"You went just because I told you to? How dare you talk back to your mother-in-law? You wretched woman, you stinking woman!" Madam Tan jumped up, hands on her hips, and cursed.
Niu Jinghua said, "That's right, sister-in-law, just go if they tell you to! If you can't get an advance, ask your two old hags on your mother's side to contribute some money to buy a chicken, and tell them that you and your two sons want to eat it!"
Lao's parents were quite old and had raised several children. Although her brothers were good people, they were poor, so her parents sent her to be a child bride.
Speaking of which, Lao's family was unlucky.
My older brother broke his leg while working for someone in his younger years. However, because it was a close friend's family, they didn't have much money to compensate him and only gave him some medical expenses, but his leg was never healed.
My second brother was born deaf and mute.
The third brother was the most intelligent, capable, and loving towards his siblings among her brothers. But one day, after making some money in a small business, he was pushed into the river and drowned.
The fourth and fifth brothers, due to poor conditions, were illiterate and relied solely on manual labor to earn a meager living.
The parents were devastated by the fact that their third brother had died in a fall and the murderer had not been found. Their mother had been bedridden with a serious illness for many years.
Her sixth brother and she were sent away when they were young.
One became a child son-in-law to a family without a son, and the other became a child bride.
Lau could only swallow her anger.
As expected, Niu Jingtai's dock foreman did not agree to advance his salary. Lao felt that she had no way out. She stared at the river for a long time, and suddenly thought of Niu Xiaomei's divorce from her ex-husband.
So she took her two children and went back to her parents' home.
The Tan family waited and waited, but the chicken never arrived. Instead, they saw several of Lao's brothers, but…
They didn't come here to get a divorce.
They came to apologize.
“Mother-in-law, my sister is so immature. She ran back to her parents’ home after being beaten a few times. But her parents’ home is not a place she can go back to. After all, she has brothers. If they really get a divorce, it won’t be good for us either!”
Lao suddenly remembered that her third brother, who loved his younger brother and sister, was dead, and her eldest brother was disabled. Although she wanted to take care of him, her sister-in-law disagreed. After all, for the past ten years or so, her sister-in-law had been supporting her eldest brother and several children.
Her father disagreed with sending her back, but the household was no longer under his control.
Da Tan became increasingly smug. After Lao's brothers and sisters left, she called her five sons who were at home. The six of them ganged up and gave Lao a severe beating. Only the third son did not participate, but he did not stop them either.
Madam Tan cursed and swore:
"Go back to your parents' home! Go back to your parents' home! You will be our family's slave for the rest of your life, until you die!"
"It's all your fault that I can't get chicken, you stinking woman! I'm going to beat your son too! Anyway, my older brother won't scold me!" Niu Gou'er kicked the dying Lao Shi in the face.
Lao's eldest son was trembling with fear, but he still pounced on Niu Gou'er and bit him, causing Niu Gou'er some pain.
Niu Gou'er casually threw Lao's eldest son to the ground, and the child's face was covered in blood. He then burst into tears.
After finishing her tantrum, Madam Tan took out a rusty embroidery needle from under the bed and coated it with rat poison.
As dusk fell, the mute cow brought the cow back, and she took the opportunity to prick it with a needle.
The cow was in pain and kicked out, drawing blood from Da Tan's wife. But Da Tan's wife laughed and quickly got up.
Niu Yaba was just seeing the back of Da Tanshi.
He frowned slightly, but didn't think much of it, and returned the cow to Niu Da. Xiao Fu Bao looked at the cow with a mixture of anger and pleasure, then patted it and said:
"Good calf, good calf!"
The cow, which had been somewhat agitated, gradually calmed down, lowering its head to let Xiao Fubao pet it, becoming as docile as an adorable kitten.
Until Niu Cuihua led the cow into the cowshed.
The mute ox paid for the land and left.
In the Great Zhou Dynasty, slaughtering or poisoning oxen was a capital offense punishable by death.
The next day, Da Tanshi heard from someone that Niu Dajia's ox had died, so she rushed to the county government early in the morning to report Niu Dajia for poisoning his ox.
When the county magistrate and Zhao, the village head, arrived, they found that Niu Dajia's oxen were standing perfectly intact in the cowshed. Magistrate Li was furious.
"Impossible! County magistrate, village head, his cow was clearly poisoned!"
Chen Yu and Niu Da also understood.
Xiao Heng had a sudden inspiration and said, "You bought fake rat poison!"
"Impossible, I clearly used it to poison rats." Before she could finish speaking, Da Tan suddenly realized she had been tricked and quickly stopped talking.
"Hmph, take her back to the county office!" Magistrate Li said.
"So it was that bitch who harmed me! That bitch! How did she know?" Madam Tan said bitterly.
Little Fu Bao said, "Grandma Tan, no one harmed you. You brought this upon yourself because of your many evil deeds. Your retribution is not just this!"
Suddenly, Da Tan pounced on Xiao Fubao. Xiao Heng instinctively shielded Xiao Fubao in his arms, his back bitten and bleeding profusely by Da Tan.
The yamen runners of Magistrate Li immediately sensed something was wrong and quickly pulled Da Tan away.
Madam Tan retorted, "You worthless wretch! You're talking nonsense! What retribution could I possibly receive! Your family is the one that's doomed—unable to produce sons, destined to die out! I had eight sons!" She continued, "Even if the seventh son dies, the other seven are still better than you! What makes you think you're better off than us?!" She added, "A good daughter is not as good as a lazy son."
"Your property will eventually belong to my son and grandson!"
After Da Tan was dragged away, Shen was furious. "She's really sick! Our daughter doesn't eat at their house!"
Niu Dadao: "Don't care what others say. She's our own daughter, we'll cherish her!"
The woman, Lao, who had walked in a daze, asked, "Madam Shen, could you lend me some money? My husband will be back soon, and I want to buy a chicken!"
Shen Yu recognized the woman as Mrs. Lao. Although she didn't dislike her and even felt a little sorry for her, she was furious when she heard her say that she borrowed money to buy a chicken for that scoundrel Niu Jingtai.
"No! And I won't lend it!"
Mr. Lao lowered his head, preparing to leave.
Little Fu Bao said, "Auntie, I have some, I'll lend it to you!" As she spoke, she turned and went into her room to get five hundred coins. When she came out, Madam Lao had already walked away. Little Fu Bao chased after her, handed the five hundred coins to Madam Lao, and said:
"Auntie, here you go!"
Mrs. Lao took the money and said, "Thank you!"
Xiang Jinlan spat towards the door and said, "Pah, what bad luck! The Great Tan family is a woman herself, so why does she discriminate against girls?"
She then brought several basins of clean water and wiped the floor.
Little Fu Bao stepped into the yard.
Xiang Jinlan knelt on the ground and said, "Little Fu Bao, you gave the money to your Aunt Lao, but I don't know when she will pay you back!"
“She won’t pay it back!” Xiao Fubao said.
Xiang Jinlan was slightly taken aback.
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