The Zhou family has four branches, which should make them a prominent family in Xihe Village.
Unfortunately, apart from the eldest branch of the Zhou family, the reputations of the other three branches were terrible.
After Zhou Dashan ate peanuts, his wife remarried and ran away. His two sons, the third branch of the Zhou family, refused to accept them and kicked them out, leaving them to become hooligans.
Later, Gou Dan died for some unknown reason, and Gou Sheng disappeared without a trace. He hasn't returned to the village in all these years, so he's probably gone too.
Did they think that the death of Zhou Dashan's family of four would be the end of it?
No, the news of their murder of the Zhou family's elderly couple had already spread throughout the surrounding villages.
The third branch of the Zhou family was an accomplice, which is why their daughters couldn't find husbands in the local area and had to marry people from other places.
The wives that their sons marry are all undesirable women, or women with physical disabilities or mental problems.
Compared to the misery of the third branch, the second and fourth branches weren't much better off. During the years when the infighting was fiercest, everyone who had a grudge against the Zhou family reported them.
The eldest son of the second wife died of tetanus during the famine years.
Any of the other sons who had any conflicts with him were dragged out for public criticism and struggle sessions. Later, they were exiled to a farm, where three of them died of illness during their labor reform. Even those who returned did not all survive unscathed, and were left with a host of illnesses.
So the women who stayed in the village would seize any opportunity to gossip about the Tao and Tang families, and even go so far as to report them.
However, both sides were well-prepared, and with several capable people holding the fort, no one would bother to cause them trouble!
After their reports went unanswered, they were unwilling to give up and sought various opportunities to smear them. When their attempts to smear them failed, they resorted to spreading rumors that directly attacked people's hearts.
Xiao Jiu hadn't returned for many years, which was a good topic of conversation, so Zhao Lingli suffered greatly because of it.
The first to arrive were the second branch of the Zhou family, which has eight grandsons alone.
Three of the granddaughters have married and moved away, and it is said that they have never returned.
The five grandsons all managed to get married through their own abilities. In contrast, the wives of the third son were either lame or mentally disabled. Their wives were just a little ugly, but otherwise, they were all the same. As long as they could have children and do housework, that was enough.
Because of poverty, this large family still lives in the same courtyard. However, due to years of expansion, the courtyard has long since disappeared, and small houses have been built in every nook and cranny. If it weren't for the need to grow vegetables and raise chickens in the backyard, it would have been taken over as well.
With more people, there are more conflicts. After the old couple passed away, the sisters-in-law of the second wife fought over territory every day, carving out space for their own children.
Before they even knocked on the door, they heard cursing coming from inside. The father-in-law and son-in-law stopped in their tracks and frowned at the same time.
Because the insults inside were so vile, using terms like "ass" and "vagina," it was simply unbearable to hear.
The two exchanged a glance, then turned to leave. In their eyes, this exciting daily life was already the best revenge against them.
Unexpectedly, the gate was opened at that moment, and an elderly woman with a tired face and a sallow complexion walked out of the yard carrying a basket and leading a dirty little boy. She was shocked when she saw them, and then spoke cautiously.
"Is it the Tao brothers and A-Yue who have arrived?"
Xu had been a widow for nearly twenty years. Ever since her husband died of tetanus, she had faced immense hardship in her family.
She gave birth to three sons and two daughters, but lost two daughters and her husband during the famine. Although her three sons survived, her youngest son suffered brain damage from a fever and became somewhat mentally impaired. He fell into the river and died before he was of marriageable age.
After their two sons got married and had children over the years, their branch of the family became particularly awkward within the second branch's household.
Her sisters-in-law bullied her because she had no man to support her, and her nephews bullied her because her children had no father. If those brothers hadn't been sent to a farm later, it's questionable whether she and her children could have survived.
Now that my husband's brothers have returned, they are all riddled with illnesses. Compared to the third wife, who is either dead or disabled, they are much better off. They take medicine all day long, making our already poor family even poorer. As a result, arguments like today happen almost every day.
She didn't want to listen, and was too lazy to listen, so she simply took her youngest grandson and went out to hide.
Unexpectedly, she saw Zhou Yue and the Tao brothers dressed smartly as soon as she opened the door. She awkwardly tugged at her patched clothes and awkwardly looked up to greet them.
"Auntie, where are you going?"
"Sister-in-law Jianxin, why are you going out again after just finishing work?"
Although Zhou Yue has already acknowledged the Zhou family and taken their surname, from his mother's perspective, he still has to call these people "aunt" and "uncle".
Perhaps because Zhou Jianxin died young and no one was there to support her, Xu, who used to be fierce and assertive, has become much more low-key in recent years.
She only resorts to her former domineering ways when her children and grandchildren are being bullied, and confronts her sisters-in-law.
Xu glanced behind her, looking embarrassed, but she quickly realized what was happening.
"You've come here... Oh, come in, come in and sit down, I'll go get my son,"
After saying that, before they could react, he shouted inside.
"Liqun and Limin, come here quickly, your brother Zhou Yue is here."
Well, the group of people who were still fighting and arguing inside all looked curiously toward the door when they heard this name.
"The sun must have risen in the west! Zhou Yue is coming to our house?"
That kid's got a black heart; he hates us so much. Just thinking about the look in his eyes sends chills down my spine. Why would he be so kind as to come to our house?
"Exactly, just look at what happened to Zhou Dashan's family, and the third branch of the family is practically a bunch of disabled people."
"Now that you mention it, I have a feeling they're not coming to our house with any good intentions. Oh dear, my eyelid is starting to twitch. What was that twitching in my left eye again?"
Upon hearing that it was about wealth, she immediately dismissed it, saying, "Impossible! I think it's about disaster. Zhou Yue is a jinx for our family!"
Even the Zhou brothers, Zhou Liqun and Zhou Limin, looked at Zhou Yue and Tao Changyi with wary expressions.
If their mother hadn't brought them inside, they might have seen them on the street but pretended not to.
The other households unanimously agreed that Zhou Yue's visit at this time was definitely not for good reasons.
And so, under the watchful eyes of the other families, the father-in-law and son-in-law went to the door of the eldest branch of the second branch of the family without any psychological burden.
Originally, the eldest son's family only had one room. Later, they added another room at the back, with a passageway dug in the middle. Inside, they placed a bed and some daily necessities.
“There’s no other way. This is the only condition our family has. My two sons have to make room for their families. I’m an old woman, so I can live anywhere. When they built it, they reserved a middle spot for me so that it would be convenient for me to take care of both families.”
There was no main room, so they brought out a few stools outside to sit down. Compared to the other families who were eyeing them covetously, Zhou Jianxin's family, although not very talkative, still welcomed the father-in-law and son-in-law into the house and poured them each a bowl of hot water. Based on this alone, they could be considered a family that had at least the basic manners of hospitality.
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