As soon as the door opened, Old Mrs. Shen rushed in like a gust of wind, pointing her finger at Lin Wanqiu's nose and cursing, "You little whore! You wouldn't even know to come up from the river if you were dead, are you deliberately trying to slack off? There's still so much work to do at home, and you're just hiding in the house enjoying your leisure!"
Old Mrs. Shen wore a blue cloth jacket with several patches, her hair was slicked back and shiny, and her face was full of meanness. Her triangular eyes darted around, clearly checking if there was anything valuable in the room. Zhang Lan followed her in, her eyes greedily scanning the kang table. When she saw the empty bowl on the table, her eyes lit up: "Mother, look, she has food in her room!"
Following Zhang Lan's gaze, Old Mrs. Shen saw the empty bowl, and her face instantly turned even uglier: "Lin Wanqiu! You spendthrift woman! We're almost starving, and you're hiding in your room eating all by yourself? What are you eating? Show it to me!"
Lin Wanqiu leaned against the doorframe, arms crossed, looking at them without the slightest fear on her face: "Mother, you're wrong about that. I just climbed out of the river, I'm soaking wet. If I don't eat something to warm myself up, what if I catch a cold? Who will do your laundry and cook for you? Who will help you with the farm work?"
"Don't try to argue with me!" Old Mrs. Shen stepped forward and reached out to pull back the quilt on the kang (a heated brick bed). "You're definitely hiding something good! Hand it over now! Otherwise, I won't let you off the hook today!"
Lin Wanqiu reacted swiftly, grabbing Old Lady Shen's wrist. After her rebirth, not only had she activated her spatial ability, but her body also seemed considerably stronger than before. Old Lady Shen, a pampered old woman, was no match for her. Old Lady Shen winced in pain as Lin Wanqiu gripped her wrist, cursing, "You little slut! You dare to lay a hand on me? You've gone too far!"
"Mother, I only yielded to you because I respect you as an elder." Lin Wanqiu's voice turned cold, and she tightened her grip. "But don't go too far. I am a daughter-in-law of the Shen family, but I am also Niannian's mother. I have to take care of my son's life first. You know how much grain you and my elder brother and sister-in-law have divided up in the family. Why do you have to take it from me and Niannian?"
Old Mrs. Shen was speechless for a moment, then became even more domineering: "The grain in this house belongs to the Shen family! What right do you, an outsider, have to negotiate with me? Niannian is a Shen family member, and his grain should be taken care of by me!"
"You care?" Lin Wanqiu scoffed. "If you really cared about Niannian, would he have gotten so thin? Last night, Niannian cried from hunger, did you care? You did take some coarse grains from home and made egg custard for your grandson, but didn't you think about how Niannian is also your grandson?"
These words struck a nerve with Old Mrs. Shen. Her face turned pale and then red, but she still stubbornly insisted, "That...that's because Da Bao is a boy, and he'll carry on the Shen family line in the future! Niannian is still young, she won't starve if she eats less!"
“Mother, you’re wrong about that.” Lin Wanqiu released Old Madam Shen’s wrist and pointed to Shen Nian’an on the kang (a heated brick bed). “Although Nian’an is young, she is still a member of the Shen family. If you continue to be so biased, who will take care of you in your old age and see you off in your final days? Da Bao has his parents who love him. Do you think he will still remember you as his grandmother?”
Old Mrs. Shen was stunned by what she said, her eyes flickering. Seeing this, Zhang Lan quickly stepped forward to help, "Mother, don't listen to her nonsense! Da Bao is your eldest grandson, he will definitely be filial to you in the future! As for her, she's a widow with a child in tow, she might remarry any day now, and then you won't be able to count on her at all!"
"Remarry?" Lin Wanqiu raised an eyebrow. "Sister-in-law, you can eat whatever you want, but you can't say whatever you want. Although my husband Shen Tingzhou sacrificed himself, I am his lawfully wedded wife. I will raise Niannian well and will never remarry. On the contrary, you are lazy and good-for-nothing all day long. You don't want to work in the fields and you only think about how to take what belongs to others. Aren't you afraid of being talked about behind your back?"
Zhang Lan's face turned bright red from her words, and she pointed at Lin Wanqiu, unable to speak for a long time: "You...you..."
Old Mrs. Shen came to her senses and realized that Lin Wanqiu had led her astray. She started throwing a tantrum again: "No matter what you say, you must take out the grain you've hidden today! Otherwise, I'll go to the brigade headquarters and report you for being selfish and disrespectful to your elders!"
"Go ahead and sue," Lin Wanqiu said without fear. "I want the brigade secretary to judge and see if it's wrong of you, the mother-in-law, to hoard grain and not feed your grandson, and even try to take your daughter-in-law's things, or it's wrong of me, the mother, to try to leave food for my son. In the end, it won't be me who loses face."
Looking into Lin Wanqiu's resolute eyes, Old Mrs. Shen suddenly felt a chill. She realized that Lin Wanqiu was different today. The old Lin Wanqiu was meek and wouldn't dare to utter a word after being scolded a couple of times, but today Lin Wanqiu not only dared to talk back to her, but also dared to fight back. The fierceness in her eyes made Old Mrs. Shen a little scared.
Just then, Shen Nian'an, who was lying on the kang (a heated brick bed), suddenly started to cry softly: "Grandma, please don't scold Mother. Mother didn't hide any grain. That bowl of dumpling soup was bought with her dowry..."
Lin Wanqiu's heart skipped a beat; she hadn't expected the child to be so sensible. She quickly went to the edge of the kang (a heated brick bed), hugged Shen Nian'an in her arms, and gently comforted her, "Nian'an, don't cry, Mother is alright."
When Old Mrs. Shen heard the words "dowry," her eyes lit up again: "Dowry? You have a dowry? Quickly, show it to me! Now that you've married into the Shen family, your dowry belongs to the Shen family!"
"My dowry is a keepsake left to me by my mother, and I will not give it to anyone." Lin Wanqiu held Shen Nian'an in her arms, looking at Old Madam Shen with firm eyes. "Mother, if you continue to make trouble like this, I will have no choice but to separate from you. At that time, Nian'an and I will live on our own, and it will have nothing to do with you and my elder brother and sister-in-law. You can forget about taking a single penny from me."
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