บท 54: A Brother Worse Than A Dog
"I'll be right back," Lu Jiao said while facing Xie Yunjin's four classmates, and then walked out, ignoring Mrs Ruan.
When she entered the kitchen, she immediately shut the door before putting down the basket she had been carrying all this while on her back and immediately put the venison and the hare in the space. She had wanted to do it since the moment she had decided not to give all this to the Lu family, lest all the meat get spoiled, but Mrs Tian and Lu Gui were there with her the whole time, so she couldn't find an opportunity to do it until now.
After Lu Jiao put away the things, she poured a few bowls of sugar water.
After all, Xie Yunjin's classmates had come all the way from Qinghe County seat; it wouldn't look good on her part to not even offer them something to drink.
Although the bowls at their home were made of coarse clay found in the countryside, not fine porcelain, still it was a matter of etiquette.
Lu Jiao put the bowls filled with sugar water on the small tattered table and carried them to the east bedroom. Upon entering the room, she said politely,
"Young Masters, please drink water. The house is too simple. Please forgive me."
Xie Yunjin's four classmates took a quick glance, and noticed that the bowls which Lu Jiao used to serve them water had no previous use stains left, and the small table she had brought in was also very clean.
Despite the fact that there was almost nothing at home, the whole place was kept tidy, and even Yunjin's body was clean.
Even if he was paralyzed and confined to bed, there was no foul odor in the room.
This shows that his wife is a diligent person and has been taking good care of Yunjin all this while.
The four stepped forward and thanked Lu Jiao before each of them took a bowl of water to drink.
Since Yunjin's wife had already poured water for them kindly, it would be rude for them to not drink it.
When Lu Jiao saw that each of Yunjin's four classmates had taken a bowl of water and started drinking, she got another bowl of water and went beside the bed to bring the bowl to Xie Yunjin's mouth.
Mrs Ruan and Xie Lan both rolled their eyes, muttering to themselves, "What is she pretending to be? A rich woman? Humph!"
Chen Liu, Mrs. Ruan's eldest daughter-in-law, said loudly, "Third sister-in-law, you should pour a bowl of water for Mother-in-law too."
Lu Jiao turned to face Chen Liu with a smile. "There are no more bowls at home, otherwise should I go to Sister-in-law's house to get a bowl so that I can pour some water for Mother-in-law too?"
Chen Liu just stood there dumbfounded.
Xie Yunjin's four classmates got up and bade farewell to Xie Yunjin after noticing that the relationship among the Xies seemed to be strained.
"Yunjin, then, we'll go back now and come back later to visit you."
Xie Yunjin's eyes flashed with sadness. Seeing the four classmates leave, he said to Lu Jiao, "Send off the guests."
Lu Jiao got up and escorted the four classmates out. The guy in brocade clothes, who seemed to be the leader of the group of four, said to Lu Jiao in a gentle voice,
"I'm Yunjin's classmate and friend, Han Tong. I live in the Qinghe County Seat. If you have any trouble, you can come to me."
Lu Jiao immediately thanked Han Tong, "Thank you. I'll let Yunjin personally come to the door to thank you when he gets better in the future."
Han Tong's eyes lit up with hope after hearing Lu Jiao's words. But the other three didn't take her words seriously. After all, Yunjin had already been rendered paralyzed and his future didn't look that bright now, but they refrained from voicing out their thoughts.
The villagers of Xie Clan Village were still talking enthusiastically outside their house when the four of them walked out.
Han Tong and his three classmates boarded the carriage and drove off.
Lu Jiao turned around and walked towards the hall. She hadn't even entered the hall when she heard Xie Lan's surprised voice, "Mother, see this cloth. It is so beautiful. How about giving it to me in my dowry?"
"Take a look at these four-color dim sums. Your brother will surely like them, and these fine tea leaves must be expensive ones."
The mother-daughter duo completely took possession of the things in the hall and started going through everything happily and picking up items they liked.
"Put down those things and get out right away," said Lu Jiao as she walked into the hall from outside.
Instantly, Mrs. Ruan's expression changed, and she glared angrily at Lu Jiao, asking, "You want to swallow my son's stuff?"
Lu Jiao started laughing, before she turned to Mrs Ruan and said with a sneer, "You are so old, yet so shameless! You can't even be bothered to care about your son, who is paralyzed and confined to bed, how can you have the guts to come running to his house and go through his things?"
Mrs Ruan's face became extremely gloomy after hearing Lu Jiao's words, and she said through gritted teeth,
"My son can't use these things. If he could use them, why would I touch them?"
She pointed to the pile of things that contained the medicinal herbs and continued speaking, "He can use the medicinal herbs, so we won't move them. But those other things, he has no use for them at all. What's wrong with giving them to his brother as a gift? That's his own brother."
"Even raising a dog is better than raising a brother like him," sneered Lu Jiao.
