Chapter 166 The Battle Between Mother-in-Law and Daughter-in-Law
From a low, cramped house in the west of the city came the sound of a woman cursing:
"...God, I've had the worst luck in eight lifetimes! I married a wife who can't even protect the baby in her belly, and her family is running wild in her husband's family. Why doesn't a bolt of lightning strike those heartless bastards to death...?"
At the door of the room, Feng Lianhua stood with her hands on her hips, pointing at Liu Huazhi, whose face was ashen, and cursing her for a full hour.
Since the Zhang family emptied her meager savings last year, leaving her with a mountain of debt, she could no longer maintain her innocent image and began to resemble Ma Dahua, whom she had always looked down upon.
The thought of the compensation of ten taels of silver being reduced to five taels caused Feng Lianhua a heart-wrenching pain. She looked down on Liu Huazhi even more and forced her to return to the Liu family to get the silver back, despite Liu Huazhi having just miscarried.
Liu Huazhi was also very patient. She remained silent in the face of Feng Lianhua's insults, only clutching her aching lower abdomen, her face growing increasingly pale.
Seeing that she didn't speak, Feng Lianhua became even angrier. She rushed forward in three steps, grabbed Liu Huazhi's arm and pulled her off the bed: "Get up! Don't play dead for me. Go and get the money back right now, or I'll have Huaining divorce you!"
Upon hearing the words "divorce you," Liu Huazhi could no longer hold back and used all her strength to shake off Feng Lianhua's hand: "It's just five taels of silver. Once I'm feeling better, I'll set up a stall and earn it back in two or three months."
Feng Lianhua sneered: "Make it back? You useless piece of trash, dreaming. Now everyone on the street knows that your wontons caused a miscarriage. Even if you gave them away for free, nobody would bother with you."
Liu Huazhi's expression changed slightly, and she tried her best to argue: "That woman framed me. The government has cleared my name. There was nothing wrong with my wontons at all!"
She said that, but she knew the truth very well.
As the weather gets hotter, she can't sell all the wonton filling she prepares each day, so she keeps it to sell the next day instead of throwing it away.
Everything was fine before, but that day the meat went bad and started to smell. She tried everything she could, adding lots of scallions, ginger, garlic, and chili peppers, to barely suppress the stench.
Unexpectedly, that woman was so useless. She got sick from just one bowl of wontons, and even miscarried because of the stomach upset, losing her baby as well.
The more Liu Huazhi thought about it, the more resentful she became, grinding her teeth together.
Feng Lianhua was startled by her ferocious appearance and regretted even more that she had agreed to let her in.
Huaining recently passed the prefectural examination and has become a student. With his talent and looks, what kind of girl couldn't he marry? It's just that he's too honest and fell into this little slut's trap.
With both old and new grudges surfacing, Feng Lianhua felt an extreme loathing for Liu Huazhi and, without thinking, raised her hand and slapped her.
"If you don't get your money back, you'd better go earn some money tomorrow, whether it's setting up a stall or doing laundry. Don't blame me for taking care of you every day if you don't see any money!"
Liu Huazhi was shocked that Feng Lianhua would actually hit her. She covered her face and stared at her incredulously: "You dare to hit me? You actually dare to hit me?"
Feng Lianhua sneered: "So what if I hit you? You shameless bastard, you deserve to be taught a lesson."
Provoked, Liu Huazhi went berserk, stepping barefoot onto the ground and lunging at Feng Lianhua: "You old shrew, you took advantage of my miscarriage to torment me, I'll fight you to the death!"
"Ouch—"
Caught off guard, Feng Lianhua received a sharp slap to her face, the burning pain shooting straight to the top of her head.
Seeing Liu Huazhi's frenzied behavior, Feng Lianhua also became furious. Ignoring the fact that the door was wide open and might make the neighbors laugh, she grabbed Liu Huazhi's hair and yelled, "You shameless hussy, you've gone too far!"
The mother-in-law and daughter-in-law fought fiercely in the small room, their shouts and cries reaching the ears of the neighbors.
The neighbors had seen the Xu family's commotion quite often, and at first they didn't pay much attention. But as the noise grew louder and louder, they worried that something might happen and went to check on them.
The mother-in-law and daughter-in-law were locked in a fierce struggle, their bodies intertwined like snakes. The ground was covered with clumps of hair that had been pulled out, and their faces were covered in blood. The neighbors were terrified and rushed over to break them up.
When Xu Huaining returned from the Master's house, this was the chaotic scene he saw.
For a moment, his face turned extremely ugly, so gloomy it looked like it could drip water.
After finally separating the mother-in-law and daughter-in-law, the neighbors dispersed in twos and threes, and the noisy courtyard returned to silence. Suddenly, Xu Huaining kicked over the chair in front of her with a loud crash.
Liu Huazhi and Feng Lianhua both shuddered, finally realizing that things were about to go wrong.
Feng Lianhua was a little afraid of her son. When she saw Xu Huaining lose his temper, she immediately shifted the blame: "Huaining, it's your wife who is unfilial and beats her mother-in-law. I was so angry that I fought with her."
Liu Huazhi glared angrily, about to explain, when a low growl came from beside her ear: "Enough!"
Xu Huaining's gaze fell on Liu Huazhi, looking at her for a long time without any emotion, before shifting to Feng Lianhua and saying, "She just had a miscarriage and needs someone to take care of her. Mother will take her back to the village tomorrow."
Feng Lianhua's eyes lit up: "Good, good, good! Huaining, don't worry, your mother will definitely take good care of your wife!"
As she spoke, she gave Liu Huazhi a smug smile, determined to "properly" teach Liu Huazhi the principles of being a daughter-in-law.
Liu Huazhi had no intention of returning to Xujiaba to be tormented by Feng Lianhua. She lunged at Xu Huaining and grabbed his sleeve tightly: "Husband, we just got married. How can we live separately? What will outsiders think..."
Xu Huaining raised her hand to interrupt her, her tone neither warm nor cold: "I have a lot of studies and can't take care of you. Your mother isn't used to living in the city, so you'll have to make do and go back with her. Come back when you've recovered. Nobody will say anything."
Liu Huazhi felt a chill in her heart, and boundless fear gripped her entire body.
What does "husband" mean? Does he think she's a burden and intends to abandon her?
No, no, my husband believes she is of great use to his future and would never abandon her.
Liu Huazhi composed herself and regained some confidence: "Husband, I'm not seriously ill. Staying in the city can help you. Isn't it my way of helping you become a scholar?"
A hint of darkness flashed across Xu Huaining's eyes, but his expression softened, and his voice revealed a touch of gentleness:
"I will always remember your feelings for me, but the doctor said that you need to rest and recuperate, otherwise it will affect your ability to have children. Don't you want to have your own children?"
When the child was mentioned, a look of pain flashed across Liu Huazhi's face, but she was secretly pleased by Xu Huaining's words. She forcefully suppressed her previous unease: "I can take care of myself on my own. My husband doesn't need to worry about me."
Xu Huaining's eyes were filled with annoyance, but she patiently continued to coax, "I can only feel at ease when my mother is taking care of me. The teacher called me over earlier and asked about you."
At this point, a troubled look appeared on his face: "This matter has caused quite a stir. Although the government has determined that the family was at fault, your reputation has also been damaged. Going back to the village to lay low for a while and wait until this matter is completely over will be good for both of us."
Liu Huazhi valued Xu Huaining's future the most. When she heard that this matter would affect his image in front of the teacher, she panicked and gritted her teeth and nodded in agreement: "Okay, I'll listen to you and go back to the village for a while."
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