so hard to earn. We can talk about repairing the house later."

Tian Xiu's heart sank; this was not what Jia Dongxu had said.

Just as she was about to ask again, Jia Dongxu returned, and Tian Xiu felt embarrassed to continue the topic. The three of them then chatted about other things.

Yi Zhonghai was extremely worried about this apprentice. The couple busied themselves preparing a meal, but Jia Zhangshi didn't even lift a finger.

He Yuzhu first steamed a pot of buns, then washed the pot and cooked vegetables, thinking about what he could do. When he was adding salt, he accidentally added too much. By the time he realized it, the salt water had already dissolved a little.

"Oh dear, what should we do?"

He Yuzhu immediately felt annoyed. If there was too little salt, he could add more, but if there was too much, he couldn't just take it out of the dish.

No, I have special abilities.

He Yuzhu quickly unleashed his mental power. Although the salt particles were no longer visible to the naked eye, he could clearly sense them through his mental perception.

With a thought, the coarse salt, which had not yet completely melted, was already stored in the space.

He Yuzhu had just been thinking about how to sabotage Jia Dongxu's blind date, but couldn't come up with a solution. Suddenly, a brilliant idea struck him.

Since I can drain the excess salt from the pot, can't I also put coarse salt into the Jia family's pot?

Chapter 20 Jia Dongxu, I heard you went on a blind date today?

According to his mental perception, Yi Zhonghai was helping Jia's family cook, and chicken pieces were stewing in a clay pot on the stove.

He Yuzhu might have hesitated if someone else had been helping him, but since Yi Zhonghai, the "Lord of Morality," was cooking for him, He Yuzhu didn't stand on ceremony.

What are we waiting for? We put all the salt we just received from the space into the clay pot.

He Yuzhu was afraid the flavor would be too bland, so he took some more salt from his own salt jar and transferred it all to the clay pot.

He Yuzhu chuckled twice. From then on, Yi Zhonghai added a lot of salt to every dish he made, putting it directly into the soup, without Yi Zhonghai noticing.

Soon a table of dishes was prepared, and Yi Zhonghai and Aunt Yi carried it into the house, then smiled and said:

"Come on, have something to eat, don't be shy."

The five people sat down around the round table. Jia Dongxu poured a bottle of wine for Yi Zhonghai, and Jia Zhangshi and Aunt Yi first urged Tian Xiu to try Aunt Yi's cooking.

After some polite refusals, the three of them went to get the stewed chicken in the casserole at the same time. However, both Jia Zhangshi and Aunt Yi were waiting for Tian Xiu's praise.

Tian Xiu was the first to put the chicken piece in her mouth, but it felt like she had eaten an unwashed spicy dumpling, her mouth full of salt. She quickly spat out the chicken piece and took a sip of water from her teacup.

"What's wrong?" Aunt Yi asked.

"What could be wrong? She just doesn't like our food," Jia Zhangshi said angrily.

At first, I was quite satisfied with Tian Xiu, after all, she was a very pretty girl.

But later he found that Tian Xiu's attitude changed after he asked her to hand over her salary after getting married. She became indifferent to him and treated him perfunctorily.

Then I remembered, I can't marry a pretty girl!

As the saying goes, "An ugly wife, a meager plot of land, and a tattered cotton-padded jacket are all that's needed; marry a virtuous wife, take a beautiful concubine."

If I marry a beautiful girl, won't she turn into a vixen, constantly draining my life force and tormenting my precious son?

It should be noted that although people are still quite ignorant at this age, they know that excessive sexual activity can affect their lifespan. Therefore, many parents do not want their sons to be obsessed with women and want them to learn moderation, as this is in line with the principles of health preservation.

He married a beautiful daughter-in-law, but he's afraid his son will become obsessed with women and ruin his health.

Therefore, Jia Zhangshi's attitude towards Tian Xiu also changed a lot.

He went from thinking Tian Xiu was a qualified daughter-in-law to having some reservations.

Now that Tian Xiu has acted rudely, Madam Jia Zhang immediately retaliated, wanting to turn against Tian Xiu and prevent her son from marrying this vixen.

Just as Jia Dongxu put down his wine glass, he saw his mother scolding Tian Xiu and hurriedly asked, "Mother, what are you saying?"

She was very puzzled. Her mother had been quite satisfied with Tian Xiu that morning, so why did she suddenly start to dislike her?

But now is not the time to pursue this matter. He turned to Tian Xiu and asked, "Is it because the food doesn't suit your taste?"

Tian Xiu had long harbored resentment towards Jia Dongxu's mother-in-law, and originally thought that the matter of handing over one's salary for the wedding was still negotiable.

After today, let Jia Dongxu relay the message: part of the salary can be handed over, but not all of it. This way, the couple will still have some money left over. They can't ask their mother-in-law for money every time they buy something.

Later, the kind-hearted Jia Zhangshi suddenly changed her attitude for some reason and said a few words that were neither too harsh nor too mild, but made her feel very uncomfortable.

She already sensed that Jia Zhangshi was not satisfied with her.

Tian Xiu said impatiently, "If you're not satisfied, just say so. You put half a bag of salt in a dish; you might as well just kick me out."

"What? Half a bag of salt? That can't be right!" Jia Dongxu asked anxiously.

"Why don't you try it? Would I lie about something like this?"

In Tian Xiu's opinion, it's normal for the chicken to be a little salty or a little bland, since no one knows what the other person's taste will be like. But this chicken was so salty it was almost cloying, which was obviously not normal.

Nobody puts that much salt in their cooking!

Yi Zhonghai was stunned for a moment. He had stewed the chicken himself and hadn't added much salt. How could it be too salty?

"No way, how could I have put in too much salt?"

"Why don't you try some? Why would I need to lie about something like this?" Tian Xiu said.

The remaining four people were skeptical, but they picked up some food with their chopsticks and tried putting it in their mouths.

"Ugh~"

All four of them vomited.

Tian Xiu said, "This isn't my problem, is it?"

Jia Dongxu was the apprentice and was too embarrassed to mention his master, so he just looked at him with resentment.

But Madam Jia wouldn't let it go: "Old Yi, do you have a problem with my son's marriage? If you're not satisfied, just say so. Why are you ruining our vegetables?"

Yi Zhonghai thought to himself, "I paid for all the chicken, fish, and meat."

But this wasn't the time to argue about who paid for it, so he quickly retorted, "I definitely didn't put in that much salt."

Jia Zhangshi seized the opportunity and gave Yi Zhonghai a good talking-to.

Aunt Yi was embarrassed, but she still tried the other dishes. The fish was also extremely salty, and there was also cauliflower stir-fried with meat. Now Aunt Yi didn't know what to say.

One dish being salty might be an accident, but all three dishes were incredibly salty, which can be attributed to Lao Yi's actions.

But Aunt Yi just couldn't understand why Old Yi would put in so much salt.

If you're not satisfied with Jia Dongxu's wife, you can just say so.

Why use this method?

Jia Zhangshi berated Yi Zhonghai, spewing out a torrent of foul language, much like a shrew cursing in the street.

Tian Xiu then realized that Jia Zhangshi, who looked kind and gentle, was actually so wicked. If her mother-in-law were to scold her in the future, she would not have the eloquence to do so. Wouldn't she be bullied to death?

By this time, Tian Xiu had completely given up hope.

Jia Dongxu only has a handsome face; he lacks other qualities such as housing, family, and parents.

She stood up and said, "You guys enjoy your meal, I'm going back now."

He turned and left his seat, picking up his cloth bag and walking outside.