Chapter 4: The Malicious Past Mother-in-law

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Tang Ailian almost forgot that at this time, it was considered honorable to work outside, especially in rural areas.

Tang Ailian remembered that in her previous life, after becoming an elementary school student, she often organized elementary school students to do chores for the families of soldiers, such as fetching water and chopping firewood, and helping the families rake pine needles for fuel.

Sure enough, when Peng Yuniang mentioned the family members, the tension immediately dissipated. She knew that she had been a bit too harsh earlier and quickly said, "Hehe, I was just anxious because I noticed there were fewer eggs. Okay, consider it on your account and deduct it from your work points."

But Liu Xiujuan, who was already in good health, couldn't let Peng Yuniang, who had been helping her, deduct work points. She quickly said, "How can I deduct Auntie's work points? Even if Auntie did it to take care of me, I'm the one who ate the eggs, so if anyone's work points should be deducted, it should be mine."

Peng Yuniang gave her a disdainful look. "Deduct yours? Are you sure you can pass your mother-in-law's test?"

As soon as Liu Xiujuan heard this, she became silent. She knew very well how formidable her mother-in-law was. If her mother-in-law found out that she was eating eggs from the brigade every day and having her work points deducted, she wouldn't care if someone was doing it for her daughter-in-law's sake. She might scold her daughter-in-law for three days and three nights.

Liu Xiujuan said anxiously, "But, but, if Uncle finds out that you had your work points deducted because of helping me..."

Although their family had long since split, Uncle was not a broad-minded person. While he had never physically abused his wife, he was skilled in verbal abuse, not inferior to any woman.

"Never mind, I won't deduct anyone's work points. Today's eggs will be considered a special treat for family members, but you all need to be more careful."

The women's team leader scolded Peng Yuniang and Liu Xiujuan and made them promise not to do it again. She also made Jiumei promise not to tell anyone and decided to let them off lightly.

As for the egg stolen by Ruohuo, it was openly placed in Liu Xiujuan's pocket as a treat for family members. If no one else appeared, what could have been a major problem of stealing eggs dissipated like that.

Unfortunately, things in this world never go as smoothly as one hopes.

An unsettling voice chimed in, "What's going on here? Who is being selfish and undermining socialist principles? Who is trying to sabotage socialism?"

When Tang Ailian heard this voice, the blood in her small body immediately boiled. It was the voice of her malicious mother-in-law from her previous life, Li Xinye's mother, Liu Meilan!

Li Xinye's mother, Liu Meilan, and Tang Ailian's mother, Liu Xiujuan, were from the same village when they were girls, and they both married workers from the same factory. The only difference was that one married into Li's village and the other into Longtou village.

Liu Xiujuan's husband, Tang Dalong, was a colleague of Liu Meilan's husband, Li Qiuyu. When Liu Xiujuan was pregnant with Tang Ailian, she visited the factory to see her husband, and that's when she met Liu Meilan. They discovered that they were girls from the same village and had the same due date. Liu Meilan jokingly proposed that if they both gave birth to a boy and a girl, they should become in-laws.

This suggestion marked the beginning of the tragedy for Tang Ailian!

Although Liu Xiujuan did not respond to Liu Meilan's proposal to become in-laws, their relationship noticeably improved. When she returned home, they started visiting each other as sisters.

In her previous life, Liu Xiujuan had given birth prematurely, Tang Ailian was born two months early, and Li Xinye was born full-term. Therefore, Tang Ailian was two months older than Li Xinye.

At this time, the cooperative society had already transformed into a production team, and pregnant women received care. But despite receiving care, Liu Meilan found it difficult to accept the idea of working with a big belly, so she wanted to visit the factory and stay in a nearby town.

Liu Meilan had come to find Liu Xiujuan today because she wanted to invite her to go to the factory together to avoid the impending "Double Plunder."

In reality, Liu Meilan didn't really have a good relationship with Liu Xiujuan. She envied Liu Xiujuan for being prettier than her and resented the fact that Liu Xiujuan's husband, Tang Dalong, held a higher position than her husband, Li Qiuyu. Her husband, Li Qiuyu, was only a workshop foreman in the factory, while Liu Xiujuan's husband, Tang Dalong, had become a cultural instructor and sports instructor as soon as he joined the factory. Later, he was promoted and became a director. Li Qiuyu was still just a deputy team leader, so she was filled with jealousy.

Liu Meilan had heard from her husband that last month, the higher-ups from the main factory had come to select people, and her husband had really hoped to be chosen. But despite his best efforts, he wasn't selected, while Liu Xiujuan's husband, who didn't put in much effort, was chosen. If it weren't for Tang Dalong also serving as a cultural instructor and sports instructor, he would have been transferred to the main factory.

Even if Tang Dalong didn't go to the main factory, everyone knew he had been chosen. Would his future prospects be worse for it? How could she not envy and resent?

When Liu Meilan came over, it happened to be the moment when the women's team leader, Pat Pat, caught Peng Yuniang secretly cooking eggs for Liu Xiujuan. Hearing that Liu Xiujuan had been caught stealing eggs from the production team, she felt a sense of schadenfreude.

Thinking that she and Liu Xiujuan were "good sisters," she couldn't help but intervene. She didn't want to let Liu Xiujuan escape punishment by pleading for her, and she was also worried that it would be difficult for the women's team leader to handle the situation with an outsider present. So she had hidden herself and planned to come out after Liu Xiujuan was dealt with.

Unexpectedly, the women's team leader decided not to punish Liu Xiujuan, which left her feeling dissatisfied. She realized that she shouldn't have hidden herself but should have appeared boldly. She believed that with an outsider present, the women's team leader wouldn't dare to protect Liu Xiujuan.

So she came out and deliberately mentioned "undermining socialist principles."

After experiencing a whole lifetime, how could Tang Ailian not understand the meaning behind Liu Meilan's words? Her previous mother-in-law harbored ill intentions, and it turned out that her nature was so malicious in her past life!

Peng Yuniang, who had been quiet, was angry when she saw the situation escalate because of Liu Meilan's interference. While she had been cautious in front of the women's team leader, she was not an easy person to deal with on a regular basis.

She said sternly, "We're here cooking the meal for socialism. What could possibly go wrong? Where are you from? Don't you know that everyone is busy building socialism now? If you're not working in your own team, why are you coming to ours?"

Liu Meilan looked down on her and said, "I'm a worker's family member, and I'm carrying the future of our country in my belly. Doesn't that count as contributing to the construction of socialism? Besides, coming out for a walk is also to let the future of our country gain more experience. Just now, I heard someone trying to undermine socialism."

The conversation once again revolved around undermining socialism, and Peng Yuniang, Pat Pat, and the others exchanged glances. Their hearts sank because an outsider had discovered it.

Jiumei was the first to lose her temper and said, "Who is undermining socialism? You can't just say such things casually."

(End of this chapter)