splendid star

Chapter 83 Xiaoju's Married Life
"Xiao Ju, I want to discuss something with you." After Xiao Qiang drove home at night, he mumbled while chewing the steamed buns in his mouth. The chewed up steamed bun residue sprayed onto the table as he spoke.
"What's the matter? Brother Qiang. Can't you just finish talking? Look! The table is covered with squirts." Xiao Ju complained as she got up and cleared the table and walked to the kitchen. She was going to clean up the leftovers after cooking. The house was in a mess.
After Xiao Qiang swallowed the food in his mouth, he followed Xiao Ju to the kitchen. He said with a playful smile: "Xiao Ju, can I discuss something with you?
"What's going on?" Xiaoju asked while cleaning up.
Xiao Qiang leaned sideways against the door frame of the kitchen and said seriously: "I was thinking about how about you stay at my mother's house? I'm vacating this house. You see, your belly is getting bigger and bigger during the day. How bad is it for you to stay at home alone when I get out of the car? If something happens, no one will take care of you, and you usually don’t have anyone to talk to. What will you do if you give birth after a while? What if you come back? As for my family, my mother was here to take care of her before she was born, and it would be convenient for her to have confinement after she was born, don’t you think?"
"But..." In fact, what Xiao Qiang said was reasonable, but Xiao Ju had an inexplicable fear of this mother-in-law in her heart. While washing the dishes, she replied hesitantly, "But your mother doesn't seem to like me. , I’m afraid there will be conflicts between mother-in-law and daughter-in-law after living here.”
"You are thinking too much, Xiaoju. You are now the key protection target of our family. What can my mother do to you? You don't know that my mother often calls to greet you recently. She is looking forward to it eagerly. You are now a grandma! You are carrying her grandson in your belly now. Even if she dislikes you no matter how much she dislikes you and does not look at the monk or the Buddha, she will still be reluctant to part with her precious grandson. I'm making trouble with you, don't you think so?" After Xiao Qiang finished speaking, he walked up to Xiao Ju and gently stroked her bulging belly.
"What you said makes sense, but what do you mean, do you and your mother also favor boys over girls? Are you saying that if I have a girl in my belly, would you and your mother not like it?" Xiao Ju lowered her head and asked. road.
Xiao Qiang was stunned after hearing this, and then said with a smile: "No, my mother said, judging from the belly, it must be a big deal."
After Xiao Qiang finished speaking, he walked away. Xiao Ju lowered her head and said nothing more, continuing to wash the dishes.
I was born in a family that favored sons over daughters. If I had another daughter, would she have the same fate as her?Xiaoju couldn't help but worry about it.
She touched her belly with her hand, and then secretly prayed in her heart that it would not be a girl. It was not that she favored boys over girls, but that she was afraid of being born in such a family, where she would be looked down upon and treated with contempt from birth because of her gender.
Of course, if she were really a daughter, she would be very well-behaved, right?If she is really a girl, she will definitely be a good mother, give her full of love, and never let her suffer inexplicable misfortunes like herself.
A few days later, Xiao Qiang drove Xiaoju and his luggage back to his home in the suburbs of Beijing.
"Look at this belly, you must be your grandson." As soon as Xiao Qiang's mother saw Xiao Ju, she looked at her belly with a smile and said, then raised her head and greeted her hurriedly, "Xiao Ju, stop standing, hurry into the house, don't Tired of my precious grandson.”
Xiaoju smiled and said "Thank you, Mom" ​​and then slowly moved into the back room.
"Xiaoju, mom has packed up your place and dried the quilts and mattresses. Although it's late spring, it's still a little cold at night, so don't freeze." Xiao Qiang's mother ordered with a smile.
After Xiao Qiang and Xiao Ju looked at each other, Xiao Ju said sincerely: "Thank you, Mom."
"Okay, then you go back to the house and clean up first, and I'll cook for you." After Xiao Qiang's mother said that, she walked to the kitchen.
