◎First update◎
The next morning, before dawn, the villagers of Damian Village woke up to the sound of roosters crowing, as the Cold Dew season became more severe. Smoke rose from the kitchens as they prepared breakfast.
As the weather gets warmer, there is more farm work to do. After breakfast, everyone has to go to the fields again.
However, the atmosphere in the Liang family courtyard was solemn. Liang Baoling carefully started the fire with firewood. She knew that her parents were angry, so she had to be careful in the next few days and must not be naughty, otherwise she would be courting death.
"Mom, the corn porridge needs to be dried." But seeing Song Chunhua stirring the iron pot absent-mindedly and with a cold face, Liang Baozhen couldn't help but remind her in a mosquito-like voice.
"Yes, I know what's going on." Song Chunhua only reacted after her daughter reminded her, but she wanted to save face, so she insisted, "Invite them to dinner."
Liang Baoling jumped up and down to get away from her mother's low pressure, and only dared to breathe deeply after leaving the kitchen. It was so scary!
Song Chunhua and Liang Zhigao have always been the first ones to get up in the family. They are not greedy now that they are older, and they are also very active. Liang Baoling got up early today and acted well.
She knocked on every door and called out to people at the top of her voice.
When I arrived at my third sister's room and was about to put my hand on her, the wooden door suddenly opened.
"Third sister, eat...brother-in-law?!"
Liang Baoling covered her mouth in surprise and blinked a few times at Xu Shengjie who suddenly appeared. How did this happen?
"Brother-in-law, why are you here? No, that's not right. Third sister came back alone yesterday!" She clearly remembered that she hadn't seen her brother-in-law before going to bed last night. Children love to wonder, "Brother-in-law, did you fly back?"
Xu Shengjie had been riding all night, and his bicycle was almost sparking. He went to bed and slept for two hours before he felt better. When he heard Baoling's naughty words, he just smiled and said, "Yeah, I flew back."
"How is Mom?" Liang Baozhen put on her clothes and came out, first asking her younger sister about the situation.
"It's scary." Liang Baoling is most afraid of an angry Song Chunhua, but she is usually not angry. When she is angry, she is scary!
The other members of the Liang family were also surprised to see Xu Shengjie suddenly appear at home. They learned that he was worried that Baozhen, who had gone back to her parents' home, had not returned to the city, so he rode his bicycle all night to come here. Only then did they realize that they had done something wrong.
Especially Song Chunhua. The eldest son-in-law was going to divorce and return to the city. The second son-in-law was worried about the safety of his daughter and rushed back all night to check on her. She looked at Xu Shengjie with a much more loving look.
"Sheng Jie, you should take a break! We all forgot about this. Something big happened at home last night, and I didn't even think of telling you. Oh, I am really getting old and confused."
Xu Shengjie became more and more anxious as he waited at home last night. The time for Liang Baozhen to arrive had already passed, and no one answered the phone call to the commune. He was unwilling to wait until the next day to take the bus back to check on the situation, so he could not wait even a moment and set out immediately.
Even though I was tired and sleepy, I was glad to see that he was alright.
"Mom, it's okay. I was just worried that something might have happened to Baozhen on the way home, so I wanted to come over and take a look."
"You are so thoughtful!" Song Chunhua gave Xu Shengjie an extra piece of rice when distributing breakfast, "Eat more."
Liang Baojun saw that his mother's face had improved a lot because of the arrival of his brother-in-law, and he also started to make jokes, "Mom, you won't give it to your son?"
"Go to hell!" Song Chunhua gave her son a cold look. "You work so hard every day and you expect to eat a few nests of bread?"
This morning, the Liang family was supposed to go to the fields, but because of Liang Baoying and Song Jianguo's divorce, they all took half a day off.
We held a meeting at home, and after one night, everyone calmed down a lot.
Song Chunhua sighed, "You are all in your twenties, and I shouldn't interfere in your affairs, but marriage and divorce are big things. If you insist on getting a divorce, I can't tie you up and not let you go out for the rest of your life.
I thought about it last night. Don't make a fuss. I'm just worried that Baoying was just too impulsive. You guys should think about this again, Jianguo."
"Oh, Mom." Song Jianguo looked at his mother-in-law, feeling a little guilty.
"You know how our family treats you. Although you are my son-in-law, I always treat you as my half-son. Don't force Baoying. If you two still want to get a fake divorce to go back to the city at this time next week, I won't stop you. But in the future, if anyone rubs you in the back, you will have to bear it yourself."
"Mom." Liang Baoying sat next to Song Chunhua and tried to hold her hand, but was pushed away by her mother.
She reached out her hand twice more and finally pulled it shut, tightly holding her old mother's hand, her eyes red and filled with tears.
"Baoying, you were stubborn when you got married and insisted on getting married. Now you are still stubborn when you get divorced. You just don't listen to your mother."
No one else dared to say anything, and after everyone advised him several times, he finally listened to his mother.
——
Before Xu Shengjie came, he asked a worker from the National Cotton Factory who lived in Yueya Hutong to help him take half a day off, so he and Liang Baozhen had to leave in the morning.
