Chapter 166 Look in the Mirror
Gao Xiulan only heard Lu Donglin say that she was angry, but when she came back and saw Lu Dongcai's face, she couldn't suppress the anger in her heart.
She had five children, and this second son was the most well-behaved and caring since he was young. He did whatever he was told and never complained. She had spanked the other children many times, but because they were so well-behaved, she never had the heart to hit them. She had raised them all without ever hitting them, and now another woman had scratched him like this. There were several cuts on his left ear and on his right cheek, like he was disfigured. The marks were so deep, there was no telling if they would ever go away. Forget about the future, let's just talk about now. A man in his twenties, should he just stay home all the time if he didn't go to work? If someone saw him working in the fields, he would be the laughing stock of the whole Lujiazui community.
Gao Xiulan felt hatred in her heart when she thought about it. She was so angry that she wanted to tear Li Laiying to pieces.
The funniest thing was that when she stormed into the room, she saw Li Laiying sleeping on the dirt floor with her hair disheveled. The room was dimly lit, and she didn't notice and stepped on Li Laiying's hand.
In broad daylight, Gao Xiulan was frightened to the point of breaking out in a cold sweat. Ignoring her cries, she reached out, grabbed her greasy, straw-like hair, dragged her out, and threw her in the yard.
Beating his daughter-in-law? Gao Xiulan really wouldn't do such a thing. Li Laiying cried so miserably as if her father had died. On the one hand, it was because Gao Xiulan had stepped on her just now, and her wrist and neck felt like they were dislocated and hurting badly. On the other hand, she was strong on the outside but weak on the inside and was panicked.
Lu Dongcai held Chuyi in his arms without saying a word. He was startled when his mother came back angrily and entered the house. He put Chuyi on the mat and was about to go in, but before he could follow her in, a quarrel broke out and the person was dragged out.
They didn't fight, so forget it. He didn't want to persuade her. He was useless and couldn't control his wife, nor did he know how to do it. If they could live together, they would live together. If they couldn't, they would get divorced. It was okay for him to live with Chuyi. The one bite he saved was enough for Chuyi to eat.
Li Laiying was still crying, and the shrill sound sounded as if someone was cutting her flesh.
Gao Xiulan's head ached from the noise. She pointed with her hands on her hips, then sat down on the eaves angrily. "Cry, cry as hard as you can, I'll see if you can cry Maoerling down. I'm telling you, this matter isn't over today. Just wait, I'll go back to the Li family and ask them how they raised their daughter. Do they take care of her or not? Who does this troublemaker want to harm? Has my Lu family offended your Li family's ancestors for eighteen generations?"
Having said that, perhaps realizing that words were pointless, she stood up and reached out to drag Li Laiying again: "Come on, come on, today's business is today. Even if I have to light a torch, I have to go to your Li family today to take care of this matter. I am not one to eat leftovers!"
Li Laiying didn't dare let her drag her back to the Li family. No one knew the situation in her family better than she did. She had never lived a normal life in that family during those years. Otherwise, she wouldn't have been so obsessed with wanting a son. She wanted a son to gain a foothold and then control Lu Dongcai.
Anyway, Lu Dongcheng and his wife are in the army and will not come back. Lu Dongfu is going to the city to go to school. When the old couple are too old to move, they will have to rely on her and Lu Dongcai. Lu Dongcai is an honest man with a good temper. As long as she can control him, she will have the final say in the family in the future.
The idea was good, but unfortunately he didn't have much brains and showed his true colors too early.
Gao Xiulan reached out and pulled her, and she started punching and kicking like crazy: "I won't go, I won't go. I'm a member of the Lu family now that I'm married. You bully me, and your whole family bullies me——"
Wen Wan stood at the entrance of the yard and called out, "Auntie!" Then she looked around, hesitated for a moment, and finally came over. She had never seen such a scene in her life, with people pulling and tugging, crying and making a fuss. Although she didn't know the reason, but because Li Laiying didn't want Chuyi, Wen Wan automatically sided with Gao Xiulan's side. After all, they were still a family, and there had to be a result for all the quarrels. She didn't know what Gao Xiulan and Lu Dongcai were thinking, let alone what was in Li Laiying's head, but it was not a good thing to keep quarreling like this.
Seeing someone coming, Li Laiying became even more excited: "I have been in your Lu family for a few years. Have I eaten more of your food or done less? I am just a confinement confinement and you all have such big opinions. When you got married, you said all kinds of good things, saying that the daughter-in-law would be treated like a daughter after entering the family. But the child never treated me as a human being in his whole life——"
Suddenly he started throwing a tantrum again and pushed Gao Xiulan so hard that she was caught off guard and almost fell down.
Wen Wan reached out and helped her up, looking at Li Laiying as if she were watching an opera, then called out to Lu Donglin, "Donglin, go back and get the mirror from my desk."
Lu Donglin didn't know what she was going to do, so he ran back quickly.
