12dz Chapter 12 Shameless
Chapter 12 Shameless
“I know that my second uncle spoke up for me with good intentions, but since the master has already said that we should take turns doing it, let’s do as the master says.”
Madam Song's expression changed, and she immediately bit her lip and said, "Xiao Tang, your second aunt really doesn't know how to do it. Aren't you making things difficult for your second aunt by insisting on doing so?"
"If Second Aunt can't cook, there's Sister Yinxiu. Why are you making things difficult for Second Aunt? I can learn it myself, and Sister Yinxiu is a year older than me. After a few days of learning, she'll definitely cook better than me." She sneered inwardly, thinking it was wishful thinking to expect her and her mother to continue being taken advantage of.
Mrs. Song was speechless, but her daughter couldn't sit still any longer.
Shen Yinxiu jumped up and started cursing, "Shen Xiaotang, did you do this on purpose? You deliberately came home late because you didn't want to cook, making my mother and me busy in the kitchen for half a day, causing chaos in the house. And you even made a fuss about taking turns cooking. Have you no shame?"
"Hey, Sister Yinxiu, if making everyone take turns cooking is shameless, then what about me cooking every day while you, as my cousin, just eat rice for free? Isn't that even more shameless?"
"You...you've gone too far!"
She immediately stomped her foot and complained, "Grandma, look at Xiaotang!"
Sun Shi has always enjoyed manipulating the eldest son's wife. No matter what she says or does to the eldest son's wife, her husband has never interfered. Today, however, she felt that she, as the mistress of the house, had been humiliated because of a lowly maid. She was feeling very resentful and couldn't get over it.
"What are you looking at? She's not wrong. What she did, you can do too!"
Anyway, it wasn't her who did it!
Sun strode back to the main house and slammed the door shut to vent her anger.
Shen Xiaotang immediately pulled her taciturn mother and her terrified younger sister back to her room, closed the door, and separated the people in the courtyard who each had their own thoughts.
In the courtyard, the Song mother and daughter were so angry that they gritted their teeth and stomped their feet. Shen Jiangchuan opened his mouth to plead with his father again, but the old Mr. Shen impatiently interrupted him.
Shen Xiaochuan only cared about himself, eating and drinking all day long. He never paid attention to anything at home, big or small. As long as he wasn't asked to do any work, it didn't matter who did it. In short, he was indifferent to anything that didn't concern him.
He rubbed his rumbling stomach and immediately started complaining.
"Second sister-in-law, are you done yet? I'm starving. Even the dogs won't eat this. Why don't you and Yinxiu cook another pot?"
Shen Jiangchuan was furious, and when he heard his younger brother yelling for his wife to cook another pot, he was so angry that he almost vomited blood!
"Get out of here! This huge pot isn't enough to shut you up? Go hungry if you don't want to eat!"
Seeing his second brother suddenly fly into a rage, Shen Xiaochuan immediately shut up, not daring to say anything more.
After a whole noon of commotion, there was only one pot of pig feed left. No one could eat it, and no one was willing to cook it again, so everyone went hungry.
In the room.
When Liu was pressed down by her daughter to sit on the edge of the couch, both of her hands were still trembling.
She said with lingering fear, "Tang'er, you were too impulsive today. If your grandmother had really hit you, I wouldn't have been able to stop her."
Because of years of exposure to the wind and sun, cutting pig feed, working in the fields, grinding tofu, and doing housework, and because she was never full, Liu was dark-skinned and thin, with spots on her face. Although she was in her twenties, she looked like she was in her thirties, as if a gust of wind could blow her away.
Sun Shi only talks all day long and does no housework. In her early forties, she is already a mother-in-law, but she is still plump and charming.
In addition, Liu was inherently timid in front of her mother-in-law, Sun, so she had no chance of stopping her.
“Mother, don’t worry, I know what I’m doing. Grandma worked so hard to earn the reputation of a good stepmother, she certainly won’t lose it easily. And Grandpa is very concerned about his reputation, he will never allow things at home to affect his scholar’s name and his reputation as a schoolteacher.”
Upon hearing this, Liu felt that her daughter's words made a lot of sense.
"That makes sense; your grandfather does care about his reputation."
Shen Haichuan, the third wife, was extremely anxious when he saw his wife's face turn pale and she was covered in cold sweat.
"Xiangcao, what's wrong with you? You can't just bear it like this. I'll go get you a doctor."
"and many more."
Zhao felt the pain in her groin area had eased somewhat, so she lifted her skirt and pulled down her underwear to check.
“When you first came back, Mother asked Second Sister-in-law to cook. Second Brother used the excuse that Second Sister-in-law’s hands were rough when cooking, and in a moment of panic, I poked my leg with a shuttle.”
Shen Haichuan's eyes widened instantly, and his gaze toward his wife held a hint of disapproval.
"It's just a meal. Even if you don't want to cook, there's no need to hurt yourself like this."
Zhao snorted coldly, "Hmph, don't you know what kind of person I am? She's a hands-off manager who does nothing but bosses someone around. If I cook this meal today, there will be countless more in the future!"
Seeing that his wife was alright, Shen Haichuan immediately stopped feeling sorry for her and his tone became more impatient.
"Whatever you think is appropriate, do it."
No sooner had the two finished speaking than they heard their father speak in the courtyard, redistributing the meals and saying that from now on, the three households would take turns cooking.
Zhao's face turned green!
She faked illness and self-harmed, and after all that, she still had to take turns cooking?
Then all her suffering was for nothing, wasn't it?
So she picked up a basket of shuttlecocks and threw them at Shen Haichuan, venting all her anger on her husband.
The two children were so frightened that they cried loudly.
In the second house.
Song Shi leaned against the couch, wiping away her tears. The bamboo basket and embroidery were scattered all over the ground. Shen Jiangchuan humbly comforted his wife.
“Mingyue, I know you’ve been pampered by your family. If you really don’t want to do it, that’s fine. Just let Yinxiu do it.”
Shen Yinxiu pouted, looking extremely aggrieved, and immediately refused.
"Dad, Mom has already given birth to children and still doesn't cook. I'm still so young, I don't know how and I won't cook."
"Hey, you little rascal, do you think it was easy for your father and mother to raise you? If your mother's cooking is rough and her embroidery and crochet are poorly paid, where will we get our own money? Do you want to end up like Xiaotang and Xiaoyu, only able to wear patched clothes?"
Shen Yin's tears fell in a steady stream as she said defiantly, "I embroidered it myself, and I have a share in our secret stash of money. Why should I dress like a beggar?"
Seeing that his daughter was unyielding, Shen Jiangchuan immediately put on a stern face, "Can your embroidery compare to your mother's? Stop making trouble. You have to cook this meal whether you like it or not, or we will not have such an unfilial daughter as you."
Shen Yinxiu was so angry that she cried and began to complain.
The two rooms immediately became incredibly lively.
Seeing that it was getting late, Mr. Shen sighed and called his sons and grandsons to go to the school on empty stomachs.
Mrs. Liu was selecting soybeans in the backyard, preparing to grind them into tofu early the next morning. Her two daughters were helping her. When no one was around, she secretly ground some soybeans and had her eldest daughter take them back to the house to make tofu pudding.
The three of them each drank a bowl and were very satisfied.
When Shen returned home, his daughter immediately pulled him into the house and made him a bowl of tofu pudding with a raw egg boiled in boiling water.
The next morning.
Before dawn, Shen Xiaotang was woken up by her father.