The straw curtain was lifted, and Widow Li Hui, carrying a wooden basin, walked in.

The sky outside was overcast, and it looked like it was going to snow again.

The curtain fell, and only the small window in the wall let in light, instantly dimming the room considerably.

Li Hui placed the wooden basin on the ground, picked up a towel that had already developed a patina, dipped it in the basin, and then looked up at Wang Daniu and asked:

"Da Niu, how are you feeling right now?"

When the curtain was pushed open just now, backlit by the light, Wang Daniu vaguely thought that it might be Zhou Shuixian who came in.

When Li Hui called him again, Wang Daniu finally came to his senses: the person in front of him was Widow Li, who had come in carrying a bundle three days ago.

He gave a wry smile, realizing that he had become somewhat obsessed with Zhou Jingyun's trip to Haicheng and the Zhou family's rise to prominence.

"Huiniang, I'll be able to get out of bed and walk around again after a couple of days of rest. You've suffered these past few days!"

After listening to Wang Daniu's words, Widow Li, who had just washed a lot of Wang's clothes by the river and whose hands were red from the cold and were now itchy, felt that life was not so bad that she couldn't make ends meet.

When Wang Daniu was injured and his family took him to the clinic for treatment, Li Hui was already thinking about her future.

During this time, she also flirted with several men she had previously been secretly seeing.

However, those men only wanted to get something out of her once and for all, and never thought about living together with her.

Left with no other choice, she could only go to the commune to check on Wang Daniu's condition and confirm that his injuries had almost healed, but he still needed to recuperate for a while.

She compromised: if she couldn't control Wang Daniu by having children, so be it. At least, this man still had some strength, and the Wang family had many brothers, so she wouldn't be bullied by outsiders after marrying into the family.

So, after several rounds of communication, Li Hui lowered the bride price. Li Chunmiao also sincerely wanted to find a companion for her eldest son who had lost his family, so she gave him a bride price of twenty yuan. Li Hui packed her things and moved into the Wang family home, and the two of them lived together.

Perhaps having learned a lesson from Zhou Shuixian, the day after moving in, Li Chunmiao obtained a certificate and had an oxcart take the two of them to the commune to get their marriage certificate.

She married into the Wang family hoping to escape being bullied by outsiders.

However, she did not expect to be bullied by her family. Li Chunmiao was not an easy mother-in-law to get along with. In her heart, she felt that her eldest son's miserable state and her family's inability to prosper with the Zhou family were all the fault of Li Hui, that vixen, who seduced her son and hurt Zhou Shuixian and the Zhou family.

Therefore, when he started to harass Li Hui, he went even further than when he harassed Zhou Shuixian.

After only two days, Li Hui couldn't take it anymore.

Sure enough, early in the morning, Li Hui was asked to go to the river to wash the whole family's clothes.

Even though the river wasn't completely frozen in the dead of winter, the temperature was still very low.

After washing the clothes, Li Hui's hands were frozen red like carrots.

She secretly wondered to herself: Was it really the right thing to live with Wang Daniu?

Therefore, upon hearing Wang Daniu's words, Li Hui felt as if she had finally found a place to vent her grievances.

Tears welled up in Li Hui's eyes as she sat on the edge of the bed, wiping Wang Daniu's body while sobbing softly.

"Da Niu, I brought Gou Sheng to your house because I genuinely want to spend my life with you."

But why do I feel like my mom doesn't like me?

She looked at me with disdain, and tried every trick in the book to torment me...

Da Niu, I genuinely want to spend my life with you, but with Mom treating me like this, I'm really afraid that one day I won't be able to take it anymore and will just jump into the river to end it all...

If, if I really do that, then you must live well, so we can be together again in the next life. This life has been too bitter..."

Wang Daniu had already been "divorced" by Zhou Shuixian once, and now that he had lost his manhood, he felt extremely inferior and lacked a sense of security.

So, when he heard that Li Hui was being nagged by her mother to the point of wanting to die, he couldn't help but feel resentful towards Li Chunmiao: Did his mother think that he was still a hot commodity and could easily find a partner?

After leaving Li Hui, who will want to live with him in the future?

He no longer treated Li Hui the way he had treated Zhou Shuixian. Without her having to say a few words, he unconditionally stood on Li Hui's side.

"Huiniang, don't mind her, she's getting more and more confused as she gets older."

You can slack off whenever you want, just take good care of Da Bao for me, and don't worry about anything else!

"You're not the only daughter-in-law in the family, why should you do all the work?"

Wang Daniu's thinking was simple: he had lost his manhood and would only have Wang Dabao as his son from now on, so he had to take good care of him.

Hearing Wang Daniu's words, Li Hui was secretly delighted: No matter how powerful Li Chunmiao was, as long as Wang Daniu stood on her side, how far could that old woman cause trouble?

Li Hui, who raised Gou Sheng by seducing men, was adept at understanding men's minds. Hearing Wang Daniu's words, she didn't refute them, but just sniffed and said in a sensible manner:

“Da Niu, your mother-in-law is your own mother. For your sake, I won’t cause trouble for her. I just want to live a good life with you, raise Da Bao and Gou Sheng together, and live happily as a family…”

Zhou Shuixian would never say these things.

Therefore, Wang Daniu was very pleased to hear this.

He hugged Li Hui and said, "Hui-niang, I'm so sorry you had to go through all this..."

He thought to himself: Li Hui is better than Zhou Shuixian in every way, except that her family background is not as good as Zhou Shuixian's.

If Li Hui's family were as supportive as the Zhou family, she would have no trouble making a good living.

He never imagined that if Li Hui's family were as powerful as the Zhou family, would Li Hui still have to compromise and stay with him?

Perhaps, Li Hui was taken back to her parents' home as early as when her husband passed away!

"You sly fox, are you having babies in there? Why does it take you so long to wash the boss's face?"

"Is she being horny in broad daylight?!"

Outside in the courtyard, Li Chunmiao yelled and cursed at the house.

Upon hearing the voice, Li Hui feigned fright, shuddered, and said fearfully, "Da Niu, I'll go back to work first. You take good care of your injury..."

Seeing Li Hui's frightened appearance, Wang Daniu's dissatisfaction with Li Chunmiao intensified. He planned to find an opportunity to have a serious talk with her: if his mother continued to pressure him like this, he, Wang Daniu, would become an old bachelor!

Inside the courtyard, Li Chunmiao, unaware of her son's inner thoughts, launched into another tirade upon seeing Li Hui emerge.

Seeing his third son enter, he yelled, "You useless piece of trash, you can't even control your wife!"

Upon hearing his mother's words, Wang Sanniu immediately retorted, "Mom, tell me honestly, did my wife learn from Zhou Shuixian?"

Divorce doesn't happen in our rural area.

"If Zhou Shuixian hadn't set a precedent, how could my wife have let her family come and threaten to divorce her?"