On this day, Cui Erlang secretly arranged to meet Wang Xiuxiu.
Upon meeting, he carefully took out a packet of candied fruit from his pocket and handed it to Wang Xiuxiu.
Wang Xiuxiu waved her hands repeatedly, trying to refuse.
Cui Erlang simply shoved the things into her arms, then ran away like a startled rabbit.
"Don't be afraid, just go back and tell Aunt Chunhua that my mother gave it to you!"
Wang Xiuxiu watched his departing figure, especially his comical, stumbling appearance, and couldn't help but burst out laughing.
It was just a meeting between two young people who liked each other, but unexpectedly, Hong Xiaodong, who was keeping a close eye on Wang Xiuxiu's movements, caught them red-handed.
When Wang Xiuxiu turned back to the courtyard, she immediately saw Hong Xiaodong standing there with a gloomy face and a face full of anger, looking as if he wanted to eat her alive.
Hong Xiaodong rushed over, and Wang Xiuxiu knew she was in trouble. She tried to dodge, but it was too late, and she was slapped hard across the face.
Wang Xiuxiu immediately felt a burning pain on her cheek, and she staggered as she was hit, almost falling to the ground.
Hong Xiaodong had no intention of letting Wang Xiuxiu off the hook. He pushed her to the ground again, cursing and swearing at her with all sorts of foul language.
In terms of fighting prowess, even if three more of the petite and delicate Wang Xiuxiu came, they wouldn't be a match for Hong Xiaodong.
At this moment, Wang Xiuxiu even gave up resisting and struggled, covering her head and mentally preparing herself to endure a beating from Hong Xiaodong.
But just then, Chen Chunhua, who had always turned a blind eye to Hong Xiaodong bullying Wang Xiuxiu, suddenly rushed out from some corner.
With her eyes wide with anger, she raised her hand and slapped Hong Xiaodong hard across the face.
The sudden slap clearly stunned Hong Xiaodong. She stood there blankly, momentarily forgetting to retaliate.
Taking advantage of the opportunity, Wang Xiuxiu quickly got up and ran behind Chen Chunhua to hide.
At home, Hong Xiaodong would bully Wang Xiuxiu, but Chen Chunhua and Wang Degui never intervened.
So Wang Xiuxiu could only endure it. For some reason, Chen Chunhua actually stood up for her today.
But who is Hong Xiaodong?
He was used to being domineering and had never taken Chen Chunhua, his stepmother, seriously.
When she came to her senses, her first reaction was not to admit her mistake and back down, but to rush towards Chen Chunhua and start fighting with her.
Seeing that things were not going well, Wang Xiuxiu quickly ran to the back of the house to find Wang Degui and bring him back.
On his way there, Wang Degui had already learned the general outline of what had happened from Wang Xiuxiu.
When he witnessed Hong Xiaodong acting arrogantly and unruly, he was furious.
Without saying a word, he rushed forward, yanked Hong Xiaodong aside, and then swung his fist and smashed it hard.
With a muffled thud, Wang Degui's punch landed squarely on Hong Xiaodong's face.
You should know that Wang Degui is a grown man, and someone who does manual labor all year round.
His punch and Chen Chunhua's slap were not even in the same league!
As expected, Hong Xiaodong was knocked unconscious by the punch and saw stars on the spot.
Her eyes were swollen, like two ripe peaches hanging on her face.
After an unknown amount of time, Hong Xiaodong came to his senses.
Realizing that she had just been beaten by her father-in-law, she completely lost her temper and sat down on the ground, throwing a tantrum.
In an instant, dust flew everywhere, and the entire ground was filled with dust and smoke from her actions.
The dust that was kicked up went straight into Wang Degui's nose, choking him and making him cough incessantly, his eyes almost watering.
"You dare to cause another fuss! If you dare to mess around again, I'll divorce you right now on Chengwu's behalf, you shrew! Get back inside right now and stay put. You're not allowed to eat for three days!"
His angry shout shook the entire room three times.
Hong Xiaodong, who had been baring her teeth and making a fuss, instantly wilted like a frostbitten eggplant.
After glancing at Wang Degui with trembling eyes, he scurried back into the house in a panic.
To say that Wang Degui was so furious today, even going so far as to say he would divorce his wife in place of his son.
Indeed, he had harbored resentment towards Hong Xiaodong for a long time!
She usually acts like a tyrant at home, and if anything doesn't go her way, she'll make a huge scene, causing chaos and unrest in the house.
Wang Degui, mindful of her background as a scholar's daughter and the presence of a relatively powerful maternal family, chose to tolerate her repeatedly.
However, during this escape, he remembered their kinship and specially asked Wang Chengwen to make a special trip to inform Hong Xiaodong's parents and brothers to seek refuge together.
Who would have thought that when Wang Chengwen arrived, he would find the house already empty!
What's even worse is that her family still owes her family a full five taels of silver that they haven't repaid!
Putting aside the debt, just the fact that our family was still thinking of our in-laws even when our lives were at stake is enough.
But their family did it differently; they didn't even say goodbye and just quietly ran away!
This is something no human being could do!
Wang Degui had been harboring a pent-up anger for a long time and had nowhere to vent it.
Unfortunately, Hong Xiaodong was oblivious to his own mortality and continued to cause trouble, which led him right into the line of fire!
