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Chapter 68: A Sincere Intention

Mrs. Yang expended considerable effort, barely managing not to disgrace herself in front of others, thus preserving the Han Family’s reputation. However, it was utterly exhausting, more so than laboring in the fields, as if she had been through a battle. Being the lady of a wealthy family was not meant for the average person.

Yet, had Mrs. Yang seen the knowing smile on Mrs. An’s face as she left, she might have thought differently. Mrs. An, experienced in dealing with people, knew exactly what type of person Mrs. Yang was-simply using roundabout ways to vent for her daughter, speaking in terms beyond Mrs. Yang’s understanding. Mrs. An played the part of the mistress of the house to a tee and nearly drove Mrs. Yang to sweat profusely. If Mrs. An hadn’t seen the injury on Mrs. Yang’s head, she wouldn’t have held back. Talking might seem easy, but in truth, it was an art.

No sooner had Mrs. Yang managed to deal with Mrs. An than Mrs. Liu and Mrs. Li came in together: “Mother, today at noon, Mr. and Mrs. Su will be dining at our home. We don’t have much to offer, and since Mr. and Mrs. Su are esteemed individuals, we’ve come to ask you how we should receive them properly.”

This gave Mrs. Yang a headache. Their family could only provide so much and couldn’t treat Mr. and Mrs. Su as ordinary in-laws, which would be disrespectful. The People from Su Family treated anyone from her family with great hospitality, and Mr. and Mrs. Su had brought so many gifts, undoubtedly at considerable expense. They surely couldn’t be stingy.

“Take out whatever we have at home, and if something is missing, we can borrow from the neighbors nearby. We must not let our in-laws down.” Mrs.

Yang decided, no matter the pain from her wound or the tonic brought by Mrs. An, she couldn’t be stingy. Even if it meant using up the family’s savings, she had to offer proper hospitality. Secretly, Mrs. Yang also hoped not to be looked down upon by the Su Family.

However, as good as Mrs. Yang’s intentions were, putting them into practice wasn’t easy, especially since the visit from Mr. and Mrs. Su was so sudden and unplanned.

“Mother, aside from the food we recently acquired, we only have some green vegetables. The pheasant Fourth Younger Brother caught yesterday afternoon has already been stewed for your recovery. We don’t have any meat dishes at home, and even if we were to borrow from villagers, we might be able to find vegetables and radishes, but meat is a different story. These days, life is tough, and no one splurges on meat unless it’s a special occasion. It’s not something we can simply borrow. We do, however, have some eggs.”

Mrs. Li was a straightforward person and spoke honestly, clearly troubled. She was grateful for how Fourth younger sibling’s in-laws treated their Second House and taught Brother Fu to read and write. She wanted to properly host the Su Family, but there was only so much she could do.

“Why don’t we kill and stew the old hen at home? Fourth younger sibling’s mother’s family is not just any household, and their visit was a sign of respect for our Han Family. We mustn’t let them think less of us.” This time, Mrs. Liu was being generous, immediately suggesting they sacrifice the family’s old hen, showing she was willing to make sacrifices.

Mrs. An had seen the generous gifts, and besides, Fourth Daughter-in-law had always been kind to her and treated her daughters well. Moreover, Mrs. Liu had certain favors to ask of Fourth Daughter-in-law and the Su Family; she couldn’t bear to part with anything, but with the limited food at home, she even considered sacrificing the egg-laying hen.

This hen laid an egg a day, and Mrs. Yang hadn’t been willing to kill it even for her recovery from the injury. Hearing Mrs. Liu’s suggestion, she was somewhat swayed. They had only one egg-laying hen, and it seemed a shame to kill it, but compared to what the in-laws had given her, it was worth nothing. “Well, if we must, we must. We can buy some chicks later to raise,” she finally relented.

Upon hearing Mrs. Yang’s decision, Mrs. Liu and Mrs. Li immediately set to work. However, during the day, the old hen wasn’t content to stay in the coop. Seeing someone trying to catch it, the hen flapped and ran, making it difficult to apprehend and causing quite a commotion. This racket brought out Su Wenyue.

“Sister-in-law, Second Sister-in-law, what are you doing? Why are you chasing the old hen around? Didn’t Mother say not to scare it, lest it stops laying eggs?”

“Don’t worry, from now on it won’t be laying eggs anymore. Mother has spoken, we’ll kill this old hen for today’s noon meal. It’s rare for our in-laws to visit, so we must host them well and not neglect our guests,” shouted Mrs. Liu, loud enough for even Mrs. An inside the house to hear.

Su Wenyue felt a sense of comfort knowing her husband’s family was so enthusiastic toward her mother’s family. Though she tried to stop Mrs. Liu: “Sister-in-law, there’s no need. My parents just came to see Mother-in-law and will be relieved seeing she’s alright. They’ll be leaving soon and won’t stay for lunch. Please, don’t go to any trouble, we only have this one old hen left, and Mother is counting on it for eggs.”

“What, they’re leaving so soon, without even staying for lunch? That does seem rather hasty,” Mrs. Liu was taken aback, unsure whether to be disappointed or something else, looking rather sheepish. She had hoped to impress Mr. and Mrs. su.

“Yes, Fourth younger sibling, that seems really hasty. It’s not every day that in-laws visit. Surely they could stay for lunch before leaving. Why the rush?” Mrs. Li rarely voiced her opinion, but now she seemed as keen as Mrs. Liu, who wanted to ingratiate herself with Mr. Su, while Mrs. Li wanted to show her gratitude.

“Really, there’s no need. My parents came out of concern and have matters to attend to back home. I appreciate the sentiment from Mother and all of you.

We’re family, and there will be plenty of other opportunities in the future,” Su Wenyue graciously declined, knowing Mr. Su and Mrs. An didn’t want to trouble the Han Family. She shared this sentiment; for her parents, a simple meal was no ordeal, but for the Han Family, it required great effort. She would wait until after the family had split to properly host her parents.

“Well, if the wealthy Old Master is in a hurry and needs to get back to something important, we really shouldn’t delay them,” surmised the women, not wanting to be the cause of any inconvenience.

“We’ll just have to ensure we host our in-laws well the next time they visit. They came on short notice, and we weren’t prepared; we didn’t even have any fine food to offer. Next time, if they let us know ahead of time, we will make sure to host them properly,” Mrs. Liu said with some regret, but as long as Fourth Daughter-in-law was there, she figured she could ask for a favor later, to sneak on her behalf..