The two returned to their room. Xiao Qiang lowered his head and whispered in Xiaoju's ear: "Am I right? My mother's attitude towards you has changed a lot this time you come back!"
Xiaoju also lowered her head and replied happily while arranging her clothes: "Yes, I am quite touched. It seems that I was too worried before, and my mother is quite good to me." When Xiaoju said this, My heart feels warm.
During dinner, Xiao Ju and Xiao Qiang's mother talked and laughed. Seeing that the mother-in-law and daughter-in-law were getting along well, Xiao Qiang's heart was finally relieved before he came back.
Before dawn the next day, Xiao Qiang went out to drive a sports car.
"Xiao Ju, get up and cook. I have something to do when I go out." At dawn, Xiao Ju's mother-in-law came over and asked Xiao Ju to get up and cook.
"Okay, Mom, I understand." Xiaoju agreed while slowly getting up from bed, leaning on her side to protect her stomach.
Xiao Qiang's mother whispered as she left Xiaoju's house: She is such an adult and she still sleeps in.I don’t know how to get up early to cook for my husband and mother-in-law. Poor Qiangzi had to go out to work to earn money when he got up early in the morning and was hungry.
Xiaoju faintly heard her mother-in-law muttering in the room. She was thinking about how her mother-in-law's attitude changed so quickly overnight.Since you feel sorry for your son, why don't you get up early and cook by yourself?But she said nothing.After washing up hastily, Xiaoju lowered her head and went to the kitchen to start preparing breakfast for the two of them.
A few days later, at noon, Xiao Ju was sitting on the sofa watching TV. Xiao Qiang's mother shouted again: "Xiao Ju, sweep the yard! You are such an adult, you have been idle at home all day, and you don't have any eyesight." "
"Mom, I haven't been feeling well these past two days. I feel weak all over. My stomach is still feeling hard, and my feet are swollen..." Xiaoju replied softly.
After hearing this, Xiao Qiang's mother quickly walked to Xiao Ju's room, rolled her eyes at Xiao Ju, and replied angrily: "I mean, Xiao Ju, you are also from a rural area, why are you so pretentious? Who has never given birth to a child? I am pregnant." At that time, Qiangzi was about to give birth the next day, and he was still working in the fields the first day!"
"Mom, I'm really not being pretentious. I'm really feeling unwell. Look at how swollen my feet are. I can't even put on my shoes, so I can only walk around slowly with my slippers on." Xiao Ju said. He stretched his feet in front of Xiao Qiang's mother.
"Okay, put your hooves away quickly. Are you treating yourself as an ancestor just because you're pregnant? Let me tell you, in my family you have to behave like a daughter-in-law. Don't think that you are still in your parents' family." Xiao Qiang's mother did not Said angrily.
Seeing that Xiao Qiang's mother was resolute, Xiaoju didn't say anything, so she had to lower her head and pick up the shoes silently. However, she tried to put them on several times, but she couldn't put them on.
"Stop pretending like this! Oh, by the way, your life at your parents' house won't be much better, right? Your money-obsessed parents took 8 yuan in gift money from our family, and it's not even a penny. If you come here without a dowry, you are not marrying your daughter, you are clearly selling your daughter!" Xiao Qiang's mother said sarcastically.
"Mom, how can you talk like that?" Xiaoju replied in a low voice as she heard a look of displeasure from behind.
"Am I wrong? Xiaoju, I heard from Qiangzi that since you graduated from college, your parents have calculated all the money you spent from birth to college, and they forced you to pay back the money just after you graduated. Money. I also heard from Qiangzi that before you got married, you had no savings at all. All the money you earned over the years was given to your vampire mother-in-law, right? Tell me, this is not selling your daughter! It’s really hard for our family to find you. What a bad luck!" After Xiao Qiang's mother said this, she looked at Xiao Ju with contempt and walked out on her own.
