Chen Lishu saw Zhang Qin's difficulty and smiled, "Thank you for your kindness, sister-in-law. I'll do it myself."
"I'll help you."
The two exchanged a smile, paying no mind to Liu Yuemin's words. Angrily, Liu Yuemin slammed down a plate and turned to leave.
After cleaning the kitchen, Chen Lishu returned to her room and lay on the kang, planning her future.
The business of exchanging grain still needed to be done. She wanted to earn a little more before the new year, as the production team would resume work afterwards, and she might not have the time. She also needed to read. It was the winter of 1975, and she had less than two years to prepare.
Lost in thought, she drifted off to sleep.
"Clatter—"
With a sudden noise, Chen Lishu startled awake from her dream.
The winter days dawned late, and the village had no electricity. The room was pitch black, making it impossible to see anything.
Chen Lishu stared at the dark ceiling beams for a while before regaining her senses.
This was not the Chen family's house; she was already married into the Gu family.
"What mischief are you up to again so early in the morning? Can't I get any sleep?" Gu Xingmin's annoyed voice came from the next room. Chen Lishu hesitated, then grabbed the cotton-padded jacket beside her, put it on, and felt her way off the kang.
Just as she reached the door, she heard Liu Yuemin's voice from the outer room: "What mischief am I up to? The new bride isn't getting up to cook, so can't I do it myself?"
Chen Lishu paused with her hand on the door, then, as if nothing had happened, pushed the door open.
"I overslept. Second sister-in-law, let me do it."
A small kerosene lamp burned on the windowsill. Chen Lishu quickly walked over and took the basin from Liu Yuemin's hand.
"Third sister-in-law, I didn't mean to target you. It's fine for adults, but my child is young and can't stand hunger."
Chen Lishu shook her head, "It's supposed to be me getting up early to cook. Second sister-in-law, you should go back to your room."
Liu Yuemin saw her good attitude and finally nodded with satisfaction, "Then I'll go back to my room."
Seeing Liu Yuemin enter the room, the door creaked shut. Chen Lishu's smile was difficult to maintain. Her clear, cold eyes lowered as she began preparing breakfast.
"Third sister-in-law, why are you up so early?" Zhang Qin entered, yawning, and saw Chen Lishu sitting by the stove, tending the fire. She asked in confusion.
Chen Lishu looked up at the sky outside, which still hadn't brightened after a long time. Thinking of something, her delicate brows furrowed, "Sister-in-law, what time is it?"
She had no clock in her room, nor a watch, so she had no idea of the time.
"It's just past five. I couldn't sleep, so I thought I'd come and cook. When did you get up?"
It was only just past five? Chen Lishu frowned, no wonder the sky hadn't brightened. It seemed Liu Yuemin had tricked her.
Zhang Qin looked at the pot that was already steaming, estimating that she must have gotten up at four.
Thinking that she was just being diligent because she was afraid of being criticized by her in-laws, she didn't feel it appropriate to say anything.
"You don't need to get up so early from now on. There's not much work in winter, and we usually eat around seven. You can just get up when it's about to get light."
As soon as she finished speaking, a rooster crowed outside.
Chen Lishu smiled at her, "Okay, I understand, sister-in-law."
Soon, the rest of the Gu family members woke up. Knowing that Chen Lishu had made breakfast, Li Xiulan and her husband Gu Shoufou exchanged a look, becoming increasingly satisfied with their daughter-in-law.
Not only did she marry into the family under such great pressure, but she also didn't expect anything in return. She was just like other daughters-in-law. Getting up in the dark to make breakfast was, in Li Xiulan's mind, the best possible daughter-in-law.
"Mom, you don't know, third sister-in-law's room doesn't have a clock, so she didn't know the time. When I got up just after five, she had already finished cooking."
Zhang Qin had intended to tease her mother-in-law with this remark, but Li Xiulan immediately said, "I'll have Xingye move that clock from my cabinet to Lishu's room later."
As soon as she spoke, she saw Gu Xingmin and his wife enter, yawning, and said meaningfully, "It's not good to have no sense of time when living a life."
A clock wasn't really useful to Chen Lishu. She was actually thinking of buying a watch after she started earning money. That thing was more practical than a clock.
Therefore, she smiled and declined, "Dad, Mom, you're used to looking at the time. It must be hard to give it away all at once. Besides, if I want to see the time, I can just come and take a look."
"Mom, you're going to give your standing clock to third sister-in-law?" Liu Yuemin was no longer sleepy and immediately glared, "What?"
When she and Gu Xingmin got married, they had caused so much trouble before they finally managed to get a broken clock from elsewhere for their room. They had to wind it every day and compare the time with the main house, otherwise, it would stop working.
Seeing Li Xiulan nod, Liu Yuemin's face immediately fell.
Why should Chen Lishu get the clock just for coming here?! "Mom, I don't agree!"
Li Xiulan gave her a glare, "I didn't ask for your opinion."
"Yes, Mom, you're being too biased." Gu Xingmin muttered, his eyelids lowered.
"You are both couples, and she is alone in her room. What's wrong with me showing a little favoritism?"
Gu Xingmin curled his lips. Unable to argue with his mother, he walked over to the dining table and was about to eat when his father tapped his plate with a chopstick: "Don't you see everyone else hasn't sat down yet? Are you a starving ghost?"
"Dad, Mom, you really don't need to move it. I can just come and look when I want to see the time."
Seeing her persistence, Li Xiulan and her husband said nothing more. After the family finished breakfast, Chen Lishu had just finished cleaning the kitchen when Li Xiulan called her into the room.
"You're going back to your maiden home tomorrow. Here is ten yuan. I won't prepare anything. See what the family needs and buy something at the supply and marketing cooperative," Li Xiulan said, taking out a "Da Tuan Jie" (a 10-yuan banknote) from the cabinet and handing it to Chen Lishu.
With the Chen family's conditions, sending things like canned goods or white sugar wouldn't be of much help. After discussing it, the couple decided to give money directly. Whether their daughter-in-law wanted to buy something or give money to her maiden family was up to her.
Chen Lishu looked at the ten yuan in her palm, knowing that the elderly couple was indirectly helping her maiden family. She pursed her lips, accepted the money, and said softly, "Thank you, Dad and Mom."
"You child, we're family, why be so polite?" Li Xiulan felt a little embarrassed by her thanks and waved her away.
Outside, Liu Yuemin grabbed Zhang Qin and nodded towards the elderly couple's room, lowering her voice, "She's taken inside. I bet they're secretly giving her good things again. Look at the five-drawer cabinet in her room; when we got married, we only had two wooden chests. It's clearly favoritism! Aren't you angry, sister-in-law?"
Zhang Qin didn't respond to her words and gently advised, "We got married several years ago. The conditions were poor back then, so two chests were good. Now, some families even ask for two hundred yuan as a betrothal gift. Not to mention the 'three turns and one ring' and 'seventy-two legs'. What third sister-in-law got is really not much."
"I really don't know if you're truly foolish or just too agreeable," Liu Yuemin said angrily, turning around and returning to her own room.