Reborn as a Tough Army Wife-Chapter 65 - 62 The Kind Mother-in-law and the Filial Daughter-in-law (120+)
Chapter 65: Chapter 62 The Kind Mother-in-law and the Filial Daughter-in-law (120+)
As soon as Fang Xiu finished speaking, Zhou Yunmei happened to come back from outside, and she was not alone; her daughter Xu He and Duan Fenghua were with her.
Seeing the women in the house discussing clothes, she hurried over with a smile and said, "Hong Lan, the color of this dress is really pretty. Where did you buy the fabric?"
Luo Honglan and Xu He were not very familiar, so she smiled shyly, looked at the dress in her hand, and said, "My sister-in-law bought it for me. Do you really think the color is nice?"
"It’s pretty." Xu He said, and even took the dress from Luo Honglan’s hands, opened it up, and upon seeing its style, her eyes lit up. She pulled Luo Honglan and asked, "Hong Lan, where did you get this dress made? Is it a new style? I don’t think it’s sold in our town."
Upon hearing this, Luo Honglan proudly said, "My sister-in-law made it. Indeed, you can’t buy it in town."
Upon hearing this, Xu He paused for a moment, then walked over and affectionately took Fang Pingying’s hand, saying, "Sister Pingying, you are really skillful, and you can even make clothes yourself."
With the lessons learned from her past life, Fang Pingying knew Xu He’s greatest strength was to play possum—sweet-talking you to your face while stabbing you in the back harder than anyone else.
Fang Pingying disliked Xu He coming closer, so she subtly stood a bit farther away from Xu He, so she couldn’t make contact. Then she said with a light smile, "I just made it casually, I can’t really say I know how to make clothes."
"If this is what you call casual, it must be amazing when you take it seriously." Duan Fenghua, who had been looking on, also came over and took the dress from Luo Honglan to look at it, then suddenly said to Zhou Yunmei with a smile, "Sister-in-law, why bother asking tailors to make clothes when your daughter-in-law could do it for you? You could save quite a bit of money."
Duan Fenghua’s comment seemed to be a compliment to Fang Pingying, but upon deeper reflection, it seemed to carry an instigating undertone.
What she meant was if Fang Pingying could make clothes, why not help Zhou Yunmei with it instead of letting Zhou Yunmei find a tailor.
Sure enough, Zhou Yunmei was precisely the type to be easily stirred up by others.
After hearing Duan Fenghua’s words, Zhou Yunmei’s face darkened, and she looked at the dress on Luo Honglan with a cold voice, "I had no idea she could make clothes, and when did she buy so much fabric."
Normally, Fang Pingying would have directly mentioned the time she asked Zhou Yunmei for fabric, and she refused, but in front of Xu He and her daughter, and noticing the schadenfreude in Duan Fenghua’s eyes, she simply didn’t want to please her.
She looked at Zhou Yunmei with a smile, "Mom, didn’t you say you went to the tailor to make clothes for Cuilan for her marriage? I definitely wouldn’t dare mess with that. But if you don’t mind my craftsmanship, I can make your clothes for you in the future."
Although Zhou Yunmei had a bad temper, she also liked to be flattered, and she particularly enjoyed her daughter-in-law gaining face for her in front of others.
With Fang Pingying saying so, she felt content, and a smile appeared on her face, "Alright, in the future, I won’t go to the tailor for clothes and save that money."
Then, she became interested in Luo Honglan’s dress.
She took Luo Honglan’s hand and asked with a laugh, "Did your sister-in-law pick out this fabric for you?"
"Yes, my sister-in-law and elder brother haven’t even made their own clothes; they made mine first." Luo Honglan said while putting on the dress to show Zhou Yunmei, "Mom, do you think it looks good?"
Although Zhou Yunmei wasn’t typically very good to Luo Honglan, in the end, she was her daughter. She was happy in her heart that Fang Pingying treated Luo Honglan well, and sometimes she thought her daughter-in-law wasn’t half bad.