Xiaoju looked at the back of Xiao Qiang's mother after she left, and then thought about what she just said, tears could not help but roll in her eyes, including humiliation, grievance, and sadness.Choking, she picked up her shoes and stuffed her feet into them. Then she came to the yard, picked up the broom and started sweeping slowly.
After dinner, Xiao Ju limped to the bedside and climbed onto the bed gently. Because her swollen feet were forced into shoes and she had done housework all afternoon, Xiao Ju's feet were Blisters appeared and the pain was unbearable.
When Xiao Qiang found out, he asked Xiao Ju what was going on, and Xiao Ju told Xiao Qiang exactly what happened at home that day.
After hearing this, Xiao Qiang angrily came to his mother's room and asked, "Mom, what's the matter with the blisters on Xiaoju's feet?"
While eating melon seeds, Xiao Qiang's mother replied casually: "That's because you pampered her too much before and spoiled her. Besides, I didn't ask her to do anything, just sweep the yard and wash clothes!" "
"Mom, Xiaoju's feet are already swollen like that because she's pregnant, and she's about to give birth. Why are you making things so difficult for her? Sweeping the yard is such a big deal, you just huffed and it's over soon, your clothes are obviously There is a washing machine, why do you have to hand-wash Xiaoju? Aren't you deliberately trying to embarrass others!" Xiao Qiang said angrily.
"Qiangzi, this is your fault. I am doing this for her own good! Didn't you just say that? Xiaoju is about to give birth, so she needs to move more and more at this time, so that she can give birth easily. I can listen It is said that some pregnant women are dedicated to exercising at this time. If they do not move and sit there all day long, eating and sleeping, and eating while sleeping, it will be difficult for them to have a normal delivery, and if there is a difficult labor, caesarean section, etc., it will be troublesome, you say Am I doing it for her own good?" Xiao Qiang's mother argued.
After hearing this, Xiao Qiang felt that what his mother said made some sense, so he continued: "Even if what you said makes sense, is it a bit too much to say that her family is selling their daughter? Xiaoju is already sensitive, and you said this to her , can she feel better?"
"Yo! She is quite good at complaining, right? Qiangzi, do you think mom is wrong? Isn't their family selling their daughters? Go out and ask around, who took [-] yuan as a gift and didn't get a cent of dowry? No. I said to you, Qiangzi, what kind of wife are you looking for? If I hadn’t seen her pregnant with our Xiao family’s grandson, I would never have agreed to your marriage.” Xiao Qiang’s mother said angrily.
"Mom, I know that, but Xiao Ju is also very pitiful, and it's not her fault. Also, can you stop talking bad about Xiao Ju in front of the neighbors? Now most of the village knows about our family's bad things. Damn it." Xiao Qiang squatted on the ground and complained.
"Okay, okay! I won't talk about the head office anymore, right? I really forgot about my mother after marrying my wife." Xiao Qiang's mother rolled her eyes at Xiao Qiang and said angrily.
"Mom, there's something I don't understand. You said you never liked Xiaoju. Why were you so nice on the day we came?" Xiao Qiang asked in confusion.
"Isn't that just for my grandson's sake? I thought she was also from a rural area and would be a very capable wife. But on the second day after arriving, she started to sleep in and didn't get up to cook or do housework. I do all the work in the house, but I just asked her to clean the yard and start complaining in front of you. What a sin I have done." Xiao Qiang's mother wiped her tears as she said it.
"Okay, stop crying, Mom, I'll go back first." After Xiao Qiang said that, he turned and left.
Xiao Qiang was lying on the bed, thinking silently: Just a few days after returning, the mother-in-law and daughter-in-law had a conflict. What to do in the future.After being dazed for a long time, Xiao Qiang sighed helplessly and said: "Xiao Ju, let me buy you a pair of shoes that are one size larger tomorrow, so that you won't get blisters when you work again."
Xiao Ju did not respond, but turned her back to Xiao Qiang, crying silently.
(End of this chapter)