I was reborn after my cousin stole my life.

Chapter 95: Clearly a fool

As soon as they entered the compound, Aunt Yuan craned her neck and looked around. "It was the right decision to send you to the army! Look at this place, it's so clean and tidy, the houses are all neat and orderly, they look even better than the houses in our county!"

She lowered her voice, "Everyone's dressed so smartly, Juan. I didn't know it was so cold here, and I didn't bring a thick cotton-padded coat. When you have time, take me to a store to buy one. I saw so many big stores when I passed through the city in my pedicab!"

Yuan Juan tugged at her, "Don't worry about the clothes, you can wear mine first. My mother-in-law and husband are determined to send me back to their hometown. If I really go to their hometown, I'm afraid I won't see anything, let alone clothes."

"Don't worry, now that Mom's here, they won't get their way. Before I came, your dad told me to ask the Zhou family for the bride price, and I have to make them pay it back!"

"Bride price? Should I just give it to you, or will you take it home with you?"

"Of course we'll take it back!"

Yuan Juan curled her lips, somewhat displeased. Zhou Lei's money was her money. If it was given to her family, what would it have to do with her?

Aunt Yuan saw through her thoughts: "Silly girl! Do you think your father and I would use your money? We're just saving it for you. The reason the Zhou family can do whatever they want with you is because they didn't spend a lot of money when they married you. Only wives who have been paid for know how to be cherished. Wives who haven't been paid for can be treated however they want. They can make you stay or leave as they please."

Aunt Yuan looked around and lowered her voice even further.

"My dad and I have already discussed it at home. If they send you back to your hometown after they pay the bride price, I will say that I want to take you home to have a baby. They will definitely be reluctant to let you go. If they don't spend any money, I will say this. Your mother-in-law will definitely take the opportunity to let me take you back. She won't have to take care of you during your postpartum period."

Yuan Juan muttered, "Even though I've married her into the family, they might not necessarily give her anything. You don't know, my mother-in-law is such a miser! And Zhou Lei is the same, all he does is make empty promises, he hasn't bought me anything yet."

"That's because you don't want it!" Aunt Yuan glanced at her. "Silly girl, men care a lot about their image. You have to let him know that if he doesn't buy you things, he'll lose face. See if he'll buy them for you then."

Aunt Yuan began to share her experience: "The year your dad first started working at the supply and marketing cooperative, one of his colleagues' wives wore a dress made from a dress made at a tailor shop in the county town. I wanted one too, but your dad wouldn't buy it for me. Do you know how I got mine made?"

Yuan Juan shook her head; she didn't remember any of that.

"I deliberately praised that daughter-in-law in front of your dad, saying that her clothes were beautiful. When the other people in the supply and marketing cooperative saw it, they would definitely say: You should get one made too. Your dad cares about his reputation, so he used his salary to give me money to go to the county town to make a dress."

"What's the point of asking your son-in-law privately? You need to do it in front of all the military wives and his comrades, making him have no choice but to offer to buy it for you! That's what you call skill!"

Yuan Juan suddenly realized!

"Mom, you're right! Every time I want something, it's just the two of us. No wonder he promised but didn't mean it, and he doesn't keep his word!"

"Can you believe what men say in private?" Aunt Yuan glanced at her. "I've wasted my time teaching you."

The mother and daughter walked and talked, and along the way, Aunt Yuan kept giving Yuan Juan advice.

As they approached the apartment building, she finally asked Yuan Xiu, "How is she? Jiang Zhou isn't treating her well, is he?"

Yuan Juan really couldn't bring herself to say anything "bad".

Aunt Yuan continued, "At least you and your son-in-law have met, and he genuinely wants to marry you. Jiang Zhou and Yuan Xiu are childhood sweethearts, so he probably wouldn't be happy to marry her."

"She's pregnant too, and she works at a military hospital," Yuan Juan said with a hint of bitterness.

Aunt Yuan's eyes widened: "What? She's pregnant too? And she's in the hospital?"

Yuan Juan nodded. "Keep your voice down. Anyway, they're living a better life than me now."

Aunt Yuan was unhappy. In her opinion, her daughter was better than Yuan Xiu in every way, and she should be able to have a better life after marriage than Yuan Xiu!

"She's already started working at the hospital, why didn't you go?"

"She's studying medicine with an old man, but I'm not. How am I supposed to go? Okay, enough of that. We've arrived."

Yuan Juan led her aunt into the family building.

Almost every household in the building was cooking, and when they saw her bring a stranger up, they all cast curious glances at her.

"Little Zhou's wife, who is this? Is she a relative of yours?" an older woman asked casually.

Yuan Juan introduced with a smile, "This is my mother? She came from our hometown to visit me."

