Chen Yuezhi felt a bit disgusted. When arranging Dalang's marriage, the Su family had already asked for a sky-high price with a seemingly honest face. Now, they were putting on a pitiful act with the same honest face, and she knew exactly what their intentions were.
They had their eyes on their new house, wanting her to soften her heart and let the Su family stay and live with them? Dream on!
The Jiang family had married Su Shi, not the entire Su family!
Seeing that Chen Yuezhi wasn't responding, Mother Su felt a little annoyed but didn't dare to show it on her face.
Jiang Wan had initially worried that Chen Yuezhi would be too embarrassed to refuse and be taken advantage of by Mother Su. After observing for a while, she stopped worrying.
Her sister-in-law might be soft-hearted, but her mother was far from foolish.
Having such a large family show up was noisy and bothered Jiang Wan.
Especially since the Su family's sons kept staring at the little pony, making it restless. So, Jiang Wan called Sanlang to go fishing in the small river.
Although Mother Su hadn't achieved her goal yet, their family had no intention of leaving when they arrived. They sat in the Jiang family's courtyard, making small talk, eagerly waiting for a meal.
Chen Yuezhi knew that inviting a god was easy, but sending one away was difficult. However, there was no reason to chase people away as soon as they arrived. Despite her reluctance, Chen Yuezhi still prepared guest meals with proper etiquette.
But she was also wary of showing off their wealth to the Su family and causing trouble for her own family, so the dishes were all wild game brought back from the back mountain, along with small fish and shrimp caught from the river.
Su Shi, with her pregnant belly, helped prepare the food, while the Su family's three daughters-in-law sat idly by, waiting for the meal, not even offering a polite word to help.
Chen Yuezhi was unhappy, but looking at Su Shi's belly, she suppressed her dissatisfaction.
During the meal, the Jiang family set up two tables. The women and children sat at one table, and the men from both families sat at another.
Just as Jiang Wan was about to sit down to eat, Su Tian Shi, the eldest daughter-in-law of the Su family, said, "You don't need to come up. There aren't enough seats. Take a bowl and eat off to the side."
As she spoke, she took a bowl and casually put a few mouthfuls of wild vegetables into it for Jiang Wan.
Jiang Wan stood there, holding the bowl, completely bewildered.
She was in her own home and no longer had the right to sit at the table to eat?
Chen Yuezhi was very displeased. Suppressing her anger, she picked up Jiang Wan and placed her on a long bench. "Wanwan likes to move around when she eats. She can't eat without sitting. I can stand."
Zhang Shi, the second daughter-in-law of the Su family, put a large piece of wild rabbit meat into her son's bowl and said, "Sister-in-law of the in-laws, you spoil your children too much. Jiang Wan is almost six years old. At this age, she should have been helping the family with chores for a long time. If she can't do other things, she can at least add firewood to the stove and start a fire. Our A'luo is so inconvenient with her big belly, working by the pot and by the stove. It makes one's heart ache."
Jiang Wan almost laughed out loud.
Were these people crazy!
They came to her house to point fingers and pick on a five-year-old child?
Eating their food, criticizing their child, and acting as if her parents were dead?
As expected, Chen Yuezhi's face darkened. "Since you care so much about Su Shi, after you finish eating, you can take her back to her maiden home to rest for a few days. We're quite busy at home during this time, and I was worried I wouldn't be able to take care of her. Now that you've come to Yao County, it's perfect for you to look after her."
Su Shi's face turned pale. "Sister-in-law, my mother-in-law treats me very well. It's just that you're busy today, so I lent a hand. Normally, my mother-in-law doesn't make me do anything."
Seeing that Su Shi was sensible, Chen Yuezhi's expression improved slightly.
The Su family's daughters-in-law saw that Chen Yuezhi wasn't falling for their tricks and didn't dare to say anything more. They lowered their heads and frantically started grabbing food.
The dishes prepared by the Jiang family weren't particularly lavish. Two wild rabbits were caught from the back mountain, some small fish and shrimp were caught from the river in front of the house, and then a few wild vegetables were stir-fried, and a mushroom soup was stewed. It was barely five dishes and one soup, but the portions were generous, with each dish served in a small basin.
The Su family members were like starving ghosts reborn. First, they stared intently at the two meat dishes, grabbing them, piling their bowls high like small mountains. When there was no more meat in the basins, they quickly went for the mushrooms in the soup, spilling soup and oil stains all over the table, making Jiang Wan frown.
The Su family's children were even more ill-mannered, grabbing and shouting, "This piece is mine, you can't touch that one," and even hitting each other with chopsticks over food.
What was worse, the Su family's three daughters-in-law acted as if they were blind, not only not stopping them but also stuffing food into their own mouths. The chaotic scene was eye-opening for Jiang Wan.
Su Shi, seeing her maternal family eat like this, couldn't even lift her head in embarrassment.
The Su family, however, felt no embarrassment at all. After eating, they all burped, patted their bellies, and said with satisfaction, "In-laws, your life here is like that of immortals. If we could eat our fill every day, we would wake up smiling in our dreams."
"And this big house, I wonder what it would be like to sleep inside."
Jiang Wan pursed her lips. This Su family was truly interesting.
They never directly mentioned wanting to stay, but every word was an implication that they wanted to stay.
Chen Yuezhi politely pulled at the corners of her mouth. "It's only because you've come that we've gritted our teeth and prepared so many dishes. Normally, we have to tighten our belts. Otherwise, we would have starved to death halfway here and wouldn't have made it this far."
She really wished she could say directly that they weren't well-off either and that they shouldn't have any ideas.
The eldest daughter-in-law of the Su family laughed heartily. "Sister-in-law of the in-laws, you are too modest. The current conditions of your Jiang family, looking at the entire Yao County, I'm afraid there are few families that can compare."
Chen Yuezhi didn't engage with this. She stood up and started collecting the bowls. Su Shi also went to help.
Chen Yuezhi quickly stopped her. "You just sit and rest. You've been busy for so long with your belly, aren't you tired? With so many people here, how can you, a pregnant woman, be tired? You should rest."
She deliberately said this for the Su family's women to hear. Any sensible person would stand up and lend a hand. However, the Su family's women remained seated like fishermen waiting for their catch, showing no intention of helping.
In the end, it was Su Shi who got up and helped Chen Yuezhi collect the bowls and chopsticks.
After the meal, Father Su began to inquire about the situation in the small mountain village with Jiang Pan. Upon learning that Jiang Pan was now the village head of the small mountain village, Father Su became very excited.
"Brother-in-law, you are truly capable. I saw that you were capable from the beginning, which is why I agreed to marry A'luo to you. Now it seems my ability to judge people is reliable."
Mother Su added, "A'luo had her fortune told by a fortune teller back then, who said she had good fortune and her future husband would surely be noble and wealthy. See, it's coming true, isn't it?"
Chen Yuezhi rolled her eyes.
These words were practically saying that the Jiang family's current success was all due to Su Shi's good fortune.
However, given that their daughter-in-law Su Shi was involved between the two families, and Su Shi was carrying the Jiang family's first grandchild, she had to endure the Su family this time, considering the face of their daughter-in-law.
Father Su's attitude changed significantly, even becoming somewhat fawning. "Brother-in-law, since you are now the village head of the small mountain village, the matter that Dalang mentioned to you yesterday is just a word from you."