"Someone threw it in here on purpose."
Du Xiaoying looked at the fresh words carved on the bark, curled up a cold smile, and said nothing more, intending to use the enemy's trick against him and catch him in the trap.
"Mom, what's wrong?" Erya leaned forward curiously, not understanding what was happening.
"It's okay, let's talk after dinner."
The two adults looked at each other and almost guessed who sent it, but they didn't know whether it was the child or...
Just wondering how they knew.
"Da Ya and Er Ya, did you encounter anything strange today?"
Erya was still furious when she mentioned it, "I met Song Lao San and Song Lao Si on the mountain, and they said a lot of sarcastic things. If I hadn't thought about you, I almost couldn't help but beat them up.
"You're so foul-mouthed and mean, calling girls sluts and money-losing goods. What's wrong with girls? Do girls deserve to be looked down upon and bullied?!"
Du Xiaoying's face darkened. "Don't listen to those ungrateful people. This is a new era of gender equality. Boys and girls are the same. Besides, boys are not necessarily more filial and attentive than girls."
The sisters blinked their bright eyes and nodded heavily, "Yes."
In this era of material scarcity, the idea of favoring boys over girls was particularly prevalent in rural areas, mainly because boys were the main labor force in each family. Therefore, many families did not want girl children, and it was considered a blessing to give them away. In the early years, many were directly thrown into the back mountains to feed the wild beasts.
It is understandable, but the Song family's behavior of profiting from the misfortune of others only proves how vicious this family is!
Daya only now realized that something was wrong. In the past, the boy in the cowshed would hide far away when he saw people, but this time he was a little abnormal.
"Mom, I noticed that little boy over there seemed to be peeking at us several times on the mountain today..."
The couple looked at each other, and Du Xiaoying quickly got off the bed and put on her shoes. "I'm going out for a while, you stay home with the children."
"I'll go." Song Guoliang was a little worried.
"I'm going to go find Aunt Zhao. It's not convenient for a grown man like you." Du Xiaoying waved her hand and turned to tell the children, "You guys study hard at home. It's getting late, so don't run out."
Daya and Erya looked at each other and nodded in response.
San Ya was so focused on the book that she didn't notice the excitement in her second sister's eyes.
Siya and Wuya held their bowls and concentrated on eating.
When Du Xiaoying went over, the captain and his family were having dinner.
Aunt Zhao held up a large bowl and asked, "What's going on? If you have anything to say, just tell me directly."
"Don't worry, Auntie. Eat first and we'll talk after you finish." Du Xiaoying waved her hand with a smile and walked towards the private plot in the yard. "Auntie, you guys are really good at taking care of this vegetable."
Aunt Zhao finished a large bowl of porridge in just a few gulps, leaving the bowl clean without even a grain of food left. She then went into the vegetable garden and quickly picked a lot of juicy vegetables.
"Guoliang's wife, take the food back and eat it."
"Auntie, how can this be possible? No, no, no."
"Okay, the vegetables in the private plots you divided up won't grow in a while, so I'll just keep them for you. Why bother with so much? They're not worth much anyway." Aunt Zhao stuffed the food in front of her and asked what was going on.
Du Xiaoying felt warm in her heart. Even outsiders were better than that black-hearted family. She lowered her eyes with some guilt.
"Auntie, I don't know what's wrong with my little chicken. It suddenly has diarrhea. I don't understand why, so I wanted you to help me take a look."
Aunt Zhao was anxious, "Why didn't you tell me earlier, kid? Hurry up and leave."
Du Xiaoying hurried back home following Aunt Zhao, who looked anxious. Looking at Aunt Zhao busying around, she felt a little uncomfortable.
"It's okay, I guess you caught a cold. Just be careful."
Du Xiaoying smiled and pulled Aunt Zhao into the house. "I was so scared. I'm sorry to bother you making this trip. Please come in and sit for a while and have a drink of water."
Aunt Zhao was about to refuse stiffly, but when she saw Daya carrying a teacup of water, she had no choice but to bite the bullet and enter the old landlord's old house.
"Grandma Zhao, have some water."
"Hey, Daya is so good."
Aunt Zhao drank most of the teacup in fear, and only later realized that it tasted sweet.
.....
"Hurry up, stop dawdling."
"Mom, can't you come here by yourself? Why do you have to drag me along? I'm scared~" Liu Lanhua was dragged here unwillingly.
Old Mrs. Song pulled her eldest daughter-in-law's arm tightly and glared at her, "If you don't accompany me, I can't do it alone."
"You bitch, I'll let you show off. I'll kill you..." Old Mrs. Song squatted at the door and quickly dug a hole. With trembling hands, she threw the straw man with sharp thorns into the hole, cursing under her breath.
"What...are you doing?" Du Xiaoying, who happened to be sending Aunt Zhao out, saw this scene and exclaimed in surprise.
"ah--"
Old Mrs. Song, who was squatting at the door, was so scared that she fell to the ground. Her face turned pale and her lips trembled.
"It's none of my business. It was my mother-in-law's idea." Liu Lanhua was so scared that her legs went weak and she ran away crawling.
Old Mrs. Song gritted her teeth and cursed inwardly, then she got up and tried to run away.
"Wait!" Song Guoliang grabbed my mother's arm.
Du Xiaoying dug up the place on the ground that was obviously dug just now, picked up the things inside, her face lost all color, and she staggered a few steps.
"Mom! How could you hurt me like this?!"
Du Xiaoying covered her face and sobbed, "Auntie, you have to help me prove that my mother-in-law is so cruel that she actually came up with such a vicious thing to curse me.
What if something happens to me and I leave my husband and kids behind? "
Aunt Zhao's face turned ugly. "You are so confused!"
"I, I..." Old Mrs. Song stumbled and sweat broke out on her forehead.
"We've caught him red-handed, and you're still trying to argue? You've really disappointed me!" Song Guoliang's face darkened as he lowered his eyes to look at his mother, who was still complaining. "Come with me to the captain's house!"
....
dim night
There were a lot of people gathered at the captain's house, looking around in the moonlight.
Du Xiaoying pulled her head, almost wanting to hide it in Old Lady Song's neck, her voice choked with sobs, "Everyone, come and judge for yourself. My chicken happened to have diarrhea today, so I asked Aunt Zhao to help take care of it. When I came out, I ran into my mother-in-law acting suspiciously. What do you think my mother-in-law was doing?"
Song Guoliang gave a bitter laugh, his face filled with sorrow. "Mother, why can't you see your son's family doing well? You actually resorted to such a vicious method as stabbing a doll to harm Xiaoying!"
"For so many years, I have been the only one taking care of the house and taking care of my parents-in-law. Even if I have no merits, I have worked hard, but in the end I am treated like this.
My parents-in-law first wanted to sell my eldest daughter for a dowry for her grandson. I was afraid that if I didn’t split up the family and take the children away, I would be afraid that one day the daughter I gave birth to after ten months of pregnancy would be sold by this cruel pair of parents-in-law...”
Everyone in the village had witnessed how the mother and daughter from the second branch of the Song family had lived in the Song family before, and they couldn't help but feel sad and angry at this moment.
Aunt Zhao sighed. If her daughter was tortured like this by her in-laws, she would fight them with a kitchen knife.
"Captain, Old Lady Song is openly practicing feudal superstition—witchcraft—and harming people. And there's this runaway Liu Lanhua who's accomplice to this evil. Captain, please help me."
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