Transmigration: Space-Aided Rise to Power and Prosperity-Chapter 154 - 79: Mrs. Zhang, the 3rd Sister-in-law

"What’s wrong? Can’t a mother wear a nice dress?" As soon as this was mentioned, Mrs. Lv slapped Gu Chengyu lightly and then directed He to bring up the corn cakes.

Gu Chengyu touched his nose. He had just returned; he shouldn’t have provoked his mother, right? He looked at Mr. Gu, asking with his eyes what was going on.

Who knew Mr. Gu just glanced at him, then calmly picked up some dishes from the table, sipped a bit of wine, and let out a very satisfied "zzz" sound.

Gu Chengyu turned around, looked around the room, and found that almost everyone was there, only missing his third brother and sister-in-law. Gu Wan across from him blinked at him knowingly, leaving Gu Chengyu a bit puzzled. According to reason, his third sister-in-law was quite diligent. After marrying into the Gu Family, she never shirked responsibilities when it was her turn to work, though she was a bit feisty, but not a bad person. Usually, by now, she would have started helping the eldest sister-in-law set up the tableware.

His third sister-in-law’s maiden name was Zhang Yunyun, and her father back home made a living carrying a load selling tofu from street to street, a native of Xiasang Village. Originally, Mrs. Lv had wanted the matchmaker to find a girl from a small family with some savings or a girl living in town since the Gu family was quite well-off. She didn’t want to marry her third son into a poor family only to rely on the Gu family for support in the end.

Who knew, when Gu Chenglian was taking Da Lang and the others to school, he encountered Zhang Yunyun delivering tofu to Old Man Zhang. Zhang Yunyun had a somewhat delicate look, and Gu Chenglian immediately took a liking to her. He came back and told Mrs. Lv that if a marriage was to be proposed for him, it would be better to marry Zhang Yunyun from Xiasang Village.

Mrs. Lv nearly fainted from anger upon hearing this. She knew the Zhang family in Xiasang Village after all, since Old Man Zhang often carried his load to Shangling Village to sell tofu, but the Zhang family was poor!

At home, there was a eldest son, a daughter, and a younger son. The eldest son was unfilial and, after marrying, forgot about his parents and separated from Old Man Zhang early on. Old Man Zhang wasn’t young anymore, and he and his wife, along with their daughter and ten-year-old son, lived a life of hardship. Old Man Zhang had the craft of making tofu, but tofu was cheap and didn’t fetch much money.

Mrs. Lv was adamantly opposed. With Zhang Yunyun having such a young brother, and her eldest brother not caring much about his parents and brother, wouldn’t it mean the Gu family would have to help support them?

But as parents, how can you always go against your child’s wishes? Gu Chenglian was stubborn, refusing to marry. In the end, Mrs. Lv had no choice but to agree. So Zhang Yunyun entered the Gu family with just a simple dowry chest, while Mrs. Lv was already so upset about Zhang family asking for ten taels of silver as betrothal gift that she couldn’t eat.

Unexpectedly, Zhang Yunyun brought only such a dowry into the Gu family, including the red bridal dress sent by the Gu family, and a shabby chest with a few clothes inside. Nothing more, and even the silver hairpin on her head was one the Gu family had sent over as a betrothal gift.

As a result, Mrs. Lv gave Mrs. Zhang quite a hard time for a while. During that period, the second sister-in-law was quite happy, singing tunes daily on her visits to the neighbors.

Thanks to the sweet mouth of the third sister-in-law, it took more than three months for Mrs. Lv’s anger to mostly subside.

"Where are the third brother and third sister-in-law? Why aren’t they here for dinner?" Gu Chengyu asked. Remembering the affairs of his third brother’s marriage, he also understood why Mrs. Lv was angry.

Come to think of it, it had been over a year since Mrs. Zhang got married, yet there hadn’t been any good news. His mother was probably anxious about that, right? In his private studies, he had learned a bit of medicine, and judging by Mrs. Zhang’s complexion, it seemed that when she was a young lady, she didn’t take care of herself during her menstrual periods and came into contact with cold substances. This led to a slight coldness in her womb, but this could be remedied with medication.

However, he, being just the little uncle, couldn’t exactly address these concerns directly! He could only seek an opportunity later to subtly suggest to his third brother to take his wife to see a doctor.

Thinking of his third sister-in-law’s issues, Gu Chengyu glanced at his eldest sister-in-law. Last year, when his eldest sister-in-law fainted while working in the kitchen, Doctor Li visited and said it was due to a severe deficiency in blood and qi, and she needed to nourish her body well, rest more, and eat better, or else it would damage her health fundamentally, and then it would be too late.

His eldest brother was so frightened when he heard this that he begged their father to let his wife rest for half a month. During this time, he even bought some red dates and cooked red date eggs to nourish Mrs. Fang. For this, He complained a few times until their father got angry and she stopped.

Now, the Gu Family’s meals were pretty good. Although the food at that table wasn’t as good as at this one, it was better than their previous fare, and at least they could eat their fill. Additionally, with the Gu Family hiring local villagers to manage the fields, Mrs. Fang didn’t have to work in the fields anymore, and her complexion had improved quite a bit.

Mrs. Lv was dividing the cornbread, and upon hearing him say this, she immediately "hmphed" and threw the cornbread back into the small bamboo basket.

Gu Chengyu was taken aback. His mother had quite the temper. Did something today provoke his mother?

"Let’s eat. Why bother with them? If they don’t want to eat, then it’s just savings!" Mrs. Lv angrily finished sorting out the house and took the remaining cornbread to the next table.

The Gu Family no longer ate black porridge; they now had white flour pancakes and cornbread mixed with various ingredients, sometimes swapping the pancakes for rice. The meals had improved considerably, with a meat dish every two days, most commonly pork.

Seeing that Mrs. Lv was in a bad mood, Gu Chengyu kept silent. The Gu Chenglian couple only came in when others had already started eating, with Mrs. Zhang’s eyes still a bit red, as if she’d been crying, and even Gu Chenglian seemed slightly uneasy.

"Oh! You still know how to come for dinner? Anyone else would think you’re a young lady from a well-off family, making your mother-in-law serve you in preparing meals and setting the table. In the end, you still want to be invited to the table, is this marrying a wife or inviting an ancestor?"

Seeing Mrs. Zhang come out of the room, evidently having cried, Mrs. Lv’s anger flared up. Silently complaining and failing to produce offspring, how could she not speak her mind? Her obedient son was being gradually alienated from her; was this all for show?

"Mom, let’s eat!" Gu Chenglian knew that Mrs. Zhang was feeling upset today, but that was his mother; what could he do? Besides, his mother was just complaining verbally. As a daughter-in-law, isn’t it expected to endure some words from her mother-in-law?

Once Mrs. Zhang returned, she cried to him, and after comforting her for a long time, she hadn’t calmed down, even throwing a little tantrum, leaving him somewhat annoyed. Regardless, he entered the main room, with Mrs. Zhang following suit.

"Alright then! Any issues should be discussed after the meal." Women’s affairs were not something Mr. Gu could easily get involved in, but when it came to descendants, he had to say a few words.

The time shortly after Mrs. Zhang entered the Gu Family, she was still cautious, but lately, relying on her understanding of the family’s habits, she started to become a bit presumptuous. Also, it had been over a year without any news, so Mr. Gu intended to have a word of warning with their third son and daughter-in-law.