The old woman pressed her lips together, clearly displeased. If her second daughter hadn't been injured and unable to move, she would have slapped her right then and there. 'That wicked child,' she thought. 'Sending a telegram like that just to get me to come wait on her. She's just asking for a beating.'
"I really didn't want to trouble you, Mom," Li Yuan'ai said sheepishly. "If Ai Ping had been free, I would've just had her come home for a few days. But before I could even count on her, she went and dumped this little handful on me. Ugh, this baby's crying all day is giving me a splitting headache."
The old woman didn't bother asking why she hadn't called on her in-laws for help. 'With a personality as prickly as my second daughter's, it would be a miracle if she could get along with her husband's family.'
