The Niu family quickly paid off the one hundred taels of silver they owed. When Madam Tan and Zhao Xiaomei found out, they were extremely jealous.

Zhao Xiaomei thought her womb was incredibly fertile, giving birth to a son in one go, and then her son gave birth to a grandson. In the village, she was considered a very capable person, and no one else in the village was as impressive as her.

They're just a bit poor!

Although she was poor, she felt that her family was very rich.

Although her daughter-in-law, Sun, had given birth to a son, Zhao Xiaomei still disliked her and always felt that Sun had stolen her son.

Although she only had one son, her son had another son.

Zhao Xiaomei believed that her family was superior to Shen Yu's in every way, and that Shen Yu must be jealous of her having a son, so jealous that she was going crazy.

Both families were originally equally poor.

Zhao Xiaomei wasn't resentful at all. Now that family with no heirs was doing better than her, not only did they have meat to eat during the New Year, but they had also opened a shop and started a business.

They even bought such a large plot of land to grow vegetables.

Zhao Xiaomei couldn't understand it. She didn't have a son, so why was she so motivated? After all this work, wasn't all this wealth just working for someone else?

In the dead of night, Zhao Xiaomei sneaked into the vegetable garden, startling Niu Yaba awake. He lit a lantern, grabbed a wooden stick, and banged hard on the doorframe.

Zhao Xiaomei was startled, but there was a stinky ditch next to her. Startled, she stepped into the ditch.

The rice seedlings in my hand were scattered all over the ground.

Niu Yaba chased after Zhao Xiaomei, but Zhao Xiaomei had big feet and thick, long legs, and ran extremely fast, so Niu Yaba couldn't catch up.

Zhao Xiaomei ran frantically, not even realizing she had reached the edge of the pond, before plunging in headfirst. The water was cold even during the day in winter, let alone at night.

Fortunately, the pond wasn't particularly deep. When she fell in, she instinctively grabbed the stone slabs where the women were washing clothes. Zhao Xiaomei climbed up along the slabs, when suddenly a cold wind blew up, making her already icy body even colder.

Zhao Xiaomei shrank her neck and coughed incessantly from the cold.

She returned home feeling cold, and when she saw her daughter-in-law, Sun, and her son sleeping soundly, she harbored resentment towards Sun.

The two little babies, Xiao Fubao and Niu Baolan, slept with Niu Er, while the older Niu Baozhu and Niu Meihua slept with Niu Cuihua.

Little Fu Bao woke up at some point and was playing with her little hands. As she played, the smile on her face deepened, and then she fell asleep again.

Although Niu the Mute couldn't speak, he gestured incoherently to Xiang Shi, who exclaimed in horror:

"You mean someone broke into the vegetable garden and stole the seedlings last night?"

Zhao Xiaomei wasn't stealing; she planned to pull up all the vegetable seedlings in the garden so that the Niu family would have no harvest.

Madam Xiang said, "This is terrible! Little sister, tell your brother to quickly go to the county and ask for a favor, and get two big yellow dogs to guard the house."

The people in Niushan Village don't like keeping dogs, mainly because every household has a large population, and there's usually no one to look after the young children. If you're not careful, they can easily get hurt by a dog.

Niu Xiaomei looked at the shoe in Niu Yaba's hand. Anyone with eyes could tell whose it was. Although there was no custom of foot binding in this dynasty, not everyone had feet that were a foot long.

There were only two or three peasant women in the village with feet as big as a man's. Among these three families, only Zhao Xiaomei's family was relatively poor, so her shoes had two or three patches on them.

Poverty is not a sin.

But it is a sin to be jealous because of poverty.

Niu Er bought two half-grown wolfhound puppies in the county town to raise, one to guard the house and the other to guard the farm.

Zhao Xiaomei developed a fever from the cold the night before, but she felt that her family's poverty must be due to marrying Sun Shi, so she vented all her anger on Sun Shi, hitting and scolding her.

"You stupid, idiotic woman! What right do you have to hold my grandson?" Zhao Xiaomei grabbed Lao Shi's hair and started hitting her without any reason.

Sun was the only daughter of the Sun family. Although her family wasn't well-off, she was spoiled by her parents from a young age.

For the sake of her infant son, Sun could only submit to her fate, saying, "Mother-in-law, I... I'm just breastfeeding the baby!"

"Who told you to hold the baby while breastfeeding? Are you a pig? Holding the baby is bad for the baby's bones. You should put the baby on your lap and bend over to feed him!" Zhao Xiaomei placed the baby on Sun's lap, opened her arms, and pressed down on Sun's shoulders.

"But the baby will choke on the milk!"

Zhao Xiaomei knew, of course, that the baby would choke on the milk if she fed him like that, but what did it matter? All she wanted was to manipulate and control her daughter-in-law and vent her anger. If the baby choked on the milk, she could just beat up Sun Shi. After all, she had already given birth to her grandson. If she wanted a divorce, she could just use the child to blackmail Sun Shi.

Perhaps Zhao Xiaomei was a little emotional, and coupled with her fever, she suddenly felt dizzy, and when she grabbed the table and chair next to her, her legs were weak and powerless.

Although Sun was submissive, she had a temper. Seeing that Zhao Xiaomei could not even stand steadily, she did not go forward to help her, but picked up the child and went to breastfeed.

Zhao Xiaomei was furious and wanted to pick up a chair and smash it to Lao Shi's death, but she had no strength left, and even her cursing was weak and feeble.

"You slut, you whore! You think you're all grown up now?"

Sun ignored her.

At night, Zhao Xiaomei was burning up with fever and kept crying out, "Feiyan, Feiyan, pour me a glass of water!"

Sun nudged Niu Jing'an and said, "Your mother is thirsty, pour her a glass of water!"

Niu Jing'an said, "Serving your parents-in-law is a woman's job, otherwise why would I marry you?"

Sun remained unmoved despite her angry outburst.

Zhao Xiaomei's husband, Niu Qing, is not at home. He works in town and usually stays there.

Zhao Xiaomei continued to call out.

Niu Jing'an kicked Sun Shi and said, "Haven't I beaten you well these past few years? I married you to be my family's slave! My mother is sick, it's only right that you, as her daughter-in-law, take care of her! If you don't go over there, I'll beat you to death!"

Niu Jing'an was getting impatient and said, "I know my mom. She's not that kind of person. She's been so good to me, her son. If she's not good to you, it must be your problem! Just try to please her more!"

Sun woke up from her drowsiness and got up somewhat numbly, looking at the dark night. Perhaps it was true, as her husband said, that if she tried to please her mother-in-law more, her life would be easier...

Will it really be any better?

Seeing that Sun was still trying her best to please her, Zhao Xiaomei became even more smug. So what if she abused her daughter-in-law? She still had to treat her well!

Once a person's heart is corrupted, it can never be healed.

Zhao Xiaomei recovered from her illness in a few days!

After receiving his salary, Niu Jing'an handed it all to Zhao Xiaomei, saying, "Mom, buy Feiyan a couple of eggs to help her recover!"

They did not give Sun a single penny.