Chapter 68 - Chapter 68: Chapter 68: A Sincere Intention (2/2)

Mrs. An had seen the generous gifts, and besides, Fourth Daughter-in-law had always been kind to her and treated her daughters well. Moreover, Mrs. Liu had certain favors to ask of Fourth Daughter-in-law and the Su Family; she couldn’t bear to part with anything, but with the limited food at home, she even considered sacrificing the egg-laying hen.

This hen laid an egg a day, and Mrs. Yang hadn’t been willing to kill it even for her recovery from the injury. Hearing Mrs. Liu’s suggestion, she was somewhat swayed. They had only one egg-laying hen, and it seemed a shame to kill it, but compared to what the in-laws had given her, it was worth nothing. “Well, if we must, we must. We can buy some chicks later to raise,” she finally relented.

Upon hearing Mrs. Yang’s decision, Mrs. Liu and Mrs. Li immediately set to work. However, during the day, the old hen wasn’t content to stay in the coop. Seeing someone trying to catch it, the hen flapped and ran, making it difficult to apprehend and causing quite a commotion. This racket brought out Su Wenyue.

“Sister-in-law, Second Sister-in-law, what are you doing? Why are you chasing the old hen around? Didn’t Mother say not to scare it, lest it stops laying eggs?”

“Don’t worry, from now on it won’t be laying eggs anymore. Mother has spoken, we’ll kill this old hen for today’s noon meal. It’s rare for our in-laws to visit, so we must host them well and not neglect our guests,” shouted Mrs. Liu, loud enough for even Mrs. An inside the house to hear.

Su Wenyue felt a sense of comfort knowing her husband’s family was so enthusiastic toward her mother’s family. Though she tried to stop Mrs. Liu: “Sister-in-law, there’s no need. My parents just came to see Mother-in-law and will be relieved seeing she’s alright. They’ll be leaving soon and won’t stay for lunch. Please, don’t go to any trouble, we only have this one old hen left, and Mother is counting on it for eggs.”

“What, they’re leaving so soon, without even staying for lunch? That does seem rather hasty,” Mrs. Liu was taken aback, unsure whether to be disappointed or something else, looking rather sheepish. She had hoped to impress Mr. and Mrs. su.

“Yes, Fourth younger sibling, that seems really hasty. It’s not every day that in-laws visit. Surely they could stay for lunch before leaving. Why the rush?” Mrs. Li rarely voiced her opinion, but now she seemed as keen as Mrs. Liu, who wanted to ingratiate herself with Mr. Su, while Mrs. Li wanted to show her gratitude.

“Really, there’s no need. My parents came out of concern and have matters to attend to back home. I appreciate the sentiment from Mother and all of you.

We’re family, and there will be plenty of other opportunities in the future,” Su Wenyue graciously declined, knowing Mr. Su and Mrs. An didn’t want to trouble the Han Family. She shared this sentiment; for her parents, a simple meal was no ordeal, but for the Han Family, it required great effort. She would wait until after the family had split to properly host her parents.

“Well, if the wealthy Old Master is in a hurry and needs to get back to something important, we really shouldn’t delay them,” surmised the women, not wanting to be the cause of any inconvenience.

“We’ll just have to ensure we host our in-laws well the next time they visit. They came on short notice, and we weren’t prepared; we didn’t even have any fine food to offer. Next time, if they let us know ahead of time, we will make sure to host them properly,” Mrs. Liu said with some regret, but as long as Fourth Daughter-in-law was there, she figured she could ask for a favor later, to sneak on her behalf..