READ NOVEL ONLINE Chapter 12: Return in Disappointment
“Grab some medicine? What kind of medicine do you want to grab?” Su Danhong asked.
“It’s just.. it’s just medicine to drink for a baby,” Second Su sister-in-law hesitated for a moment and then said it.
Su Danhong understood at once.
“It's not what mother said about cheating people. Mother listened to eldest sister-in-law's words, and that's why she's paranoid!” Second Su sister-in-law gritted her teeth.
“Was this provoked by eldest sister-in-law again?” Su Danhong frowned.
“If it’s not her then who?! When mother was hitting me, I saw her open the window and peek in. She was there smiling!” Second Su sister-in-law exclaimed.
Su Danhong nodded and said, “You should get some hot water to wash the clothes. If you catch a cold, then it’ll be even harder to get pregnant.”
Second Su sister-in-law could not help but ask, “Really?” ℙ𝕝𝕖𝕒𝕤𝕖 𝕣𝕖𝕒𝕕 𝕒𝕥 𝕗𝕠𝕩𝕒𝕙𝕠𝕝𝕚𝕔.𝕔𝕠𝕞
“Yeah,” Su Danhong replied and got up. “I'll go talk to mother.”
When she came into the kitchen, Mother Su had already cut and counted all the pork meat and spare ribs.Su Danhong said, “Mother, second sister-in-law told me that she was not trying to cheat. She wanted to ask the fool next door to go to town to grab some medicine for her. She wanted medicine to get pregnant.”
“Hmph! Don’t listen to her make excuses!" Mother Su sneered.
“That fool is next door, and they can't make up a confession right now. Mother, why don't you just go and ask?” Su Danhong asked.
“You think mother hasn’t looked for him? That fool has gone out!” Mother Su snorted.
“That matches her story. Second sister-in-law wanted to go into town and you restricted her from going by herself. She can only ask someone to get the medicine. You can ask again when the fool comes back,” Su Danhong explained. “Also, don't ask sister-in-law to wash clothes in cold water on such a cold day. It is easy to catch a cold and will make pregnancy more unlikely.”
“How come there are so many problems? Who didn’t come here like that ? When I, your mother, gave birth to your eldest brother, I had to work in the field the next day!” Mother Su heard her, she retorted.
“Mother, if you don't believe in second sister-in-law, then you have to think about the second brother. How much filial piety does the second brother usually show you? Eldest brother can't even compare with second brother. Eldest brother has three sons, but second brother still has none. Don't you feel sorry for the second brother?” Su Danhong tried to persuade.
Mother Su declared, “That’s why I want your second brother to divorce!”
“Mother, second brother has a good relationship with second sister-in-law. He will definitely not agree to the divorce, so the best way is to let the second sister-in-law get pregnant. Mother, you can help the most. Second sister-in-law will definitely get pregnant as long as you are willing to take care of her. When that time comes, second brother will be grateful to you for a lifetime and be filial for a lifetime,” Su Danhong said.
After saying this, Su Danhong was not concerned anymore. She took out a box of clam oil and a box of vanishing cream. She said, “Mother, this is your daughter's being filial to you. Keep it for yourself.”
“This clam oil and vanishing cream is not cheap. Did you make a fortune and become generous all of a sudden?” Mother Su took it and questioned her with satisfaction.
“How can I make a fortune? Okay, I'm going back,” Su Danhong said.
She didn't care about the Su family’s matter. She wanted to come over for dinner, but right now it was better for her to go back to her own home.
The next day, Ji Mudan and Feng Fangfang came over at the appointed time. Su Dahong was not surprised when she saw Ji Mudan coming. However, she slightly frowned when she smelled the clam oil and vanishing cream.
Mother Ji seemed to have given the clam oil and vanishing oil to the two families separately.
“Danhong, have you picked up the beans? These beans are from last year, aren't they? Eldest sister-in-law has just collected them this year. I'll send some to you later,” Feng Fangfang said with a smile.
“Danhong, mother said you made 100 yuan from embroidery. Is that true or false?” Ji Mudan asked after she came in.
