Chapter 10: Guagua, your parents are still alive, please be filial

Sure enough, Zhang Juhua reacted strongly after hearing this.

Her chest heaved up and down, her nostrils flared, her expression became extremely ugly, and the look she gave Yao was full of anger, as if she wanted to eat her.

"You little beast! Say it again if you dare!" Zhang Juhua pointed at Xiang Yao, her rough and wrinkled hands trembling.

This is because of anger.

Xiang Yao curled her lips and said, "So grandma likes to hear this kind of words. Okay, just say it. Your happiness is the most important thing."

Zhang Juhua grabbed a handful of chili peppers and threw them in Xiang Yao's direction, cursing, "What a rebellion! This is going to turn the world upside down! I think this beast is possessed by a demon. How dare he curse her grandmother!"

He is so happy!

She, Zhang Juhua!

Very unhappy!

Xiang Yao dodged nimbly to the side, his mouth crackling like a machine gun: "Grandma, look at you, you're believing in feudal superstition again! What's with the evil spirits? I told you this stuff must be thrown away and broken! We are not in the past now. We must keep up with the development of the times, believe in science, discard old ideas, embrace new ideas, and strive to be builders of socialism!"

Zhang Juhua's nostrils opened and closed even wider. She subconsciously glanced towards the fence again. This time she didn't see Zhao Erhua, and she felt a little more at ease.

Just as he was about to strike a pose and continue cursing, Xiang Gensheng dropped the wooden shovel he was using to stir the mud and shouted inside, "Aihua, is the meal ready?"

Zhou Aihua, who had been hiding in the kitchen, was listening to the argument between Zhang Juhua and Xiang Yao. Suddenly, she was startled by the shouting and quickly replied, "Alright, alright, let's get ready to eat!"

It’s no wonder that the aunt didn’t go out to mediate the dispute between the grandfather and grandson. With so many people outside, who would dare to say a word?

Rather than standing outside and risking being scolded by her mother-in-law at any time, she prefers to stay in this small kitchen.

Firewood is her barrier and the spatula is her support.

Xiang Gensheng looked at Zhang Juhua again, touched the back of his head, and advised dryly: "Mom, the meal is ready, let's eat first."

He is not a smart man who can speak. Most of the time he just buries himself in his work, and his sweat on the ground is his best response to this world.

But now the third son just watched the show without saying anything, and his son was honest and silent like him. As the eldest son and uncle, he had to bite the bullet and stop this quarrel.

Zhang Juhua glared at her eldest son, but said nothing more and walked into the main room with a sullen face.

Xiang Gensheng looked at his mother, then at his niece Xiang Yao who was walking beside him. He opened his mouth, but really didn't know what to say, so he just walked in silently.

The dishes were on the table, but the third son Xiang Jinsheng had not returned yet, and the couple's youngest son Xiang Liang was still playing around somewhere. Zhang Juhua started scolding Zhou Aihua again.

"Why didn't you tell me the food was almost ready? What's the point of having a mouth? All you do is eat, eat, eat! Look at what you've done with the dish. The eggplant is completely black, and the beans are half-cooked. You're so old, and you can't even cook a meal! Do you still think you're a new bride?"

Zhou Aihua lowered her head and said nothing. Zhang Juhua scolded her again, "A barking dog that bites." Although she looked obedient on the surface, she was probably cursing her as a mother-in-law in her heart.

After hearing this, Xiang Yao was speechless again.

People like Zhang Juhua deserve to have a powerful wife to teach her a lesson.

It's a pity that none of the three daughters-in-law, including Bao Yuanshen's mother, dared to stand up in front of this mother-in-law. Didn't this only encourage her arrogance?

Just as she was daydreaming, Zhang Juhua turned her attention to her again: "What are you still standing there for? Go call your Third Uncle and Liangliang for dinner! You're like a piece of wood!"

Hearing this, Xiang Yao crossed her arms and said with a smile, "Grandma, since Third Aunt and Xiang Xiuxiu aren't going, you have to let me, your niece, go. Is there no one left in Third Uncle's family?"

Zhang Juhua wouldn't listen to reason with her. "Just go when I tell you to. What's the matter? You don't want to pull pig grass, and you don't even want to do this little thing? Do you still respect me?"

Xiang Yao nodded: "No, ask Xiang Xiuxiu to go."

Zhang Juhua's face fell and she was about to curse again. Liu Xiaolan couldn't stand it anymore.

"Look at what you're saying, Yaoyao. Your father has passed away. As your niece, you'll have to rely on your eldest uncle and third uncle for support. When you get married, you'll still have to rely on Liangliang to send you off! How can you be so unhappy when I ask you to do such a small thing?"

What he said was almost like stab Xiang Yao in the face, "You, Xiang Yao, are an orphan now. If you don't listen, you will have no good life in the future!"

Xiang Yao smiled. Liu Xiaolan hadn't made her words clear, so she wanted to get it out: "Auntie, what you mean is that if I don't listen to you in the future, you will let me go hungry, have no warm clothes, and live a hard life like the old society?"

Liu Xiaolan was shocked: "When did I ever say I would let you live that kind of life?"

Her family used to be tenant farmers of a landlord and they could not get enough to eat all year round. Later, with the land reform, the poor peasants became masters of their own destiny and finally had their own land.

At this moment, Xiang Yao was pouring words into her head that she had hated so much in the past. How could she not be frightened?

Seeing that things had come to this, Liu Xiaolan's expression changed. Xiang Gensheng quickly called his little daughter, "Lili, go call Uncle San and Brother to eat."

Xiang Lili was a child who had just graduated from elementary school, and her mouth was pouted high.

In fact, what she was thinking was the same as Sister Yao’s!

