Chapter 229: Chapter 229: I’m the Best at Tidying Up

When they heard the eldest sister-in-law say she was going to lay down the law for the third son’s wife, Lu Deyao and An Hui silently exchanged a look.

The last person who tried to set rules for the third son’s wife, Wu Miaoyun, had ended up with a whole set of rice bowls smashed.

...

The An family’s old home had been tidied up in advance, and a bed had been made.

However, only one bed was prepared, as the An family hadn’t known that Lu Deyao and An Hui would be bringing their daughter-in-law and granddaughter.

Fortunately, there were spare rooms and empty beds.

By first laying down a thick layer of dry straw, then covering it with an old quilt and a sheet, they could make a bed that was just about sleepable.

Jiang Moli held a kerosene lamp and watched Li Yurong and the An sisters bustle about.

After the straw was laid down, Li Yurong was about to put down a bamboo mat and an old quilt when Jiang Moli stopped her.

"Wait, sprinkle this on first."

Li Yurong and the others looked curiously at the paper packet in Jiang Moli’s hand.

"What is this?"

"Louse powder."

"You’re so thoughtful, Third Aunt. Once we sprinkle this powder, we won’t have to worry about lice."

Though she said it aloud, Li Yurong couldn’t help but think, ’City folk really are so particular.’

The louse powder had actually been prepared by Ma Hongmei.

She had accompanied An Hui on a family visit two years prior and had been bitten by lice, leaving her covered in red welts.

So this time, Ma Hongmei had specially prepared a large bag of louse powder.

Ma Hongmei had originally planned to accompany An Hui, but after learning that An Hui was bringing Jiang Moli and Lu Tingting along, she volunteered to stay behind and watch the house.

Jiang Moli had Li Yurong save half of the louse powder to sprinkle on the bed An Hui and Lu Deyao would be sleeping in next door.

After the bed was made, Jiang Moli followed Li Yurong back to the main house next door, planning to boil some water to wash up before returning to the old house to rest.

As soon as she entered, she saw Zheng Hongyan standing in the main hall, waving her over.

"Xiao Jiang, come over here. The Eldest Aunt-in-law has something to tell you."

"Alright."

Jiang Moli headed toward the main hall.

Lu Tingting subconsciously followed behind her, curious about what the Eldest Aunt-in-law wanted to say to Jiang Moli.

Once Jiang Moli entered the main hall, she saw a whole table of people staring at her. The table was a mess of cups and plates; clearly, the meal was over.

She walked up to the Eldest Aunt-in-law with a grin. "Eldest Aunt-in-law, what did you want to tell me?"

The Eldest Aunt-in-law shot her a sideways glance and began to lecture her.

"Since ancient times, a family can only prosper if the daughters-in-law are virtuous and hardworking. A gluttonous, lazy wife is nothing but a jinx who will ruin the family."

Jiang Moli’s eyes lit up in mock realization. "Is that so? Then if Eldest Uncle is so poor, the responsibility must lie with you, Eldest Aunt-in-law, for not being virtuous and hardworking enough. Oh, Eldest Uncle, you poor man, marrying a jinx and having bad luck your whole life."

The Eldest Aunt-in-law was so furious she could only stare helplessly.

Lu Deyao took a sip of tea to hide his smile.

’This third daughter-in-law’s fighting spirit has never once disappointed me,’ he thought.

Seeing her mother-in-law at a loss, Zheng Hongyan chimed in to help. "Xiao Jiang, Li Yurong and I made dinner together. You ate quite a bit of the chicken, so you should at least help with some of the chores. Could you please take care of clearing this table?"

"Clear the dishes? No problem! I’m the best at ’taking care’ of things!"

Hearing Jiang Moli agree so readily, the Eldest Aunt-in-law couldn’t help but shoot a triumphant glance at An Hui.

’See? A daughter-in-law has to be disciplined before she’ll listen!’

An Hui simply smiled and said nothing.

Jiang Moli rolled up her sleeves and said, "Dad, Mom, Eldest Uncle, Eldest Aunt-in-law, you’d all better stand back a bit. I’m about to start ’clearing up’."

After everyone moved away, Jiang Moli lifted her hands and flipped the entire table over.

After flipping it, she grabbed a wooden stool and began smashing all the rice bowls and serving dishes on the ground.

The earthenware rice bowls were shattered to pieces by the stool.

The enamel serving basins were smashed completely out of shape.

Lu Tingting watched excitedly, then grabbed a stool and started smashing things too.

CRASH! BANG! The sounds were incessant!

