Chapter 100 - 98: Rebuking a Piece of Work
Zhou Lian glanced at the people at the table and said with a smile, "Don’t you worry. I’ll be taking a stick to my third brother and my husband to make sure they study."
Everyone at the table laughed at her words. Zhou Lan looked relieved and quickly changed the subject. ’Her younger sister is really coming into her own,’ she thought.
After the boisterous banquet, relatives who lived far away headed home, leaving only close family like their uncles and aunts. Zhou Kun had no biological siblings, and the other members of the Zhou clan proper had also departed.
Li Xiu, holding his daughter, sat next to Zhou Lian, watching his father-in-law chat idly with his brothers-in-law. Suddenly, a sharp voice arose from where the women were gathered. Looking up, Li Xiu grinned. ’Isn’t that Grandma Zhou? She hasn’t left yet!’
"Honestly, niece-in-law, how are you raising these girls? Not a single one of them knows her proper duties as a woman!"
Everyone frowned at the sharp-tongued Grandma Zhou. The corner of Second Brother Zhou’s mouth twitched. ’This is all that kid Li Xiu’s fault.’
Zhou Kun frowned at this aunt of his, who caused trouble every time she visited. He said to her calmly, "Aunt, what is it now? Did one of the kids upset you?"
"Not exactly. But Nephew, I have to ask, how did you raise this second daughter of yours? First she gives birth to a measly girl, and now she has her husband watching the baby and even cooking separate meals for her. Tell me, what are people supposed to say about the women of our Zhou family when she acts like this? She’s a disgrace to the family name! Back in my day, a woman like that would’ve been divorced and sent packing!" Grandma Zhou said, her tone sharp and her expression condescending.
Upon hearing this, every member of the Zhou family, from old to young, thought the same thing. ’Oh, this is bad. Of all the people to criticize, she just had to pick Zhou Lian, and right in front of Li Xiu. This is like poking a hornet’s nest! Li Xiu is so protective of Zhou Lian that he won’t even let his own mother say a bad word about her; how could he possibly stand by while someone else does it?’
"Grandma, do you still recognize me?" Sure enough, the moment she finished, Li Xiu spoke. Seeing him speak so nonchalantly while holding his child, Zhou Kun thought for a moment and decided not to intervene. ’It might be good to let my son-in-law teach her a lesson.’
"Of course I do. You’re the second girl’s husband, aren’t you? As an elder, I have to tell you, you can’t spoil a woman like that. She needs to be taught..."
"The ’second girl’ you speak of is married to me, which makes her a member of my Li family. A married daughter is like spilt water. The ’second girl’ you speak of is now part of my Li family," Li Xiu said calmly, gently rocking his daughter, who had been woken by the noise. ’Old and shameless. Who gave her the nerve to criticize my wife? She’s just asking for it.’
"That may be, but what she’s doing is just too much..."
"I haven’t said a bad word about her, so who dares to? Right, dear Father-in-law?" Li Xiu’s calm tone was aimed directly at his father-in-law. ’It’s all his fault for indulging her, letting an old woman who married out years ago come back to her maternal family to act like a tyrant.’
Seeing the look on his son-in-law’s face, Zhou Kun knew the anger was now directed at him. He could only nod with a wry smile. ’What a temper. He’d even snap at his wife’s own father for her sake.’ Zhou Kun felt utterly exasperated.
"You see? Everyone understands this simple principle. I have to say, Grandma, aren’t you overstepping your bounds a bit?"
"That ’second girl’ is my grandniece, how can I not..."
"You have no right whatsoever. The ’second girl’ you keep talking about is the wife I formally and properly married. I’m happy to spoil her. I’m happy to put her on a pedestal and pamper her. My own parents can’t interfere, so who dares to!" Li Xiu was losing his patience. ’Does this old hag not understand plain language?’
"Nephew, look at this! Is this how your family raises its children? To talk to an elder like..."
Li Xiu cut her off. "I am the eldest grandson of the Li family. My upbringing has nothing to do with the Zhou family. Besides, she is the treasure I pursued relentlessly and brought home, a daughter-in-law of my Li family. Not even the most senior members of my family would dare to speak about my wife like that!"
