Chapter 34 The two in-laws each had their own thoughts.
"Cough cough cough! Are you trying to kill me?" Old Master Jiang coughed incessantly, then rolled his eyes after catching his breath. "You can't recognize your son who's over 1.8 meters tall, but you can see the little floral print on that girl's clothes? Do you really think you're a god? I'm telling you, you were chased by a ghost last time you went grocery shopping, I really need to find someone to exorcise it for you!"
Just as Grandpa Jiang was getting into his rant, he suddenly saw the Deng couple standing at the door, wiping away tears in the wind.
He nudged his wife and winked at her, "Your old in-law seems to be crying. Go and see what's wrong."
Before he could finish speaking, he saw his wife had already dashed over in a flash.
"Hey!"
That old hag, she's so fast!
Grandma Jiang, arm in arm with her old in-law, asked with concern, "What's wrong? Didn't you say our daughter was coming back today? Why are you standing outside so sad?"
Deng's mother forced a smile, watching her daughter and son-in-law's departing figures. "My daughter came back, she just left."
"Why didn't you tell me? I haven't seen your Xiao Qiu in ages. She must be even more beautiful now, right?"
Grandma Jiang looked left and right, but couldn't see the Deng family's daughter anywhere.
She could only see the backs of a family of three in the distance that looked exactly like her good-for-nothing son.
Deng's mother pointed ahead, "They haven't gone far, look, right there..."
Grandma Jiang saw that her old in-laws wanted to point further ahead for her, afraid that they would recognize her good-for-nothing son, so she quickly took their hands and said warmly, "It's alright, it's alright, we'll meet again next time, no rush!"
Deng's mother's eyes reddened slightly as she looked at Grandma Jiang, "My dear in-law... we'll be in-laws for life."
It was originally agreed that Xiao Qiu was to get engaged to Jiang Yan, the second son of her family.
Unexpectedly, after all the twists and turns, she didn't end up with Jiang Yan, but instead married his older brother, Jiang Anchao.
I guess my old in-laws knew that their son and daughter-in-law were returning to their parents' home today, so they came to chat with me.
Unexpectedly, her in-laws are really nice; they don't mind that Xiao Qiu is a second-time bride.
"Hey hey hey! Of course, next time I see my daughter, I'll definitely treat her like my own daughter!"
Grandma Jiang felt guilty even as she agreed to those words.
If the Deng family found out that their son had married a divorced widow, they wouldn't marry their daughter.
It seems that our decades-long friendship is about to fall apart.
They even talked about becoming in-laws... ...I'm afraid we'll never have that chance in this lifetime.
The two old ladies held hands, each lost in their own thoughts. They were talking about completely different things, yet neither of them seemed to realize it.
*
Grandma Li's house
"Big brother, little brother, Mom and Dad made green pepper and egg noodles at home and are calling us to come back for dinner."
Sang Zhizhi carried a small vegetable basket into Grandma Li's house, calling out to her brothers as she stuffed fresh fruits and vegetables into Grandma Li's hands.
"Grandma, my parents said you've worked hard taking care of my brothers, so they asked me to bring you some groceries."
Upon hearing Zhizhi's voice, Grandma Li immediately stood up.
Aunt Cuiping, sitting on the chair behind her, quickly wiped away her tears and forced a smile. "Oh, is this Commander Jiang's little girl? She's so cute. How can she carry such heavy groceries at such a young age? Come in and sit down."
Zhizhi was stunned the moment she saw her aunt.
The pretty aunt had bruises on her forehead and around her eyes, and her eyes were red as if she had been crying.
"Auntie, what's this on your face...?"
Cuiping quickly reached out to cover herself, "I... I accidentally bumped into something, it's okay, come on, Zhizhi, have some oranges."
Zhizhi immediately noticed something was wrong. She stepped forward and gently touched the wound on her aunt's lip with her small hand.
"Auntie, you've been hit? Who did it? Zhizhi will call the police to catch the bad guy!"
She had only been in the family compound for a short time, and the only person she knew besides Grandma Li was Aunt Cuiping.
