Chapter 77 Chapter 77-Two in One Want to Divorce (Catching Bugs)…
Aunt Guizhi recounted the entire story, and the old lady trembled with rage. Lin Shan, squatting at the stove door plucking chicken feathers, cried out in anger when he heard Aunt Guizhi's words. "I know," she said, "I'll find a way. I'll definitely make sure Lian'er doesn't go back and suffer this."
Lin Shan pointed in the direction of Muramasa's house and then pointed at Aunt Guizhi.
Aunt Guizhi nodded and said, "Okay, go back to work. I'll go ask Uncle and the others."
The smallest news spread quickly throughout the village. Just as Chen Dongniang and the others were about to ask about it, Aunt Guizhi arrived. She had cried several times that day, her eyes were still red, and her face looked bad.
Aunt Guizhi is usually a smiling person. She didn't get so angry even when her son was not brought back a few years ago.
Sun and Chen Dongniang realized the seriousness of the situation as soon as they saw it, so they sent the children out to play and called Aunt Guizhi into the house.
As soon as they sat down, Sun asked with concern, "What's going on? I heard from the villagers that you brought Shuilian back. Is she feeling unwell?"
Aunt Guizhi's eyes welled up when she heard this. She told Madam Sun, "My poor son was beaten by that beast from the Yang family. I happened to catch him when I went there, and we even had a fight with that old bastard."
"Is Shuilian seriously injured?"
Aunt Guizhi said, "The family we took in that day, my Shuilian was pregnant, and the child was aborted. If it weren't for meeting Chuntao on the way, my Lian'er might not have been able to come back!"
Sun and Chen Dongniang were shocked when they heard this and said angrily, "What kind of family is this? They're bullying our Lin family because they have no one left!"
Sun said, "We will not swallow this bitter water. We must go to the Tian family and ask for an explanation."
Mrs. Sun might have been being polite, but Aunt Guizhi was also relieved. She said, "Even if we go back and give Shuilian a beating, she won't be able to escape the sea of suffering. Aunt, you have some wisdom. Can you help me figure out what we should do?"
What Sun said just now was not entirely polite. If a married daughter is bullied, the fastest way is to take the brothers in the clan to beat her up, but such a thing cannot be eradicated. Some families beat her up several times a year. You go to beat her up, leave, and she beats you back. You go again, and get beaten up again, and this cycle repeats itself.
It was obvious that Aunt Guizhi didn't want to use this method to vent her anger. Sun Shi thought that she didn't have any children, so she asked directly: "Guizhi, don't think I'm being blunt. You and Dashan are at this age, and you don't have any children. Do you have any plans?"
Aunt Guizhi looked at the old lady and said, "We didn't have any plans before. We just lived one day at a time. We just wanted to save some money and live like this."
Sun was stunned when she heard this. She thought they were planning to adopt a son and raise him by their side.
I didn't expect they had no such plan.
Sun thought about Lin Shuilian's situation. The child couldn't speak, and now it was in this condition. If she was divorced and returned home, it would be difficult for her to remarry. For a moment, she didn't know what advice to give to Aunt Guizhi.
Chen Dongniang also felt that this was a difficult matter. She pursed her lips and thought of Lin Chuntao. She was also a little surprised. Why did she want to hear what Lin Chuntao had to say about this matter?
She looked at Mrs. Sun and then at Aunt Guizhi, and tentatively suggested, "Mother, sister-in-law, should we ask Chuntao about this?"
Ask Chuntao? Aunt Guizhi did have this plan, but she came to see the old man first, saying that she would make the decision, but also to let him know in advance.
She didn't expect Chen Dongniang to say that. She looked at Sun, who had no objection, and asked Lin Jiahui to call Lin Chuntao over.
"Sister Chuntao, grandma wants you to come home and play."
Lin Chuntao initially thought they were just going out to play, so she followed them because she had nothing else to do. However, when they reached the door, Lin Jiahui didn't go in. Lin Chuntao raised her eyebrows slightly, and Lin Jiahui said, "Auntie is here to talk about something, let's go out and play."
Lin Chuntao finally understood. She entered the yard. Lin Cunzheng and the second uncle of the Lin family were sitting in the yard. Sun and several daughters-in-law were inside. Lin Chuntao greeted Lin Cunzheng and the others, and Sun invited her in from inside.
