First watch has arrived.
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Leaving Old Madam Zhou’s place, Chuxia headed to her mother-in-law’s side, where Zhou Jiping happened to be. When she turned around and saw Chuxia, she laughed, "Did Grandma pull you in to ask about my situation?"
"Yes, Grandma is worried about Second Sister but afraid that asking directly might put pressure on her, so she summoned instead." Chuxia grabbed a chair and sat beside the mother and daughter, "Grandma asked to co over and report to Mom as well."
"Aren’t you afraid I’ll be angry?" Zhou Jiping intentionally put on a stern face, "You didn’t even ask before telling Grandma everything, and now you’re reporting to Mom too. Are you respecting as your Second Sister?"
"Second Sister has already co to terms with it, what’s there to be angry about? But..." Chuxia scratched her head with embarrassnt, "I realize it was wrong to speak without your consent, but I believe Second Sister won’t be angry. Everyone is just concerned for you, how could you possibly be mad?"
Zhou Jiping looked at Lin Yanqiu helplessly, "Mom, look at her mouth, she’s got it all figured out."
"You shouldn’t be ungrateful. Chuxia is always thinking of you..." Lin Yanqiu said, pulling Chuxia into a hug, "Xia, don’t listen to your Second Sister’s nonsense, she’s just teasing you."
"I know. If Second Sister were really angry, she wouldn’t have this attitude. But, I’m not making excuses for myself. When Grandma asked , I hesitated for a mont and quickly realized that if Second Sister discusses this openly with and Xiao Feng, how could she hide it from the elders in the family?
It’s just that if Grandma personally asks Second Sister, my brother-in-law might start worrying. I think brother-in-law is already like a bird startled by a re twang."
Yu Mingtao indeed lived anxiously at the Zhou family, fearing he’d be disliked for not doing well in so areas. Chuxia’s description was quite apt, and Lin Yanqiu laughed looking at her daughter. "Younger one, your sister-in-law makes sense, don’t keep a stern face at Yu Mingtao all the ti. We don’t give him a friendly face to remind him he’s done wrong and needs to make ands before we can accept him again.
But he’s left his work and co to the Zhou family with you; if you keep giving him an unfriendly face, it’ll ease his guilt over ti. n are prideful; they care about their dignity. Others might not need to give him face, but as his wife, you need to give him so dignity, otherwise if things really go south, you’ll be the one suffering."
Zhou Jiping pouted, "Mom, now you’re siding with him too?"
"I’m not siding with him; I’m siding with you, silly child. You think Mom can’t see you’ve put your whole heart into Yu Mingtao? If you really broke up, most of your life would be ruined.
If you don’t plan to separate, then act like it. You’ve always had a tough temperant since you were little, not as good at coaxing people as your sister. Won who are a bit softer often fare better."
"Mom, are you soft?"
"Oh, go away..." Lin Yanqiu grumpily nudged her daughter, "Is that how you talk to your own mother?"
"Hahaha..." Zhou Jiping burst into laughter, "I’ll learn from Mom in the future, keep Yu Mingtao’s heart tied to so he can’t leave even if he wants to."
"Second Sister, brother-in-law’s heart is already tied to you. If you tie it again, he might get low blood flow."
"You..." Zhou Jiping helplessly poked Chuxia’s forehead, "Xiaomi is lucky to have found such a treasure like you, it’s a blessing for our whole family."
"Don’t say that again..." Chuxia played the part of begging for rcy, "You say it every ti, it’s too much pressure. This little girl is afraid she can’t live up to it, so frightened!"
"We’re just stating facts. You haven’t seen what our family used to be like during New Year’s, so when we see you, we can’t help but feel emotional..." Zhou Jiping paused and looked at Lin Yanqiu, "Mom, I really am fortunate. Grandpa and Grandma aren’t sticklers for rules, Dad, Mom, and Uncle and Aunt aren’t either, otherwise I truly wouldn’t know what to do."
"What’s more important, rules or people?" Lin Yanqiu rolled her eyes at her daughter, "Talk like that and you’ll create distance within the family."
"If there was real distance, I wouldn’t spend the New Year here at ho." Zhou Jiping glanced at the sowhat dazed Chuxia. "Don’t you know the custom here, daughters who get married can’t spend New Year at their parents’ ho?"
"I know." Chuxia nodded, "I heard that daughters who stay with their parents before the end of the year might bring poverty to the family, is that right?"
"Correct." Lin Yanqiu nodded, "That’s one saying, but when the house was quiet a few years back, your aunt’s family ca back to accompany Grandpa and Grandma for New Year, and we didn’t see our family beco poor after that. It shows these rules are unfounded."
"Though that’s the case, many families believe it. Yoon Duo hasn’t spent New Year at ho since she got married." Zhou Jiping said, turning to Chuxia, "Yoon Duo was i Yitong’s ex-wife. They divorced shortly after marrying, and ever since, Yoon Duo has spent New Year alone. Her grandparents were adamant about not letting her co ho before sending the year off.
