How I Survived in Transmigration with My Ghost Hubby

12. The Regretful Granny Lu

Translator: Annsmiley

“My, my dear daughter-in-law, your basket is so full. What is in it?”

Initially with her hands on her hips, Granny Lu looked like she was gonna punish Ji Ran for what had happened in the morning. However, when she saw that Ji Ran was carrying a basket on his back, a dark light flashed in her eyes and her expression changed completely. To put it more vividly, her eyes were shining with undisguised greed and joy.

She wanted to see what Ji Ran was carrying in the heavy basket, but unfortunately, there was a bundle of firewood on top of it, so she couldn’t see what was inside.

“Whatever I have in my basket, it has nothing to do with you. All you need to know is that I didn’t steal it from your yard.” The moment Ji Ran saw Granny Lu’s reaction, he knew what she was up to, so he stopped and said that.

“Come on! Is that the way to speak to your mother-in-law?” Granny Lu’s face darkened as she lectured him, but she had her eye on the basket on Ji Ran’s back, “You must understand that it’s not easy for me to care about the livelihood of such a large family. Whatever food I have saved, eggs or flour, they are the result of extremely strict budgeting. So it’s only reasonable for me to ask around and get to the bottom of it when some of it is missing, right?”

Ji Ran wanted to sneer, but he just nodded solemnly and said, “I know that it’s not easy, so I’ve decided not to burden you with my livelihood. I’ll build my own stove in my yard. So from today on, you can keep your nose out of my business. Whatever I have in my basket, I earned it the hard way. So don’t even think about getting a share of it.”

“You…” Granny Lu’s eyes widened, “Come on, you can’t possibly live apart from us just because of what happened this morning, right? Although you’re married into our family as the wife of my late stepson, you’re still a man. And as a man, you should be generous and forgiving, right? It’s quite common for daughter-in-laws and mother-in-laws to quarrel with each other. Your two sister-in-laws are women, but they aren’t as unforgiving and petty-minded as you are, so we always make up with each other after a fight. You’re a man and yet you’re even worse than a woman!“

“You’re quite right about that. I, Ji Ran, am petty-minded.” Ji Ran was a man, so he couldn’t be bothered to argue with an old woman. After he said that, he walked around Granny Lu into the house, “I’m a man. I don’t need anyone to raise me. Even if I’m married to a dead man which makes me a widow, I’m still a man. So you can’t possibly expect me to act like a woman with bound feet and wait there for you to bring food to me. And you’re making a mistake by comparing me to a woman. I’m a man and I’ve got nothing to lose. If you feel unhappy about this, as my late husband’s parents, you can divorce me on his behalf. Unlike a woman who will feel ashamed and hopeless when she gets divorced, as a man, I can always marry another woman and have my own babies. So I’m totally okay with a divorce. But do you dare to risk your life by disobeying the emperor? Don’t forget that I was married into your family by an imperial edict.”

“You, you…” What Ji Ran said left Granny Lu speechless. She couldn’t even refute it as it was the truth. All she thought about was to get more labor and less mouths to feed, so all that she did was to give a hard time to this male daughter-in-law of hers. She had forgotten that this marriage was granted by the Emperor. Had it not been so, she would just divorce him. But he was married into this family by the imperial edict. If she did that, she would be courting death!

Seeing Ji Ran leave with the heavy and full basket on his back, Granny Lu felt so envious that her heart ached. She clenched her fist and thumped her chest hard several times. She couldn’t figure it out. The Emperor granted this marriage, but why did he choose a man? Was it a gift or a torture to her family?

However, none of it mattered. What a shame! The basket looked so heavy. There must be a lot of good stuff in it!

It was just unbelievable! He was unhealthily thin. On the wedding day, they had to carry him out of the bridal sedan chair to the wedding room. However, it had just been one day since the wedding ceremony and he no longer looked sick. Instead, he was quite lively. She thought that he was good for nothing but he was capable of making a living on his own…

Granny Lu pouted, feeling a little regretful. If she had known it earlier, she wouldn’t have offended him in the first place. She could always do with free labor. It was always good to have more people support the family. Her younger son would attend the imperial examination soon and there would be many expenses.

‘Do you really think that you can live separately from us as you wish? Humph, you’re being too naive. It doesn’t matter if you’re a man or woman. Since you’re married into the Lu Family, then you’re obliged to use your husband’s surname, which made you a Lu as well. You might have your reasons for doing that, but you can never neglect your filial duties. The Emperor runs the country based on the virtues of kindheartedness and filial piety. And neglecting your filial duties is a big sin. Whether you’re a woman or not, you will be punished severely if you mistreat your parents.’

With that in mind, Granny Lu came up with an idea while her eyes rolled fast.