Sun Caihua couldn't express her emotions, and her face turned a painful bluish-purple. Although Cai Ying was only eight or nine years old, most children of this era were mature, especially after experiencing the death of their fathers, being kicked out by their grandparents, and being treated badly by their uncles and aunts. After experiencing the hardship of living under someone else's roof, her maturity was even more evident.
"Mom, don't be angry. Eat this steamed bun. I'll go back and boil some more water to bring back. There are definitely more steamed buns at home."
Before Sun Caihua could refuse, he pulled her to sit down under the tree. He was choking on his steamed bun. "Mom, eat slowly and wait for me to come back."
Huang Xin brought only two steamed buns, a clay pot of water, a small bowl of cucumber salad, and a bowl of boiled vegetables.
Now the vegetables and water are being wasted, so we have to go home to get water. Luckily, there are many stacks of wheat straw at the edge of the field, so the earthenware pots didn't break.
Cai Ying, carrying a basket, tidied up the two enamel bowls on the ground, picked up the earthenware pot, and hurried home.
When they encountered Huang Xin on the road, they didn't even glance at him, let alone push his wheelchair.
Huang Xin was so angry that he cursed her: "You heartless dog, I'm still your stepfather."
Tsai Ying was young but had sharp ears. After hearing this, she turned around and made sarcastic remarks.
"Stepfather? You dare to call yourself that? My mother has been married to you for so long, have we ever spent a single penny of your money?"
Look at your own home. If it weren't for us, you and your daughter, would you be living the life you have today?
"If you want to be my stepfather, you'd better look at what you've done for me. You've done nothing, yet you have the nerve to ask me to call you 'Dad'?"
Just then, a nosy old woman returned from the wheat field and overheard the conversation between the father and daughter.
"Cai Ying, are you telling the truth? You didn't spend a single penny of his money?"
“He treated my mother and me like thieves. We had to hand over all the grain to him to lock up, and he would scoop it out every day.”
He would eat a pound of food by himself, give my mother five to eight ounces, and I would only eat five ounces.
My mother was pregnant, and this man was incredibly stingy. He controlled not only her food, drink, and clothing, but even the firewood.
He clearly doesn't know anything himself and relies on my mother to do everything, yet he thinks that my mother and I can't live without him.
To put it bluntly, it's just a matter of living together as a couple. If you push us too far, I'll take my mother and leave, and let that bastard starve to death!
Cai Ying was really furious today. She didn't give Huang Xin any face at all, making Huang Xin's face turn pale and then red, and he kept calling her heartless.
Cai Ying was too lazy to deal with this scoundrel. When she got home, she saw that he had even locked the front door, and she immediately sneered.
He stood on the large rock to the side and climbed over it.
Seeing the kitchen that had been turned into a mess, an unnamed anger instantly flared up.
There was no cooled boiled water in the house, let alone mung bean water to cool her down; instead, there was a bunch of messy things for her to clean up.
Tsai Ying quickly began cleaning the pot, scrubbing it clean, and then pouring in clean water.
Then, carrying the cool well water, I cleaned myself up and immediately felt a little refreshed.
She gulped down half a ladle of water using the gourd ladle. Her mother was pregnant and couldn't drink anything too cold; she had to drink boiled water.
After the water boils, pour it back into the earthenware pot. "It's so hot, it'll have to cool down for ages before we can drink it, that heartless cripple!"
Hearing the sound of a key turning in the door outside, she sneered and shouted loudly as soon as he entered the yard.
"Open the cupboard door and give me two steamed buns. If you don't, don't blame me for yelling everywhere that you're not feeding me and making me do chores!"
Huang Xin was at a loss. He knew that this brat was a man of his word. Even though he hated him, it was the crucial time for harvesting wheat, and he couldn't refuse to give it to him.
So he handed her the keys: "Just take two. Our family's food supply isn't enough every month if we don't plan our food intake carefully. Don't blame me for being heartless."
Cai Ying scoffed: "The one who should eat less is you, who can't do anything."
I won't even mention myself, but if you mistreat my mother's food again, I'll make you regret it!
Let's see if you can survive without us!
Huang Xin took a deep breath, his face cold.
"Cai Ying, don't go too far! I'm a veteran, discharged due to injury!!!"
You should give me enough respect.
Even if you don't acknowledge me as your stepfather, shouldn't you keep your mouth shut for the sake of your mother's unborn brother?
Cai Ying grabbed the steamed bun and left, ignoring Huang Xin completely. When she returned to the wheat field under the tree, she asked him, feeling aggrieved.
"Mother, why must someone get married to have a home? Can't we live well on our own?"
Sun Caihua was well aware of this principle.
She looked at the endless golden wheat fields in the distance, then at the small groups of people resting around her, and whispered to herself.
"Yingzi, I'm sorry, I've made you suffer."
Mother knows it's better not to get married, but after your father died, your grandparents, uncles and aunts couldn't tolerate us.
Your maternal grandparents are too old to manage the household, so your uncle and aunt are the ones in charge.
Even if we work at your maternal grandmother's house to earn work points, they still feel that we are taking advantage of them.
I've heard them say more than once that they want to marry me off, and even that they want to sell you off as a child bride.
Mother can't afford to gamble; rather than letting them find it, she'd rather find it herself.
Even if this man has many flaws, as long as he relies on us, he won't do anything to us.
And he's better than your dad in one way: at least he doesn't hit me. Although he's a bit selfish, he also has a limp and needs someone to take care of him.
It's just a manifestation of his own insecurity; he's not a bad person.
No matter what you say to him, he gets really angry, but he can't argue back.
He doesn't swear, doesn't smoke, doesn't drink, and doesn't gamble; he's lazy because he can't do it.
By staying at home every day, at least we can keep things under control.
"Once this baby is born, and he has his own child, he won't be so rude anymore."
Cai Ying had never thought about why her mother would rather fall out with her uncles than marry this man who only gave them a hundred yuan as a bride price.
Now she understood somewhat: no matter how many faults this person had, at least he had never laid a hand on them.
At most, he would order her to do chores when he was angry, but if she really refused, there was nothing he could do.
Although I don't know how the couple gets along, judging from her mother's tone, this seems to have gone too far.
Well then, since Mother has said so, she'll just have to keep enduring it!
At least this family doesn't have annoying old men and women, nor do they have bossy uncles and aunts who are always trying to take advantage of others.
Even though Huang Xin is a bit annoying, it's still bearable.
Sun Caihua breathed a sigh of relief when she saw that her daughter was silent. Actually, there was something else she didn't say.
Huang Xin must have been deeply hurt by his former family members and has completely severed ties with them.
It's understandable that he's wary of the mother and daughter, but as the only people he can rely on, he'll eventually break through their defenses.
Accept them and start a new family.
What she valued was his simple family background and the absence of outside interference in their lives.
This is a conclusion she reached after many years of marriage and living as a dependent in her parents' home.
Even the best family relationships can become strained if numerous external forces interfere.
Huang Xin lived alone in the house, and she believed she could gradually train her.
This is why she was willing to fall out with her family in order to get him to give her the 100 yuan dowry.
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