Chen Dongniang brought some pumpkin seeds for Lin Chuntao to eat. She grabbed a little bit and sat down beside her.
After chatting for a while, they got down to business. Lin Chuntao looked at Aunt Guizhi and said bluntly, "It depends on whether you want to keep Sister Shuilian at home. Even if she doesn't marry again in the future, you have to support her for the rest of her life."
Her words caused all the women present to fall silent.
Everyone was filled with indescribable complex emotions, including Aunt Guizhi. After a while, she asked Lin Chuntao, "What will happen to her when your Uncle Lin Shan and I are gone?"
Lin Chuntao asked, "Doesn't Sister Shuilian have two children?"
After she finished speaking, everyone present still frowned. Lin Chuntao asked tentatively, "Suppose you divorce, don't you want these two children?"
Chen Dongniang said, "This is just a bargain for that beast's family. They are raising a child for free."
Aunt Guizhi also liked the two children, but what Chen Dongniang said was true. If they really had to divorce, the children would definitely be raised by the Tian family.
Lin Chuntao looked at them and suddenly thought of something. It seemed that when many girls got divorced, their families would ask them not to have children and to marry again without bringing along a burden.
It was like this in that era, let alone now.
She looked at them and said bluntly, "A child will be sensible if he is well educated. He was born after Sister Shuilian carried him for ten months. She calls her mother, not just someone else's child. In my opinion, no one is more reliable than myself. Choosing between my children and a stranger, who is more reliable? I can't say for sure."
Lin Chuntao didn't dare to say anything too much, after all, it was a major concept in the context of the times.
After a moment's silence, Lin Chuntao said, "Actually, this matter still depends on Sister Shuilian, but before that, Auntie has to make a good decision. You have to give her a backer and let her have a way out. Even if she is kicked out, her parents can give her a home where no one will kick her out. She won't bear the anger alone if she gets kicked out."
Aunt Guizhi felt like her heart was stabbed hard. She nodded and said, "She is the only daughter your Uncle Linshan and I have. We will definitely not chase her away if she returns home."
"If Auntie wants to take Sister Shuilian back, then we have to divorce. Let's discuss this privately. If we can reach an agreement, we can go directly to the government to seal it. If not, we have to go to the government."
"I think the Shangguan Mansion should hurry up and show the officials the true face of that beastly family before Sister Shuilian recovers."
The incident of Qian suing Tian is still fresh in people's minds. To be honest, everyone is still a little afraid of the Shangguan Mansion.
Sun said, "Guizhi, you two can come up with an idea. We can first go to the village head and talk to that beast together. After we have reached an agreement, we can write a document and send it to the county town for stamping."
Aunt Guizhi agreed, and Chen Dongniang took the opportunity to bring up the marriages of Lin Chunxing and her sisters.
Lin Chuntao also expressed her thoughts without hiding anything.
"Aunt, if anyone asks you about Chun Xing's marriage, please help me refuse. Chun Xing won't talk about marriage before she turns nineteen, and there's no engagement. If she finds someone she likes after nineteen, then we can talk about it. If she doesn't, then I'll let her be."
Chen Dongniang laughed and said, "If you keep her this way, she'll be old and people will laugh at her."
"To be honest, Auntie, our parents are gone, so I have to take care of them. If they get married in the future, I hope they will find a husband to marry into the family. I don't want them to marry out."
"But it's still early, and nothing is set in stone. It all depends on what the three of them think."
"As for other people laughing at us, those close to us won't laugh at us, and whether those who are not related to us laugh or not doesn't affect us. I live my life and she laughs at hers. It has nothing to do with us, and I don't care."
She said it calmly. Chen Dongniang thought of Wang's inquiry and smiled in her heart. According to Lin Chuntao's idea, she had no chance.
Aunt Guizhi was shocked by Lin Chuntao's words. She had no son around and was laughed at. It took her more than ten years to figure it out. But Lin Chuntao was not even twenty years old this year, and she had already figured it out.
After she returned home, she discussed it with her husband. Lin Shan kept cursing that family, but he also agreed with Aunt Guizhi's opinion and let his daughter divorce that beast.
"What about the child? What if the other party doesn't give it to him?" Lin Shan asked in sign language.
Aunt Guizhi replied, "Then let's think of a way."
"What method?" Lin Shan asked again. Aunt Guizhi couldn't answer either. She just said, "I'm thinking about it."
