Since Su Mingyue was arrested after her crime was exposed, Li Qiuxia has had no one to take care of her.
Left with no other choice, the Bai family members had to take turns serving him.
It must be said that Su Mingyue is quite capable when it comes to taking care of people, pleasing them, and using all her skills.
Li Qiuxia suffered from chronic illness, which caused her to have an unpredictable personality, and none of Bai's three daughters-in-law could stand it.
Only Bai Chengshi, as the husband, and his sons were able to endure it.
As a result, these days, they didn't serve Su Mingyue as well as they did, and Li Qiuxia started acting crazy again.
She would occasionally burst into curses, and sometimes burst into tears, saying that her children were unfilial and wished for her death, and that none of them had any good intentions.
His unpredictable personality caused Zhang Aihua and Yang Qiaoqiao great distress.
Although they hoped Li Qiuxia would die soon so as not to drag the whole family down, they dared not show it openly, for their husbands were all incredibly filial.
And if this gets out, what will become of their reputations? Nobody wants to be labeled as a wicked daughter-in-law.
With Su Mingyue, the easy target, no longer around, what could the daughters-in-law do? They could only grit their teeth and serve her.
Like today, even though it's a joyous day for the Lunar New Year, they were all waiting to finish their meal and go back to their parents' home on the second day of the Lunar New Year, but the old woman started causing trouble again.
First, she complained that the vegetables weren't cooked well enough, then she complained that the chicken wasn't cooked tender enough, and that she couldn't chew it properly, deliberately not giving her anything good to eat.
This infuriated Yang Qiaoqiao and Zhang Aihua.
If it's just causing trouble for the whole family, that's one thing, but at least it's treating everyone equally.
Unfortunately, Meng Sufang had a strange feeling that Su Mingyue had ill intentions, so she separated from Bai Xiaofei.
At the time, Li Qiuxia cursed Meng Sufang, saying that she clearly wanted to separate from the family as soon as possible and not serve this old woman, yet she made up such a baseless excuse.
Now that Su Mingyue has really gotten into trouble and brought shame to the Bai family, the old woman has started to truly believe that Meng Sufang is the Bai family's lucky star again. Her attitude towards her is completely different from how she treats her two daughters-in-law.
When Meng Sufang and Bai Xiaofei were serving Li Qiuxia, she was well-behaved and didn't make a fuss.
When it was the second and third wives' turn to serve, they would nitpick and find fault with everything; it was something no human could do.
The thought that life might continue like this for the rest of their lives made Zhang Aihua and Yang Qiaoqiao feel like the sky was falling.
She quickly pulled her husband back to their room and started making a scene, demanding a separation.
The reason they didn't separate their households before was because it was profitable, plus Su Mingyue was willing to subsidize the Bai family and help take care of Li Qiuxia, which they couldn't be happier with.
Now... split it up as quickly as possible! They're not going to put up with it anymore!
Meanwhile, Yang Qiaoqiao had already explained things to Bai Tianyou.
This also indicated Zhang Aihua's attitude: she wanted to separate the family.
Both families have reached a consensus!
But Bai Tianyou was a very filial son, which put him in a difficult position.
If they split up now, Bai Chengshi and Bai Yuxiao will be left to take care of Li Qiuxia. How will they manage?
"I don't care, you've seen your mother's behavior before! If she weren't being unreasonable, I, as her daughter-in-law, would just take care of her."
"She not only causes trouble on ordinary days, but today is New Year's Eve dinner, the Spring Festival, and she won't let us have a peaceful time. How can we stay here any longer!"
"The eldest son's family is quite clever. They used the excuse of Su Zhiqing to run away long ago. Now they only come back occasionally to take care of her. They don't have to live with their mother-in-law. It's so great!"
The most crucial point is that Li Qiuxia only treats the eldest son's family well, which is what Yang Qiaoqiao finds most unbearable.
We're all daughters-in-law, why should we suffer injustice?
“Wife, don’t be unreasonable. We haven’t separated from the family all these years, and Mom and Dad have given us so much in subsidies. After our eldest son’s family moved out, they have always been self-reliant and have never asked for any subsidies from the family.”
“Before, with Su Zhiqing around, she took good care of Mom. Over the years, we kept all the grain and wages we earned. But now that Su Zhiqing is gone, we’re making a fuss about dividing the family property. What will outsiders think?”
“Everyone thinks we are unfilial children who left because we didn’t want to take care of Mom. How can we hold our heads up in the brigade and the village after this?”
Yang Qiaoqiao went completely berserk: "I don't care! I've put up with your mother for a long time. She's frail and sickly, and we, as her children, have never skimped on her food and clothing. Why does she always cause trouble?!"
"Now your mom only trusts your eldest brother and sister-in-law, so let them move back and take care of her. Anyway, Dad's subsidies are supporting them! We'll just pay some living expenses and food expenses!"
"..."
Although Bai Tianyou and Bai Tieshu are filial sons, they are essentially afraid of their wives.
Yang Qiaoqiao and Zhang Aihua are the kind of people who value interests. Now that no one is helping to take care of the troublesome Li Qiuxia, and they know very well that their mother's temper is indeed difficult to deal with.
Separating the family might actually be a good solution.
At worst, they'll give us more living expenses.
Anyway, Mom only recognizes the eldest son's family now. She's good to them, so it's perfect for them to take care of her.
The next day.
Ye Nian'an and the others got up very early and, after having their first breakfast of the new year, excitedly went to the back mountain.
During the off-season, many villagers come up the mountain to dig for treasure and hunt wild game. However, today is the first day of the new year, and local villagers are visiting relatives.
The children are busy asking for red envelopes, so they don't have time to come over.
The usually bustling back hill was unusually quiet at this time.
This made things convenient for Ye Nian'an and the others.
Ye Nian'an, Chu Xin'er, and Ye Yao went to see if there were any wild vegetables, medicinal herbs, edible mushrooms, hazelnuts, or chestnuts they could dig up.
Ye Hui, Chu Yan, and Ye Sheng went hunting.
During the off-season for farming, the outer part of the back mountain is always completely cleared out.
The group decided to venture directly into the center of the back mountain.
I used to frequently travel this road from Liangtian Township to Houpu Township to visit the Ye family, so I knew the route well.
It's Chinese New Year again, and many reptiles hibernate, so wild boars are rarely seen, greatly reducing the danger.
Chu Yan and his group went to find the rabbit hole where the rabbits hibernated.
Ye Nian'an and his group found medicinal herbs and wild vegetables.
With Ye Nian'an's careful guidance, Ye Hui and Chu Xin'er found some edible mushrooms, chestnuts, and hazelnuts.
Ye Nian'an also dug up a lot of medicinal herbs.
Chu Yan and his group found the rabbit burrow and used some simple methods to force the rabbits out, catching quite a few.
In no time, they found a lot of good things, and everyone was very happy.
In the 1970s, the back mountain was a vast and resource-rich area where many things could be found. As a result, villagers often came to sweep the mountain. Even when Shi Minghui had free time, he would lead a team to organize and gather the young and strong men in the village to go up the mountain to hunt wild boars.
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