On the first day of the Lunar New Year, Li Ye went to the factory to take over the shift so Lu Zhizhang could go home.
"Old Lu, this is the last year. No matter what, next year I'll take the New Year's Eve and second-day shifts. Otherwise, won't sister-in-law curse me to death at home?"
For several years running, Lu Zhizhang had been assigned the New Year's Eve and second-day shifts, and Li Ye felt somewhat guilty about it.
But Lu Zhizhang smiled. "Your sister-in-law brought the kids here with me to watch the Spring Festival Gala last night. We didn't have to listen to the elders nagging at home. Don't even mention how pleasant it was.
"Besides, do you think I wanted to visit my father-in-law's family on the second day of the New Year? If you really switched with me, neither your sister-in-law nor I would be happy!"
"You... are you serious?"
"Of course I am. Why would I lie to you? My wife and my mother don't get along. They barely see each other a few times a year.
"My brother-in-law is always pestering me to find jobs for his friends' sons, using my favors to make himself look good. And you still think I'm making this up?"
"..."
Li Ye looked at Lu Zhizhang, not knowing whether to laugh or cry. With his sharp eye, he caught that helplessness unique to middle-aged men.
Thinking of how he had taken his older sister Li Yue home last night, and how her mother-in-law Yang Huaihua had still been waiting for her even at one in the morning—what a world of difference that was.
The relationship between mother-in-law and daughter-in-law was the hardest scripture in the world to recite. Families who could recite it well were truly blessed.