After she finished speaking, she went to get busy. When Lin Shuilian woke up, the sun had already set. She felt a little more relaxed, so she got out of bed and prepared to go out.
Aunt Guizhi heard the noise as soon as she saw it. She rushed in and saw Lin Shuilian coming down. She hurriedly asked, "Are you going to the toilet? I'll bring you a bucket. Don't go out and get blown away by the wind."
Lin Shuilian shook her head, and Aunt Guizhi said, "If you're fine, just lie down and don't come down and walk."
As she spoke, Lin Shuilian was stopped and asked to go back to lie down. Aunt Guizhi asked, "Are you feeling unwell? The two children are outside. They just said they wanted to come see you, but I told them not to disturb your sleep, so I didn't let them in."
Lin Shuilian used sign language to let the two children come in, and Aunt Guizhi called the children in.
The two children followed Aunt Guizhi in quietly. Looking at Lin Shuilian lying on the bed, their emotions suddenly surged, "Mom!"
The children's voices were a little choked. They watched helplessly as their mother was dragged to the clinic. They were scared the whole time. Now that they saw their mother in front of them, she was safe and sound, they felt relieved.
"Mom, are you still in pain?" Zhao'er asked worriedly while standing in front of the bed.
Lin Shuilian shook her head and waved at them again. The brother and sister moved closer. Lin Shuilian reached out and touched her head, then made a sign language gesture, "Mom is fine, don't worry."
After saying that, Lin Shuilian made a sign language gesture to Tian Hu, asking him to greet her good sister.
Tian Hu nodded and said, "Mom, take good care of yourself. I will take good care of my sister."
Lin Shuilian looked at the two children with tender eyes. Aunt Guizhi felt sad watching from the side. She slowly lowered her eyes and thought about what Lin Chuntao had just said. Those were not just other people's children. They were the children her daughter gave birth to after ten months of pregnancy.
Whether she is in pain or sad, she will always be thinking about these two children.
After the two children Lin Shuilian stayed for a while, their expressions relaxed. After the children left, Aunt Guizhi talked to her daughter about her future plans and asked for her opinion.
She thought about Lin Chuntao's words and expressed her own thoughts first. Lin Shuilian's eyes were filled with tears, and after a moment, tears rolled down from the corners of her eyes.
She gestured to Aunt Guizhi, "What if my brother comes back in the future?"
Aunt Guizhi thought of the son who had become someone else's son, and the corners of her mouth curled up bitterly.
"Not to mention that he won't come back, even if he does, I won't keep him. Don't worry. If you stay at home in the future, then even if you want to get married again, you can marry a son-in-law and stay at home." Aunt Guizhi finished speaking, and Lin Shuilian finally told Aunt Guizhi with peace of mind that she didn't want to go back because her husband often beat her.
"When did he start beating you?"
Lin Shuilian was silent for a moment before she said, "Last year."
Aunt Guizhi frowned. Lin Shuilian and Na Tianxiang had only come back with their children during the Chinese New Year. At that time, she thought the young couple had a good relationship.
"He started beating you last year. Why didn't you tell Mom when you got home for the New Year? Your father and I may not be very powerful, but we won't just stand by and watch you get bullied."
Lin Shuilian was silent. Her parents had no sons, and she was a mute and had no abilities. Not causing trouble for her parents was her greatest filial piety.
Even this time, she wouldn't have told anyone if she hadn't been caught.
Aunt Guizhi thought that Lin Shuilian and the beast were good friends before. When she saw Tian Xun beating Lin Shuilian, her head was buzzing. Before she saw it with her own eyes, she had never thought that such a thing would happen.
Even though it made no sense, she still asked, "Do you know why he always hits you?"
Lin Shuilian fell into silence. Tian Xiang was nice to her at first, but he became bad because after she gave birth to her daughter, he wanted to come during the confinement period, but she was bleeding and had stomach discomfort at the time, so she didn't agree. The bleeding lasted for another two months, and then Tian Xiang got annoyed and went to the city with the people in the village. He didn't come back until many days later.
Ever since he came back from that trip to the county town, he disliked her. The familiar person no longer had the gentleness of the past, leaving only some torturous means. She was tired of that, but Tian Xiang enjoyed it. He always blamed her when he was not doing well.
