PDLP Chapter 178 Harmony
Chapter 178 Harmony
Dazhu's mother's face turned pale and then red. She was still hesitant. Given the current situation at home, if Zhang Yueniang didn't go back, she would definitely suffer more. Since her son broke his leg, he had been depressed and had a bad temper. He was always throwing tantrums. The widow said that she had given birth to his son, but she hadn't contacted him since he broke his leg.
The so-called son was just a facade. Her belly shrank instantly, and the widow turned her back on her, saying that she wouldn't give birth to a son for him if she didn't have money.
That's why she thought of coming over to coax Zhang Yueniang back. Right now, she should take good care of her son first, but Zhang Yueniang's words were still echoing in her ears.
She was still a little scared. What if this got back to the village? How could she stay there after that? She didn't get along well with her sisters-in-law to begin with, and they liked to take advantage of her. If Dazhu's affair got out, her husband would probably divorce her.
She frowned, still weighing the whole situation, and wanted to forcibly take Zhang Yueniang back. But when she saw Xu Chaoyan and Meng Jiuxia holding sticks in front of her, she felt guilty and didn't dare to make a move.
Finally, he could only grit his teeth and look at Zhang Yueniang with a resentful expression, saying, "Fine, you're ruthless. I can sign this divorce agreement today, but you must return the ten taels of silver you stole before, or don't even think about it."
The women sat by the fire, trying to warm themselves. It was already chilly, and the cold wind kept blowing into their trousers. They were also bored because they hadn't eaten or drunk anything all day, not even a bowl of hot water. They were complaining incessantly.
The aroma wafting from the casserole dish made the women's mouths water.
The woman from the family was still staring at them menacingly, but they didn't dare to make a move. In the end, they could only laugh awkwardly and say a few words: "Mother-in-law, what are you stewing? It smells quite good. Can we smell it?"
The old woman glared at the group and said irritably, "What I stew is none of your business! Get out of my house right now, or my fire poker won't have eyes."
The women chuckled awkwardly and moved back a bit; if they kept talking, they probably wouldn't even be able to get a chance to warm themselves by the fire.
Seeing that Dazhu's mother looked a little more relaxed, and hearing her ask her to return the money, Zhang Yueniang was so angry that her chest ached.
She moved a little closer, then moved away again, disgusted by the smell on her: "Old woman, you'd better do as I just said, or I'll make sure you're destitute and scorned for the rest of your life. You want me to drown you in a pig cage? I think someone like you deserves to be drowned in a pig cage, and die hundreds of times over."
Enraged by her words, Da Zhu's mother jumped up. Coupled with the obvious disdain she had shown earlier, she couldn't swallow her anger. She grabbed Da Zhu's hair and said fiercely, "We can sign the divorce papers, but you must come up with ten taels of silver, or there's nothing to talk about."
She thought, "If I'm going to get a divorce, then so be it. With these ten taels of silver, I can give Dazhu another obedient wife, or even buy a maid to take back. Once Dazhu's injuries are healed, how could I not control this mother and daughter?" This woman used to be terrified of Dazhu, but since returning to her parents' home, she has gained confidence.
Xu Chaoyan then leaned over and whispered, "Sister, what method did you use to make her bow her head? Her face changed."
Zhang Yueniang whispered those sordid things in her ear, and Xu Chaoyan clicked her tongue a few times, then looked at Dazhu's mother with great disdain: "I didn't expect you to be so trendy, old woman, playing such fancy games. Hurry up and sign this divorce agreement for your son, and you can leave safely. Otherwise, when the officials come, things will be hard to say. Also, if you don't want that awful thing to spread back to the village, you'd better finish this quickly and keep your mouth shut."
Seeing that the old woman was still unmoved by either soft or hard tactics and looked unwilling to give up, Zhang Yueniang had no choice but to press her one more time. A mocking smile appeared on her lips: "Old woman, I'll say it one last time, will you sign or not? If you don't sign, don't forget that you have a daughter who was born prematurely. Several aunts discussed it several times back then, but you managed to fool them."
Da Zhu's mother couldn't hold back any longer, and her voice trembled with tension: "I'll sign, I'll sign, I'll do it right away. You keep your word and keep this a secret."
