Looking at the old courtyard from the outside that she had never stepped into again after the separation, Xia Juhua discovered that the rammed earth courtyard wall had been thinned a bit by rain, with several deep and shallow gaps, and it was no longer as thick as it felt before the separation.

Taking a deep breath, Xia Juhua pushed open the gate of Old Liu's house. Grandma Sun was standing in the yard watching An Baoling sweeping the floor. When she heard the unfamiliar footsteps of someone entering the yard, she asked without even turning her head, "Who is it?" There was a hint of impatience in her voice.

"Mom, it's me." Xia Juhua didn't expect that the first person she met was Sun, so she had to say hello and nodded to An Baoling who also looked up at her.

Hearing her voice, Sun turned around suddenly, and was stunned for a moment before her triangular eyes flashed with contempt: "It's you, didn't you say you would never come to our Liu family again? Why are you so shameless today?"

Why are you so shameless? You don't want to repeat the same mistake. Xia Juhua thought to herself that with Sun Shi around, her plan to slowly infiltrate An Baoling would not work, so she might as well start with Sun Shi.

She called her mother softly again and said, "I just missed her and came to see her."

What? Both Sun and An Baoling stared at Xia Juhua. When did the stubborn Xia Juhua say such tender words? No, she was the type who would not speak unless she had to. Not to mention tender words, she rarely spoke even for normal communication.

Sun stared at Xia Juhua warily, and a possibility came to her mind. The corners of her mouth drooped almost to her feet: "I tell you, don't think that I will lend you money if you say a nice word." If she didn't want to borrow money, why would her eldest daughter-in-law, who hadn't visited her for more than ten years, want to see her?

It's almost like hoping for your own death.

When the eldest son died, Xia Juhua was only 30 years old. Sun thought that Xia Juhua would most likely remarry. In order to prevent Xia Juhua from taking away the things left by her son, Sun took Liu Sizhuang and Sun Guizhi and moved all the things in the eldest room to her own room without waiting for Liu Dazhuang to burn the first seven days of his death.

I thought Xia Juhua was used to being submissive, and when she saw that the Liu family didn't like her, she would go back to her parents' home in disgrace. At that time, she would be willing to remarry or go back to her parents' home, and she would have no relationship with the Liu family at all. As for the remaining two grandchildren, it would be enough to feed them and not starve them to death. When they grow up, they will be strong and work hard to earn work points for the family.

Unexpectedly, Xia Juhua, who had always been docile, went to the brigade to sue Sun and left home with her two grandsons, separating from the Liu family, saying that she wanted to raise her two sons and did not want Liu Dazhuang to break the family line.

Listen, what kind of words are these? If the two grandsons stay in the Liu family, can they still starve to death? ! Talking one word at a time, Sun Shi threatened that if Xia Juhua took the two sons away, then she would have nothing to do with the Liu family at all, and that the daughter-in-law had nothing to do with the Liu family at all.

From then on, the people in Pingan Village really got to know Xia Juhua. She didn't even shed a tear, and said without turning her head, "Even if I lead my two sons to beg for food, I will not go around the Liu family."

After saying this, he took his two sons and moved into the production team's shed, each carrying a tattered bag. He really didn't visit his grandson's family for more than ten years.

Every New Year, Xia Juhua would send her two sons to visit Old Liu's house to pay New Year's greetings, so that others would not gossip about them forgetting their roots and having trouble finding wives in the future. When she saw Sun on the street, she would just nod and walk away like she would any other person, without even calling her mother.

Why did she suddenly say she wanted to see me today? Sun couldn't think of any other reason except that she wanted to borrow money from me. She had married two daughters-in-law in succession, and heard that the betrothal gifts were no less than those of other families. No matter how capable Xia Juhua was, she wouldn't have enough money, right? Now, she must have come back to the old Liu family to borrow money.

Did she really think that she would lend her money if she said something nice? Sun sneered and thought to herself that she had been scolded for a long time because of Xia Juhua. Now someone was still using this matter to talk back to her. It was not something that could be erased with just a few nice words.

After sneering, Sun noticed that the eye circles of Xia Juhua opposite him were turning red little by little, and mist was slowly appearing in her eyes. Then two bean-sized tears condensed and quickly wet the corners of her eyes.

An Baoling was shocked: "Sister-in-law, what happened? Who wronged you?"

You see, people who care about you are always worried that you will be wronged, while people who don't care about you are only worried about whether you will infringe on her interests. Xia Juhua smiled bitterly, raised her arm and wiped the tears from her eyes with her sleeve: "Baoling, I'm fine."

Are you crying for no reason? Both Sun and An Baoling thought that Xia Juhua was lying with her eyes open, but no one exposed her - for more than ten years, Xia Juhua had raised two sons by herself, and she had never complained to anyone.

After wiping her tears, Xia Juhua turned to Sun and said, "Mom, I really just came to see you and see if you are okay." Seeing that Sun was about to open her mouth again, she continued to speak without giving Sun a chance to interrupt:

"After breakfast today, Zhishuang's wife made me a cup of brown sugar water, and I immediately thought of Dazhuang..." Her voice gradually became lower, as if she was crying: "I remembered that when I first got married, I also made a cup of brown sugar water for my mother, and my mother complained that I was reluctant to put sugar in it."

