Cuihua's eyes flashed with anger as she glared resentfully at Tang Youtian. A slap landed on her face, stinging painfully. Instead of turning and running away, she gave a cold smile.
“You had nine daughters in your quest for a son, and now I'm the only one left. Since you both say you're the last of the family line, I don't want to stay any longer. What hardships haven't I endured this past year? But even in hardship, at least I could eat as much as I worked. It's different at home. I work a lot, eat little, and sometimes I even have to go hungry to save food for you two parents who do nothing.”
"You're getting what you deserve now!"
"I won't care whether you live or die from now on. My sister and I have three acres of land at home, and I'll only farm those three acres. Anyway, my job has been ruined, and I can't go anywhere. I'll just live off those three acres. You two can go wherever you want from now on. As long as you two are around, I'll never get married in this lifetime. Are you happy now?"
Tang Youtian's forehead veins bulged as his daughter scolded him, and his blood rushed to his head, threatening to explode at any moment.
But when he slapped her, the hateful look in his daughter's eyes sent chills down his spine. After a year apart, her aura seemed even stronger than before.
Although he knew that his eldest son had a strong personality, he didn't expect that in just one year, he would become so strong that even he felt intimidated.
Even the usually loud and argumentative old lady chose to remain silent at this moment, watching Tang Cuihua leave.
Once only a few of them remained in the yard, the old lady turned around, went into their room, grabbed the couple's belongings, and threw them out.
"Get lost! I don't welcome you two lazybones here anymore. Live your lives however you want, just don't come here to disgust me again!"
"Of our three daughters, only one is left. If you two cause any more trouble and lose this only one, what will you do when you're old?"
"Cao Amei, you lazy old woman! If I had known you were this lazy, I would never have let you into the house back then. How could my son have been so blind as to fall for a stupid and lazy old woman like you? Get out! Just seeing you makes my head hurt!"
The old woman forcibly chased the couple out with a broom.
The commotion at their house had already been seen by all the neighbors. The village was only so big, and with all the noise so early in the morning, and the walls not being very high, it was no wonder that the whole village came to watch the excitement. When the children saw the two lazybones being chased out, they clapped their hands with glee.
"Oh, the lazy woman got kicked out. Now she has nowhere to mooch a meal. Sister Cuihua is going to be in trouble!"
"Sister Cuihua is such a capable girl, it's really bad luck that she has such parents. Poor Zhaodi and Pandi, who are lost, I wonder where they are!"
"Maybe the two girls didn't want to stay in this family and left on purpose. It's hard on Cuihua for worrying about this family all these years. She's a good girl, capable and strong-willed. She'll definitely be a good housekeeper in the future. It's a pity that she's stuck with parents like these. She's destined to never get married."
"Who says otherwise? Look how good this girl is! She's efficient at everything she does. She's so young, yet she's been forced into this situation. If she were weak-willed, she might not have been able to raise her two younger sisters. Now that the couple can't have any more children, they've sent away six daughters and lost two more. If she doesn't behave herself in the future, she might be doomed!"
The couple listened to the villagers' accusations against them, and they slunk away, carrying their bedding and clothes, staggering back home.
As she ran, she kept turning back to curse those people. Cao Amei was so ashamed that she wanted to dig a hole and crawl into it. Now, hearing Tang Youtian cursing like that, she couldn't help but mutter to herself.
"Have you stopped yet? Did they insult you wrongly? Aren't you ashamed enough? Your two daughters are missing, aren't you worried at all?"
"You wretched woman, how am I supposed to be worried when my daughter is missing? I don't even know where she disappeared, where am I supposed to look for her? Didn't you hear Cuihua say it's been a year and there's still no news?"
"But we can't just not look for them. We raised them all these years, are we going to let someone else raise them?"
"Isn't your daughter just someone else's child? You're too lazy to raise the other six, aren't you?"
Upon hearing this, Cao Amei was so angry that she punched him.
"Tang Youtian, do you have any conscience? Who did I give birth to so many children for? Wasn't it all to leave you an heir? Did they take my surname? Now that my daughter is lost and given away, you turn around and mock me? And what have you done? Maybe having a daughter has nothing to do with me. I couldn't have given birth to this child on my own. Why is it that my womb is the one that's not good enough? I've had enough of your insults all these years!"
Tang Youtian forcefully shook off Cao Amei's pull, "Ugly woman, get the hell out of here! Just seeing you is enough! Grinding your teeth and farting, you're filthy like a beggar. How could a woman like you marry me? My mother was right, I must have been blind back then. Not only am I blind, I can't even smell anything. You stink like that, do you think any man would want you? You're a disgrace to all women!"
Cuihua carried a basket and ran to the riverbank to dig for wild vegetables. There was no food at home, and her grandparents wouldn't give them any. Cuihua was really hungry. Even though she was dizzy with anger, she still gritted her teeth and persevered, digging for shepherd's purse, wild mustard greens, bracken, and wild garlic. When she came back, she saw an elm tree and struggled to climb it to pick some elm seeds. But she only had vegetables, no food, no soy sauce, vinegar, or salt. How was she supposed to eat?
Cuihua sat on the ground, feeling angry and worried. Subconsciously, she touched the ten thousand yuan in her pocket. Although she could exchange the money for some grain in the village, who knew what kind of commotion it would cause if they found out!
Cuihua glanced at the wild vegetables in her basket and resigned herself to going home. The kitchen was filthy, the water vat was full of sewage from being unused for a long time, and the vat was filled with dust, weeds, and stinking. There was also a leaky house...
Cuihua felt as if all her strength had been drained by the current situation. She had no money, no food, and not even the strength to do anything. How could she possibly work? Where could she even begin?
She walked such a long way yesterday, and her legs are still sore. She doesn't dare to put weight on the balls of her feet when she walks because they hurt.
What terrible things did she do to deserve such parents?
They were chased home by their grandparents, and the two of them just stood in the yard watching, doing nothing. When they saw her come back, they quickly spoke.
"Cuihua, go and see! The main room is leaking terribly, there are cobwebs everywhere, and the rats have chewed our table almost to pieces. And the kitchen is so cramped, we can't even get in!"
They should have kept quiet, because the moment they started talking, Cuihua's blood pressure skyrocketed. She was so angry that she ground her teeth in fury. But before she could even vent her anger, she heard what they were saying.
"You come back and this is all you make for us to eat? Is this even edible? There's not even a steamed bun. Oh, and we have absolutely nothing left at home."
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