After saying that, she stumbled to her feet and tried to grab Zhang Yueniang's trouser leg, but Zhang Yueniang shook her off. A few days ago, because it had rained, the yard was muddy. The old woman was thrown off balance and fell to the ground, covered in mud and looking quite disheveled.
Several women gathered around the fire rushed over, glaring at Zhang Yueniang with displeasure and shouting, "Is this how you treat your mother-in-law! People like you should be drowned in a pig cage. It's already a kindness of their family that Dazhu didn't divorce you, and you still dare to push your luck and want a divorce agreement. I think a despicable person like you should just be given a divorce agreement directly, so that you can be despised by everyone and drowned in the spittle of the world."
After being helped up by the men, Da Zhu's mother looked flustered and quickly tried to stop them, afraid that they would say something hurtful: "Stop talking, just bring me the divorce papers, I'll sign them."
Actually, the divorce papers that were sent the second time had already been signed. It was the widow who had encouraged them, but she had kept them. This time, they were just being used as a formality.
The process went very smoothly. Dazhu's mother readily signed the papers for her son, and then glared at Xu Chaoyan and the others with a hint of resentment.
Finally, staring at Zhang Yueniang, he said ruthlessly, "You'd better keep your word. Don't let me hear a single word of it. If I hear any gossip, your whole family will suffer. Your brother is going to take the imperial examination, isn't he? You'd better watch out. You can't stay so smug forever."
In the morning, the group of people came over with great enthusiasm, but now they looked like wilted eggplants. Xu Chaoyan couldn't help but laugh after taking a few glances at them.
After everyone left the courtyard, Xu Chaoyan helped clean up the mess. Taking advantage of the chaos, some people tried to steal a couple of chickens from the coop, but were chased all over the place by the dogs that Meng Jiuxia had brought. A woman even fell and had a red, swollen bump on her forehead.
Xu Chaoyan: "Sister, you are now free. You can finally have a peaceful year. This is good news. We women must be self-reliant. We can do everything by ourselves without men. From now on, you can be self-sufficient and strong."
Zhang Yueniang's eyes were slightly red, and her voice choked up: "Sister Xu, I have to thank you so much this time. Otherwise, I wouldn't have had such a smooth journey. As the saying goes, a close neighbor is worse than a distant relative. Thank you again."
Xu Chaoyan glanced at her and asked with a smile, "Sister, if I had known you had something on the old woman, why didn't you say it sooner? You've been bullied for so long."
Zhang Yueniang gave a shameful and helpless smile before finally speaking: "I wasn't sure at first. I just wanted to trick her and get some information out of her. I had heard some snippets of information before, and when I pieced them together, she fell for it so quickly? As the saying goes, 'If you have nothing to hide, you'll be afraid of ghosts knocking on your door in the middle of the night.' She was feeling guilty."
Xu Chaoyan kept helping to tidy up the mess in the yard and kept the mother and daughter warming themselves by the fire and chatting. She forgot that she was also curing meat to make sausages. It was Meng Jiuxia who reminded her.
She slapped her forehead and exclaimed, "Oh dear, I was marinating the meat and I completely forgot about it while we were chatting."
Meng Jiuxia quickly grabbed her: "Sister-in-law, don't worry, I'll go home and get it. We can do it together right here by the fire. Let my sister help you. I'm clumsy and will waste time."
Zhang Yueniang chuckled and tapped her head: "You, you clever little devil! You're not clumsy at all. If you're clumsy, then what am I?"
The group gathered around the fire and began to work together, filling the sausages little by little. When Meng Jiu and the others returned from school and heard about this, Zhang Xuyang quickly checked his sister and mother over.
He looked extremely nervous: "Mother, sister, why didn't you send a message? Did you suffer any losses?"
Zhang Yueniang shook her head and slapped him away: "You're so clumsy. If you have nothing to do, get out of the way."
While continuing her work, Xu Chaoyan said, "Although my sister is at ease now, they might come back like mad dogs."
The old woman also looked worried and hugged Yaya tightly: "This shameless person might come and cause trouble like a mad dog every few days. What will we do after the New Year?"
Everyone fell silent. Xu Chaoyan finished the last bit of work, and Meng Jiu took a clean handkerchief to wipe her hands: "Quickly warm your hands, they're all red from the cold."
Xu Chaoyan hesitated for a while before speaking: "Since they are going to the county school anyway, why don't we make arrangements in advance? There's still a while before the end of the year."