At this point, she smiled a little embarrassedly: "Drinking the cup of brown sugar water that Hongmei made for me, I remembered what Dazhuang said to me after returning to the house, that when he has money, he will buy me more brown sugar so that I can make water for my mother every day..."

Then her voice got lower again: "Now I also drink the brown sugar water made by my daughter-in-law, but Dazhuang can't see it. Mother, if Dazhuang knew that both of his sons have married and are filial children, he would be so happy."

After saying this, Xia Juhua gently stroked her arm. She cried and complained at the same time. Xia Juhua, who had never spoken like this before, was stunned and got goose bumps all over her body. Of course, she had to shake them off by herself. Without waiting for the speechless Sun to speak, she nodded to An Baoling and said, "I'm going back now that I see that mother is doing well. Baoling, come to our house to talk when you have time."

Before An Baoling could react to her words, she found that someone had already walked to the gate of the courtyard. She raised her hand and greeted him: "Hey, sister-in-law, you finally came here, why don't you come in and sit for a while, drink a bowl of water before leaving."

Xia Juhua kept walking and shook her head with her back to An Baoling, just like she always did, as if she was not the same person who was reminiscing with Sun Shi just now. This made An Baoling believe that her sister-in-law was really sad because she was thinking about her brother. She was so dizzy when she was walking and didn't even have the energy to say polite words.

"Mom, why did I hear my sister-in-law talking just now? Where is she?" Sun Guizhi happened to go to the restroom just now. When she heard Xia Juhua's voice, she quickly pulled up her pants and ran out, wanting to know why she came to Old Liu's house today - Sun Hongmei was Sun Guizhi's niece. Could it be that Xia Juhua was dissatisfied with Sun Hongmei and came to her, the introducer, to cause trouble?

That won't work.

Although it sounds like life has been difficult for Xia Juhua, a widow raising two sons, she worked hard to earn work points. No matter how dirty or tiring the work was, as long as it earned a lot of work points, there was nothing she couldn't do. In addition, Liu Zhiquan and Liu Zhishuang were both grown up, and there were three strong laborers in the family. At the end of each year, the production team would share dividends, and they would get a lot of money.

They were all in their own hands, and they didn't have to hand them over to Sun's family! The eldest wife therefore built a house and a chalet to find a wife for Liu Zhiquan.

Seeing that the first wife's life was getting better and better and that Liu Zhishuang was growing up energetic and easily influenced, Sun Guizhi came up with an idea to introduce her niece to him - if her niece married into the first wife's family, it would be easy for her to take advantage of them in the future.

At first, Xia Juhua refused to allow Liu Zhishuang to meet, so Sun Guizhi had to resort to some tricks to allow the two to meet. Sun Hongmei has an unpleasant voice, but her face is attractive; her skin is a little dark, but her figure is well developed, and she is very attractive.

She knew from her aunt that the eldest wife lived a good life, and she liked Liu Zhishuang's tallness and handsome face even more. After meeting him, she stayed in the old Liu family, and even went to work for Sun Guizhi. While getting close to Liu Zhishuang, she also wanted to let Xia Juhua see how hardworking and capable she was.

Sun Guizhi was very proud. Regardless of whether her niece could marry Liu Zhishuang in the future, she could rest at home for two days just because her niece worked in the fields for her. When Liu Zhishuang was gradually moved by her niece and told Xia Juhua that he would marry Sun Hongmei, Sun Guizhi was even more proud - no matter how tough Xia Juhua was, she couldn't be tougher than her son, so she had to agree to Liu Zhishuang marrying her niece?

The proud Sun Guizhi hurried back to her parents' home and advised her brother and sister-in-law: "The first wife is living a good life, thanks to Xia Juhua's ability. Don't ask for too much dowry from Hongmei, so that she will know that our Sun family is not a money-grubbing family. Only then will Hongmei be able to take charge of the family after she gets married. When Hongmei becomes the head of the family, she should come back to her parents' home twice more often, and that will be a long-lasting relationship."

Her brother and sister-in-law thought what Sun Guizhi said made sense and completely forgot that Xia Juhua already had an older daughter-in-law who had given birth to a grandson. Sun's family had always favored the younger son Liu Sizhuang, and as a result, Sun Guizhi had to support her parents' family from time to time.

If Sun Guizhi can do it, Sun Hongmei can definitely do it too!

Sun Guizhi, who was hoping that she could continue to take advantage of the relationship in a long-lasting way, was of course afraid that Xia Juhua would come to trouble her, the introducer, the day after her niece's wedding and say bad things about her niece. If she was disliked by the mother-in-law right after the wedding, no one would sympathize with the new daughter-in-law. Instead, they would wonder if there was something wrong with her herself. Especially if Xia Juhua, who never talked about gossip, said it, everyone in the village would believe it.

Sun Guizhi was relieved that she didn't see Xia Juhua, but she still wanted to know the purpose of Xia Juhua's visit, so she hurriedly asked her mother-in-law.

Unexpectedly, the mother-in-law, who had always disliked Xia Juhua, did not scold Xia Juhua for not keeping her word. Instead, when she visited Old Liu's house today, she looked at her with a complicated expression, and went back to the house without saying anything.

"Third sister-in-law," Sun Guizhi was a little confused: "What did the eldest sister-in-law say again? She made my mother so angry that she went back to her room?"