The person Mrs Ruan loves the most is her youngest son. How could she possibly tolerate it when Lu Jiao insinuated that her son was worse than a dog. Mrs Ruan's expression changed, and she charged towards Lu Jiao madly.
Lu Jiao was too lazy to continue talking to Mrs Ruan. Anyway, nothing reasonable she said would make sense to these shameless people.
Lu Jiao thought of this and reached out her right hand to grab Mrs Ruan's wrist to block her incoming slap and started dragging her out.
"Lu Jiao, how dare you be disrespectful to your mother-in-law," Xie Lan yelled angrily behind her.
She chased after her after finishing her sentence, still holding the piece of cloth in her arms.
Lu Jiao dragged Mrs Ruan out, turned around to stop Xie Lan, pulled out the cloth free from her grip, and then reached out to grab her hand and dragged her out as well.
"Now go."
Chen Liu, her eldest sister-in-law, who was standing at the far corner of the hall, was also greedy for the gifts that Xie Yunjin's classmates had brought, but before she could go to look through them, Lu Jiao had already entered the hall. Now, even if she wanted to look through them, she didn't dare touch them when she saw Lu Jiao being so fierce to her Mother-in-law and Youngest Sister-in-law. Instead, she only dared to persuade her from behind.
"Lu Jiao, you are the Xie family's daughter-in-law. You should treat Mother-in-law like your own mother. How can you drag Mother-in-law out of your house?"
"Keep what your family needs from the gifts that the third brother's classmates gave him, and as for the rest, since you don't need them, give them to mother-in-law to show your filial piety."
Lu Jiao looked at Chen Liu coldly and pointed out, saying, "Get out. Don't wait for me to do it."
Even though Chen Liu's heart hurts, she doesn't have the courage to go against this fierce woman who could even lift a wild boar barehanded.
"Come and see, a daughter-in-law beat her mother-in-law. She keeps the good things to herself and doesn't show any filial piety to her mother-in-law. Such an unfilial and unvirtuous woman should be locked in a pig cage." Mrs Ruan cried as she sat on the ground in the yard and beat the floor.
"My life, why is it so bitter? I raised a few children despite suffering from so many hardships, but I was treated like this by my daughter-in-law. I might as well die."
Lu Jiao had just entered the house when she heard Mrs Ruan's wailing, trying to incite the villagers against her. Her face was extremely unsightly, and she was about to go to the yard when she heard Xie Yunjin's icy cold voice coming from the east bedroom.
"Lu Jiao, come in."
Lu Jiao turned around and walked into the east bedroom, glaring angrily at Xie Yunjin, who was lying on the bed.
It's unfortunate enough that she has to take care of someone else's paralyzed husband after transmigrating, but now she also has to deal with his eccentric mother.
In the future, even if he secures the top spot in Jinshi examination and becomes the First Assistant, he would be dragged down by his greedy and unreasonable mother.
Xie Yunjin, who should have been weakly lying on the bed, was currently emitting a strong suffocating, cold aura. He looked at Lu Jiao coldly and said in a deep voice, "Lu Jiao, that's my mother."
Lu Jiao's face darkened when she heard this. What does he want to imply? He thinks that she is not good to his mother, so does he want to give the things kept in the hall to his mother?
Oh, fine then. Let him if he wants to.
Lu Jiao turned towards the door angrily and was about to go out.
"It's not worth it for such a person," Xie Yunjin's voice sounded again from behind her.
He continued, "Since she's an elder, if you go against her, it'll be you who suffers. No matter how reasonable your words may be, as a daughter-in-law, it's your reputation that will be tainted."
Lu Jiao raised her eyebrows as soon as she heard what Xie Yunjin actually meant to say. His immediate clarification meant that he was not worried about his greedy mother, but rather about her reputation.
Lu Jiao knew that Xie Yunjin was right. Even if Mrs. Ruan continued to spew nonsense and cause trouble unreasonably, as a daughter-in-law, it would affect her reputation.
"To beat a snake, one must strike seven inches below its head. Likewise, everyone has their weaknesses. By the way, my Mother cares about my Fourth Brother the most," Xie Yunjin said softly, his earlier suffocating cold aura almost vanishing.
[T/N: To beat a snake, one must strike seven inches below its head: Seven inches below a snake's head, lies its heart. If the snake is hit there, it would surely die.]
After he finished speaking, he turned his head to glance outside the window for a moment before closing his eyes, signalling the end of the conversation.
Lu Jiao, who remained standing beside the door, was still comprehending Xie Yunjin's words. Soon, her eyes lit up. Yes, she can't do anything to Mrs. Ruan, but that doesn't mean she can't do anything to Xie Yunjin's fourth brother, Xie Yunhua, that coward who knows nothing but to hide behind his mother all day long. When she beats him up, no one would complain. After all, she is his Third Sister-in-law and, family seniority-wise, his elder.
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