Just then, Sister-in-law Ahua from next door hurriedly came over.
She was carrying a worn-out water bottle, her forehead was covered with glistening beads of sweat, and her clothes were soaked with sweat.
When she inadvertently caught sight of Ma Aning sitting by the door, a look of concern immediately appeared on her face.
"Anning, why are you back at this hour? It's so hot outside! Here, have some water to quench your thirst."
As she spoke, Sister-in-law Ahua quickly stepped forward, gently placed the kettle on the ground, swiftly lifted the lid, filled a cup with warm water, and handed it to Ma Aning.
Ma Aning gratefully accepted the water glass, sipped the water slowly, and made a gurgling sound in her throat.
After finishing his water, he put down the cup and said weakly, "Thank you, Sister-in-law Ahua. No one's home; they're probably still busy in the fields."
Upon hearing this, Sister-in-law Ahua turned around and was about to run out without saying a word: "That won't do. You're not well, you can't just sit here and wait like this."
"I'll go to the fields now and call your mother back. You can rest here for a while." Before she finished speaking, her figure disappeared around the corner.
"Mom has arrived safely at Grandma's house. I'm so sleepy, I'm going to sleep." She stretched in her belly and fell asleep.
Ma Aning touched her belly, feeling the sensation of her baby turning over, her eyes filled with tenderness.
The Ma family returned quickly, thinking something had happened to their daughter (elder sister), and they all rushed back without even going to work.
Seeing their daughter sitting safely in front of their house, everyone breathed a sigh of relief.
"What on earth happened? It takes at least an hour to get here from my house, even if I run all the way!"
"And it's the middle of the day now, the sun is blazing and the temperature is terrifyingly high, why did you come here all by yourself?"
"Could it be that you had a fight with your brother-in-law?" The eldest brother, Ma Amu, broke the silence first, asking with a face full of doubt and worry.
Ma Aning just kept sobbing, crying so heartbrokenly, tears streaming down her face. The rest of the family were like ants on a hot pan, anxiously pacing around but not knowing what was wrong.
"Oh dear, my little aunt, say something already! Stop crying and sobbing, it's driving me crazy!" Father Ma was also extremely anxious and couldn't help but urge her on.
Perhaps sensing her family's concern, Ma Aning finally stopped crying. After taking a deep breath, she slowly recounted all the grievances she had suffered in the two years since she got married.
After hearing his sister's story, Ma's father was so angry that he blew his beard and glared at her. It was a pity that he didn't have a beard, otherwise his beard would probably have been sticking up to the sky by now.
Ma's mother, Wenli, sat silently wiping away her tears, muttering repeatedly, "How dare that damned old woman bully my daughter like that!"
After understanding the whole story, Ma Amu and Ma Alin, two grown men, were instantly enraged. They rolled up their sleeves and declared that they would go and settle accounts with that family and teach those ungrateful bastards a lesson.
"Does my brother-in-law not care at all? He swore to us that he would treat our eldest sister well for the rest of his life and would never let her suffer any grievances or hardships."
"Hmph, if we had known he was such an untrustworthy person, we would never have stood by and watched our eldest sister jump into the fire!"
The eldest uncle, Ma Amu, grew angrier the more he thought about it and angrily accused him.
"Shen Zishan is indeed good to me, but his mother is really difficult to deal with. She's a complete drama queen! Whenever Zishan is home, she's so affectionate towards me, showering me with concern and care, making it impossible to find fault with her."
"The moment Shen Zishan stepped out of the house to go to work, this old woman immediately changed her attitude."
"As soon as I left the mountain today, my mother-in-law couldn't wait to wake me up from my sleep."
"She ordered me to wash everyone's clothes in the house, not only our own little family's clothes, but also the clothes of the second and eldest sons' families, all of which were stuffed in front of me."
"I gritted my teeth and silently started working. It took a lot of effort to finally finish washing all the clothes."
"I thought I could finally catch my breath, but who knew that wicked old woman had no intention of letting me go."
"Then she ordered me to go to the fields and work, and I had to finish a whole acre before I could go home."
“I was working so hard in the field that my back was so sore I could barely straighten up. If I continued like this, I was afraid I would lose the baby in my belly. With no other choice, I sneaked home when my mother-in-law wasn’t looking.”
Ma Aning couldn't help but cry to her mother about the grievances she had suffered during this period: "Mom, I really can't take it anymore..." Before she could finish speaking, tears had already flowed out like a flood.
Listening to her daughter's story, Wenli trembled with anger and roared furiously, "You silly girl, do you think your father, your mother, and your two younger brothers are all vegetarians?"
"You've suffered so much, why didn't you come back sooner? You just let that family bully you like this. Do you think they can just mess with my precious daughter like that?"
Seeing this, Ma Alin picked up a hoe without saying a word, grabbed Ma Amu, and stormed out of his yard, seemingly preparing to settle scores with the Shen family and vent his anger on behalf of his elder sister.
“You two are just fools. If you just let this go, you’ll end up being wrong even if you’re right. We need to think of a better way.” Ma Quan blocked his two sons.
"Dad, have you come up with any ideas?" Ma Amu asked, still holding a hoe, ready to rush out at a moment's notice.
"What's all the noise about? Aren't you thinking about this?" Ma Quan frowned, unable to come up with a good solution.
Shen Xiaoxiao was woken up by the noise and heard the crowd's discussion.
"Grandpa, Grandma, Uncle, Uncle, I miss you all so much!" The little one was jumping around happily in my belly, which was tough on Ma Aning.
Hearing Ma Aning's cry of pain, "Mom, I'm sorry, Xiaoxiao didn't mean it."
Hearing the baby's voice, Ma Aning patted her belly soothingly, "Good baby."
"Girl, what's wrong? Does your stomach hurt? Sit down and rest." Wenli said worriedly, helping Ma Aning up.
Hearing her grandmother's voice, Shen Xiaoxiao became excited again, calling out, "Grandma, Grandma," but remembering that she was still in her mother's belly, she calmed herself down and stopped moving her hands and feet.
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