After her grandparents passed away, her father never invited her back for New Year either. Every year she spends it on hospital duty, even the open-minded ones like Grandpa and Uncle Yoon are like this, let alone the more traditional families."
"Then what does our family count as?" Lin Yanqiu looked at her daughter with amusent, "The big-hearted kind?"
Zhou Jiping quickly replied, "No, the kind that spoils the kids rotten."
"Just goes to show, being around good dye makes you red, and around ink makes you black. You never used to say things like this," Lin Yanqiu laughed as she patted her muddled-looking daughter-in-law on the back, "Don’t you think your second sister’s words are becoming more and more like yours?"
"Ah?" Chuxia shook her head, ca to her senses, and quickly said, "Mom, I’ll take that as a complint."
"Feeling sleepy, huh?" Lin Yanqiu looked at her clearly flustered daughter-in-law with amusent, "Alright, don’t just stay here with us, go back to your room and rest for a bit. The Luo family will be over in the afternoon, so you’ll have your hands full."
"Thank you, Mom. Sis, you should rest too, you’re still recovering. Mom, please rest as well, more sleep is good for the skin..."
Chuxia mumbled her way out of the room, leaving Lin Yanqiu and Zhou Jiping looking amused, "She’s really nice," Zhou Jiping said.
"Yes, I wasn’t that satisfied before, but now, the more I see her, the more satisfied I am. In every aspect, she’s an outstanding person," Lin Yanqiu said to her daughter earnestly, "Seeing other people’s virtues, we should learn from them. Mom will say it again, being too stubborn only hurts yourself."
"Mom, I know." Zhou Jiping sighed, "Actually, after every disagreent with Yu Mingtao, I reflect on it, but next ti, it’s hard to control my emotions."
"You’ve done very well, it’s just that you tend to get stuck on things. Like this ti when Yu Mingtao ca to our house for New Year, it shows he cares about you one hundred percent, you can’t just ignore him like we used to."
"That’s why I stayed with him last night, right? If I were really ignoring him, why would I stay up all night just to keep him company?"
"He understands your feelings, but if your attitude were softer, it would warm his heart even more." Lin Yanqiu hugged her daughter, "Although everyone says doing more is better than just talking, in real life, just doing things without saying anything, compared to doing and talking, gives people a completely different impression."
"Mom, I know. If I weren’t your daughter, you wouldn’t tell this. You’ve always disliked people who just talk without doing anything concrete."
"Yes, that’s how I used to feel. But since Chuxia ca, I’ve realized that both doing and talking are the most important. Why is that child so lovable? Don’t you feel happy being around her?"
Zhou Jiping nodded.
"Isn’t that the point?" Lin Yanqiu spread her hands, "Living life, we certainly hope to live happily, guessing other people’s thoughts all the ti is so exhausting."
"Mom, changing personality is very difficult. I can try to remind myself, but to transform into a personality like my sister-in-law’s, I’m afraid that’s impossible. She’s so spontaneous, but if I tried, I might just make a fool of myself."
"As long as you know it in your heart, you should go and rest for a while. Take Mingtao with you."
After leaving Lin Yanqiu’s room, Zhou Jiping had completely cald down. Seeing her husband sitting in the living room flipping through a book made her heart ache a little. She had the love of her family, but her husband was left here on his own, how empty must he feel?
Since they decided to be together, and hope to be together for a lifeti, she couldn’t just be passive anymore. The matter of the body couldn’t be rushed, but other things, she could still strive for.
"Tired?"
The gentle inquiry made Yu Mingtao’s body stiffen slightly. He looked up in disbelief at his wife. All these days, she had never talked to him so kindly, even when she was by his side, she would sotis be awkward.
"Let’s go back to the room and rest a bit." Zhou Jiping reached out to pull him up, "You’re silly, everyone else has gone to rest, and you’re still sitting here doing nothing?"
"I was waiting for you." Following his wife back to the room, Yu Mingtao hugged her tightly, burying his head in the crook of her neck, "Jiping, I thought you could never treat like before."
"Silly, I just didn’t want the family to think I was being overly indulgent. But now that I think about it, maybe I was overdoing it. But your efforts, everyone sees it, and they’re saying good things about you."
"Really?" Yu Mingtao looked at her with disbelief, "Even our mom spoke well of ?"
"Yes, grandma, mom, and sister-in-law all said good things about you, telling to treat you well, to ensure you don’t feel lonely in the Zhou family." Zhou Jiping patted his back, "If we work hard together, things will definitely get better and better."
"Hmm." Yu Mingtao sniffed, swallowing the lump in his throat, "With you by my side, I have absolute confidence things will get better and better." (To be continued. If you like this work, please go to Qidian (qidian) to vote for recomndations and monthly tickets. Your support is my biggest motivation. Mobile users, please read at m.qidian.)
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