Chapter 25: Preparing To Entertain The In-Laws
“Alright, hold on,” Sheng Wanyan said, pushing off the ground with her foot.
She hadn’t ridden a bicycle in years. At first, she felt a little unsteady, the handlebars wobbling, but muscle memory quickly took over and she smoothed out her ride.
Sitting on the back rack, Mother Sheng felt a wave of relief. She had mentally prepared herself; if they started to tip over, she would just jump off. They wouldn’t die from a little spill anyway.
Sheng Wanyan pedaled steadily, and they arrived at the Supply and Marketing Cooperative in less than fifteen minutes. She steered the bicycle to the designated parking area and pulled out the key Sheng Wanze had given her. She threaded the heavy iron chain through the front wheel and secured it tightly to the iron railing.
“Let’s hurry and get in line,” Mother Sheng said, grabbing her daughter’s arm and pulling her toward the butcher’s counter.
This was the busiest time of day at the cooperative, packed with housewives scrambling to secure the day’s groceries.
“Yan’er, Mom has been feeling a little uneasy lately,” Mother Sheng admitted softly, needing someone to confide in.
Sheng Wanyan had noticed her mother acting absentminded the night before. “Mom, are you worried about my brother and his future in-laws?”
Mother Sheng sighed and nodded, pouring out the anxieties she had kept bottled up.
“Your brother is marrying out of his league. Our family is doing alright for ourselves here, but we can’t possibly compare to powerful people from the capital.”
Sheng Wanyan nodded. It was true; her mother’s concerns were entirely valid.
“Think about it,” Mother Sheng continued, her voice heavy. “Your brother is the only son in our family. Call me traditional, but what mother doesn’t want her son to eventually have a son to carry on the family line?” She sighed deeply, suddenly regretting that she hadn’t had another child when she was younger.
“If you had another brother, at least the two of them could rely on each other when things got tough. But look at our reality. Your grandparents are only in their sixties, but decades of hard labor have left them with a host of ailments. Your father and I will likely have to stop working in a few years as well. Eventually, you’ll get married and have your own household; you can’t be expected to take care of us forever.
“And your brother is stationed at a distant military base. He can’t be here to fulfill his filial duties. We can manage on our own for now, but when your father and I really start aging, do you honestly think your future sister-in-law—a high-ranking official’s daughter from the capital—will be willing to move here just to take care of four elderly people? Besides, I could never bear to force the young couple to live apart.”
Sheng Wanyan fell into deep thought. It was undeniable; Sheng Wanze’s profession and his impending marriage presented a massive logistical problem for the family’s future. Even their retirement planning was a serious issue, especially if their health declined and they needed daily care.
When Sheng Wanze married, he would undoubtedly apply for family quarters at the military base. Furthermore, his future wife already held a respectable position within the military art troupe. They certainly couldn’t demand that she throw away her promising career just to act as a live-in nurse for her in-laws. The Sheng family would never do something so unreasonable and wicked.
“Mom,” Sheng Wanyan said gently, “with my brother’s capabilities, he’ll likely be promoted in a few years and allocated a larger, three-bedroom apartment at the base. When you and Dad retire, you can simply move to the family quarters to live out your days with him. You are his biological mother—that is an unchangeable fact. If you’re worried about my future sister-in-law objecting, you really shouldn’t be.”
She looked her mother in the eye. “As a child, unless your parents are heinous criminals who abused you, you have an absolute obligation to support them in their old age. If my brother ever acts so heartlessly as to abandon you, I promise I won’t show him any mercy. I’d find plenty of ways to make him regret it.”
Sheng Wanyan’s tone was unwavering. “Furthermore, his fiancée must already know he is an only son. If she truly cannot accept the responsibilities that come with that, yet my brother still insists on marrying her at all costs… then you can just consider this son dead. A son who abandons his parents is no better than a traitor. In that scenario, just demand they send you your monthly living expenses, and don’t bother seeing them again.
“Besides, you still have me. If he won’t do it, I’ll keep you by my side. I’ll take care of you, provide for you in your old age, and see you through to the very end.”
Hearing her daughter’s fierce loyalty, Mother Sheng felt a sudden surge of both profound relief and exasperation.
