"Get out of our house, you old mistress!"
"Throw all of that old mistress's things out. Remember to check her bag to see if she's stolen anything!"
With a full head of white hair, Song Yinhua looked at her stepchildren whom she had raised with great care and explained again, "I did not interfere in your parents' marriage."
Married for forty years, she gave up having her own children in order to take care of her stepchildren.
He supported all of them until they graduated from university, paid for his stepson's house and marriage, and gave his stepdaughter a dowry and a car so that she could get married in style.
She also helped raise several of their grandchildren and cared for her elderly and ailing husband until his final moments.
She thought they would be grateful for her sacrifices and that the family would love each other more in the future. However, she never expected that her husband would say he hated her in front of his stepchildren just before he passed away.
He said that he has always loved his ex-wife, his "white moonlight," and hated her for breaking up their love.
She felt completely bewildered.
Before she met him, his ex-wife, his "white moonlight" (ideal love), had already run off with his money and someone else. What did their love have to do with her?
No matter how she explained, her stepchildren simply refused to believe her.
"You old mistress, your excuses are useless! You're the one who ruined our parents' relationship, caused us to be separated from our mother when we were young, and made our father die with his eyes open!"
Song Yinhua pleaded with her stepchildren, “I’m almost seventy. If you kick me out, where will this old man live? No one lives in this old house in the countryside. I beg you, please, for the sake of all that I’ve done for you in the past, let me stay in this old house to live out my old age.”
"You've prevented our family from being together. Everything you did in the past was your duty; you owe our family!"
Song Yinhua was heartbroken and disappointed. "I was married to your father for forty years, raised you and your siblings, paid for your weddings, helped you raise your children, and took care of your father until his death."
Now that your children are grown up and don't need anyone to take care of your father anymore, you don't need me anymore, so you think I'm superfluous?
Is this some excuse to get rid of me?
This is like crossing the river and then burning the bridge; you can't do this!
"What nonsense are you spouting!" The stepdaughter's face changed after being exposed. "You're the one who caused our parents' divorce..."
"Little sister, stop arguing with this old woman, just kick her out and lock the door!"
Her stepchildren shoved and pushed her out the door, roughly kicking her worn-out bag out before locking the door behind them.
"It's a fact that I raised you, and you have an obligation to support me. You can't kick me out. I'm going to sue you!"
"Go ahead and sue! Go to the police station, go to court, sue wherever you want! Go now!"
The stepchildren drove away arrogantly.
"You...you..." Song Yinhua was so angry that her heart ached. Her vision went black and she collapsed to the ground, hitting the back of her head on a half-brick. She stopped breathing.
Her stepdaughter spat at her disdainfully through the car window, "What are you pretending for! You shameless old mistress, ptooey!"
—
"This is the son of the Han family. He is handsome and refined, a rare find even with a lantern in the surrounding villages. As long as your daughter nods in agreement, and the groom's family doesn't mind that your daughter is a jinx and is older, to show their sincerity and to accommodate your daughter's age, the groom's family is willing to skip dating and get married directly."
The matchmaker's words were more eloquent than her singing.
"Regarding the bride price, the groom's family will not treat your daughter unfairly. They will add fifty yuan to the amount other families spend on their weddings, and also buy a Phoenix brand bicycle and a Bee brand sewing machine. If your family has any other requests, just let us know. The groom's family sincerely wants to marry your daughter."
After the matchmaker talked for a long time, seeing that Song's mother didn't respond, she whispered, "Guilan, you should give us an answer! Young man, you've seen it yourself. This is such a good marriage opportunity, you have to seize it! Your daughter is getting on in years, and she's a jinx. Now someone is willing to marry her, and the dowry is quite generous. You should agree quickly, or you won't get another chance like this."
Song's mother, Qiao Guilan, did not rush to make a decision. She said politely, "This is my daughter's marriage, and we have to listen to her."
"Where is your daughter?" the matchmaker asked, glancing around. "We agreed the day before yesterday that the man's family would come for the blind date today. Guilan, you didn't hide your eldest daughter, did you?"
"Matchmaker Wang, what are you saying?" Qiao Guilan immediately became unhappy upon hearing this. "My daughter is a perfectly healthy person. Why would I hide her?"
Matchmaker Wang knew she was there to arrange a marriage, and there was no need to make things awkward with the woman's family.
If the marriage goes through, she'll have to come to the wedding banquet and eat a celebratory dumpling.
"I was just kidding, Guilan, why are you taking this so seriously!" Matchmaker Wang grabbed Qiao Guilan's hand and laughed familiarly. "I'm just worried about your daughter. She's already twenty-five, right? At her age, her child can already run around. In a few more years, she'll really be an old maid who can't get married. After you two are gone, how will she manage to live alone in the village?"
Matchmaker Wang patted her chest, looking distressed.
"I'm really worried about your daughter! If this were my own daughter, I'd be so anxious I wouldn't be able to sleep all night."
Qiao Guilan's attitude softened as well. "Who can argue with that? I've tried to persuade my daughter Yinhua to find someone to marry as soon as possible, have a child, and start a family. But she's stubborn and insists on staying with me and her father for the rest of her life. She'll never get married."
"Is your eldest daughter home? I'll try to persuade her." Matchmaker Wang was always confident in her smooth talk.
She said that in the surrounding villages, there are at least several dozen, if not hundreds, of couples who have gotten married.
What kind of girl doesn't get married? That's ridiculous!
Qiao Guilan called out to her youngest daughter, "Little Si'er, go and call your eldest sister out. If she refuses to come out, drag her over by force."
Inside the room, Song Yinhua was covered in cold sweat when she heard someone calling her name.
"Big sister?"
"Big sister, wake up!"
"Song Yinhua—!"
Song Yinhua suddenly woke up and saw a youthful, innocent yet familiar face.
She paused for a moment, "Cai Xing?"
No, Fourth Sister Cai Xing died a long time ago.
More than 30 years ago, her husband's family sent a letter saying that she had died in childbirth and that the baby in her womb had become mentally disabled due to lack of oxygen.
Because she had to take care of Han Zhiyuan's paralyzed father, cook and do housework for her stepchildren, and manage the shop, she was unable to leave her post. Han Zhiyuan took a day off to attend his fourth sister's funeral in her place.
Years later, she accidentally learned that her fourth sister's daughter was mentally challenged and was being abused by her stepmother every day. The child's biological father and grandparents did not care about her. She wanted to take the child in, but her mother-in-law objected.
This matter caused a conflict between her and her mother-in-law. Han Zhiyuan was caught in the middle and had a difficult time. On the surface, he firmly stood by her side and tried to persuade her mother-in-law.
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