Daily Life in the 70s-Chapter 199 Family Affairs

Yang PeiMin was astonished. Li Hong was not pregnant after all—didn’t that mean she had been shamelessly exploiting her condition, only to be caught red-handed? She was very curious; what was her expression like once the mistake was discovered? It seemed Yang Dahai’s refusal to let Yang Peijun come over was not just because he was busy; perhaps it had something to do with this situation, prompting him to offer that excuse.

Her curiosity only grew, and she persistently pressed Yang Peiguo for details.

The honest and simple Yang Peiguo couldn’t withstand her relentless questioning, and ended up spilling all the recent family matters like pouring beans from a basket.

The Yang Family’s caramel candy had been selling so well that the county department store increased its orders. Zhang Minghua was therefore kept busy and stopped going to work with the team—she stayed at home making candy with Yang Peiying, taking care of the housework and looking after her grandson. After paying back the team’s money, their quality of life improved a bit too; Zhang Minghua was willing to buy meat once or twice a month and tofu and eggs every three to five days. They also got enough piglets and chicks to raise.

Everyone at home noticed these changes. Yang Dahai, who had initially opposed these ideas due to traditional thinking, finally let out a sigh and turned a blind eye after seeing the family’s happiness and increased energy in their work.

Li Hong, using her supposed pregnancy as an excuse, conveniently stopped working, always complaining of discomfort and lack of energy. The Yang Family, not ones to be stingy or mean, raised no objections. On the other hand, the eldest sister-in-law, Jiang Erni, acted as if she were not pregnant at all and joined the other village women in working the fields without showing any special awareness of her condition. Yang Dahai, pitying her for being pregnant, assigned her lighter tasks.

With just Li Hong, Zhang Minghua, and Yang Peiying left at home, Li Hong occasionally helped with the household chores, especially when Zhang Minghua was making candy. Once, Gong Chenglan sent a message requesting a rush order of thirty pounds for a wedding banquet. It caught them off guard because they typically made fixed quantities at scheduled times. They would not produce much extra, and this nearly overwhelmed Zhang Minghua and Yang Peiying due to the tight deadline. Seeing this, Li Hong began scheming, offering her help.

However, Zhang Minghua refused her offer. She had her own set of calculations in mind. She did not plan to teach her craft to her daughter-in-law, let alone Li Hong, who wasn’t genuinely on her side. Teaching it to her daughter-in-law was like teaching it to her family, and even if they didn’t pass it on, they would surely have their own schemes. Zhang Minghua, strong and capable as she was, decided to take on the work herself. Furthermore, she was also planning to save up a dowry for Yang Peiying and to restore what had been used from Yang PeiMin’s initially planned dowry once they had the money.

Thus, Zhang Minghua rejected Li Hong, but she was not one to give up easily. She kept ingratiating herself with Zhang Minghua, scheming to get into the kitchen to help.

Aware of her intentions, Zhang Minghua was on guard, rarely allowing her the chance to enter the kitchen and reminded her to rest and not overdo things for the sake of the baby.

However, when Li Hong hit a wall with Zhang Minghua, she shifted her attentions to Yang Peiying. Yang Peiying was naive and easily moved by compassion. Although Zhang Minghua had instructed her not to casually reveal the candy-making process, Yang Peiying ultimately could not outwit the more cunning Li Hong. When Yang Peiying was making candy in the kitchen, Li Hong found excuses to enter several times. She lurked around, refusing to leave, and Yang Peiying, feeling awkward, couldn’t muster the heart to send her away.

As Li Hong boldly inquired about the steps involved, Yang Peiying suddenly remembered Zhang Minghua’s admonition and stayed silent. Li Hong coaxed her endlessly, but Yang Peiying, stubborn as she was, kept her lips sealed tight, like a wooden statue, unresponsive to anything Li Hong said.

Ever since marrying into the Yang Family, Li Hong had never taken her sister-in-law Yang Peiying seriously. Seeing Yang Peiying ignoring her now ignited her anger, and she clattered the kitchen utensils loudly—but of course, only when Zhang Minghua was not present.

Witnessing her outburst, Yang Peiying was even more reluctant to approach and silently carried on with her work.

Then, out of nowhere, Li Hong suddenly started bleeding. It frightened her so much she screamed, fearing a miscarriage.

Yang Peiying was so scared that she immediately ran out to call for help and ended up alarming the whole family. When Li Hong was lying in bed and Yang Peijun had run out to call the doctor, Li Hong left Yang Peiying alone with her. She told her that seeing red this time was all because Yang Peiying had angered her, but she forgave her considering her young age. All she wanted was for Yang Peiying to reveal the caramel candy recipe, and she promised not to tell anyone about this incident in the future.

Although Yang Peiying was terrified, she didn’t agree. She believed that if she did something wrong, she should take responsibility for it. She stubbornly wanted to explain everything to her family, that it was her fault for making Li Hong angry and causing her to see red. She told her family they could punish her however they wanted.

Hearing Yang Peiying’s explanation infuriated Li Hong, who called her a big fool.

Then Yang Peijun brought the doctor over, and after the examination, the doctor said that Li Hong wasn’t pregnant but was just having her period.

Li Hong was utterly embarrassed now, and the whole family was furious with her. During the time she pretended to be pregnant, she kept throwing tantrums at home and was always finding ways to make demands from Yang Peijun and Zhang Minghua for food, clothing, and other needs, even trying to get the caramel recipe from Zhang Minghua. Now, her lie was exposed.

After hearing the story and adding her own speculations, Yang PeiMin burst into laughter, "What’s wrong with this Li Hong? Can’t she even tell the difference between bleeding during pregnancy and a period?"

When Yang Peiguo heard her casually mentioning the word ’period,’ he felt a bit awkward and cleared his throat, saying, "It’s her first time being pregnant, it’s possible she didn’t know."

Yang Peiguo was kind and didn’t want to speak ill of his sister-in-law.

Yang PeiMin didn’t continue to inquire about the follow-up events because she was about to get home. She planned to go back and check on things later.

Upon arriving at the county, they took the bus, and there were no seats available. She and Yang Peiguo had to stand. Fortunately, Yang Peiguo was helping her carry things because she started feeling nauseous from the smell again; Yang Peiguo supported her.

Thankfully she had a strong will and managed to hold it in. Instead, the people around her, seeing her nauseated appearance, moved away. A young girl stroked her own new skirt, sidestepping Yang PeiMin as if avoiding the plague.

The girl glared at her with sharp words, "Hey girl, don’t you throw up, okay? If it splashes on my new skirt, you won’t be able to afford it."

Yang Peiguo responded, "No worries, big sister. We’re prepared."

The girl gave him a disdainful roll of her eyes.

Yang PeiMin also looked at her and said, "Miss, now that you’ve moved away, I feel much better. That strange smell is gone too."