chapter 8
I didn’t know when or how Sister-in-law planned to leave, so I simply pretended I hadn’t heard any of those words and made sure to spend as much time as possible by her side.
When Mother asked how the persuasion was going, I lied and said that Sister-in-law had already come around.
To others, it did seem as if Sister-in-law had indeed come around.
She began to act like a virtuous and ordinary wife.
She chopped the Rolling Pin in half, using the axe from her own yard.
Mother and Brother rushed over at the sound and asked what had happened. She simply tossed the two broken pieces aside and said, “We won’t be needing this anymore. Might as well chop it up for firewood.”
Mother tentatively asked, “You won’t beat Xuan’er anymore?”
Sister-in-law calmly replied, “No, I won’t. Since he doesn’t want it, I won’t waste my strength.”
At that moment, a look of joy and self-satisfaction flashed across Brother’s face-he thought Sister-in-law had finally begun to compromise.
To test just how far Sister-in-law’s compromise went, he even brought Yaoniang by the hand to eat at the same table with us.
But Mother, afraid Sister-in-law would be upset, insisted on proper manners and made Yaoniang serve everyone before she could eat. Sister-in-law, however, smiled and said, “Mother, you’re being silly. She’s still pregnant-her husband can’t even bear to let her out of his sight, so how could we make her stand for so long? Come, set a chair for Yaoniang right by her husband’s side.”
These words left Brother stunned. He instinctively let go of Yaoniang’s hand and asked in disbelief, “Wife, are you agreeing to me and Yaoniang?”
Sister-in-law nodded calmly, but when Brother tried to take her hand, she deliberately avoided him, ladled a bowl of soup, and placed it in front of Yaoniang, saying, “You should nourish yourself more. In a couple of days, I’ll prepare the ceremony for you to officially become a concubine. We can’t let the child be born without a proper name or status.”
Yaoniang accepted the soup and thanked her sweetly before drinking it. The table was filled with harmony; Brother and Mother exchanged delighted, satisfied smiles.
Only I remembered what Sister-in-law had said: if a woman truly loves her husband, she cannot be so virtuous and magnanimous, never jealous. Only when she no longer loves him can she become one of those clay figures-calm, unruffled, and perfectly in line with the world’s expectations.