It was after these things that he became alcoholic and violent. At first, he only beat her when he was drunk, but later, he would just hit her if she didn't do what he wanted.
She would find it difficult to talk about this kind of thing even to her own mother.
Seeing that Lin Shuilian was silent, Aunt Guizhi asked again, "Is he having an affair with another woman?"
Lin Shuilian shook her head. It was not a question of whether it existed or not, but she didn’t know either.
"He beats me when he drinks and is in a bad mood, for no reason." Lin Shuilian gestured, looking at her own mother. She paused and gestured again: "He also beats children." He also called children quails that can't scream.
Aunt Guizhi sighed deeply and said, "Take good care of yourself. Your mother and father will figure out the rest."
*
When Lin Chuntao returned from Muramasa's house, Lin Chunxing and the others had already prepared dinner.
After the sisters finished their meal, they began to prepare meat and vegetables for tomorrow. Pei Ying said, "Let's find some time in the next few days to hire a craftsman."
Lin Chuntao had no objection. She said, "Then let's go take a look at the homestead when we come back tomorrow. I feel that the area we drew before is a bit small. I wonder if it can be made more spacious."
Lin Chuntao was planning to enclose a yard, but she didn't know how far along Chai Xingyu was with the project. If she could make a sauce business, she would have to set aside two spacious rooms.
This was their plan, but the next day Muramasa was busy with something and did not have time to set up the base. Two days later, on the afternoon of August 20th, they returned from the county town after finishing their work.
Aunt Guizhi invited Lin Cunzheng and others to go to the Tian family to discuss Lin Shuilian's matter. Many people in the village followed them, some of whom were specially invited, and some were just there to watch the fun.
Seeing Lin Chuntao and the others coming back, Aunt Guizhi asked her to go with them.
They went home, had a quick meal and then went together.
Lin Cunzheng and his men also went to invite the village head. When the group arrived at the Tian family, the Tian family was sitting happily in the yard eating melon seeds. There was also a strange woman sitting together with Tian Xiang.
Lin Shuilian didn't come today, and Aunt Guizhi looked at the Tian family with resentment on her face.
Tian Xiang suddenly noticed that Aunt Guizhi was still feeling a little guilty, so he quickly stood up and tried to get away from the woman. However, the old woman next to him grabbed him and pulled his arm down, "Sit down, what are you feeling guilty about?"
After hearing what my mother said, Tian Xiang sat down directly.
Before Aunt Guizhi could say anything, the old lady sneered, "Oh, Xu Guizhi, you brought so many people with you, are you going to eat my old bones?"
Aunt Guizhi was so angry that she clenched her teeth.
Sun said, "Mother of Tian Xiang, there are no cannibals in our Lin family. It's our Lin family's daughter who was beaten half to death by your Tian Xiang. She just came here to seek an explanation!"
"This lady looks very unfamiliar. Is she your son's new wife?"
Zhao's face trembled slightly when she heard this. She was confident in facing the Lin family, but because the Lin family came too quickly, she had not yet told them that Lin Shuilian was taken away by Xu Guizhi. Now the people from the Tian family also knew what had happened and were gathered outside to watch.
Aunt Guizhi raised her voice and said, "Great! I was wondering, how could there be such a cruel family, beating their daughter-in-law to death even when she was pregnant? It turns out she's with someone else. If I hadn't come yesterday, would you have beaten my daughter to death to make room for someone else?"
The villagers began to whisper when they heard this.
"Oh, I was wondering why Lin Shuilian is nowhere to be found."
"It's happening again."
"She's pregnant, but the old lady doesn't care."
Zhao listened to those words and cursed, "Xu, stop spitting bloody words here! Who hit her? Call Lin Shuilian out and tell me! Who hit her?"
Aunt Guizhi was shaking with anger. She pointed at Zhao and cursed, "You bitch! If your family wasn't so broke and you hadn't promised me every day that you would treat my daughter well, would I have arranged a marriage with you? I've given you so much in financial support. You're a family of ungrateful beasts, and now you're bullying her like this!"
Zhao's face flushed crimson, and she cursed at the top of her voice, "You dead mute! If it weren't for my kindness, you wouldn't even be able to give her away! You'd be so lucky to marry into my family!"
"Beeping all day long is bad luck!"
