"Auntie? What brings you here? Come inside quickly."
Song Xiu'e and Zhu Shun carried the child into the house, followed by Song Dahai and Liu Yuelan.
Song Xiu'e looked like she had been crying; the tear stains on her face hadn't been wiped away yet. She knelt down before Song Dahai without saying a word.
"Brother and sister-in-law, could I leave the two children here for now?"
The couple, not understanding what was going on, helped the person up first.
"Put the child on the bed first."
The two children looked quite young and were sleeping soundly in their parents' arms.
"What happened?"
When Liu Yuelan asked, Song Xiu'e burst into tears.
It turned out that Song Xiu'e's mother-in-law knew that Nanshan Village had found grain, so she asked Song Xiu'e to borrow it, but Song Xiu'e refused.
The fact that Nanshan Village didn't make a fuss about this at first suggests that they didn't have much stuff, so why would they lend it to someone from another village?
Later, she heard from somewhere that her older brother's family was doing business and making money, so she asked Song Xiu'e to borrow some money from him, but Song Xiu'e refused.
From then on, Granny Zhu kept complaining about how poor her family was and kept clamoring to sell her daughter for money.
Song Xiu'e naturally refused, and the mother-in-law and daughter-in-law started arguing.
However, Zhu Shun couldn't stand up to his mother, and Song Xiu'e alone wasn't enough.
After the commotion, they all thought the matter was over and life would go on.
But unexpectedly, at noon today, while Song Xiu'e and her husband were working, that old woman Zhu took away her two children.
By the time they realized it, they had already gotten the money from selling the child.
After years of oppression, Song Xiu'e finally snapped. She grabbed a knife, snatched the money from selling the children, and quickly got her two children back.
After returning home, Zhu's wife kept shouting and demanding that Zhu Shun divorce his wife.
In a fit of anger, Song Xiu'e took the child and left. Zhu Shun, worried about his wife and child, followed her.
Song Xiu'e spoke while crying, while Zhu Shun beside her kept his head down and remained silent.
He didn't understand why his mother couldn't get along with Xiu'e.
Xiu'e gets up before dawn every day to work, and her two children help with the work from morning till night, but their mother is still not satisfied.
My younger brother and sister-in-law are always slacking off and cheating, but my mother has never said a word against them.
The Song family of three didn't know what to say.
Every family has its own troubles, and the Song family is no exception. Fortunately, Song Ning is now grown up, so Li Guixiang probably can't sell her anymore.
Song Dahai slammed his hand on the table, his face turning ashen.
In this day and age, it's common for mothers-in-law and daughters-in-law to not get along. Even if they're tortured to death, what can you do?
In the end, don't we still have to go back to our daily lives?
But if they run away now and then go back, Song Xiu'e will have an even worse time.
Song Xiu'e kept crying, and Song Ning spoke up: "It's getting late today, let's rest first, we can talk about it tomorrow."
The Song family's house wasn't very big, and it wasn't appropriate to disturb Li Daniu's house so late, so everyone set up makeshift beds on the floor in Song Ning's room. Song Ning and the two younger children slept on beds, while Liu Yuelan and Song Xiu'e laid some straw on the floor and covered it with a cloth.
Zhu Shun and Song Dahai squeezed into one room.
That night, apart from the two children, no one in the family slept.
The next morning, Song Xiu'e and Liu Yuelan got up early.
Liu Yuelan was busy cooking, while Song Xiu'e assisted her.
Song Ning still had to deliver goods to town, so she quickly finished her meal and left.
It was the first time Song Xiu'e's two daughters had ever seen white flour pancakes, and they just stared at the bowl without moving.
Seeing that the two children weren't eating, Liu Yuelan assumed they didn't like it and asked, "Why aren't you eating? Don't you like it? I'll make something else."
Song Xiu'e quickly pulled Liu Yuelan aside, lowering her eyes: "Sister-in-law, no need. It's not that they don't like it, it's just that they've never seen it before and dare not eat it."
Liu Yuelan paused, then smiled and said, "Xiao Mei, try this pancake, it's delicious."
The two children blinked and carefully picked up a piece of cake and took a bite.
Then her eyes lit up, and she gently tugged at her mother's clothes, whispering, "Mom, what's this? It's delicious."
Song Xiu'e was about to cry again, so Liu Yuelan quickly served the two children a bowl of soup: "Eat more if you like it, eat your fill."
The two sisters ate their first full meal since they could remember.
After the meal, Zhu Shun asked Song Xiu'e awkwardly, "Xiu'e, when are we going back?"
Song Xiu'e turned her head sharply and glared at him: "Go back? You want your daughter to be sold a second time?"
Upon hearing this, Zhu Shun became anxious: "Xiu'e, you know my mother's personality. Let's go back first and talk to her."
Thinking of her mother-in-law's sharp tongue and looking at her two daughters' emaciated appearance, Song Xiu'e was filled with anger. She stood up abruptly, pointed at Zhu Shun's nose, and cursed, "Isn't it all because you're useless! You can't even protect your own children. You listen to your mother in everything. If your mother told you to die, would you immediately smash your head against a wall and kill yourself?"
Zhu Shun knew his mother was going too far, but he really couldn't do anything about it.
"I'm telling you, if you want to go back, go back yourself. My child and I are not going back!"
Song Xiue knew that living at her elder brother's house indefinitely wasn't a solution, but even begging was better than going back to that house.
Zhu Shun hesitated for a moment and said, "Then how about... I go back today, and after Mother calms down, I'll bring you all back."
Song Xiu'e felt only heartbreak: "Whatever, didn't your mother tell you to divorce me? You dare disobey your mother?"
"Xiu'e, don't think nonsense, I won't divorce you."
Song Xiu'e didn't say anything, but went straight out of the yard to help Song Dahai with his work.
After Zhu Shun left, Song Dahai asked softly, "What are you planning to do now?"
Song Xiue lowered her head: "I don't know either, but I really can't go back to that home. I can bear it, but the two children are still young. If we go back, they will be sold sooner or later."
Song Dahai sighed. He wanted his sister to stay, but he couldn't make that decision alone, and their house was too small to accommodate her.
Even if he wanted to help, he was powerless to do so.
Song Ning returned from delivering goods a little late today.
She wanted to make money quickly, as Shanhe Town alone wasn't enough.
When she was delivering goods today, she asked Boss Qi that it would take about an hour to get to the nearest county town from Shanhe Town by oxcart. Adding the distance from Nanshan Village to the town, it would take her two hours to get to the county town, making it an eight-hour round trip.
This journey was indeed quite challenging.
"You want to go to the county town?" Qi Liangyuan asked.
Song Ning nodded and sighed, "I want to try my luck in the county town, but the road there and back is difficult to travel."
These past two days, cold noodles have been selling like hotcakes at his shop, and even the sales of other dishes in his restaurant have increased significantly. If he were to go to the county town, he would definitely sell like hotcakes.
He immediately said, "Perhaps I can help you."
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