The entire An family was stunned, staring with wide-eyed disbelief.

After a long moment, the Eldest Aunt-in-law shrieked, "Stop! Stop it this instant!!"

"What the hell are you all standing around gawking for? Hurry up and stop them!"

Jiang Moli tossed the stool aside and casually pulled Lu Tingting out of the way.

She turned her head and beamed at the Eldest Aunt-in-law’s family. "Eldest Aunt-in-law, I’ve finished ’clearing’ the dishes. Are you satisfied?"

"You—Are you trying to get yourself killed?! You smashed all my bowls! Every single one?!"

The Eldest Aunt-in-law was so furious it looked as if her eyes could shoot fire and burn Jiang Moli to ashes.

The Eldest Uncle and his son, An Fu, were equally furious.

Li Yurong and the An sisters were completely bewildered, staring blankly at the scene as if they were in a dream.

The family of the second great-aunt-in-law from across the way, as well as the third great-aunt-in-law’s family from behind, all ran into the An family’s courtyard to watch the spectacle.

"What’s all the commotion? Did a fight break out?"

"I don’t know. It was already like this when I got here."

They whispered amongst themselves, their eyes filled with the thrill of gossiping onlookers.

Inside the main hall, Jiang Moli pointed at Zheng Hongyan. "It was Eldest Cousin’s Wife who told me to clear the dishes. I figured these dishes must have made you, Eldest Aunt-in-law, unhappy, so see? I gave them a good ’talking-to’."

Zheng Hongyan was so enraged she nearly fell over backward. "I told you to wash the dishes! Wash them! Look what you’ve done!"

Jiang Moli spread her hands. "Eldest Sister-in-law, you weren’t clear. If you meant ’wash the dishes,’ you should have said ’wash the dishes.’ You said ’clear the dishes,’ so I thought you wanted me to beat them up. Well, now there’s no need to wash them. You can just buy new ones. Saves you the trouble."

"God damn it all!"

The Eldest Aunt-in-law let out a long wail to the heavens, then tearfully and snottily began listing all of Jiang Moli’s transgressions to the relatives.

She secretly ate a whole pot of chicken!

She slaughtered one of my precious old hens!

And then she smashed the whole family’s bowls to smithereens!

Her crimes were too numerous to count!

The relatives were enjoying the drama, but after hearing about Jiang Moli’s wicked deeds, they felt a sense of revulsion and disgust. At the same time, they secretly made up their minds to never let Jiang Moli set foot in their own homes.

’She’s nothing but a damn shit-stirrer!’

『Disdain Value +10. Credited: 100,000 yuan.』

After such a scene, Zheng Hongyan no longer dared to order Jiang Moli to do any work. She called on her own daughter-in-law and two daughters to clean the main hall.

Lu Deyao pulled Jiang Moli and Lu Tingting aside to scold them. "You two were completely out of line. Don’t you ever do something like this again."

Lu Tingting passed the buck. "I was just helping her."

Jiang Moli reached out and ruffled her hair. "You did great."

Lu Deyao said, "Be serious. In a bit, you will go apologize to your Eldest Uncle and Aunt-in-law. First thing tomorrow morning, you’re coming with me to town to buy them a new basket of bowls and chopsticks."

Jiang Moli gave a noncommittal response.

’As long as I’ve earned the Disdain Value, I don’t give a damn about anything else,’ she thought.

A few of the other sisters-in-law pulled An Hui aside outside the courtyard to talk. "Hui, is there... something wrong with your third son’s wife?"

’What normal person ’clears dishes’ like that? She’s an absolute freak.’

"Moli works in literature. She really doesn’t have much experience with housework, and our family doesn’t need her to do these things. All that matters is that she and Xiao Cheng live a peaceful, stable life together."

Inwardly, An Hui felt that what Jiang Moli had done was incredibly cathartic, but she still had to smooth things over for her daughter-in-law.

Deep down, she harbored resentment toward her eldest brother and sister-in-law.

Her brother’s sexist preference for sons was inherited from their father.

As a child, being the only daughter, she had suffered a great deal at home.

When she was fifteen, her family tried to marry her off to a lame old bachelor for just two catties of flour.

That old bachelor was a relative from her sister-in-law’s side of the family.

She fled home alone and was lucky enough to encounter a guerrilla squad. Believing she had nothing to lose, she joined the revolution.

She would rather die at the barrel of an enemy’s gun than be trampled on by others!

The reason she eventually returned to acknowledge her family wasn’t because she held any affection or expectation for them, but simply because this was where her roots were.

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