Back To The 80s-Chapter 222 - 232: Contradiction (Vote for the Monthly Ticket)_1
Fang Jing sighed and said, "It was only after we had a big fight and were even about to divorce that Aiguo agreed to move out."
Xiaobei knew that with her mother-in-law’s temper, living in daily fear was unbearable to anyone.
"You have no idea. Once Yueyue fell off the couch, and mother-in-law just watched her cry without going over to pick her up. Yueyue hit her face and got a bruise, but mother-in-law just stood there in a daze," Fang Jing complained.
Xiaobei was puzzled, "Why? Is it just because Yueyue is a girl?" She immediately wondered whether Wen Xiuqing favored boys over girls.
Fang Jing shook her head, "Our mother-in-law just doesn’t like children. Yet, she insisted that we have one. During our first year of marriage when we didn’t have a baby, she complained all the time. But as soon as I got pregnant, she suddenly started to ignore me. I gave birth in the hospital and she didn’t even come to visit. And if she prefers boys, how could she know that Yueyue is a girl before I gave birth?"
"Furthermore, mother-in-law is a huge clean freak. When Yueyue was a few months old and accidentally soiled the couch, she threw a fit, which scared the hell out of me. I was afraid she was going to harm Yueyue," Fang Jing stated recalling the past, which filled her with annoyance.
Xiaobei was confused. After all, Wen Xiuqing had given birth to three children, so she must have dealt with all kinds of messes. How could she have had such a strong reaction?
"Does mother-in-law have this cold attitude towards everyone?" Xiaobei asked curiously.
Fang Jing contemplated and then shook her head, "No, mother-in-law is especially nice to Aunt Yuan and her third daughter, Qingqing."
Xiaobei knew that the "Aunt Yuan" Fang Jing referred to was Qin Ximei. But the personalities of these two could not be more different, so how could Wen Xiuqing appreciate Qin Ximei?
Xiaobei reasoned that this mother-in-law was a mystery.
After washing the dishes and cleaning up, Fang Jing straightened the slipcovers on the couch without leaving a wrinkle. The tables and chairs were also nicely arranged. Clearly, everything was cleaned according to Wen Xiuqing’s standards.
Lu Aiguo went to say hello to Wen Xiuqing before leaving to visit Lu Ruixue at the hospital.
There was an old bicycle available at home. Lu Aiguo and his wife came on another one. So, with four people and two bicycles, it worked out well.
Only when Xiaobei stepped out of the villa did she take a good look at the surrounding views. The villa area was built against the hills. The rolling mountains were covered with a layer of white snow.
Curiously, Xiaobei asked, "Is that Maple Mountain behind us?"
"No, it is the junction between Phoenix Ridge and Maple Mountain, it doesn’t have a name," Lu Zhanguo replied as he straddled his bike, gesturing for Xiaobei to get on.
For the first time since she had crossed over, Xiaobei rode a bicycle, and the person pedaling was Lu Zhanguo. Joyfully, she climbed onto the back seat sideways and put her arms around Lu Zhanguo’s waist.
Lu Zhanguo turned his head to glance back at Xiaobei and instructed her, "Put your hands in the pockets of my coat, or you will get cold."
Xiaobei nodded and moved the arm that was wrapped around Lu Zhanguo’s waist forward and slipped her hand into his coat pocket.
Meanwhile, Fang Jing playfully chided Aiguo, "Look at your brother, he’s being much more considerate than you."
Aiguo quipped, "Come on, wife, put your hand under my shirt into my coat. It will definitely keep you warm."
"Enough with your jokes, let’s go already," Fang Jing playfully slapped Aiguo’s back.
Hearing this, Xiaobei couldn’t help but laugh. It seemed that the couple’s relationship was still quite good.
Lu Ruixue was staying at the Coal Mine Hospital, which was more than thirty minutes away from the military barracks via bike. The snow on the road, pressed down by the occasional passing cars, created uneven ice ridges, which was a real test of one’s cycling skills.
Considering that Xiaobei was pregnant, Lu Zhanguo pedaled at a relatively slow pace.
Lu Aiguo, displaying his typical witty banter typical of a Capital City rascal, kept on making jokes along the way.
Suddenly, Lu Zhanguo asked, "Why did Chen Dajun beat Ruixue?"