Smack!
She slapped Sheng Wanyan lightly on the back.
“Don’t talk nonsense! How can a married daughter be expected to care for her parents until the end? What kind of in-laws would accept a bride who drags her entire maiden family with her? What would people say? How would you ever live a normal life?”
Sheng Wanyan rubbed her stinging back, bewildered. They had been having such a touching, emotional mother-daughter moment! Why had she resorted to physical violence again?
Despite the scolding, Sheng Wanyan’s blunt reasoning had finally cleared the fog in Mother Sheng’s mind.
Her daughter was right. Even if her future daughter-in-law had objections, so what? Mother Sheng hadn’t stolen, robbed, or broken the law; was it a crime to expect her only son to care for her in her old age?
If they really couldn’t get along under one roof, they would just live separately and collect a monthly pension from him. And if her son truly proved to be heartless, she would kick him out of the family register and pretend she never gave birth to him! With her savings and coupons, she certainly wouldn’t starve. If he dared to withhold her pension money, she would march straight to his military base and raise a scene that would end his career!
She had raised him to adulthood. If he lacked basic human conscience, she had no obligation to protect his precious future. Expecting a parent to care about your career when you don’t even care if they live or die? What a beautiful dream!
And when she and Father Sheng truly couldn’t work anymore, they could simply move back to the countryside. They would live a quiet, peaceful retirement, waking at sunrise and resting at sunset. Just thinking about those tranquil days brought a genuine smile to her face.
At the very worst, she still had her daughter. She didn’t expect Wanyan to bear the financial burden of her old age; she just wanted her daughter to visit and live happily. Mother Sheng resolved to set aside enough “coffin money” for herself and her husband, ensuring they would never be a burden, so long as her daughter could bury them in peace when the time came.
With her anxieties completely resolved, Mother Sheng’s mood brightened instantly. She grabbed Sheng Wanyan’s hand affectionately, pulling her further up the line.
Just then, Sheng Wanze jogged into the cooperative and found them in the queue.
Since the following day was a scheduled rest day for the factories, the entire family would be home to help prepare for the incoming guests. Mother Sheng had brought every single meat coupon they had saved, determined to host a proper feast.
When it was finally their turn at the counter, Mother Sheng didn’t hesitate. “I want three pounds of fatty pork, three large soup bones, and two racks of ribs.”
While her mother ordered, Sheng Wanyan noticed a large pile of pig offal sitting ignored in a corner tub. Almost no one wanted to buy offal; people despised the overpowering stench, and most housewives couldn’t cook it well enough to mask the terrible flavor.
But Sheng Wanyan didn’t mind at all. If cleaned and braised correctly with the right spices, offal was incredibly fragrant and delicious.
“Comrade, how much for all this pig offal?” Sheng Wanyan asked the butcher.
“Nobody wants that stuff,” the butcher grunted. “If you take the whole tub, I’ll give it to you for thirty cents. No coupons.”
“I’ll take it all.”
Hearing her daughter casually spend a massive sum of thirty cents on garbage, the tender mother-daughter bond they had just cultivated evaporated instantly.
“Why on earth did you buy that?!” Mother Sheng hissed, glaring at her. “Do you have too much money and nowhere to spend it?”
Sheng Wanyan played dumb, completely ignoring the scolding, which only made Mother Sheng angrier.
Another debt collector! Mother Sheng fumed internally.
In the end, Sheng Wanyan’s “spoils” were unceremoniously dumped into Sheng Wanze’s arms to carry.
Mother Sheng then bought a pound of assorted pastries and three pounds of roasted melon seeds. Combined with the White Rabbit candies they had at home, it would be plenty of snacks for the guests. She noticed they were also running low on basic condiments. Taking full advantage of having Sheng Wanze’s broad shoulders to carry the load, Mother Sheng replenished their entire stock of soy sauce, cooking oil, and coarse salt in one go.
Finally, she bought ten fresh eggs, three pounds of leafy greens, and a few cucumbers, officially concluding their grocery run.
“Alright, let’s go buy the bicycles!” Mother Sheng declared, her excitement returning as she quickly pulled Sheng Wanyan toward the hardware and appliance section of the cooperative.