Aunt Yuan smiled sweetly and nodded to everyone.

Some people nodded as a greeting, while others glanced at the subject and then looked away.

Aunt Yuan tugged at Yuan Juan and whispered, "Why are these people so unfriendly?"

Yuan Juan didn't know what to say, so she simply said, "Let's go inside."

When the two went inside, Zhou Lei had just arrived home and was asking Aunt Zhou where Yuan Juan had gone.

"I don't know where she went. She left in a hurry, and when I asked her, she didn't answer me."

She had barely finished speaking when she saw Yuan Juan push the door open and walk in. "Where have you been...who is this?"

Aunt Yuan followed them into the house, and as soon as she entered, she took Aunt Zhou's hand. "In-laws, it's me! I'm Juan'er's mother. I've been meaning to come and see you for a long time, but I haven't had the time. Now that I know Juan'er is pregnant, I've come over as soon as I can since things aren't too busy at home."

Aunt Zhou was completely bewildered by the person who suddenly appeared in her home.

Zhou Lei is the same.

"...Mom, you're here. Why didn't Yuan Juan tell me? If I had known you were coming today, I should have picked you up at the train station."

Aunt Yuan waved her hand: "Why would I accept that? My mouth is right below my nose. I'm a grown woman, I won't get lost! You must be my son-in-law, right? You're so handsome, our Juan'er is so lucky! You two have been married for so long, it's great to finally meet you."

Zhou Lei: "Juan'er and I also talked about going back to visit relatives when we have time..."

Aunt Zhou glanced at Yuan Juan and said, "Shitou, go to the cafeteria and get two good dishes. We didn't know your mother-in-law was coming, so we didn't prepare anything at home."

Aunt Yuan smiled and said, "Don't worry about it, I'm fine with whatever I eat."

Aunt Zhou smiled politely, "I didn't know you were coming, so I didn't cook for you."

Aunt Yuan: "...Hehe, alright then, son-in-law, go ahead and get two vegetarian dishes."

Zhou Lei gave an awkward laugh, took his lunchbox, and went out the door.

Aunt Zhou: "Please sit down, in-law. Yuan Juan, pour your mother a glass of water."

Aunt Yuan sat down by herself, saying, "Our in-laws are so thoughtful; I've been thirsty for ages."

Yuan Juan poured her a full glass of water, which she gulped down in one go. After finishing, she wiped the water stains from her chin with her sleeve.

"My dear in-laws, I came in such a hurry that I forgot to write you a letter or send you a telegram. I arrived without even letting you know. I hope you don't mind?"

Aunt Zhou: "...What's there to mind? You can come to see your daughter whenever you want, it's up to you. I'm not some old-fashioned, wicked mother-in-law who stops her daughter-in-law from seeing her family. If I did that, I'd be drowned in spit. Don't you think that makes sense?"

Aunt Yuan understood what she meant; she was implying that the mother and daughter were deliberately keeping it a secret.

No wonder my daughter said her mother-in-law is shrewd; she really is.

Aunt Yuan's gaze fell on Xiao Hua'er, who was sitting next to Aunt Zhou.

"This must be the daughter your son-in-law had before. Come here, come to Grandma, Grandma will give you some peanuts."

She took a handful of peanuts out of her pocket and handed them to Xiaohua.

Little Flower shrank back behind Aunt Zhou.

Aunt Yuan moved forward, but Xiao Hua ran directly to the other side of Aunt Zhou, keeping a distance from her.

Aunt Zhou: "She's shy around strangers, you eat it yourself."

Aunt Yuan had no choice but to withdraw her hand and put the peanuts on the table. "Girls are all shy."

She wouldn't even take the food offered to her. This isn't shyness; she's clearly mentally challenged.

"Look, I completely forgot while we were chatting, but I brought you quite a lot of things!"

Aunt Yuan squatted down, opened the bag she had brought, and took things out one by one.

Aunt Zhou glanced at it and saw that it was just some peanuts and mung beans, packed in small cloth bags, each bag containing about a pound.

Aunt Yuan opened another bag, took out a jar of fermented soybean paste in a canning jar, and handed it to Yuan Juan. "Knowing you love this, your grandma specially asked her to pack it for you."

Yuan Juan's eyes lit up, and her mouth began to water automatically. "I've been craving this for ages!"

Aunt Yuan glanced at Aunt Zhou, then snatched the jar from Yuan Juan's hand. "This is spicy. You can eat it after you give birth."

Yuan Juan's smile froze slightly, then she nodded with a smile, "I don't like spicy food now, I only like sour food."

Aunt Yuan winked at her daughter in agreement, "That's how it should be. Don't tell her you like spicy food, otherwise your husband and mother-in-law will think you're pregnant with a girl."

