Chapter 03
My Wife, My Responsibility
Jiang Ning was still drowsy and confused as she lifted her head with a dazed expression. Standing before the bed was a woman about 1.5 meters tall, wearing a grey cotton jacket and black trousers, her yellow-black face twisted into a fierce grimace.
Lin Chen rushed over immediately, pulling the quilt up to cover Jiang Ningâs porcelain-white shoulders. Then, his arm moved like a giant pincer, shoving Lin Zhou-shi toward the door.
Jiang Ning finally snapped out of her stupor and heard Lin Chenâs furious voice outside: “Grandma, what are you doing? Ningning is still sleeping; how could you just walk in without knocking?”
She smiled to herself, then slowly rose to get dressed.
“What kind of new bride doesn’t get up early to cook the next day? Iâve never seen anyone so lazy! I told you, delicate city educated youths shouldn’t be married! She couldn’t even handle one night of exertion. Think back to when I was pregnant with your father; I still had to work in the fields. When I was doing my postpartum confinement in the dead of winter, didn’t I wash the diapers myself…”
Lin Zhou-shi began rattling off her usual complaints about her past hardships. Before she could finish, Lin Chen glared at her and shouted sharply:
“Grandma, I know you suffered a lot back then, but does your suffering mean everyone else has to repeat it? If you suffered, itâs because Grandfather didn’t know how to cherish you. My wife is my responsibility; from now on, she can do the housework if she wants, and she doesn’t have to if she doesn’t want to.”
Jiang Ning, who was braiding her hair, paused, a sweet smile blooming on her face again. In her previous life, even before they had been intimate, he had never forced her to workâlet alone now, after he had finally tasted the sweetness of their union.
Lin Zhou-shiâs furrowed face turned even gloomier. She simply sat down on the floor and began to howl. “What sin have I committed! I thought I could enjoy my grandson’s blessings, but who knew his soul would be hooked by that fox spirit…”
Crying, causing a scene, and threatening to hang herselfâthe usual tactics of a rural shrew. She was trying to use emotional blackmail to manipulate Lin Chen.
Lin Chen remained unmoved. He stated firmly that if anyone dared to mistreat Jiang Ning, he would never let it go!
Just then, his mother, Wang Xiufen, came out of the other room, still putting on her shoes. She offered an apologetic smile: “Mom, please get up; Iâll go cook right now.”
Wang Xiufen was only forty-eight, but because her husband died early and she had to raise two children while being tormented by her mother-in-law, she looked like an old woman, her ear-length hair already greying. Lin Chen had left for the army at fifteen. Back then, he had thought of her as the village beauty; he never imagined that six years later, she would have aged into this.
“Mom, isn’t it supposed to be the eldest uncle’s familyâs turn to cook today?”
Lin Chen had been back for half a month. He felt that his uncle’s family and his grandmother were very enthusiastic toward him, and it had been agreed that housework would be rotated daily.
Faced with his questioning, Wang Xiufen nervously rubbed the hem of her shirt, bowing her head in silence. Her daughter, Lin Qiao, who had followed her out, couldn’t take it anymore. Her face flushed red, and she plucked up the courage to say to her older brother:
“Brother, you don’t know! All these years you were gone, Mom was the one doing all the water fetching, cooking, and laundry, on top of having to work in the fields. She had to go to the pond a mile away before dawn every day to fetch six buckets of water. One winter, she slipped on the snow while carrying water and was bedridden for a month. During that month, the work was supposed to be done by the eldest uncle’s family, but they cursed her for the entire month! I wanted to help Mom, but she wouldn’t let meâshe made me focus on my studies. I got into high school, but Grandma won’t let me go!”
The more Lin Qiao spoke, the more aggrieved she felt, her tears falling in torrents. She was only fifteen, and having grown up without a fatherâs protection, she was timid and cautious by nature.
Lin Chen grabbed her shoulders and shook her, his eyes bloodshot. “Why didn’t you tell me any of this! Not in your letters before, and not since I came back!”
“Because Grandma wouldn’t let us! She said if we dared to complain, sheâd go to the commune and ruin your reputation so you couldn’t be the militia company commander.” Lin Qiao sniffled, sobbing uncontrollably.
Lin Zhou-shi, who had been howling a moment ago, rolled her triangular eyes and spoke up in a panic: “You wretched girl, when did I ever say such things! Xiao Chen, don’t listen to your sisterâs nonsense. Thereâs so much work to do at home, how could your mother do it all alone? Youâve seen it these past few daysâthe eldest auntâs family has been taking their turns.”
Lin Chen clenched his fists, the veins on the back of his hands bulging. “If I don’t believe her, should I believe you? Youâve favored the eldest uncle’s family since I was a child! If my father hadn’t done so much work in the fields, he wouldn’t have been worked to death! I thought that since I sent money home every month, you all would have restrained yourselves! I was blindâI couldn’t see through your acting!”
His voice choked with emotion as he held up his frail mother. Wang Xiufen held back her tears and shook her head at him: “Xiao Chen, we are all family. I did these things voluntarily.” She could only blame herself; because her husband died early, they were a widow and orphan who could only survive by clinging to the Lin family.
“That’s right! We’re all family, why be so calculative!” A sharp voice drifted over from the neighboring uncle’s house, followed by a rotund figure emerging. She was only fifty, but her face was oily and full-cheeked, a stark contrast to Wang Xiufenâs withered, aged appearance.
This was the eldest uncle’s wife, Yu Xiaofeng. Lin Zhou-shiâs husband had died early, leaving behind two sons: the eldest, Lin Baojia, and the second, Lin Weiguo. Lin Baojia married Yu Xiaofeng and had a son and daughter; the daughter was already married, and the son was Lin Tao, twenty-two this year. Lin Weiguo had married Wang Xiufen and also had a son and daughter.
However, because Lin Weiguo had passed away six years ago, Lin Chen had shouldered the burden of the family and joined the army. In the beginning, his salary was 23 yuan a month plus a 2-yuan allowance. He would send back 20, keeping only a few yuan for books or basics since everything was provided in the army. When he was promoted to platoon leader, his salary rose to 36 yuan with a 3-yuan allowance, and he sent back 30. In this era of earning work points, a person would be lucky to earn over 100 yuan in a whole year; the 200â300 yuan he sent home was enough for his mother and sister to live quite comfortably.
Seeing his mother and aunt standing together in such sharp contrast, he realized that very little of the money he had sent over the years had actually been spent on his mother!
Lin Chenâs body trembled, and the look he shot at Yu Xiaofeng was filled with malice. “Aunt, you certainly aren’t ‘calculative,’ because youâve done nothing but take advantage!”
He hadn’t known the truth before, but that didn’t mean he was willing to be a sucker forever. Since he was back, he would definitely not let them suck the life out of his family anymore.
“What? Is that even human talk? Weâre familyâwhat’s this about taking advantage?” Lin Zhou-shi erupted in fury. She had always doted on Lin Baojia and, by extension, took extra care of the eldest family, conspiring with Yu Xiaofeng to torment Wang Xiufen. Now, the two stood united, staring fiercely at Lin Chen.
Jiang Ning scoffed. Who were they trying to scare? She walked over to Lin Chen, linked her arm through his, and looked at them with a sharp, piercing gaze.
“A-Chen, letâs separate the household. I believe Grandma and Aunt won’t mind.”