"Nephew-in-law, isn’t it inappropriate for you to speak to an elder like that?" Grandma Zhou’s youngest son, who was also Zhou Kun’s cousin, couldn’t help but speak up seeing his mother being so thoroughly humiliated by a junior.
"Second Brother, who’s this? Calling me ’nephew-in-law’! As I recall, my father-in-law doesn’t have any biological siblings," Li Xiu asked Second Brother Zhou across from him, without even lifting his head.
Second Brother Zhou suppressed a laugh. "That’s our great-uncle from Grandma Zhou’s family—Dad’s cousin."
"Oh."
Everyone looked at him, confused. ’That’s it? Isn’t he going to say something?’
"Nephew-in-law, you’re not much of a man, are you? Having a baby girl and still..."
Everyone in the room, except for Grandma Zhou and her son, was at a loss for words. ’Can’t he read the room at all? It’s obvious Li Xiu is not someone to be trifled with. He had already gone quiet, so why go and poke the tiger? He must be looking for a dressing-down!’
"’Great-Uncle,’ is it? That ’measly girl’ is the legitimate eldest granddaughter of the Li family. My family’s matriarch herself said that her status as the legitimate eldest granddaughter alone makes her precious. Besides, what does having a boy or a girl have to do with the woman? The field is the same field. If you plant a pumpkin seed, are you expecting to harvest a watermelon? Or are you not worried that someone else might have snuck in and planted something in your field!" Li Xiu went on the offensive, guns blazing. ’They must have too much time on their hands, using my two treasures as a target. Do they think I’m dead?’
The entire room was stunned. His words were truly venomous.
"Every daughter my esteemed mother-in-law has raised is a fine woman sought after by a hundred families. How has the Zhou family’s reputation been ruined? My wife is gentle, generous, virtuous, and kind. Eldest Brother-in-law, my wife’s eldest sister married into your family. Is your family dissatisfied with her?" Li Xiu was not a patient man to begin with. Today was his third brother-in-law’s wedding day, and he couldn’t be bothered to argue, but they just kept popping up one after another. What did they take his wife for? She was the treasure he cradled in his palm and carefully protected. How could he let them run their mouths about her?
"My dear brother-in-law, what are you saying? My parents always say that marrying such a wonderful wife was our family’s greatest blessing!" the eldest brother-in-law quickly chimed in with praise. He was panicking. ’If I say the wrong thing, I won’t need my wife or my other in-laws to deal with me; this one brother-in-law alone will make my life miserable.’
"You see? Both sons-in-law are quite satisfied! Besides, if you don’t dote on the wife you bring home, what’s the point? Did a girl who was pampered and cherished her whole life marry you just to be bullied? If my little girl grows up, gets married, and is wronged in any way, I’ll make sure that family knows no peace for three generations, and then I’ll dig up their ancestral graves! Who would dare let the treasure I hold in my hands suffer even the slightest grievance!" Li Xiu said, his tone turning vicious.
No one in the room spoke. What was there to say? He had said everything there was to say, both pleasant and unpleasant. His aura was nothing like that of a simple farmer who digs in the dirt for a living.
The Zhou family’s cousin was completely cowed by Li Xiu’s aura and didn’t dare make a sound. ’Where did they find such a menace? His eyes cut you like knives, and his venomous words stabbed right where it hurts most.’
Although they knew Li Xiu doted on Zhou Lian, it was only now that the Zhou family truly understood: Zhou Lian was Li Xiu’s reverse scale. Touch it, and you’d end up dead or maimed. Grandma Zhou’s words had been a bit harsh—all right, very harsh—but Li Xiu had deliberately twisted the knife in her heart. How did Li Xiu know about those old affairs? Grandma Zhou was born of a concubine, and Li Xiu had repeatedly and deliberately emphasized that Nuonuo was the "legitimate eldest granddaughter" of the Li family. Everyone in the Zhou family knew that Grandma Zhou’s lowly birth was her biggest sore spot.
The great-uncle had fathered nine daughters in a row before finally having a son. Now, Li Xiu had brought up his whole pumpkin-and-watermelon theory. This was obviously a thinly veiled jab at him. The only question now was whether the great-uncle’s son was a mutated pumpkin... or if he had been a watermelon from the start.