She lives in the same courtyard as Grandma Li, and she's the best at sewing clothes.
My mother bought a piece of cloth and asked Aunt Cuiping to make clothes for her. Aunt Cuiping is usually quiet, but she is very kind-hearted. She refused to accept money from me no matter what.
How come there are so many scars on your face after only one day?
Grandma Li's smile also carried a hint of helplessness. "Zhizhi, you're still young and don't understand adult matters. Your Aunt Cuiping... she was beaten by her husband."
"This is domestic violence! We can't just sit here and suffer in silence!"
Sang Zhizhi felt indignant on behalf of her kind aunt. She took her aunt's hand and asked, "Why did he hit you?"
Cuiping sniffed and rubbed the little girl's head. "It's because your aunt is useless. Your aunt can't get pregnant. Zhizhi, what couple doesn't bicker and fight? Be good, don't tell anyone about this, or your Uncle Wang will beat you up again."
After comforting the child, she quickly stood up to say goodbye, "Aunt Li, he'll be back from get off work soon, I... I'll be going now."
"Okay, if he makes another move, just shout. I'm here, he won't dare to be so arrogant."
Grandma Li sighed helplessly and gave Cuiping a bag of potatoes to take home.
Cuiping couldn't refuse, so she had no choice but to accept it.
After she left, Zhizhi asked Grandma Li, "Is Aunt Cuiping always being beaten?"
Judging from Grandma Li's tone, it seems that this has happened more than once.
Grandma Li saw that this little girl was genuinely caring, so she couldn't help but tell her the truth.
Cuiping's husband is named Wang Qingshan. He was also a soldier under Li Zhengyang. Cuiping was his wife whom he married in the countryside.
In recent years, with all the clamor for freedom of marriage and women's liberation, Wang Qingshan has seen his colleagues get divorced one by one and marry beautiful women in the city. He also feels envious and longs to divorce and marry a beautiful young woman.
Although Cuiping came from the countryside, she was virtuous and obedient, and there was not a single fault with her.
Wang Qingshan divorced without cause, which would invite gossip behind his back, so he nitpicked and insisted on bringing up the fact that Cuiping couldn't give birth to a son.
A few days ago, he saw that Jiang Anchao had married a divorced woman who was fair-skinned and beautiful. She was almost the most beautiful woman in the military dependents' compound. He felt even more unbalanced. When he got home, he got drunk and acted recklessly. The next day, Cuiping's face was covered in bruises.
Grandma Li's criticism hit the nail on the head: "Wang Qingshan is just a lowly platoon leader. His parents back home need medicine and money. His salary is barely enough to make ends meet, yet he's thinking about marrying a new wife? Can he even afford to support her? All he does all day is complain about his wife who has shared his hardships."
Zhizhi understood, and she couldn't help but ask, "Why doesn't Aunt Cuiping get a divorce?"
“Her parents passed away early, and if she gets divorced, she has nowhere to go. To put it bluntly, rural people have no confidence in the city if they don’t have a job, so they can only endure it.”
Grandma Li shook her head, realizing she had talked too much to the child.
"Zhizhi, life behind closed doors is always a mess. You can't control other people's business, so be good, we can only let them be."
At this moment, Gan Su and Zhen Wei also came out.
Zhizhi waved goodbye to Grandma Li, still preoccupied on her way back.
Grandma Li makes a lot of sense; a woman without a job has no confidence.
If we could introduce a job to Aunt Cuiping, would her life be a little better?
Sending her some fruits and vegetables won't solve the problem. What can I do to help her?
As she was thinking, she didn't notice the little boy who suddenly appeared in front of her, and before she knew it, she was tripped by the stick in the boy's hand.
She fell hard on her bottom.
Sang Zhizhi stared wide-eyed for a full three seconds, tears streaming down her face from the pain.
"Whoa! You tripped me!"
"I'm so sorry, I'm so sorry, are you alright?"
The boy stretched out his hand into the air, his apologetic voice as melodious as a clear mountain spring, "Little sister, I didn't mean to, I... I can't see. Don't cry, I have some candy here, you can have it all, okay?"
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