Chapter 145 Heartless Thing
“What can I say? You and Qiming aren’t legally married because you’re not registered; and the child isn’t his biological child. Living here all these years is out of courtesy, not a right. If you hadn’t lived here for so long, you would have moved out long ago. How are you any different from strangers? I can’t expect the village chief to force outsiders into someone’s house, can I? That would be a laughing stock.”
To be honest, there's really nothing wrong with that statement.
Yang Juanhua was so upset that she pounded her chest, her hands making a "thump thump" sound as she slapped her chest.
"Then where are we going to stay? You're the village chief, in charge of the whole village. You can't just watch our whole family sleep on the streets! It's freezing cold, the children will get sick! How can you bear to do that!"
The village chief couldn't help but roll his eyes, muttering to himself.
I'm not the director of a charity, why would I build houses for you?
He waved his hand dismissively, his tone growing increasingly impatient.
“I’m the village chief, not your father! Do you think I can control everything and even your sleeping arrangements? It’s none of my business! Why are you asking me where you live? Don’t you have a daughter? Go find her! She’s your own flesh and blood; she can’t just abandon her own mother, can she?”
He paused, and seeing that Yang Juanhua's lips were trembling and she still wanted to argue, he added another sentence.
"Arguing now is useless; things have already come to this. We can discuss what to do later when your son comes back from the hospital. Don't make a scene here; it's not a good thing."
The village chief rolled his eyes inwardly.
I'm not an emperor who can arrange housing for you with a wave of his hand.
Yang Juanhua was so angry that she couldn't speak. Her chest heaved violently, as if she had been forced to the edge of a cliff, unable to leave or stay.
But upon closer reflection, what the village chief said...
That seems to make sense.
She really has no right to stay here.
After all, they have no official status or title, and their household registration hasn't been transferred.
Staying here will only result in Shen Cuifen pointing her finger at me and scolding me, and I might even get beaten, which would frighten the child.
Going to Lu Shuixian's house is better than being humiliated here; after all, she's his own daughter, blood is thicker than water.
Even if you're living under someone else's roof, at least you have a place to shelter from the wind and rain.
She turned to look at Lu Shuixian, her eyes filled with helplessness, her lips slightly parted as if she wanted to say something, but in the end she said nothing.
Lu Shuixian lowered her head, not daring to look into her eyes, her fingers curled into her palms.
"Mom, I really can't take you back!"
Lu Shuixian's voice trembled, her eyes were red, and tears welled up in her eyes but she held them back.
“You know, Tu Er has a violent temper and hits me at the drop of a hat. I’ve practically become his punching bag! If I really take you all home to live with me, what if he gets drunk one day, loses money gambling, and goes berserk, yelling at you and hitting you? What… what am I supposed to do? He can be so ruthless to me, he certainly won’t care that you are his elders!”
The events of just a few days ago are still vivid in my mind.
It's all because of that bitch Shen Cuifen, who spread rumors and exaggerated stories throughout the village, saying that Lu Guizhen is destined to be a jinx, that her birth chart is cursed, and that she's a "jinx."
As a result, the wedding that was originally arranged fell through!
She had already accepted the matchmaker's gifts: three catties of meat, two bottles of wine, and a red envelope containing sixty yuan, all of which she handed over to Lu Shuixian.
She had hoped to buy some new clothes for her mother and get some medicine for her brother.
Unexpectedly, Tu Er took all his money to the gambling table that very night and lost it all overnight, leaving him with not a single penny.
The next day, Li Yongping came to return the money he had given as a gift, and his attitude was fairly polite.
But Tu Er not only denied it, but also cursed and said that the other party had deliberately set a trap for him.
Before he could finish speaking, he grabbed a stool and threw it at her, then started punching and kicking Lu Shuixian.
She was beaten until her shoulders were bruised and her mouth was bleeding, and she could barely stand.
She huddled in the corner and pleaded, but no one paid any attention, and even the neighbors who heard her did not dare to intervene.
So that day, her mother secretly asked Old Zhang, who sold tofu in the next village, to deliver a message, urging her to come back.
Her heart ached upon hearing this, but she ultimately dared not go.
She was scared!
She was afraid that Tu Er would find out she wasn't home, that he would cause trouble at her parents' home, and that her mother and brother would suffer as a result.
She could only hide in her room, hugging her knees and crying all night.
By this morning, the bruises on my body had subsided a little, and the swelling had gone down a bit.
In addition, Tu Er spent the whole night gambling.
He stumbled home drunk in the early hours of the morning, collapsed into bed, and snored loudly.
Before dawn, she quietly pushed open the back door, wrapped her old cotton-padded coat tightly around herself, and slipped out on a jog, wanting only to catch a glimpse of her mother and brother from afar and see if they were alright.
"What's the use of me raising you? You can't help at all when it matters!"
As soon as Yang Juanhua saw her daughter, her anger flared up instantly.
"I just asked you for ten yuan, just ten yuan! I asked you to give Zhou Wenjuan a ride to take Lu Weidong to the hospital, and you insisted you had no money! Your own brother is so sick, lying on the ground sweating profusely, and you, on the other hand, pretend to be poor better than anyone else!"
"You're so devoted to your in-laws! But when our own family members are lying on the bed waiting to die, you act like you're blind and deaf!"
She became more and more excited as she spoke, her finger almost poking Lu Shuixian's nose.
“Last time I ran into Shen Cuifen at the alley entrance, she threw feces all over me in public, the stench was so bad that passersby avoided me! You're her own daughter, right? You didn't even dare to stand up for me, let alone say a word in my defense! Instead, she chased after you, and in the end, you got a mouthful of dirty water poured into your mouth too! How pathetic are you? It's infuriating!”
Lu Shuixian finally couldn't hold back anymore, and tears welled up in her eyes, sliding down her cheeks and dripping onto the back of her hands, which were cracked from the cold.
"But who told you to ask for such a large dowry when you married me?"
She bit her lip, her voice trembling with long-suppressed resentment.
"A full 120 catties of rice, 30 catties of oil, and 88.8 yuan of 'lucky money'! Nobody in the whole village would want that much! But you insisted on saving face! What do you give me as dowry? A tattered quilt, an earthenware pot, and three moldy sweet potatoes! Not a single penny!"
"Tu Er is seething with anger! His mother nags him every day, saying that marrying me was like marrying an 'empty shell,' someone who only takes money and doesn't do anything! Every time he drinks, he starts bringing up old grievances, saying my mother is greedy and that I have no manners, and then he gets a beating! Tell me, is this my fault?"
"You heartless bastard!"
Yang Juanhua suddenly raised her hand, about to slap him, but then she forcefully pulled her hand back, trembling with anger.
"I raised you with all my might until you were eighteen, feeding you every drop of urine and feces! I mended your socks in winter and chased away mosquitoes for you in summer. I ate dried radish myself at the dinner table, but I always left you a piece of meat! Do you think about how much rice, flour, oil, and salt I spent? How much thought and effort I put in?"
"And what about you now? You just give me ten yuan to get rid of me? You won't even say a word! Do you think I'm a beggar on the street, squatting at the door begging for leftovers? I'm your own mother! The one who gave birth to you and raised you! Now that something's happened at home, you're thinking of protecting that butcher first, afraid he'll get angry? Then you might as well not acknowledge me as your mother! Go back to your pigsty!"
"But people say that once a daughter gets married, she's like water spilled from a bowl!"
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