Yuan Chun was holding rice and eggs, and as she entered the kitchen, someone laughed and said, "Yuan Chun, what delicious food are you making this morning?"
"Manager Wang, I’m making rice and egg custard." Yuan Chun placed the eggs on her stove and carried the rice to the tap to wash it.
Manager Wang glanced enviously at the two eggs and said, "Your brother’s family sure eats well, having rice and eggs early in the morning."
Yuan Chun poured the washed rice into the pot and replied, "These are eggs I brought from the countryside. My family couldn’t bear to eat them and saved them all to give to my big brother’s family."
"Tsk tsk tsk, your mother is really nice to your sister-in-law," Manager Wang continued, her eyes filled with envy.
She’s just met a family of vampires for in-laws. Not only do they demand pension money every month, but her mother-in-law comes over every few days to raid their home, taking any good stuff she can find.
Oh, talking about it brings tears.
But how come Zhao Dongxiu is so lucky?
A temporary worker, yet she encountered a loving and reasonable mother-in-law who lets her eat eggs and rice every day.
Yuan Chun said helplessly, "My sister-in-law’s from the city and a bit spoiled; she insists on having an egg custard every morning, otherwise, she can’t eat her meal."
"That’s because she’s never been hungry enough. When you’re really starving, you’d gnaw on tree bark." Manager Wang said sourly, turning to stir-fry the clean vegetable leaves without any oil, just a pinch of salt.
Yuan Chun saw her pour the cooked bowl of rice into the pan and prepare vegetable congee.
Just then, someone else came into the kitchen.
The old woman glanced at Manager Wang’s pot and curled her lip in disdain, then looked at the aluminum pot on Wei family’s stove, "Wei family girl, are you cooking? What’s delicious?"
Yuan Chun chuckled, "Granny Cao, I’m making egg custard and rice. You’re making eggs too, Granny Cao, you’re really kind to your son and daughter-in-law, buying eggs for them every day."
"Bah, they wish. These eggs are for my grandson."
Granny Cao spat, speaking sarcastically, "Your mother is foolish too, she won’t eat eggs herself but gives them all to an outsider every day."
Yuan Chun smiled wryly, "Ah, there’s no choice, my sister-in-law loves eggs. Thankfully, our family raises three chickens that lay eggs every day, otherwise, we really couldn’t afford so many eggs for her."
"Hm, if this were in the countryside, a daughter-in-law greedy like that would have been kicked out long ago," Granny Cao scoffed, washing a large radish under the tap, slicing it into small pieces, and cooking it with corn in the pot to make radish corn porridge.
She also tossed the eggs she brought into the pot to cook together.
Then she took a small stool and sat by the stove.
Manager Wang remarked, "You can’t kick wives out now, it’s all divorce."
"It’s not all the same," replied Granny Cao.
"It’s different; in divorce, assets are split in half, kicking out a wife means driving someone away, it’s different in meaning. Divorce is more like ancient conciliation,"
Manager Wang, a minor official at the steel mill’s union, usually dealt with various family disputes in the housing community and had intervened in a few divorces.
Granny Cao looked down on her, clearly well-paid along with her husband, yet stingy, unwilling to eat a decent meal; even stir-frying without oil, more frugal than the old country woman herself.
Like a beggar, she’d almost starved herself into skin and bones.
Manager Wang poured the cooked vegetable congee into a wooden bowl, scrubbed the pot, filled it with water, and put it on the stove before leaving the kitchen.