Chapter 225: Opinions
Yang PeiMin had finally enlisted, and the Yang Family were overjoyed. They specifically invited some uncles and several brothers from the Yang Family to come over for a meal to celebrate her university acceptance and to see her off.
Li Hong was arranging dishes in the kitchen when she saw Bai Hehua come in to get some boiling water. Li Hong had been quite pleased with herself these past days for faking a pregnancy, and it upset the Yang Family, so she had been keeping a low profile. In an attempt to win back Zhang Minghua’s favor, she had been eagerly taking on household chores, especially when Zhang Minghua was around. She had realized that Zhang Minghua was the one who controlled the family’s finances and also had the caramel recipe—pleasing Zhang Minghua could only bring benefits.
However, Li Hong had just truly realized another problem. Zhang Minghua wasn’t the only daughter-in-law. With multiple daughters-in-law, comparisons were inevitable—the eldest sister-in-law’s diligence and the second sister-in-law’s cunning were strong competition for her. And particularly, Bai Hehua, who was shrewder than a honeycomb. Now that she saw her sister-in-law had returned, she hurriedly pushed forward, unconcerned about any past embarrassing incidents.
But everyone in this household knew that Li Hong, the married-off sister-in-law, was the apple of Yang Dahai’s parents’ eyes—she couldn’t be spoken ill of or scolded, and she had married well, always bringing lots of gifts back to her parents’ home. Now that Bai Hehua had cozied up to Yang PeiMin, hadn’t she indirectly curry favored with the mother-in-law too?
Li Hong rolled her eyes then said to Bai Hehua, "Second sister-in-law, seeing Minmin come back and all this talk of a banquet, I’m not sure if it’s customary here. Doesn’t seem quite right, does it? Shouldn’t the banquet be held at the Shen family instead? I wonder if they have any objections to this."
Bai Hehua glanced at her, secretly sneering. Li Hong was indeed crafty, but Bai Hehua wasn’t foolish despite sometimes being impulsive, "You should tell mother-in-law about this, I don’t know anything, I just follow what mother-in-law says."
Li Hong cursed silently, "sycophant," realizing Bai Hehua hadn’t fallen for it, she could only helplessly smile and added, "You know I don’t have much say in this house. By the way, second sister-in-law, can Xiao Bao start eating mush now? He’s getting skinny, doesn’t he? I remember when my brother was little, no matter how poor we were, we would still grind some rice flour and occasionally make some egg custard. Xiao Bao is currently the only grandson in our family, he deserves to eat better, right? I’ve heard if a child eats well, he grows up clever."
Although Bai Hehua knew Li Hong had ulterior motives, her words struck a chord as Xiao Bao was Yang Family’s only grandson and also the eldest. She had heard that city children drink formula, and it wasn’t as if she couldn’t afford it.
Noticing her change in expression, Li Hong pressed on, "Ah, I’m talking about Minmin organizing all this banquet and stuff, and it’s with our close relatives. No one would bring gifts, and the cost will all be on us. Mother loves to save face, and we’ll have to spend quite a bit on meat alone. That would translate to a substantial amount of money, which could buy two packs of formula for Xiao Bao instead."
Bai Hehua looked at her, arching an eyebrow, "What do you mean, sister-in-law?"
Li Hong tucked a lock of hair behind her ear and smiled shyly, "I mean nothing specific, just worried about Xiao Bao, that’s all. Recently, I thought I was pregnant and going to be a mother, but it turned out I was mistaken. I just love children so much, seeing such a small child struggle makes me uneasy."