Chapter 50 - 40: Gathering Storm (Part 2)

The flowers bloom in pairs, each showcasing a branch. Zhang Guoqiang and Lin Juhua stood there, waiting for the work whistle to sound. Many people gathered around, and she gave Zhang Guoqiang a look, heading towards the group of chatty girlfriends, pretending to be troubled. She had just noticed Sun Meili there. Sun Meili, she knew, was originally engaged with Wang Youlin from the Wang Family, but the engagement gifts were snatched by Zhou Xue. She ended up marrying into an average family, and since Sun Meili’s family and the Wang Family were from the same village, she and Wang Youlin grew up together and had a good relationship. Zhou Xue would often mockingly criticize her, and now that the secret was out, she would surely take leave to go back to her parents’ house. With her personality, she would confront Zhou Xue in front of many people, and word would spread. "Juhua, what’s wrong? Why the gloomy face? What do you have to worry about? You really don’t appreciate your blessings. You’re the luckiest in the village, look at how great your mother-in-law is." The sharp-eyed wife of Zhang JianShe, Lin Ling, curiously asked, knowing that Juhua is usually all smiles. Lin Juhua glanced at her, sighed, and stopped short of speaking. The few little wives who were usually friendly with her saw her like this and knew something was up but hard to talk about, all encouraging her to share it and let them help with ideas. Lin Juhua didn’t speak immediately. This time, she just wanted to avoid the crowd. Once there were fewer people, others would be more curious, and it would spread faster. She glanced at Sun Meili again before turning around, making Sun Meili suspicious that it might have something to do with her. But thinking about it, there wasn’t much involving her family, after all, they had a good relationship. But she didn’t ask, feeling that too many people were around, and she didn’t want everyone to know her family’s business. Others looked and walked away too; the story would come out eventually. Lin Ling, Sun Meili, and another little wife, Zhang Aihua, stayed. Lin Juhua looked far away and deliberately frowned, sparking their curiosity even more. Sun Meili saw Lin Juhua’s worried face and thought it might really be related to her, couldn’t help but ask, "Juhua, just tell us, this doesn’t seem like you." Lin Juhua, seeing it was almost time for work in half an hour, had to give people the time to ask for leave, deliberately spoke with an air of irritation, "I didn’t want to say anything, but you know my short temper, just thinking about it makes me angry." "What happened? Did you really have a fight with your mother-in-law? Don’t do that; your mother-in-law is recognized as the best in the village. She prepares meals and looks after the kids at home. Didn’t you say you were separating after the New Year? You should see what it’s like with my mother-in-law, who doesn’t even lend a hand and insists on waiting for me to come home to cook. The pigs at home are so hungry they call out, and she can catch someone at the gate to chat." Sun Meili advised. Zhang Aihua also said with envy, "You don’t know what it’s like with my mother-in-law; she hides everything in her room, and last time the fishing rod hidden in the cupboard went bad with bugs. Plus, our sisters-in-law aren’t as good as yours, your eldest sister-in-law doesn’t even keep an eye on what you do more or less, the golden baby always plays with you since childhood and is affectionate to you. Your husband listens to you meticulously; what more do you want... life can’t be compared, you need to feel at ease yourself." "Alright, I know you’re all concerned for me. It’s not about the mother-in-law, it’s our Jiao Jiao." Zhang Aihua smiled at her, not believing she was just worried about the golden baby, who didn’t know how well-behaved the golden baby was. "No way, so what happened with the golden baby? Such a sweet little wife, she always smiles when she sees us, what’s there to be worried about? After your separation next year, everyone will have their own home." Sun Meili lost interest upon hearing about the golden baby’s matter; she didn’t like anyone with the surname Zhou. "Didn’t she just have a big, chubby boy?" "It’s not a big deal, but it’s not good for anything to make her cry during her confinement. Empathizing with her, Jiao Jiao is genuinely kind to us. Like a sibling, she’s always smiling when we need help." Lin Juhua took over the conversation. Lin Ling nodded, "That’s true, but what does she have to cry about? Probably doesn’t have much calculation, still a child, you know." "Not exactly, it’s because she looked at the child and cried. We asked her repeatedly and found out she misses her mom. All the things sent by her mom were taken by her eldest aunt and given to Zhou Xue. Isn’t that heartless? They didn’t even leave her a keepsake. Jiao Jiao was so well-behaved, afraid of making things difficult for her grandparents. She got married without a dowry, just brought a few clothes and the 800 yuan given by us. With the 800, she bought a sewing machine and a few small items and entered the house with 500 left, didn’t speak of it, we didn’t know before, and I was so envious of her. All the dowry sent by her grandfather and her mom were given to Zhou Xue by her eldest aunt. Zhou Xue even showed off in front of her. I saw it with my own eyes, and she didn’t respond. Don’t you find it infuriating? Yet she said it doesn’t matter, what’s money? Thinking of her son just makes her sad. Tell me, am I right to be upset? My Xiao Wu with his temper tried to tell her to forget it, write a letter to tell them to stop sending things, since it never reached anyway. Seventeen years supporting the big family house, makes my heart ache, these two naive kids. What do you think of this, things done without letting people know, every package must be signed personally by the eldest uncle, heard it’s military mail for servicemen, if Jiao Jiao raised it, it would be jail for sure. But there’s no hope; Jiao Jiao feels her grandmother raised her not easily." Sun Meili could hardly stop laughing, "They really are two sweet kids, don’t realize the cost of living at home, I was just wondering where Zhou Xue got all those good things?" "Do you think I would get upset just because of this? I’d be silly too. Wait till I tell you, you’ll laugh for sure. Everything Jiao Jiao’s mother sent was mentioned in her letters. Jiao Jiao asked them about it, and they all said no, the silly girl didn’t care, thinking maybe her grandparents didn’t want her to know about her mom’s side. But guess what, it’s hilarious. My Xiao Wu has a friend at the post office, he specifically told Xiao Wu that all of Jiao Jiao’s stuff at the post office was signed by her uncle personally, except for her mom, grandfather, her two aunts, and a little aunt, none of them stopped sending things in these seventeen years. Wasn’t she pregnant this year? Xiao Wu went to the post office to check, oh my God, 28 parcels in 8 months, and Jiao Jiao didn’t receive even a single hair. Once they found this, they confirmed that the rumor of Zhou Jiao supporting five families was true, and they continued to check, discovered when she was in middle school, her grandpa bought her a bicycle, wristwatch, military coat, everything was sent by Jiao Jiao’s grandpa. Huang Zhaodi’s maternal family watch, sewing machine, bicycle, military coat, sweater, all were Jiao Jiao’s. And wasn’t Zhou Xue getting married? The whole wedding was funded by several Jiao Jiao’s aunts, little aunt, her grandpa, and her mom pooling together. Isn’t this bullying?" Lin Ling and Zhang Aihua were dumbfounded, it sounded like a fairytale, such outrageous appropriation, not even a word said about it, those valuable things were specially sent from Jiao Jiao’s grandpa’s house to her. "And what does Zhou Jiao say? No wonder she cried, it’s too much, just because Zhou Jiao has no father, she’s bullied like this. And what does Zhou Jiao say to do about it?"