Yu Guangxue's pupils contracted, and she said nervously, "Mom, please sit down."
Grandma Tang ignored her completely, instead frowning as she glanced at Old Yu and Aunt Yu, and coughed heavily.
“A married daughter is like water spilled from a cup. You can’t come to live with your daughter just because you don’t have a son. Isn’t that affecting my son’s life?”
Old Mrs. Tang pulled up a chair and sat down, her tone extremely harsh.
Aunt Yu flung open the door and sneered, "You call coming to see our daughter seeking refuge? Are you implying that after we marry our daughter into your Tang family, we can't have any contact with each other?"
"What kind of logic is this? If you want to sever ties with our family, then we'll take our daughter back today!"
She had a loud voice, deliberately letting the neighbors hear, since Old Mrs. Tang also lived on this street.
Soon, neighbors gathered at the door to watch the spectacle and started discussing it.
Aunt Yu was already holding back her anger, and now she couldn't hold it in any longer: "Mrs. Tang, what's wrong? My daughter is six months pregnant, and we, as her parents, have come to see her. What's wrong with that?"
"We've only been here for less than an afternoon, and you and your son have been taking turns chasing us away. Is this how your family usually treats other relatives?"
Grandma Tang grinned and glared at the neighbor outside, angrily demanding, "Close the door!"
Aunt Yu sneered and said, "It's so hot in here, the house is stuffy, what's wrong with opening the door to let in some fresh air?"
The neighbors immediately started talking: "So it's the father-in-law and mother-in-law of the eldest son of the Tang family. We've never seen them before."
"That's right. It seems like they didn't keep in touch before. The eldest son's wife rarely went out either; she stayed at home all day."
"What is Mrs. Tang doing? Chasing away other people's parents, that's going too far!"
...
Old Mrs. Tang's face was gloomy. She used to always use the fact that Yu Guanguangxue hadn't had children for five years after getting married to tease her.
Yu Guangxue was soft-hearted and was easily manipulated by her. She looked down on Yu Guangxue for being from the countryside and bullied her because she had no brothers, so she prevented her from having any contact with her family.
Everything was fine until Old Yu and his wife suddenly showed up and acted unusually assertive.
Old Mrs. Tang came over after hearing Tang Jincheng's complaints, intending to drive away Old Yu and his wife, but she was caught off guard.
“You…you’ve got all these bags and packages, it’s obvious you’re planning to stay. My son’s house is so small, you can’t do this to me.”
Grandma Tang's momentum had clearly weakened, but she was still persisting.
Aunt Yu, with a cold face, was about to continue arguing with Old Mrs. Tang when she suddenly sighed and said helplessly, "I only have one daughter. She's been married for five years and her husband's family won't let her go back to her parents' home. They won't even let us see her. She's finally six months pregnant and her body is heavy and inconvenient, so your uncle and I came to take care of her for a few days."
“Her mother-in-law and her family were unhappy and insisted on kicking us out. Her son-in-law even told us to get out.”
The neighbors all looked at each other strangely. How could this be? The two families were really close relatives. This was going too far.
Old Mrs. Tang quickly stood up and shouted sternly, "Isn't it because your family is poor? Your daughter is using my son's salary to subsidize you. Does that mean my son will have to live a hard life?"
Aunt Yu tilted her head and looked at her: "My family has six acres of land, and there are only two of us living here. How poor can we be?"
"To put it bluntly, your son's annual salary isn't even as much as my family's land rent. I don't even care about his meager fixed salary!"
"You just want to control my daughter because she's gentle, and you're afraid we'll back her up, so you're in a hurry to get rid of us!"
A soft laugh came from the crowd. Old Mrs. Xu, who didn't get along with Old Mrs. Tang, said sternly, "Old Mrs. Tang, your second daughter-in-law gave her younger brother more than two hundred yuan, and your second son and daughter-in-law even got into a fight in the street. How can you still let your second daughter-in-law have contact with her family?"
"You just think that because the eldest son's family has no brothers, they're easy to bully, right?"
Grandma Tang was trembling with anger, but she was speechless. No matter what, they were in the wrong in this matter.
She hastily retorted, "My son's salary is low; how can he afford to support so many people?"
Old Yu finally spoke: "Xiaoxue, how much money does Tang Jincheng give you each month?"
Yu Guangxue lowered her head, looking very sad: "For the first three years of our marriage, I was given ten yuan a month. But in the last two years, I haven't received a single penny. I earn fifteen yuan a month by washing clothes for others."
Grandma Tang was so angry she jumped up and down: "You're talking nonsense, Yu Guangxie, don't spout gibberish!"
Old Yu chuckled: "Now you don't have to worry, we don't need your son's money."
"I wonder if your son doesn't bring his earnings home, or if he's keeping someone on the side? Is all his salary going to his mistress?"
Old Mrs. Tang's expression changed slightly, and she said guiltily, "What nonsense are you talking about? How could my son keep a concubine? You old hag, you're really disrespectful to your elders!"
After saying that, she ran off in a flash, her steps very agile.
Grandma Xu immediately asked, "Which village are you from?"
“Lujia Village is a three-hour walk from here. There’s a young man from our village who comes to the county every morning to sell things and goes back in the afternoon. He can get home before dark.”
Aunt Yu smiled very kindly.
An elderly woman with short hair said in surprise, "I thought Tang Lao's family had married into the family from far away. I didn't expect her family home to be so close."
Aunt Yu smiled and said, "Of course."
"But the Tang family has been preventing my daughter from coming home for five years. This is not a marriage, it's practically imprisonment! At least in prison you can have visitors."
Aunt Yu carried a bag of sunflower seeds out the door, grabbed a handful of seeds from each person at the door, and started chatting with them.
Lu Yang was worried about Old Yu and Aunt Yu, so he went around to the side to check on them.
After Grandma Tang left, Lu Xing joked, "That old Grandma Tang is even worse than Grandma."
"Our grandma didn't stop our mom from going back to her parents' home."
Lu Yang's expression was inscrutable as he said in a low voice, "That old hag probably knows that her son is having an affair."
“If I wasn’t worried that Yu Guangxue wouldn’t be able to handle the shock, I would have advised Uncle Yu to report Tang Jincheng right now.”
Lu Xing couldn't help but sigh: "Yesterday I tentatively asked our mother, and she said that a miscarriage at seven months is no different from giving birth directly, and it could even result in someone's death."
"This is troublesome. Will Tang Jincheng be able to break up with that woman outside?"
Lu Yang shook his head and said sinisterly, "It's impossible to break it off. Uncle Yu and Aunt Yu also expected it, which is why they didn't confront Tang Jincheng."
Lu Xing scratched his head and dejectedly went to set up a stall with Lu Yang.
Uncle Yu and Aunt Yu stayed at Yu Guangxue's house, and a month passed in chaos.
Lu Yang originally planned to take Lu Xing to buy stationery and a schoolbag after selling all the cold noodles, bean sprouts, and mushrooms, since they would be starting school soon.
Just as the two of them sold out, Aunt Yu came running over quickly, covered in sweat.
"Yangzi, Xiaoxue is about to give birth. Can you help me get her to the hospital?"
Aunt Yu nearly fell before she could even reach Lu Yang's side.
Lu Yang quickly helped him up and said to Lu Xing, "You pack up and go back first, I'll go to the hospital with you!"
Without waiting for Lu Xing's response, she and Aunt Yu headed towards the Tang family's house.
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