She is not the daughter of Third Uncle, so why should he order her around? Third Uncle has a daughter, so why is Sister Xiuxiu the city girl and she is a maid?

But under his father's command, he had no choice but to stand up obediently.

Xiang Yao glanced at her and felt that this little cousin was a bit pitiful.

There are four sisters in the family. Except for the eldest cousin Xiang Chun who got married a few years ago, the remaining three are Xiang Xiuxiu, the eldest daughter of her third uncle. She has been favored since she was a child. She is the only daughter of her parents, and her father is the team leader. The clothes she wears and the hairbands she uses are never short.

Only this cousin had the clothes and shoes left over from her brothers and sisters. When it came to her, they were already patched up. Either the trouser legs were too long or the sleeves were torn. They were already very undignified and ill-fitting.

Xiang Yao lowered his eyebrows slightly, glanced at Xiang Xiuxiu, and said directly: "Xiang Xiuxiu, now that things have come to this, you are just going to watch Lili die? Is your father's daughter her or you?"

Xiang Xiuxiu's face was extremely grim, but when she looked up, she saw Xiang Lili looking at her angrily. She felt too embarrassed to pretend to be dead anymore and resigned herself to her fate: "Stop talking. I'll go call her. I'll go call her, okay?"

Xiang Yao saw her stand up and nodded with satisfaction: "That's more like it. Your parents are still alive. You should be more filial to them. It's not our turn to serve them like nieces right now."

Everyone was stunned by these words and couldn't help but think of Xiang Liangsheng who had died not long ago.

Zhang Juhua gave birth to seven children, two of whom died young, leaving three sons and two daughters.

My daughter got married many years ago, and my sons haven't separated yet and have their own children. A family of more than a dozen people live together. Although there are constant minor frictions every day, the family is generally harmonious.

But after Xiang Liangsheng died, this harmony was broken.

First, Liu Qiaoyun was driven away by Zhang Juhua, and then Xiang Yao's temper changed drastically. Until now, this family looks like a pot of water about to boil, with bubbles constantly rising. No one knows when it will boil completely.

Everyone had different thoughts. Some thought that after Xiang Liangsheng's death, the benefits of some captains would be handed over to others.

Thinking that without an old laborer, the work points earned by their family would become even tighter;

Thinking about how after Liu Qiaoyun returned to her parents' home, their second room was so spacious, but only Xiang Yao lived there...

Xiang Yao thought that after the double grab was over, he had to go and see how Liu Qiaoyun was doing.

Since she is now Xiang Yao of Xiangjiawan, she must shoulder her due responsibilities.

After a while, Xiang Jinsheng and Xiang Liang were called back.

Everyone sat together around a large square table and finally waited for Zhang Juhua to serve the meal.

In the old Xiang family, the rice spoon is in the hands of Zhang Juhua.

Who gets more and who gets less, who gets denser and who gets sparser, all depends on Zhang Juhua's allocation.

Of course, granddaughters like Xiang Yao and Xiang Lili, who used to have a very low sense of presence, and daughters-in-law like Zhou Aihua and Liu Qiaoyun, who were often disliked, were always among those who ate the least and the worst.

Xiang Yao looked at the fist-sized bowl of rice in his own bowl, and then at the bowls of Xiang Xiuxiu and Xiang Liang that were full of rice, and felt unhappy.

"Grandma, why is my meal so little? I worked all day and didn't eat lunch. I was so hungry that I fainted in the field in the afternoon. And now at night, you only give me this much. Are you trying to starve me to death?"

The bottom of the bowl landed on the wooden table with a soft "thud" sound, which immediately attracted everyone's attention.

Zhou Aihua repeated dryly: "Fainted, how could he faint..."

"You weren't with me, so of course you don't know. Go ask Aunt Xiaohong and the others. We all saw it with our own eyes." Xiang Yao said calmly, "If she hadn't helped me harvest the rice this afternoon, I wouldn't have been able to finish it even if I worked until evening."

She stared at Zhang Juhua intently, her eyes looking especially dark in the dim light. "Now look what's happening! After a hard day's work, they only give us this much for dinner. Those who don't work get a lot, and the food is piled up like a mountain."

Originally, everyone knew the issue of how much rice was distributed. It was like this every day in the past, and no one dared to raise any objections.

As long as it's not brought to the surface, it can still be covered up.

But now Xiang Yao not only brought it up for comparison, he also revealed that he fainted from hunger in front of many members in the afternoon.

This is very unkind and shameful.

Zhang Juhua didn't expect that she had just starved the girl for a meal, but outsiders knew about it. She immediately felt her face burning.

She was a mean person, but she also cared a lot about her reputation. She felt uncomfortable when she thought about how others might talk about this matter at the dinner table and scold her, Zhang Juhua, for being heartless.

"Eat, eat, eat. It's not like you're missing out. If you think it's not enough, just tell me!" Zhang Juhua tossed another spoonful of white rice mixed with yellowish rice bran into Xiang Yao's bowl, now making it a full bowl. "If it's not enough, add more. It's not like your family is treating you badly when it comes to food!"

Xiang Yao smiled and said, "You're right, Nai. I'll have more later. One bowl won't make you full."

Zhang Juhua: ...

After hearing this, the others silently quickened their eating pace.

If Xiang Yao eats one more bite, they will get one less bite, so he has to eat faster.

Because of what Xiang Yao said during the meal, Liu Xiaolan didn't dare to ask the younger generation to wash the dishes after dinner. She quickly cleaned up and went to the kitchen on her own initiative.

In the past, Zhou Aihua cooked and Liu Qiaoyun cleaned the house.

Now that Liu Qiaoyun is gone, Xiang Yao is in a tough situation again and is always stabbing people. It will be very difficult for her to be lazy again!