Putting away his joking demeanor, Lu Aiguo sighed, "Isn’t it all because of Ruixue and her mother-in-law? You don’t know how unreasonable and petty Chen Dajun’s mother is."
"There are three households living in Chen Dajun’s quadrangle courtyard. One day, Ruixue was talking to a neighbor, and Chen Dajun’s mother overheard. She accused Ruixue of talking behind her back about her, which started an argument."
"When Chen Dajun came home, he didn’t even ask for an explanation. He just demanded for Ruixue to apologize to his mother. You know Ruixue’s temper, how could she possibly apologize? So, they start arguing, and it escalated to a physical altercation," Lu Aiguo briefly explained.
Hearing this gave Xiaobei a headache. Mother-daughter-in-law relations again. As expected, mother-daughter-in-law relations were indeed the most complicated.
Once they entered the ward on the second floor of the Coal Mine Hospital, Xiaobei quietly observed her younger sister-in-law, Lu Ruixue. She was about twenty-three or twenty-four years old. She had similar facial features to Wen Xiuqing, with thin eyebrows and almond-shaped eyes. But she lacked Wen Xiuqing’s commanding aura. She seemed more like a spoiled kid.
"Second brother! When did you come back?" Lu Ruixue was a bit surprised to see Lu Zhanguo and his company when they entered the room.
"Hmm, how are you doing?" Lu Zhanguo said, frowning at the bandage on Lu Ruixue’s head.
"I’m fine," Lu Ruixue replied softly before calling out to Xiaobei, "Sister-in-law, you guys sit down."
Xiaobei felt a little puzzled. There are three siblings in Lu Zhanguo’s family, with Lu Zhanguo being the eldest, Lu Aiguo the second child, and Lu Ruixue the youngest. So why were they addressing Lu Zhanguo as the second brother and her as the second sister-in-law?
Lu Aiguo walked over and scanned Lu Ruixue before asking, "Has that bastard Chen Dajun visited?"
"Hmph, he came this morning, but I drove him out," Lu Ruixue coldly huffed.
Lu Zhanguo’s brow furrowed even more. He pulled a chair for Xiaobei and let her sit down before asking, "What do you two plan to do?"
Lu Ruixue was a bit scared of her second brother and said hesitantly, "What do you mean, ’what’s the plan’? I’m planning to divorce him." 𝙛𝓻𝒆𝒆𝒘𝙚𝓫𝙣𝙤𝒗𝙚𝓵.𝙘𝙤𝙢
"Fine, I see your injury is not serious and shouldn’t be a problem. You can be discharged from the hospital now and come back home with us. Tomorrow, you two can go get a divorce. If you know anyone who can help speeding things up, the divorce shouldn’t take too long," Lu Zhanguo said straightforwardly as he glanced at a nervous Lu Ruixue.
Lu Ruixue became even more anxious. She only wanted to scare Chen Dajun. How could she possibly contemplate a divorce? She murmured, "Who would push their own sister to divorce?"
"If you don’t want to divorce, you should have a heartfelt talk with Chen Dajun. But turn down your temper," Lu Zhanguo scolded coldly.
With tearful eyes, Lu Ruixue dejectedly argued, "I won’t talk it out. I want to keep it like this until his mother comes to apologize to me. When she does, it will be the end of it."
Lu Aiguo also chimed in, "Right, brother, we can’t let Ruixue suffer in vain."
Lu Zhanguo gave his brother a glare, and his voice heightened a bit, "You’re a college graduate, did you swallow all your knowledge?"
Lu Aiguo looked embarrassed, scratched his nose, and stopped talking.
Lu Zhanguo then looked at Lu Ruixue, "If you want to continue living with Chen Dajun, do you think forcing your mother-in-law to apologize to you counts as a win? That this will allow you to live happily hereinafter?"
"Have you thought about, after she apologies, how she will feel towards you? And how likely it will affect your living together in the future."
Lu Ruixue kept quiet, and after a while, she finally said, "I can’t just put up with being treated like this."
"First, you should have a sincere conversation with Chen Dajun. If you want to live a good life, you need to have the right attitude to live a good life. Both of you are in your twenties or thirties, can’t you calm down? Do you think getting into fights will improve your life? You need to realize that you two are fighting, it’s not because of how your mother-in-law is, but it’s because of Chen Dajun’s issues," Lu Zhanguo advised with a slightly stern tone.
