Under the Same Roof

By Wang Luyan

Bende is a hard-working, frugal, yet stubborn rural woman. Her husband died when her children were young, and she raised them single-handedly and found a wife for them. This daughter-in-law is also hardworking and filial, and according to her husband's wishes, she prepares delicious meals for her mother-in-law every day. The mother-in-law thus believes that the daughter-in-law is a greedy and extravagant person, which leads to misunderstandings and deepens the conflicts, culminating in the climax of the book. After the son failed to mediate between the two parties, the daughter-in-law followed her husband to work elsewhere, and the story ended. The story is set in rural life in eastern Zhejiang. This book describes the misunderstandings between a mother-in-law and her daughter-in-law living under the same roof due to differences in living habits and concepts, which eventually escalate into conflicts.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Great Wall Publishing
• Release date: Sep 21, 2023
• ISBN: 9798223743910

Book preview

Under the Same Roof

Wang Luyan

Published by Great Wall Publishing, 2023.

This is a work of fiction. Similarities to real people, places, or events are entirely coincidental.

UNDER THE SAME ROOF

First edition. September 21, 2023.

Copyright © 2023 Wang Luyan.

Written by Wang Luyan.

Table of Contents

Title Page

Copyright Page

Under the same Roof

Further Reading: The Impoverished Couple

Under the same Roof

The words rushed up to her throat again, but she swallowed them with her lips quivers as usual.

She turned around and walked out of the kitchen.

What expensive yellow croaker! She Murmured the suppressed words. It’s

only early August, croaker and sweet osmanthus soup. It’s a luxury! Why don’t you buy salmon? It’s only two cents per jin, and one is enough for half a month! No death anniversary or treat! Pork for the day before yesterday, duck eggs for yesterday, yellow croaker for today! You don’t use soybean oil or raw oil, and instead you cook with lard. That would make our family poor! Hmph! How much does your husband earn? Twenty-five yuan a month, great! Naturally, he earns much more than your father-in-law used to! But in the old days, a coin could buy ten pieces of tofu. But now? a coin only for one piece! Everything is so expensive... I, like you at this time, with a bowl of pickles and a dish of salt, raised my son and redeemed the house. Well, if I hadn’t been frugal food, how could we have today! However, you are squandering our savings! One or two years later, with more kids, how you get by.

Bende thought and stepped into the room with a sigh. On her thin forehead the

wrinkles were clumped together. Her lower lip tightly covered her withered upper lip, stifling the anger that bubbled from her heart. A layer of blurry clouds covered his deeply sunken eyes. Her head, with sparse white hair, was adorned with a fake bun. Her back has bent forward. With bound feet, she shambled as she walked. She appeared to be in her sixties or seventies, but in reality, she was only fifty-four years old. While other women aged quickly due to giving birth too many times, she was a result of the toil. For more than twenty years before the age of forty-five, she seldom rested, and despite having bound feet, she could do the same work as men, like shouldering loads, hulling grains, threshing rice, grinding flour and planting vegetables. If she hadn’t suffered a serious illness three years ago, perhaps she would

still be a very strong female worker now. But now it’s all over. Her body suddenly

weakened unexpectedly, including her eyes, hands, and energy. And because of the lack of good care, her body condition was still deteriorating. According to Uncle Azhi, his mother could easily recover, as long as she saw the doctor more often and took more medicine. But Bende skimped on spending money. I will get better on my own