"It looks good, really good, how could the new clothes sister-in-law made for you not look fantastic?" She looked at Luo Honglan and nodded, even cracking a smile as she said, "Sister-in-law treats you so well. You should listen to her more in the future and not always be so stubborn."
Before Luo Honglan could respond, Fang Xiu squeezed over and tugged at Zhou Yunmei’s arm, wearing a somewhat ingratiating expression, "Mom, I want big sister to make me one of these dresses this afternoon. This dress is beautiful."
The reason Fang Xiu acted this way was that she had her mind set on asking Zhou Yunmei for some fabric.
Luo Cuilan, hearing this, also hurriedly pulled on another one of Zhou Yunmei’s arms saying, "Mom, I also want sister-in-law to make me one."
Zhou Yunmei was in a good mood at that moment and simply nodded casually towards the two of them, without clearly agreeing or disagreeing.
She glanced at the dress Luo Honglan was wearing, then turned to Duan Fenghua with a smile, "It is beautiful, indeed. The dress is quite nice. The young ones wear it well. I don’t think anyone in our village has worn such a fine dress before."
Zhou Yunmei then gave Fang Pingying a glance, her demeanor carrying a hint of show-off as she told Duan Fenghua, "This daughter-in-law of mine, although she may be a bit stubborn, truly is capable. She’s good at taking care of both inside and outside the house."
Duan Fenghua, who was chatting with Zhou Yunmei outside, had been quite pleased when she heard Zhou Yunmei continuously complaining about Fang Pingying’s shortcomings.
Originally, Luo Zhiyong was who Xu He from their family had set her sights on, but in the end, because of the leg injury, Fang Pingying had picked up a bargain.
If Luo Zhiyong’s leg had been permanently damaged, she wouldn’t be so fixated; however, she recently heard from Zhou Yunmei that they had gone for a hospital check-up which suggested that it could be healed, and it looked like he was almost fully recovered.
Her jealousy was uncontainable. Regardless of whether there was still a chance between Luo Zhiyong and Xu He, she simply couldn’t bear to see Fang Pingying doing well.
Every time Zhou Yunmei badmouthed Fang Pingying to her, although she seemed to be advising Zhou Yunmei, she was actually deliberately fanning the flames, hoping that the relationship between Zhou Yunmei and Fang Pingying would worsen.
She had seen many cases where bad relationships between mother-in-laws and daughter-in-laws ended up causing the son and his wife to split.
She came here today hoping to witness a row between Fang Pingying and Zhou Yunmei, but unexpectedly saw this affectionate scene between a kind mother-in-law and a dutiful daughter-in-law. It made her teeth itch with irritation, inwardly cursing Zhou Yunmei for changing her tune so quickly.
But after all, these were her private thoughts, and she dared not show them outwardly.
Seeing Zhou Yunmei praising Fang Pingying with a smile, she also had to follow suit in complimenting, "Indeed, Pingying is capable. It might be hard to find another daughter-in-law in our village as able as she is. Your family Zhiyong really struck gold."
Zhou Yunmei’s heart was not as joyful hearing this, and her smile faded as she said, "It’s not quite like that. My Zhiyong isn’t inferior. If it weren’t for this injury to his leg, he...sigh..."
Zhou Yunmei sighed and didn’t continue.
In her heart, no matter how capable Fang Pingying was, she was still not good enough for her son.
Although Fang Pingying was talking with Fang Xiu and Luo Honglan, she clearly overheard the conversation between Zhou Yunmei and Duan Fenghua. Sure enough, Duan Fenghua and her daughter hadn’t changed a bit from before.
Xu He seemed easygoing and approachable on the surface, her words sweet, but her scheming heart was unmatched by anyone.
She prided herself on being more educated having read more books than others, being the only girl in the village who attended high school, hence she always held herself aloof, never associating with other girls. Whenever she took the initiative to befriend someone, it was invariably because she saw some utilitarian value in them. (To be continued. If you enjoy this work, you are welcome to vote for it at Qidian (qidian.com) with recommendation votes and monthly tickets. Your support is my greatest motivation. Mobile users, please visit m.qidian.com to read.)
