Stepmother

Invitation

The next day, the family had a simple yet filling breakfast of porridge and mantou. It has been almost two months since Sun Baohai had transmigrated over, and he had fed his kids well and taken care of them meticulously. The kids were now white and fat, their hair no longer lice, and their clothes were always fresh and clean. Even Yingtai and her kids, who have only been living with them, have improved. Yuanjun was no longer as gloomy and had put on a little weight along with the baby, and Yingtai's sharp and bony features were finally softening.

While the family was eating their breakfast, there was a loud knock on the door. Most people in the village didn't knock and would call out the person's name, which alarmed Sun Baohai and the rest.

"Continue eating; I'll go and check who it is," Sun Baohai instructed as he got up and went outside. 

When he got there, he saw Li Ya in a light yellow hanfu standing there delicately. Her makeup was exquisitely done, and she had a silver hairpin inserted in her bun. Her fair hands had a silver bracelet, and her nails were carefully painted light red. She did not look rich, but one could say her life was comfortable. Her fingers were not calloused, unlike another villager's, so it could be seen that she did not do hard labor. 

Li Ya also carried herself like a noble woman. Even though she still did some chores at home, they were mostly cooking and light cleaning. Because her husband liked her and she also gave her mother-in-law her first grandson, she was well favored, and her mother-in-law did not make it hard for her. So, she felt blessed and always carried herself with a trace of arrogance. 

When she knocked on the door, even if she did not expect this sister-in-law of hers to be in dire condition, she still did not expect them to be living too well, especially with three extra mouths to feed. But as a result, when she first came here, the yard was clean, and she was greeted with the fresh scent of fruits and flowers planted in the front yard, reminding her of the houses she could only look at but could not buy.

Unlike her husband's family, the houses raised animals and had a small orchard in the front. She had always wanted such a house, but that was not possible. Even if their family was one of the richest in the village, that was strictly in the village.

Though her husband did business dealings, he couldn't go further because of the sea trade. As sea trade became more popular these days, people in the county could wear and eat stuff even from the capital. As long as they had money, they no longer settled for the basics. Her husband wanted to become a sea merchant, but firstly, they did not own a boat, and buying one would empty out all their savings. For success that was not guaranteed, no one wanted to go broke. The second option was to share a boat, but first, the fee was hefty, and boat sharing meant you didn't have status so that the small bandits would rob you of everything. So, her husband had to give up and buy a shop to settle down.

Though their shop was doing good, their income only ranged from 2-5 taels a week. That money was not generally spent because her third sister-in-law had agreed that as long as she did not have to do chores, she would give enough money for the family to eat, and she did. As for her, her mother was the daughter of a concubine of a wealthy landlord, but even so, she married her father, a xiucai, with a generous dowry passed on to her, and that dowry was then passed on to her, but even with all of that, she was still unable to fulfill this small dream of her.

"How can I help you?" Sun Baohai asked, breaking her chain of thoughts.

"Good morning. The topic is a little sensitive, so we should head inside," Li Ya recommended, but her voice was as though she were the master. Sun Baohai just lifted his brow and did not say anything. It was too early to start anything.

"Then come in," Sun Baohai gestured before walking in.

As soon as Li Ya walked in she was shocked. Last time, her family followed her son here for his apology, but she did not go, so she only thought her little sister-in-law was exaggerating, but it seemed true. The house was a brick house that her first brother-in-law spent all his money on, so she always knew it was exquisite, but Jinhai had always spoiled Li Wen and did not like doing work, so in months, the house turned sloppy and dirty. But right now, the brick house was cleaned and decorated with stuff she'd never seen before, yet they were all visually appealing and smelled good. 

When she walked inside, the family was eating breakfast on the small round table. The bowls of porridge were thick and filled to the brim, while the mantous were white and soft. Each kid had a wooden cup filled with soymilk. Li Ya could only stand there, shocked.

"You said you had something to talk about?" Sun Baohai reminded her as he sat down. He was not even polite in the slightest. Li Ya immediately frowned in displeasure, but remembering why she was here, she held back.

"Well, your little sister-in-law is getting married to someone in town," Li Ya announced her voice with a hint of gloating.

"And?" Sun Baohai was truly baffled. What did this have to do with them?

"And?" Li Ya asked, the gloat in her voice completely disappearing, replaced with disbelief.

"Yes and?" Sun Baohai repeated, was he supposed to give a crap?

"So you're not going to pay?" Li Ya asked scornfully.

"Pay what?" Sun Baohai was truly getting pissed off. This hag came here so early in the morning to talk nonsense. Was she trying to start a fight?

She was originally dissatisfied with Sun Baohai's annoyed tone, but seeing that he was genuinely confused, she immediately started laughing in her heart. Did her mother-in-law not tell him about the content of the separation deed?

"Well, every time there's an event in the main family, you must pay accordingly. For a wedding, you need to pay three taels," Li Ya explained arrogantly, her eyes gleaming with malice.

After she said so, Sun Baohai immediately looked at Zhang Yingtai for confirmation. Seeing Yingtai nod, he knew it was true. Though Jinhai had separated from the family before, he still had the right to inherit the land, would get part of the harvest, and wouldn't have to pay money for every event in the family.  That's why the Zhang family tricked the original into signing a complete separation letter, meaning their family would have to cough up money for each event. 

Seeing her malicious look, Sun Baohai thought that she was truly vicious. Not only did she scam a poor, naive ger, but she also came here to gloat about it. Though he felt his heart being ripped apart for paying these scammers, it also did him good to know that he wouldn't have to pay or provide for them if he were successful.

"Qiqi, go get three taels from mommy's jewelry box," Sun Baohai instructed gently, his voice nonchalant. As if these three taels were nothing to him.

"Yes, mommy," Sun Baohai had always made sure they knew where the family's savings were just in case, so she knew where they were at the moment. 

His words startled Li Ya. Did the kids know where the silver was? Even she, as Enlai's wife, didn't see the family silver that much. Since their family wasn't separated, her mother-in-law kept all the silver. Even her highly favored son did not touch silver that much, yet the kids who were not even his actual children could easily go in and take the silver.

"Here, three taels," Sun Baohai said, pulling her out of her thoughts.

"Oh," Was all she managed to get out as she took the silver.

"Anything else?" Seeing her standing there stupidly, Sun Baohai couldn't help but ask.

"Ah, yes! Ai'er's fiancee's family wants to hold a small engagement ceremony on the eighth. She wants the whole family there," Li Ya said as she looked for any reaction from Sun Baohai and Yingtai.

Hearing her words, Sun Baohai was pleasantly surprised, but he understood. Word about Old Lady Zhang must have gotten around, causing some loss of face. In order to save some face, they wanted to make it known that Lady Zhang's actions were not associated with them. Sun Baohai was not at all reluctant. For the Zhang family to even lower their heads to invite her meant that they held some influence. Why would he miss this opportunity to promote his new product?

"Okay, then," Sun Baohai answered simply. Seeing that he made it clear that this conversation was over, Li Ya did not want to embarrass herself and left. She sneered at the thought of these uneducated people embarrassing themselves and instantly felt better.

{New mission! Make a great impression on your future in-laws and bring them to your side! Reward: The ingredients that you want for a new product, eight exquisite ready-made hanfu, and another quick-laying chicken!}

'Mission accepted!'