---
While the Wang family was having dinner out, Hong Xiaodong was hiding in his room, gritting his teeth.
She tore at the quilt in her hands, wishing she could rip it to pieces to vent her anger!
They waited patiently until Wang Chengwu finished his meal and slowly strolled back into the house.
Hong Xiaodong, who had been leaning against the bed, sprang up as if a powder keg had been lit, staring intently at Wang Chengwu's empty hands, a surge of grievance welling up inside her.
At this moment, Hong Xiaodong, with her dark panda eyes, thought that her pitiful and tearful appearance would make her especially endearing.
Unexpectedly, this extremely bizarre scene terrified Wang Chengwu so much that the hairs on his body stood on end!
"Oh dear, don't do that! You're scaring me! Don't frighten me!" Wang Chengwu cried out in a panic as he backed away.
Seeing that Wang Chengwu showed no mercy to the woman, Hong Xiaodong realized that all her efforts had been wasted.
Hong Xiaodong glared at Wang Chengwu, then hastily wiped the tears from her face with her sleeve before muttering resentfully, "You heartless bastard! You're out there eating and drinking well, and you don't even bring me a steamed bun!"
Faced with Hong Xiaodong's accusations, Wang Chengwu shrugged innocently, "It was Dad who said you were going to go hungry for three days, who would dare bring you food!"
Wang Chengwu's words were like a bucket of cold water poured over Hong Xiaodong's head, making her so angry that she almost fell over.
She reached out and pulled the blanket over herself, muttering under her breath, "Why was I so unlucky to marry into the Wang family... I must have had the worst luck ever!"
Lying in bed, Hong Xiaodong grew angrier and angrier, and the more she thought about it, the more aggrieved she felt.
She not only felt extremely aggrieved by the unfair treatment she received in the Wang family, but also resented her father for not putting in more effort in her marriage back then.
She bit the corner of the blanket, her heart churning with turmoil, as if all the bitterness had surged into her heart at this moment.
As she thought about it, her eyes involuntarily welled up with tears, which quickly soaked her pillow.
She sobbed, thinking over and over in her heart, "If I had married into the Cui family, I wouldn't be suffering like this today! A man like Cui Erlang is the one I should have married!"
Actually, Hong Xiaodong wronged her scholar father.
Back when the two families were looking at each other, Wang Degui, in order to elevate his own family's reputation, specially invited Cui Erlang from the Cui family to accompany Wang Chengwu.
At that time, Cui Erlang had just passed the imperial examination and was only seventeen years old, a time when he was full of vigor and ambition.
Hong Xiaodong took a liking to Cui Erlang at first sight, rather than Wang Chengwu, whom she was set up with on a blind date.
She thought to herself that such a talented young man was the one she should marry.
Her father, Scholar Hong, shook his head and sighed, saying to Hong Xiaodong, "You are older than Cui Erlang, it's not suitable."
Hong Xiaodong wouldn't listen, saying that she was older than him and that's why she could be more caring, and that their families were of similar social standing, so how could they not be compatible?
Hong Xiucai had a bitter pill to swallow. Although both of them were scholars, their family backgrounds were vastly different.
The Cui family was well-off, and Cui Erlang had passed the imperial examination at a young age, with a promising future. How could he, a poor and mediocre old scholar, compare to him?
But Hong Xiaodong didn't care. She cried and made a scene at home, and even went on a hunger strike in protest.
Forced into a corner, Hong Xiucai had no choice but to lie to her, saying that he had gone to the Cui family to propose marriage, but was rejected and forced to leave.
Only then did Hong Xiaodong agree to settle down and marry Wang Chengwu.
However, Hong Xiaodong has not had a single day of success in the past two years.
Seeing Cui Erlang getting better and better, she felt more and more regretful.
She often thought that if she had directly expressed her feelings to him that day, instead of putting on airs as the daughter of a scholar and letting Hong Xiucai propose to her, perhaps the outcome would have been different.
She always felt that it was her father's poor communication skills and outdated ideas that held her back.
In her eyes, Wang Xiuxiu was inferior to her in every way, yet she had won Cui Erlang's favor; how could she be content with that?
She was resentful and stubbornly believed that Wang Xiuxiu had stolen the happiness that should have belonged to her.
She even went so far as to use the most vicious words in the world to curse Wang Xiuxiu.
It seemed that only in this way could she slightly quell the resentment in her heart.
However, Hong Xiaodong did not know that if Hong Xiucai had not been self-aware enough to go to the Cui family to ask for a marriage proposal that day, Qin Shi would have shamelessly thrown him out!
Hong Xiaodong was an old maid with plain looks. Not to mention that she was older than Cui Erlang, her reputation for being lazy and gluttonous was something that Qin Shi would find disgusting to associate with!
Hong Xiaodong was unaware of this and continued to resent Wang Xiuxiu, feeling that Wang Xiuxiu had stolen her happiness.
Hong Xiaodong grew angrier the more she thought about it, and tears streamed down her face uncontrollably.
She gritted her teeth and secretly vowed, "One day, I will make Wang Xiuxiu taste this bitterness! I will make her know that there is a price to pay for stealing someone else's happiness!"
Perhaps even Hong Xiaodong herself didn't expect that her curse would come true so quickly.
The gears of fate had already begun to turn, but she was completely unaware that she was being led step by step into the abyss by unfounded jealousy.
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com