Courtyard House: New Life, New Silly Zhu

Chapter 83

Jia Dongxu may have many flaws, but his strengths are also very obvious.

For example, now that he has realized what his mother was talking about, he immediately defends Qin Huairu.

"Mom, you can't say that. Huai Ru is also very good. She does the laundry, cooks, and takes care of the children every day. I'm out earning money, and she stays at home doing housework. She works very hard too," Jia Dongxu said earnestly.

Madam Jia snorted coldly and said unhappily, "What's so hard about it? What's so hard about it? What woman doesn't have a hard time? Besides, it's not like I haven't taken care of children before. What's so difficult about taking care of children?"

After hearing this, Qin Huairu lowered her eyes and remained silent, as if she had suffered a great injustice. For a long time, she hung her head and looked miserable.

This made Jia Zhangshi even more dissatisfied. She said, "Look at her, she's acting all wronged. What's there to be wronged about? She really doesn't know what's good for her. If Dongxu hadn't married you, you would have spent your whole life toiling in the countryside. Now she's putting on this mournful face. Who is she trying to fool? The family has no good fortune to have such a daughter-in-law. She's cried all her sorrows away." After saying that, she turned her head away and refused to look at Qin Huairu anymore.

Jia Dongxu now regrets his loose tongue; he should have known better than to bring it up. Now, he's upset the whole family.

Although she knew that her appearance would not elicit Jia Zhangshi's sympathy, she still couldn't help but continue to feign pitifulness.

Whether at home or outside, everyone dotes on her, but she never expected to be rejected by her mother-in-law.

"Mom, I was wrong, please don't be angry." Qin Huairu thought for a moment and immediately came up with a solution, admitting her mistake.

Seeing that Jia Zhangshi remained silent, Qin Huairu continued, "I know I haven't been able to share the burden at home, but," Qin Huairu looked at Jia Zhangshi, then at Jia Dongxu, her eyes filled with tears, and choked out, "I don't have time to find odd jobs. I went to the neighborhood office to look for work making paper boxes, but they wouldn't give me any. What can I do?"

When Jia Zhangshi heard Qin Huairu say this, she snorted coldly: "You're just lazy and making excuses for not wanting to work. Why don't you go and beg for a job? I saw that the Liu family in the front yard got a job making paper boxes."

When the Liu family was mentioned, Jia Dongxu had something to say: "Mom, you can't just ask for things. The Liu family is already struggling financially, so when they applied for cardboard box pasting jobs at the neighborhood office, they were given them those jobs. But our family's situation—"

"What's wrong with our family? Aren't we having a hard time too? Don't we need help? I think that's the case~" Before Jia Zhangshi could finish speaking, Jia Dongxu immediately covered her mouth.

"Mom, I'm begging you, there are some things you really shouldn't say." Jia Dongxu was so frightened by his mother that he broke out in a cold sweat.

Jia Zhangshi realized that what she said was wrong, or rather, she shouldn't have said it.

"Alright, alright, I know I misspoke, but it's still about this matter," Jia Zhangshi waved her hand and said.

Seeing that the atmosphere had been set, Qin Huairu immediately said, "Mom, since that's the case, how about I buy a job for you? Let Dongxu buy me a job, then our family will be dual-income households and we can earn two salaries." After saying that, Qin Huairu looked at Jia Dongxu and Jia Zhangshi with anticipation.

The mother and son exchanged a glance, both seeing a hint of helplessness in each other's eyes.

Back when Dongxu was 20 and able to get married, why didn't he marry a girl from the city but instead chose to find one in the countryside? In the end, it was because his family didn't have money.

Don't be fooled by the fact that the factory now provides jobs and compensation to workers who die from workplace injuries. Back when Jia Dongxu's father died in a workplace accident, it was a private company. They didn't provide any compensation, or even offer him a job.

In the end, it was only through Dongxu's apprenticeship with Yi Zhonghai that he was able to secure a job. However, despite having a job, his family remained extremely poor.

In those days, it was common to get married at the age of 18. Jia Dongxu waited until he was 20 years old before he could get married, and he still couldn't find a girl from the city, so he could only go to the countryside.

But back then, it wasn't easy to marry a girl from the countryside. After all, the land had just been distributed, and rural girls had the confidence to say that they also had their own assets.

Jia Dongxu won Qin Huairu's hand in marriage by relying on his handsome face and by lying to her that his family was rich and that they would provide a sewing machine after the marriage.

After marrying her, Qin Huairu always thought that her family was well-off, but her mother-in-law was unwilling to take it out or use it.

It wasn't that they were reluctant to use it; it was that they really didn't have the money. Even the sewing machine wasn't new; it was secondhand.

They were just deceiving Qin Huairu, taking advantage of her being a country girl who didn't know that after buying a sewing machine, there would be someone to arrange for the buyer to learn how to use it.

This meant that although they had a sewing machine, they could only do simple sewing and mending, and couldn't use it to find work outside to supplement their income; it was purely for decoration.

Upon hearing that Qin Huairu wanted to work, Jia Zhangshi immediately became agitated.

"Look at you, all you know is to spend money to buy a job. Look at the wife that idiot Zhu is going to marry, she's from the countryside too, she got into high school in the countryside and found a job in the city. What about you? Why can't you? Does she have an extra pair of hands? Or an extra leg? You're from the countryside too, you should find a job yourself. You should be like her, go find one yourself."

After his mother finished her outburst, Jia Dongxu immediately comforted her, "Mom, don't be angry. Huai Ru didn't mean it."

Then he said to Qin Huairu, "Huairu, you should say less. Mom is getting old, don't take it to heart, be more understanding."

Seeing that Qin Huairu still seemed a little unconvinced, Jia Dongxu had no choice but to switch targets.

"Mom, you too, how old are you, still acting like this." Seeing that Jia Zhangshi was about to explode again, Jia Dongxu immediately interrupted Jia Zhangshi.

"Mom, I remember all the hardships you've endured raising me. I can't let you stay home and do all the housework and take care of the kids. Why don't you let Huai Ru help you at home? I'll work hard to get a job and pass my certification exams to earn more money. Huai Ru can help you with the housework so you can enjoy a couple more years of good life. Is that alright?"

Seeing that they had finally stopped making a scene, Jia Dongxu sighed and said, "Alright, let's leave it at that for today. Huai Ru, I'm hungry too. Go and bring all the food up, let's eat."

Qin Huairu glanced at her husband with some resentment. Just as she was about to get up, she heard Jia Zhangshi, who was sitting opposite her, say, "Look at the wife you married. She doesn't even know to bring food to her own husband when he's hungry."