Chapter Sixty-Six: Do I need your permission, you old hag, to remarry?
Liu Cuie stopped pretending and, hands on her hips, started cursing: "You damned woman, don't try to fool me! If you're going to spend your whole life guarding Guosheng's grave, I won't say a word. But since you're getting married today, you have to return the pension to our family!"
"So what if you've stayed for six years? The money you took was earned with my son's life! If you don't give me the money, you'll have to stay with my son for the rest of your life! If I don't speak up, you can forget about getting married for the rest of your life!"
Upon hearing this, Zhang Chunxue spat and shouted, "Comrades! There's a feudal remnant here. I didn't say so; she said it herself. If you don't step forward, I'll take her to the police station for you!"
“We’ve been separated for twenty years. Back then, who even remembered that your surname was Liu? She wouldn’t even let our family touch the Zhong family’s rice jar. She cursed me every day, saying I was a jinx and that I caused her son’s death. Now that she’s been dead for six years, if I find another partner, she’ll come here to freeload.”
"If you die, Zhong Guosheng might jump out from underground and strangle you one day."
Have you no shame?
The crowd erupted in noise, whispering amongst themselves.
"That old lady is so shameless..."
"Does being a widow mean you should never remarry? Does that mean you should never leave the house, never speak, and never eat?"
Everyone knows how Zhang Chunxue has managed to survive these past few years, raising three sons and a daughter—it's been incredibly tough for her!
Gao Xiuli, who had been standing silently at the back, felt embarrassed at this moment, but she couldn't disobey her mother-in-law, so she could only laugh awkwardly and shrink back a bit.
Huang Xiaolan was different. Dressed impeccably, she was arrogant and unyielding. She took a big step forward and said in a cold voice, "Even if you've separated the family, if Second Brother isn't dead, he still has to take care of you in your old age, right?"
“Mom is getting old, and you daughters-in-law should take turns caring for her. My second brother is dead, and since you are his wife, you have to take care of him in his old age! That's the rule!”
Zhang Chunxue sneered, "Huang Xiaolan, is that what you're saying?"
"Are you saying that because my husband is dead, I don't even have the right to live anymore? I have to continue taking care of his bullying brothers, sisters-in-law, and parents? Did they ever raise me? Since when did a daughter-in-law have the obligation to support her in-laws?"
"You speak so righteously, then why don't you go out and risk your life for your husband? Why don't you work in the fields and carry manure for him? Why don't you serve your mother-in-law tea and water and wash her dirty feet?"
She spat again, "You want me to take care of you in your old age? Everyone in our village knows how she treated me and Zhong Guosheng back then."
"She doted on her eldest son, loved her youngest son, and cherished her youngest daughter. But Zhong Guosheng, the second son, was neither loved by his father nor his mother. Now that he's dead, you're jumping out to demand compensation?"
"What right do you have?"
"If she had ever said a kind word or cooked a hot meal for me during the first few years after I married into the Zhong family, I, Zhang Chunxue, wouldn't have fallen out with them!"
"That's not all. Xiaoxiao finally got into high school, and this old hag who separated from us a long time ago still wants to sell my daughter for a dowry!"
She stepped forward and pointed at Liu Cuie on the ground: "When you did these things, did you ever think about whether you were being fair to Zhong Guosheng?"
Upon hearing this, the crowd gasped in shock, and even Song Xingzhi subconsciously shifted his feet, his expression turning grim.
Zhang Chunxue wasn't afraid at all, and her words became more and more forceful: "You don't even like your second son, Zhong Guosheng, and you call him a coward and a wimp every day, saying that he's wasted your 'old Zhong family backbone'. You don't even like his three sons! Now look what's happened, I haven't even said I want to remarry yet, and you're already jumping out!"
"I'll just ask you one question: Who do you think you are? What gives you the right to do this?!"
She glanced at the group of cadres and raised her voice: "Are you going to do anything about this or not? I'm telling you, this is a remnant of feudalism entering the village. Not only have they entered the village, but they've also put on a show!"
The crowd burst into laughter.
The brigade leader couldn't stand it anymore and waved his hand at Liu Cuie: "Have you made enough of a scene? Your second son is dead. It's not easy for Chunxue, a woman, to support her whole family. Why can't people find a partner to share their lives with? This is just too unreasonable!"
Liu Cuie was still unconvinced, sticking her neck out: "She married into our Zhong family, so she's a member of our family. I said she can't remarry, and she can't remarry! That's the rule of our ancestors!"
Upon hearing these "ancestral rules," the brigade leader was so angry that his beard almost bristled. Just as he was about to shout, Zhong Aiguo spoke first, interrupting him: "Your second son and Chunxue have long since separated and live in their own separate households. Their household registrations have been removed. What face do you have to say that she is a member of your Zhong family? If you really make a fuss about this in the township, you'll be a living specimen of feudal thinking."
“We cadres hold meetings until midnight every day to break down the Four Olds and promote new customs. But you, an old lady, are always carrying around ancestral rules and regulations and running ahead of everyone else. You might as well go home, light incense, pray, and wear mourning clothes!”
"It's 1979 now, not the era when you were a child and marriages were arranged by matchmakers!"
"Chunxue raised four children on her own, and it hasn't been easy for her to survive this long. If she wants to live a good life again, the village really can't have people like you standing in her way!"
Liu Cuie's face turned red with anger, and she gritted her teeth: "I... I don't believe that you cadres really won't protect her!"
Before she could finish her rant, someone else rushed in from the village entrance.
"Mom—what are you doing!"
The shout startled the crowd, who turned to see Zhong Guoqiang arrive.
He ran while wiping away sweat, and saw his mother arguing with the brigade cadres, her face almost flushed red. He rushed forward, nearly stopping abruptly and slipping on the ground.
“Guosheng has been dead for so many years, why are you still bothering with Chunxue’s affairs!” Zhong Guoqiang kept winking at Liu Cuie.
Why can't we just talk about this behind closed doors? Why do we have to make a scene in front of so many people?
Most importantly, why is he arguing with the leaders of the brigade headquarters? Does he want to have a bad time in the brigade headquarters in the future?
She clapped her hands and said, "Alright, the eldest son of the Zhong family has arrived, and your show is almost over. Now those who should leave the stage should leave, and those who should shut up should shut up."
She turned and smiled at the team leader, saying, "Don't worry, when I really remarry, I'll definitely invite you to sit at the head table."
Liu Cuie didn't notice her eldest son's glare, but upon hearing Zhang Chunxue's words, she immediately exploded: "You still want to remarry? Don't you know you're already an old woman! Who would want you!"
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