During the New Year, her mother-in-law came to find her, asking her to come home early to prepare the New Year’s Eve dinner.

Shen Xiaomei didn’t want to go back to her in-laws’ to play maid, cooking for more than a dozen people, and washing a mountain of dishes... she outright said she would go back to her own family for the New Year, and she did.

But it wasn’t any better at her own home.

Her own mother had a strong preference for her brother, and if there was anything good at home, she would secretly take it to her maternal grandmother’s house for her cousins, not caring if the family was full or not.

Her two sisters-in-law were both lazy and greedy, never seen when there was housework, but the most active when it was time to eat.

Shen Xiaomei stayed at home for two days and was filled with anger.

If she wasn’t too embarrassed to go back to her in-laws’, she would have returned already.

Who would want to stay at their own home and deal with the attitudes of sisters-in-law?

Shen Xiaomei was hit by her sister-in-law, and she didn’t pretend to be weak anymore. She fought back, scratching the Eldest Sister-in-law Shen’s face, turning it into a patchwork of scratches.

When the Shen family came out and pulled the two apart, both of their faces were scratched.

Shen Xiaomei’s face didn’t have nail marks, but it was swollen, her lip was split, and she had shed quite a bit of blood. 𝚏𝗿𝗲𝐞𝐰𝚎𝕓𝐧𝚘𝘃𝗲𝐥.𝐜𝚘𝕞

Shen Xiaomei cried loudly, calling the Eldest Sister-in-law Shen an ungrateful wretch who turned her back on her despite receiving so many good things from her, and even beat her up like this.

The Eldest Sister-in-law Shen accused Shen Xiaomei of being pretentious and wanting to harm her family.

Then, while cursing, they also brought up the New Year’s dinner on the table.

The Eldest Sister-in-law Shen felt wronged, "Every day we’re given just thin soup, not even enough to fill us up, but during the New Year, with so many people, we only get a bowl of cabbage and tofu soup and a plate of stir-fried pork with black fungus, not even an egg. Yesterday the little sister brought back twenty eggs, but they were gone early this morning. Where did those eggs go?"

"Not long ago, the eldest sister sent back some dried mushrooms and a smoked chicken for the New Year, but they’re gone too. Why haven’t they been made?"

"I’ve been married into the Shen family for five or six years, and I’ve never had a full meal. It’s not like my husband isn’t earning money, and it’s not like I don’t have my share of the grain. Where did all the food go, Mom? You need to explain, where did all the food, smoked chicken, and eggs in the family go?"

Mrs. Shen was at a loss as she explained, "Those things are valuable, we juniors can’t eat them all; I took them to honor your grandparents. They’re old and don’t have many years left to eat these things. We’re still young, and we’ll have chances to eat good things in the future."

The Eldest Sister-in-law Shen was seething with anger, gritting her teeth, "If you want to honor grandparents, then use your own share of the food! Why do you have to use the whole family’s share?"

Second Madam Shen was also angry and said, "Mom, we’re just daughters-in-law; we’re not the daughters of the grandparents. Why should we also join in honoring them?"

The Eldest Sister-in-law Shen suddenly thought of something and anxiously asked, "Mom, most of my husband’s salary is handed over to you, and we agreed that you would save it for us, to give back when we split the family assets. You haven’t used our money to honor the grandparents, have you?"

Mrs. Shen’s eyes flickered with guilt, "No, no, I’ve saved it all for you."

The Eldest Sister-in-law Shen didn’t believe her, "Mom, bring it out, let me see it."

The Second Madam Shen suddenly became worried as well, making a fuss and demanding her mother-in-law bring the money out to show everyone, but Mrs. Shen couldn’t produce that kind of money.

She saved a small portion, but most of it was used to assist her own family. Her brother’s few children were in middle and high school, right at the age where expenses are high. Without her support, her nephews wouldn’t have the money to go to school.