After hearing this, Aunt Guizhi rushed over and grabbed Zhao's hair. The people from the Tian family, Lin Changzong, Chen Dongniang and others rushed forward. The fight turned from a struggle to stop the fight into a melee, and it started directly in the small courtyard.
The strange woman retreated to a corner of the yard unknowingly. Lin Chuntao was not good at tearing hair, so she could not help.
The two families were fighting and scuffling with each other, both with red faces and pointing at each other, cursing for eighteen generations from their ancestors.
Mrs. Zhao yelled at the top of her lungs, saying she wanted to divorce Lin Shuilian and have Aunt Guizhi take her home to rot away at home!
Aunt Guizhi pointed at Zhao and shouted that she would go to the authorities and send the damn Tian Xiang to jail.
The village head, worried about his pipe, watched the fight leisurely from the side. When he had finished smoking his pipe, he called out in a deep voice, "Have you had enough?"
People who were watching the fight came forward to pull the two families apart.
The headman looked here and there, snorted coldly, and started to beat each of them with fifty lashes.
"Why, are you two really going to break into the government office?"
Neither family spoke. The Tian family brought out a chair for the headman to sit on. She then asked everyone to sit down. Those who had chairs sat down, and those who didn't could stand nearby.
After the village head sat down, he looked at Zhao and asked, "Tian family, what do you mean? Don't you want your daughter-in-law anymore?"
"Such a daughter-in-law, such in-laws! Our family can't afford them!"
The village head frowned slightly, seemingly unsurprised. He looked towards Aunt Guizhi and asked, "What about you? What do you say?"
Aunt Guizhi said, "I can't afford a son-in-law like that. Shuilian of our family wants to divorce Tian Xiang! We will take the two children with us! We will have nothing to do with the Tian family from now on!"
Zhao didn't like the two children, but she felt that they belonged to their Tian family, so how could she let the Lin family take them away?
"You're dreaming! Mr. Xu, our family will write you a divorce letter today. Take your mute daughter and get out!"
"Divorce letter? If you dare to write a divorce letter, I will send your son to jail."
Zhao snorted and sneered, "Do you think the prison is run by your family? Whatever you say is the truth?"
Aunt Guizhi choked up a bit. Lin Chuntao, standing behind her, said, "The prison isn't owned by anyone, but I heard the coroners at the government office can tell from the bruises when someone was beaten, what tools were used, and how many times they were hit! As long as you report it to the government office, whoever beat someone up will definitely be put in jail!"
"By the way, Lin Shuilian was pregnant and was beaten to death. I followed her to the county clinic. The doctors there can testify later. Are you sure you want to take the gamble and go to the government office for a fair trial?"
Tian Xiang and Zhao Shi were both meeting Lin Chuntao for the first time. She was a skinny young woman, and her words were quite intimidating. At least Zhao Shi was intimidated. She looked at Lin Chuntao angrily and scolded, "Who are you? Do you think you have the right to speak on the adults' affairs?"
Lin Chuntao said, "Auntie, it doesn't matter who I am. I just want to remind you that the officials in the government office are not vegetarians."
Zhao swallowed her saliva and was about to explode when she was stopped by the village head.
"You said you wanted to divorce your daughter-in-law. What's your reason?"
Zhao Shi couldn't get back. The village head looked at the woman standing in the corner and asked Tian Xiang in a deep voice, "Who is this person? Is she your lover?"
The village head was not a high-ranking official, but the villagers were still a little afraid of him when it came to serious matters. Tian Xiang did not dare to lie when questioned and admitted that she was his lover.
The village head asked, "Just because someone has a lover, does that mean he should beat his wife to death?"
Tian Xiang panicked when he heard this and quickly explained, "Leader, I didn't mean to kill her. We just had a quarrel."
Aunt Guizhi was furious when she heard this. Thinking of Lin Shuilian lying on the ground and being beaten when she came, she was so angry that she trembled all over.
"Village head, when I came that day, Shuilian was locked in the house and beaten and kicked by him, while Zhao was eating melon seeds at the door. If I had come a little later, my poor daughter would have died. Why is he arguing with her now? Just a few words cost my daughter half her life!"
"Village head, she still can't get out of bed today..."
Aunt Guizhi was crying as she spoke, and the members of the Tian family hissed coldly. In fact, they had always known that Tian Xiang beat Lin Shuilian, but Lin Shuilian was a mute, and no one understood what she was gesturing, so no one paid any attention.
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