I was reborn after my cousin stole my life.

Chapter 75: Another Mother-in-Law

The hospital's normal closing time is 6 p.m., but if there are patients who have registered but haven't finished seeing them, or if there are still people in the consultation room, the closing time will have to be moved later.

There were few patients in the Traditional Chinese Medicine department. At 5:50 p.m., Hao Jia started packing up her things, ran around the outpatient room to make sure no one was there, took off her white coat, put on her cotton-padded coat, and started calling Yuan Xiu to leave work.

Meanwhile, at the Western medicine pharmacy, people were queuing up to get their medicine.

Hao Jia lived in the staff and family building behind the hospital, just around the corner. After parting ways with her, Yuan Xiu went to the bike shed to get her bike and pushed it out of the hospital gate.

Just as she was about to get on her bike, she looked up and saw Jiang Zhou walking towards her.

Why are you up so early today?

"How was your day at work?"

The two spoke in unison.

"It's a little earlier today."

"fine."

After answering each other's questions, the two smiled at each other.

Jiang Zhou took the bicycle from Yuan Xiu. "Get on."

Like other dual-income families on the street, the couple chatted as they walked home.

After arriving home, Yuan Xiu put down her handbag, changed into an old cotton-padded coat, and went into the kitchen to cook.

After dinner, Yuan Xiu sat at her desk until the night was deep and quiet, and her eyes seemed to protest against her. Only then did she put down her book and go to bed.

Jiang Zhou didn't provoke her today. After she lay down, he reached out and pressed down the corner of the blanket beside her, then turned off the light.

……

The news that Yuan Xiu had gone to work at the hospital quickly spread throughout the entire residential area.

Everyone knows that the hospital offers good benefits.

Some people were naturally dissatisfied, feeling that Yuan Xiu, a new bride who had only been there for a short time, was not entitled to be assigned such a good job, surpassing other military families.

Those who were dissatisfied would inevitably gossip about it in private.

Not everyone knew that Yuan Xiu was studying traditional Chinese medicine under Dr. Liu. People with similar educational backgrounds to Yuan Xiu thought that if Yuan Xiu could go to the hospital, they could too. Some even went to the parents' committee to demand fairness.

This is when Wu Yufen can shine.

She was quite eloquent, and she explained to those people in detail that Yuan Xiu had a foundation in traditional Chinese medicine and had even become an apprentice of Dr. Liu. She said that she was the only family member with a foundation in traditional Chinese medicine and that the family committee couldn't possibly refuse a spot that the hospital had gone to great lengths to provide.

"If we just randomly pick someone who doesn't know anything to go in, and something goes wrong, it'll be our family committee that loses face. People will think that all military dependents are incompetent. Do you want to hear that?"

That's definitely something no one would want to hear.

"When did my cousin start learning Traditional Chinese Medicine? She's only been here a few months. Even if she did learn it, how well could she possibly master it? If we learned it, we might not be any worse than her, right?"

Yuan Juan, supporting her barely noticeable belly, continued Wu Yufen's words.

"She lives in her hometown, and I've never heard of her knowing anything about traditional Chinese medicine."

Wu Yufen glanced at her. "Isn't her maternal grandfather a traditional Chinese medicine doctor? She must have learned a bit from him when she was little."

"She is indeed a traditional Chinese medicine doctor, but her maternal grandfather died quite early. My cousin was still very young when her grandfather died."

Upon hearing Yuan Juan's words, someone else remarked, "That's right. Even if she studies under Doctor Liu, what can she possibly learn? She's not much better than us."

Wu Yufen frowned: "At least she learned something, but you guys don't know anything yet. Do you think the hospital's quota will wait for you? If you think Yuan Xiu can't do the job well, then go and see for yourselves whether she's doing it well or not. Just like the leader said, every job should be subject to public supervision. Go and supervise her yourselves."

After she said that, the military families stopped saying anything.

Among these people, Yuan Juan was the most resentful. She and Yuan Xiu came at the same time, both were military dependents, and were about the same age. Yuan Xiu already had a job, but she hadn't even seen a glimpse of one yet.

"Sister Wu, my family is also facing difficulties. I have elderly parents to support and young children to raise, and I'm currently pregnant. Could you perhaps arrange a job for me?"

Wu Yufen glanced at her belly. "If you really want to work, that's fine. I'll see if there are any openings at the military dependents' factory. I can arrange for you to work there, but you'll have to wait..."

Yuan Juan didn't want to go to any factory. She knew about the military dependents' factory; it was all manual labor, and only uneducated military dependents from the countryside were assigned to work there. She was just a junior high school student; even if they didn't assign her to a hospital, they should at least assign her to be a teacher in a kindergarten or school.

She understood everything clearly. Being a teacher meant having a permanent position, and even if she followed her husband to other places, her personnel file would go with him, and she would be given a good job wherever she went.

If I go to the factory, and the man leaves, I'll have to go with him, and then I'll lose my job.

"Sister Wu, I'm heavily pregnant, that factory..."

"So what if you're heavily pregnant?" Wu Yufen looked at her disapprovingly and said, "Our women aren't pampered young ladies from the old society. Even if they're about to give birth, they still have to stand firm until the very end!"

"Your belly isn't showing yet, what impact could it have? Comrade Yuan Juan, I've discovered a very serious ideological problem you have!"

Wu Yufen frowned: "Your laziness is too serious! I heard that after you got pregnant, your mother-in-law did all the laundry and cooking at home? That won't do! Your mother-in-law is so old. As a daughter-in-law, you should share the housework with her, instead of pushing all the housework onto your mother-in-law just because of this little problem of pregnancy."

"And when it comes to work, how can you be so picky? You can't be lazy! You're from the countryside, so you shouldn't have such unhealthy thoughts..."

Wu Yufen launched into a tirade against Yuan Juan, making Yuan Juan's eyes sparkle.

The others had already run away.

Fearing to offend Wu Yufen, Yuan Juan could only listen, not daring to utter a single word of rebuttal.

At that moment, she suddenly felt that Wu Yufen was even more nosy than the old witch in the family.

She didn't just gain an "older sister," she gained a mother-in-law.