Chapter 51 - 41: The Gathering Storm (Part 3)

Lin Juhua slapped her thighs, exclaiming with the sentiment of meeting a kindred spirit, "I’m so worried, my family Xiao Wu has always had loose hands. A little money and he buys things for the kids in the house, even for me and his sister-in-law. Whenever my mother-in-law throws a tantrum, he speaks well of me; he’s better than my own brother. This time he said he’d give Jiao Jiao some advice, like sending wild game to these families without saying anything. After all, they’re relatives. Just say not to send things over; packages often get lost around here. We can thank them when we have a chance to visit Beijing. You see, he’s taking all the blame himself." "Our family supports Xiao Wu saying this. Otherwise, how would the Lin Family view us rural folks? Jiao Jiao also said it’s better this way. There won’t be much to do with her uncle from now on; they’ve become so shameless. How can she run the household in the future with this character? There’s going to be a separation next year, and my mother-in-law plans to live with the eldest brother. These two are like playing house; they’ve even had a child." Zhang Xuehua comforted Lin Juhua, "Jiao Jiao is a kind-hearted person. She can’t force her uncle; her parents are still around. If things turn ugly, it won’t look good for anyone." While they were talking, several more people arrived, their mouths agape at what they overheard. Lin Juhua and the others whispered for quite a while until the work whistle sounded. An old lady from the village said, "Forget it, go back and advise not to be sad. Having such relatives is worse than having none. The sooner the ties are cut, the better..." "One can tell they’re not good people; in the whole family, only one person works in the fields. They all rely on the golden baby’s grandfather’s family to support them. That grandfather is really something." "Good people get bullied, and good horses get ridden. If I were the golden baby, I’d report them. What’s with that Huang Damao’s family? How poor they used to be..." Lin Juhua, seeing the situation, felt satisfied. It seemed the goal Xiao Wu mentioned had been achieved, but if not, she’d address it after work in the afternoon; it was exhausting. Sun Meili was working and grew more and more unwilling. Such a despicable, shameless wicked woman was always showing off in front of her. What’s the matter? She should tear off that facade. Let Zhou Xue stop flaunting. She acts like she’s the golden baby, but she actually snatched her man away. Is her family a group of bandits? She decided to go back to her maiden home and tell her two sisters-in-law about that shameless family. They should be embarrassed somehow. Ye Zi, while working, was also dissatisfied. Her family was always harshly judged by the production team, not allowing her sick mother to take a day off. Does he know how shameless her in-laws are? He surely knows; that must be why Wang Youlin isn’t allowed to marry Meili. A family of villains. She should go back to her father and discuss; if they get him removed, with fairer leaders, they wouldn’t barely scrape by, her younger brother is grown now, ready to marry, but still needs to work under him? For what reason? In no time, several women asked for leave with different reasons, since it was the slack farming season; otherwise, it wouldn’t be so easily granted. Lin Juhua noticed men were also asking for leave; several idlers were around. These men’s tongues were more venomous than women’s. Had this group all gathered to visit the Gourd Village? She didn’t stay idle. When asked by someone next to her, she sighed, hesitated, and vaguely said a few words. In a moment, everyone was whispering. Laughter occasionally erupted from the men’s side. Zhang Guoqiang ignored everyone else and focused on his work. Sun Meili and Ye Zi felt slightly awkward meeting on the road, but Ye Zi understood that Sun Meili was also victimized by the Wang Family. Nowadays, canceling an engagement after receiving the betrothal gifts was quite a loss for a woman. If not, the truly beautiful Sun Meili, the "blooming flower" of the village, was wrecked by the Wang Family. The Wang Family acted immorally, saying the engagement was set long ago. Ye Zi didn’t hold back, directly telling Meili she’d return to tell her father about shaming that old scoundrel. Her family did the most work points yet was deliberately shorted. Sharing a common goal made them talk excitedly. They didn’t notice a few people behind them, curiously nobody ran to Zhou Family Village to report. Would you say their relationships were distant enough? Entering the village entrance, they saw Zhou Xue swaying with her son, wearing a red cashmere coat, deliberately checking her watch, afraid others didn’t know she had one. It was disgusting. Sun Meili and Ye Zi saw from afar and avoided her, pretending not to see, planning to take a detour. However, Zhou Xue shouted loudly, not caring if it scared the child in her arms. Today was Zhou Xue’s unlucky day. Not far from the village entrance was the production team’s office. Whenever there was business, village cadres gathered the villagers at the entrance. Today, they hadn’t worked yet and were issuing some document, the loudspeakers buzzing with tuning sounds, and villagers waiting on the side. Zhou Xue always harbored a grudge against Sun Meili, knowing Wang Youlin still had feelings for her. They were close to discussing marriage except for her father-in-law’s objection, which led to marrying her. Now that Sun Meili had finally married into another village, she still often returned to her maiden home, making Wang Youlin colder towards her. They hardly spoke unless necessary; Wang Youlin remained silent even when she wanted to argue. Seeing Sun Meili hastily avoiding her to return home, Zhou Xue seized the opportunity. Zhou Xue rolled her eyes, raised her chin, and loudly mocked, "Oh, look who’s back home! Turns out it’s Meili. Is your family out of rice again? Going back to your parents every day to bring things isn’t a solution. You always come back dressed in rags. Are you playing pitiful to get more things? Your man is so pathetic, so useless, can’t even provide clothes for his wife, nearly sending you out naked. Tsk, tsk, you really look pitiful." Sun Meili hadn’t wanted a direct confrontation; she genuinely looked down on women like Zhou Xue. Moreover, her father-in-law was the team leader, known for being petty and snobbish. Her maiden home was in the village, fearing inconvenience for her parents and siblings-in-law. But hearing Zhou Xue loudly shouting drew everyone’s attention, she couldn’t care anymore, deciding to expose her first and see who was truly pitiful. "Yes, my man is useless; he can’t steal his cousin’s bridal gifts. Your clothes look nice; aren’t you ashamed to wear them? Do you still have any dignity? You’re just garbage; I don’t even want to dirty my mouth talking about it. Everyone knows about your family’s mess, acting all high and mighty like a Phoenix while just an unimpressive wild chicken. Laughing stock! If the golden baby wasn’t so nice, I’d have already sent your whole shameless family to the county jail, saving this trash some face. You stupid b*itch showing off every day, afraid others don’t know. Everyone already knows your family’s disgraceful deeds, sucking the golden baby dry, letting her marry penniless, but your family sure has skills, dressing brothers and sisters like people, acting inhumane!" Zhou Xue, tongue-tied and guilty, never expected Zhou Jiao to speak out so she thought nobody knew. Suddenly caught off guard, she sat her son down and charged at Sun Meili in fury. The commotion erupted, and the nearby villagers heard it, all rushing over to watch the spectacle.