After Wen Wan helped Gao Xiulan up, she ignored Li Laiying's crying and said to Gao Xiulan, "Aunt, please help sew the quilt first. The light will be bad soon. No matter how noisy you are, you still have to live your life."
Gao Xiulan was feeling so angry at the moment that she had no mood to sew a quilt.
Wen Wan added: "If you are not in a hurry, come to my place first. I want to make a few pairs of cotton shoes. I haven't made them yet. Mom said you are good at needlework. You can teach me now that you have time." When these two people quarrel, it takes two mouths to quarrel together. If you persuade one to leave, it would be considered a skill for the one on the ground to continue to perform a solo.
Gao Xiulan knew that the teaching was fake, just a pretext to give her and Li Laiying a way out, so she changed her mind and agreed. She didn't want to watch from here, it made her angry, out of sight, out of mind.
Just as she was walking out of the yard, Lu Donglin ran over and gave Wen Wan a mirror the size of a man's palm.
Wen Wan smiled and thanked him, then walked towards Li Laiying with a mirror. Gao Xiulan and Lu Donglin were both confused by her.
She squatted down in front of Li Laiying, facing the mirror towards her, and said gently: "Don't cry, take a good look at yourself now."
Li Laiying's eyes accidentally caught sight of the person in the mirror and she just stood there in a daze.
I haven't washed my hair for a month, leaving it greasy and messy. I haven't washed my face properly either. I've gained some weight and a bit of flesh on my face, but aside from the perfunctory daily wiping of my cheeks, they've become flaky around the edges. The color is a bit more distinct. The spots on my face, which were once subtle, have suddenly multiplied from this confinement period. Add to that the constant crying from this morning until now, and my once-pretty almond-shaped eyes are now red and swollen like walnuts. One side of my face is still swollen, from that slap from Lu Dongcai.
Li Laiying was shocked by herself.
"Sister-in-law Laiying, logically we shouldn't address each other like that. Actually, Dongping is slightly older than Dongcai, so to be honest, Dongcai calls Dongping brother, and he has to call me sister-in-law. But you're older than me, and before I married Dongping, I called you Sister Laiying. Later, along with Chun'e and Donglin, we all started calling you Sister-in-law Laiying. Do you know why?"
Li Laiying didn't know.
Wen Wan continued, "Because I liked you very much at that time. Although you don't talk much, you are very capable. You can do many things that I can't do easily. When you speak, your voice is soft and gentle, which makes people feel particularly comfortable and gentle. I call you sister and sister-in-law not only because you are older than me, but also because I want to be closer to you. After all, I don't have many friends here. But now, take a good look at the person in the mirror. Is it the person I just mentioned? Do you know her?"
"Dongcai is kind and considerate, and your aunt isn't the type to be petty, let alone someone who favors boys over girls. You're lucky to be in such a family, and you should cherish your blessings. If you really had a pushy, demanding mother-in-law, or a bad-tempered and inconsiderate man, where would you be now? Would you still have the chance to cause trouble here? Would you have the chance to have someone serve you food and drink, enjoy a comfortable confinement period, and then have them dislike your own daughter?"
Li Laiying looked at her with a complicated expression, and after moving his lips a few times, he finally uttered a word: "What do you know? You know nothing. You're from the city, and your family is well-off. You don't understand how hard it is for me."
Wen Wan frowned, not wanting to persuade her anymore as she was so stubborn, she stood up and said, "I don't know how hard it is for you, but I know there are people who have it harder than you, but they still get by. Life is something you make, not something you make." After saying that, she turned and went to Lu Dongcai, holding out her hand and said, "I see you're quite busy too. If you don't sew the quilt soon, you'll be gone. Give it to me on Chuyi. My aunt is helping me, and I can still help look after the children."
Lu Dongcai gave Chuyi to her, and she carried the child out of the yard.
They were the only two people left in the yard.
Lu Dongcai sat on the eaves, and Li Laiying sat on the muddy ground in the yard.
After a while, Lu Dongcai stood up and walked to Li Laiying. Instead of pulling her up, he sat down next to her and sat down on the muddy ground together.
"I hit you, and you hit me, so we're even. Now it's just the two of us, and I want to ask you one question: Can we still live like this?"
Li Laiying looked at him for a long time before saying, "What do you mean?"
Lu Dongcai sighed, "A forced melon is not sweet. If you have thought about it, then go ahead and bring Chuyi home to take care of him yourself. You should do what you need to do. You have already spent the confinement period. I believe I have not let you suffer any loss. Now that the confinement period is over, you should go back to work and take care of the child. It will be the same as before. Let's put those unhappy things behind us. If you don't want to do it, then you can stay in that room for one more night. I will go to my third uncle's house and we will go to the commune to get a divorce tomorrow."
After saying that, without waiting for Li Laiying to speak, he continued, "I have no objection to you wanting a son. I want one too. But Chuyi is also my child. If you are so cruel as to not want her, I don't think there is any need for us to continue living together. I can't live in the same room and sleep in the same bed with such a cruel woman."
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