Aunt Zhou could easily see through the thoughts between the mother and daughter. She glanced at Yuan Juan's slightly protruding belly. Everyone said that a pointed belly meant a son and a round belly meant a daughter, but her belly didn't show much yet.

Hopefully it's a son. Her husband is over thirty and still doesn't have a son; it's really not good.

Zhou Lei returned quickly, bringing two meat dishes and two vegetable dishes, plus two dishes he had cooked at home, so his hospitality wasn't stingy.

Seeing the meat in the lunchbox, Aunt Yuan swallowed hard. "That's too much of a waste. Just get two vegetable dishes. You all have to spend money on everything. You should be more frugal. Don't spend so much money in the future."

Hearing this, Zhou Lei felt that his mother-in-law, who had suddenly appeared, was a nice person, and his dissatisfaction with her uninvited arrival dissipated considerably.

"Mom, please eat. I don't know if the food here will suit your taste."

Aunt Yuan picked up her chopsticks with a smile, "It's fine, it's fine, I'm not picky about food."

She started eating as she spoke. At first, she was quite refined, maintaining the persona of an elder. But after two minutes, her chopsticks seemed to be attached to the two meat dishes, and she kept picking up meat and eating.

If Aunt Zhou hadn't been quick enough to serve her son and granddaughter two pieces of meat, Aunt Yuan would have devoured both plates of meat by herself.

They talk a good game, but when it comes to eating, they're anything but polite.

Zhou Lei: "..."

Never mind, he took back what he had just said.

Yuan Juan felt quite ashamed of her aunt's behavior. Her mother had never acted like this before, as if she had never seen meat in eight lifetimes.

She gave a wink, but Aunt Yuan didn't see it.

She kicked under the table, and Aunt Yuan's feet froze and became numb.

It wasn't until they had almost finished eating the meat that Aunt Yuan received the signal from her daughter.

She realized what was happening, turned the chopsticks around, and put them in Zhou Lei's bowl. "I'm so sorry, I've been on the train for several days. I've never traveled far before, and I didn't bring enough food. I ran out of food last night and only just got to eat. Before I knew it..."

Zhou Lei quickly put the meat back in her bowl, saying, "There's nothing to be embarrassed about. I didn't know you'd been hungry for so long. If I had known, I would have ordered more dishes."

"That's enough, that's enough. I don't have a big appetite."

Aunt Zhou glanced at her son. He believed everything people said. Wasn't he stupid?

After being hungry for a day and a night, everyone would be listless, but Yuan Juan's mother was full of energy and didn't look like she had run out of food at all.

Zhou Lei wasn't the only one who was foolish; Yuan Juan was too. After finishing her meal, she quickly pulled her mother into her bedroom, asking, "You really haven't eaten for a whole day and night?"

Aunt Yuan shushed her: "You're lying to your husband and mother-in-law. I bought two big white steamed buns on the train at noon. You don't need food coupons on the train."

Yuan Juan pouted, "Then why were you like that just now? That old hag must be laughing at you behind your back."

Aunt Yuan: "...I did it on purpose, otherwise why would I have mentioned that I was hungry?"

The man lost his job, and the meat coupons that his work unit gave him every month were gone. In the village, if they wanted to eat meat, they either had to rely on the two chickens they raised themselves or on the meat distributed when the production team slaughtered pigs. Last year, they only earned work points for a few months at the end of the year, and the meat they were given wasn't even enough for them to eat dumplings.

She's craving meat!

Yuan Juan believed her mother's words.

"So when do you plan to bring up the bride price?"

"No rush, let's talk about it in a couple of days. If we bring it up now, people will think I came here just to ask for a bride price."

"Alright then, how much do you want?"

The mother and daughter were chatting quietly inside the house when Aunt Zhou asked Zhou Lei to tidy up the space against the wall, saying, "Go and borrow a bed to put here."

Zhou Lei glanced at it. "How about we let her stay at the guesthouse?"

The house has only two rooms: one is the couple's bedroom, and the other is used as a living room. Grandma Zhou sleeps with her granddaughter on the bed in the living room. If another bed is added, the space becomes even smaller.

Aunt Zhou rolled her eyes at him. "Does staying at a guesthouse cost nothing? It's not like you don't have room at home. If people find out, they'll think you don't want your mother-in-law to come. Go borrow a bed that can be folded up; you can sleep in it at night and put it away during the day."

"She might not be used to sleeping on a cot."

"You go to sleep!"

Aunt Zhou said, "Let the mother and daughter sleep inside, and we'll sleep outside. Since they've come, we have to treat them well. Don't take their polite words too seriously, or they'll talk behind our backs and say we're wrong."

Zhou Lei nodded: "Okay, I understand, Mom."