"How dare you be so shameless! Who told you to eat the eggs from the cupboard? They were meant to nourish your younger brother and cousin. You, this worthless thing, don't deserve to eat them!" Madam Xu shouted at Jiang Hua.
"Big Xu, what's wrong now? Er Ya, did you make your grandma angry again?" Aunt Liu from next door asked through the fence.
Didn't things just calm down? It hasn't been long before they've started making a fuss again.
"Grandma, Aunt."
As soon as Aunt Liu finished speaking, Lin Shuyan, who was in the inner room, came out immediately. She quickly walked to Madam Xu's side and explained to Aunt Liu:
"Aunt Liu, it's like this. My aunt asked Er Ya to cook, but Er Ya didn't. She even stole two eggs that Grandma had saved up, which is why Grandma got angry and disturbed you, Aunt."
Upon hearing this, Aunt Liu looked at Jiang Hua and said, "Er Ya, this won't do. Eggs are a rare commodity; they're kept to sell for money."
"Er Ya, you should quickly apologize to Grandma," Lin Shuyan kindly reminded her.
"You vicious female supporting character, quickly listen to the female lead and apologize," the system in your mind chimed in.
Apologize?
"Grandma, Mother, Aunt Liu, I really didn't mean to steal the food." Jiang Hua's expression changed from indifferent to pitiful.
“Aunt Liu, I haven’t eaten for two days. I’m so hungry, and I’ve lost a lot of blood. I’m so scared. No one will feed the chickens, fetch water, or wash the clothes.”
After hearing Jiang Hua's words, Aunt Liu looked at her and saw that there was indeed dried blood on her face, which was really shocking to see. How come she didn't notice it before?
"It really is true, Madam Xu. Er Ya is also your daughter. Why don't you help treat her wound?"
As she spoke, Aunt Liu walked over from her own yard, looking at Jiang Hua with a pained expression.
"Aunt Liu, Auntie forgot because she was angry about what happened today," Lin Shuyan quickly explained on Xu's behalf.
“Yes, Aunt Liu, we were also planning to help this girl after dinner,” Xu quickly chimed in.
"Sister Er Ya, really, if you don't want to cook dinner, you can tell your cousin." Lin Shuyan stepped forward and tried to hold Jiang Hua's hand, pretending to be a close sister in front of Aunt Liu.
Previously, when the two Xu women were fighting in the courtyard, Aunt Liu came out to help. Lin Shuyan also used this tactic to exonerate the two Xu women. As they talked, it ended up being the original owner's fault.
Just as Lin Shuyan was about to touch her, Jiang Hua hid behind Aunt Liu in fear.
Lin Shuyan paused, looking at Jiang Hua with confusion, clearly not expecting Jiang Hua to react this way.
"Cousin, I know I shouldn't have eaten the eggs, because then you wouldn't have anything to eat," Jiang Hua said fearfully, hiding behind Aunt Liu.
"What's wrong? Er Ya, why do you say that?" Aunt Liu asked, puzzled. She had never seen Xu Er Ya so frightened before.
"Aunt Liu, this is the first time I've ever eaten an egg in my life. I only ate it because I lost so much blood and was so hungry." Jiang Hua said this as if she was about to cry.
"But Grandma said I didn't deserve to eat eggs. I was a money-loser, and the eggs were for my younger brother and cousin."
Before Aunt Liu could reply, Jiang Hua asked again with red eyes, "Auntie, you watched me grow up. Tell me, who is my mother's biological daughter, me or my cousin? Why does my mother always scold me?"
"You're saying I'm not even as good as the mud under my cousin's feet? Auntie, was I adopted by my mother?"
"You little slut, how dare you talk nonsense!" Madam Xu rolled up her sleeves, going crazy and trying to hit Jiang Hua.
"Xu, you're wrong about this!" Aunt Liu said with a bad expression. For some reason, she only realized now that Xu, as a mother, had been so cruel to her daughter who was ten months pregnant with her.
“Madam Xu, everyone in the village is watching. How can you treat Er Ya like this? Look at Er Ya, how thin she has become!” Aunt Liu pulled Jiang Hua into her arms with heartache.
"Aunt Liu, my aunt was angered by Sister Er Ya today. When she saw her with Brother Jiang..." Lin Shuyan wanted to bring up the matter again.
But then, Aunt Liu didn't give her a chance to continue, and said, "Hasn't today's matter been resolved? Didn't you promise Xiao Jiang that you would marry Er Ya off to him in three days?"
"In other words, Er Ya is about to get married. It's really outrageous that you, her mother and her grandmother, are making such a fuss over an egg."
Because Aunt Liu's family had helped them a lot in the past, the two Xu women could only endure it and dared not utter a word of rebuttal when they were being spoken to like this.
After all, half of Yaozu's tuition money was borrowed from Aunt Liu's family, and they haven't asked him to pay it back yet.
"Madam Xu, if you feel bad about the two eggs Er Ya ate, I'll go home and get you two more, and we can forget about it," Aunt Liu said again.
"How can this be!" Madam Xu glared at Madam Xu, who was about to agree. "Madam Liu, no need. It's just two eggs. Consider it a way to nourish Er Ya."
"But Er Ya, if you want to eat it next time, you have to tell Grandma, okay?" Madam Xu forced a smile and said to Jiang Hua in front of Aunt Liu.
"Alright, Er Ya, it's alright now."
"hiss!"
Just as Aunt Liu was about to grab Jiang Hua's arm, Jiang Hua deliberately hissed and pulled her hand away in pain.
"Big Xu, Xu, it's good that you're all here." Village Chief Xu Wanli strode into the courtyard, noticing the various expressions on the faces of the people inside, and then changed his tone to ask, "Er Ya, did you make your grandmother angry again?"
"Village chief, I..."
"Oh dear, village chief, it's like this!" Aunt Liu quickly told the village chief what had happened.
Xu Wanli frowned upon hearing this, doubting the veracity of the story.
"By the way, Er Ya, what happened to your arm?" Aunt Liu asked as she took Jiang Hua's hand.
Pulling up the sleeve, which was already too short, revealed a series of shocking scars, causing Aunt Liu and Village Chief Xu to gasp in shock.
This was clearly accumulated over time, not something that happened today!
"Mrs. Xu, what's going on? Where's Xu Dagui?" Village Chief Xu asked, looking at Mrs. Xu with displeasure.
When Xu met the village chief's gaze, she took two steps back in fear and looked at Da Xu Shi with a pleading expression.
"Village chief, Er Ya is usually disobedient, so it's normal to scold or beat her a little. Besides, this is our family matter." Madam Xu glared at Jiang Hua and said with an embarrassed smile.
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