“It's true,” Su Danhong glanced at her and said.
Ji Mudan was native to the village. She was actually a relative to the LaoJi family, but their kinship was more than five generations1.
Feng Fangfang's eyes glowed once she heard her words. Also, don’t even mention Ji Mudan’s eyes.
Su Danhong was blunt and told them, “Go and bring me the embroidery frame on the kang inside.”
Feng Fangfang was the first to go in and carefully took out the embroidery frame. The intact embroidery surface was fixed on the embroidery frame without a pattern.
Ji Mudan brought a stool over.
After sitting down, Su Danhong said, “This embroidery work is not very easy to do. I also secretly studied it for a few years, and this is just a small achievement. Since my eldest sister-in-law and second sister-in-law want to learn, I will not hide it. Everyone is family. I will embroider it for you to see.”
“Okay.” Feng Fangfang and Ji Mudan hurried to nod. They saw that her temperament was completely different from before after she sat down. It was like she was a different person.
Su Danhong picked up the embroidery needle and began to embroider. “This time I want to embroider double dragons playing with the pearl, which is not very easy to embroider. It takes a lot of effort and energy.”
Her hands were not idle while she spoke. She began to move her hands with every needle and thread. When it was time to change the thread, her movements were so natural like flowing water and as if she had no sense of unfamiliarity with it.
Feng Fangfang and Ji Mudan stood and watched her for half an hour. A realistic and dignified dragon’s head began to take shape in her hands.
“This dragon head is more complicated, so I embroidered it a bit slowly. When you embroider, you should pay attention to the dragon horn on the head. This is the key point, but the most important thing is the eyes. What is called painting the dragon and the dots in the eyes2 is here. If the embroidery is not good, this dragon will become a dead dragon with no life at all,” Su Danhong explained as she embroidered the dragon head.
Seeing that they did not speak, Su Danhong looked up at them and asked, “What’s the matter? Do you have any complaints to raise?”
“Lao San’s wife, you… How did you embroider this? I heard that there must be charcoal drawn on the embroidery.” Feng Fangfang intentionally went out yesterday to learn.
Ji Mudan was watching until she was dizzy. She was so shocked and didn't know when Su Danhong learned to embroider when she couldn't even knit a sweater.
Furthermore, how could she embroider a dragon’s head this beautifully?
“There’s no need for that. Where can I find charcoal drawings of double dragons playing with the pearl?” Su Danhong replied and looked at them again. “Besides, isn't it just fine to use your head to think about it?”
Use your head to think about it?
Feng Fangfang and Ji Mudan look at each other. How could they even imagine this kind of dragon? They didn’t even know what the double dragons playing with the pearl looked like!
“There’s nothing I can do about that. This is how I embroider.” Su Danhong had no choice but to shake her head when she saw them like that.
No wonder the embroidery ladies who taught her before said that she was talented. Apparently, not everyone could embroider out of thin air. She thought she had explained it very clearly, but the two sister-in-laws looked confused.
Moreover, her drawing skills were not good and she could not draw a picture that could be used as a pattern. 𝙿𝚕𝚎𝚊𝚜𝚎 𝚛𝚎𝚊𝚍 𝚊𝚝 𝚏𝚘𝚡𝚊𝚑𝚘𝚕𝚒𝚌.𝚌𝚘𝚖
Feng Fangfang and Ji Mudan did not give up and watched her for most of the day. It was not until noon that they were disappointed and returned.
Su Danhong’s mood was not affected at all. Since they could not learn, it only showed that they could not eat this bowl of rice.
For lunch, Su Danhong simply made a bowl of clear porridge with a few slices of pickled vegetables and continued to embroider.
Mother Ji came to see the situation.
“Mother.” Su Danhong smiled.
“It's all right, don’t mind mother and continue to embroider,” Mother Ji said at once.
- 早出五服 (zǎochūwǔfú) – it means something like you are five generations apart so you no longer have to wear mourning clothes. I think it’s another way of saying it’s okay to marry because you’re so far apart in how you’re related.
- 画龙点睛 (huàlóngdiǎnjīng) – idiom meaning adding the finishing touches