I was reborn after my cousin stole my life.

Chapter 189: Bickering

"When did you arrive? Why didn't you tell me beforehand?"

An Hui patted the seat next to her, "Sit down and talk."

Jiang Zhou didn't sit next to her, but pulled up a stool and sat down opposite her at the coffee table.

An Hui glared at him: "What's wrong? Are you disgusted with me?"

Jiang Zhou: "I was afraid you'd dislike me. I spent half the day running around in the countryside, even sneaking into people's chicken coops to catch chickens..."

"Alright, stop talking and stay away from me!" Ms. An Hui said with a look of disgust.

Jiang Zhou took a breath and dragged his stool further away.

"What are you doing here?" Jiang Zhou asked again.

"I'm here to take care of my daughter-in-law and grandchildren. You didn't invite me, so why can't I come by myself? I'm a mother-in-law, after all. I should help out when my daughter-in-law is giving birth..."

"When that time really comes, you'll run farther than anyone else."

An Hui angrily slammed her fist on the cushions on the wooden sofa. "What are you saying?!"

"Isn't that right? Can you cook? Or wash diapers for the baby? Or change diapers for the baby?"

A hint of guilt flashed across An Hui's face: "I can breastfeed the baby, and as for the rest, aren't you here? I've done everything, what use are you?"

Jiang Zhou responded with a cold snort.

"Fine, come on then, you won't last long anyway."

Jiang Zhou stood up. "You can sleep in the room on the second floor. The sheets and blankets are in the closet. You can take them out and make your own bed. I'll go cook."

Yuan Xiu stood up: "I'll help Mom..."

"You're heavily pregnant, let her go by herself. If you're bored, come into the kitchen and teach me how to make steamed eggs. Mine always have air holes in them."

Yuan Xiu was pulled into the kitchen by Jiang Zhou, and An Hui angrily cursed "brat" behind her back!

"There's no rush to cook, why don't you go help Mom? She just got here, she can't leave you to clean up."

Jiang Zhou pressed Yuan Xiu down to sit on a chair in the kitchen. "Don't spoil her. She herself said she came to help. If she's here to help, she should have the attitude of helping. Making the bed isn't difficult. She doesn't need help."

Yuan Xiu: "...Alright."

First, there was a clattering sound in the living room, then the sound of footsteps going up the stairs, and then a 'thump' came from upstairs!

Yuan Xiu stood up to go and see, but Jiang Zhou stopped her, saying, "Don't worry about it, let her handle it herself."

"Does Mom know which room she's staying in?"

There are two rooms upstairs, a master bedroom and a guest bedroom, both of which are empty. It's not that Yuan Xiu didn't want her mother-in-law to stay in the master bedroom, but the master bedroom has a lot of things, and they often go in and out to get things. The guest bedroom is more convenient, as it is a separate space.

"She knows."

An Hui did know that after going upstairs, she opened and looked at each room, and after recognizing which one was the guest room, she carried her suitcase inside.

Because no one had lived there, even though there was some dust in the room after cleaning, she put down her suitcase and went into the upstairs bathroom. She found a rag drying outside on the windowsill, wet it with water, and started cleaning.

While wiping the dressing table, An Hui accidentally kicked the stool, which fell to the ground with a thud, startling her so much that she almost jumped up.

"You brat! You didn't even offer to help me. You're nothing like your father."

As An Hui muttered to herself, she slowly cleaned, sometimes knocking over things on the table, sometimes lifting furniture in the room, making noise every now and then.

She hadn't even made the bed by the time Jiang Zhou called her from downstairs to eat.

The food was laid out on the table, and she strolled downstairs. "Boil some water for me later, I'm going to take a shower."

"The fire in the stove was still burning, and the big-bellied kettle in the house was used to boil water."

Jiang Zhou placed the steamed eggs in front of Yuan Xiu, then went into the kitchen to get a bottle of sesame oil and dripped two drops onto the steamed eggs.

An Hui stared straight at him.

Yuan Xiu pushed the steamed egg custard towards her, "Mom, have some steamed egg custard. Jiang Zhou steamed it especially well this time."

An Hui smiled and said, "You eat it, I don't like eggs."

Jiang Zhou: "She genuinely doesn't like it, it's not that she's reluctant to eat it."

An Hui: "...If you don't speak, no one will think you're mute."

Jiangzhou: "We'll boil the water ourselves."

An Hui: "..."

Seeing this, Yuan Xiu felt an urge to laugh for some reason. Even though she tried her best to suppress it, she couldn't stop the corners of her mouth from turning up. She quickly stuffed a mouthful of rice into her mouth.

Looking at them this way, they don't seem to have any conflict, but of course, they don't seem like other mothers and sons who are loving and filial.

An Hui picked up her chopsticks and took a piece of braised tofu. The moment she put it in her mouth, her eyes lit up. "This tofu is really well-cooked. Did Xiao Yuan cook it?"

Jiang Zhou: "I burned it."

"That must have been taught to you by Xiao Yuan. I know your cooking skills are just as good as mine."

"You overestimate yourself. Is that what you call being evenly matched? I'm far superior to you."

"Can't you eat without giving me a piece of your mind?"

"You were the one who spoke first."

During the meal, the mother and son exchanged over a hundred words of bickering.

Jiang Zhou said he wouldn't boil water for An Hui, but when An Hui finished eating and went upstairs to continue tidying up, he still boiled a kettle of water for her and carried it upstairs.

When he went upstairs, An Hui was hanging her clothes into the closet one by one.

An Hui's gaze fell on the large pot he was carrying, and she laughed, "Weren't you not going to help me boil water? What are you doing?"

"Just this once. From now on, do what you want yourself and don't order people around, especially Yuan Xiu. If you order her around, then you're out."

An Hui angrily threw the clothes she was holding onto the bed. "What kind of person do you take me for? Would I order around a pregnant daughter-in-law? I'm not some evil mother-in-law from the old society!"

Jiang Zhou ignored her, took the kettle to the bathroom, and when he came back, he was stopped by An Hui at the door. "Come in."

"what?"

"Let me show you something good."

An Hui pulled a jewelry box from the bottom of the suitcase, inside which was an icy jadeite bracelet with floating flowers. "This is the dowry your grandmother gave me back then, to give to your wife."

The bracelet is truly beautiful; it's the first time Jiang Zhou has ever seen one like it. "How come I've never seen one like it before?"

"Can I really let you see everything? This bracelet is extremely valuable. You were so naughty when you were little, what if you accidentally broke it?" An Hui stroked the bracelet gently.

Seeing that she was reluctant to part with it, Jiang Zhou said, "You should keep it for yourself."

An Hui shook her head: "I can't wear it now. I wore it when I married your Uncle Chen, and I covered it with my sleeve. Your Uncle Chen's daughter saw it by accident, and she has been asking about this bracelet openly and secretly for the past two years."

Jiang Zhou sneered, "Isn't that your daughter? Why didn't you give her that when she got married?"