Before leaving, Liang Baozhen talked to Song Chunhua and reminded her, "If you really want to get a fake divorce in order to return to the city, it's better to write a written agreement so that you can have a guarantee in the future. Also, your brother-in-law has to send money to your eldest sister Mengmeng after he returns to the city to work. In short, you can't let him go back alone."
Song Chunhua felt that her daughter was right. "Mom knows that your elder sister is very determined now. Let's see if she can come to her senses after a while."
As soon as Xu Shengjie arrived today, he heard that his eldest sister and brother-in-law were going to divorce. He had little contact with Song Jianguo, and only saw him and talked every time Pei Baozhen came back to her parents' home.
On the bus back to the city, he couldn't help but wonder, "Is my brother-in-law really going to get a divorce and return to the city?"
He could understand Song Jianguo's desire to return to the city, but it was unfair to let his elder sister and Mengmeng stay in the countryside and be criticized.
"She seems to be determined." Liang Baozhen tried to persuade her sister before leaving, but her sister was also firm in her attitude and did not give in. "I hope you can think it through."
However, Liang Baozhen's wish did not come true. Half a month later, news came that her eldest sister and brother-in-law were divorced.
She lived in the city and had a job, so he couldn't persuade her often. Her brother-in-law was already going through the formalities of returning to the city, so the villagers in Damian Village naturally didn't know the inside story.
A few days later, when Song Jianguo was found missing, we realized that he had also abandoned his wife and daughter.
"I've said it before, you can't marry an educated youth! How can those educated youth be obedient? They are just white-skinned and good-looking, but they are not good at doing manual labor." Hu Guifen said while cracking melon seeds towards the Liang family yard.
Liang Baoying stayed in the house and vaguely heard some discussions outside. She had already prepared herself mentally and was determined to get through it.
Liang Baozhen went back home again. After Liang Baojun asked someone to pass on a message, she took a bus back on her day off. As soon as she walked outside the yard, she saw Hu Guifen and her uncle and aunt whispering about something.
"Baoying is really something. She chose a girl from the village to marry. How could she be abandoned by Song Jianguo? Tsk tsk, what a sin!"
"I want to see what Song Chunhua has to say this time. Her own daughters are divorced. Can she still save face?" Fang Yuehe had always been unhappy because Song Chunhua married one of her daughters to an educated youth and the other to a city dweller. Both sons-in-law were decent people and looked much better than the villagers.
This time, they are actually getting divorced! She came here immediately after hearing the news, just to see the excitement.
"Chunhua, you're not at home? I heard that Baoying got divorced. What's going on?" She raised her voice, determined to let everyone hear it.
"Fang Yuehe, what are you yelling about! You really have no control over your words!" Aunt Fulai also heard about it and came over to ask about the situation, but she was not here to make fun of anyone. It is difficult for a divorced woman, and she wanted to scold Song Jianguo!
"You can yell, why can't I? If you don't want others to talk about you, don't get divorced. You were abandoned by the educated youth!"
"Aunt!" Liang Baozhen just walked to the entrance of the yard. She became angry when she heard Fang Yuehe's words. This person didn't expect her family to have an easy life.
"You!" Fang Yuehe looked at Liang Baozhen and remembered how her family was locked up in a home for the blind when they moved to the city. It was really embarrassing!
In the end, because it affected the commune, it was criticized in a circular. The family did not dare to make any noise for half a year. It was only now that everyone seemed to have almost forgotten about it that they started to make noise again.
Naturally, she didn't have a good face towards her niece.
"Why, city people will return to their hometown? The sun really rises in the west."
Every word has a sour taste.
"I grew up in Damian Village. This will always be my home. Why can't I come back?" Liang Baozhen looked at her with a firm gaze and a hint of sneer on her lips. She was no longer willing to care about blood ties. "It was my uncle and aunt who insisted on going to the city and refused to leave. In the end, they were arrested and sent to a migrant worker..."
"If you say that again, I'll tear your mouth apart!" Fang Yuehe felt hurt. This was a stain that would last forever on their family. Their family had always been positive and had a good family background, but now that they had made a mistake, they were criticized through a loudspeaker. Even their eldest son, who was a cadre in the commune, was affected.
It's so embarrassing!
"Who dares to tear my daughter's mouth?" The door of the Liang family compound was slammed open. Song Chunhua came out of the house with red eyes and cursed Fang Yuehe, "What are you doing at my doorstep? Last time, you went to Baozhen's mother-in-law's house and ate and took things for free. You were so shameless that you refused to leave and insisted on sleeping on the floor. Do you still have the nerve to do that? I have never seen you like this in my life!
Shameless, so embarrassing!"
Song Chunhua was very aggressive, spoke loudly and quickly, and her words were like a machine gun shooting at Fang Yuehe, making her blush.
Aunt Fulai sneered and followed suit, "Fang Yuehe, can't you see that you are thicker-skinned than dead pigs!"
"My parents are decent people and they don't even go to ask for money, how dare you, uncle and aunt, come to my house?"
Seeing the villagers' anger directed at her, Fang Yuehe refused to give in. "So what! No matter how embarrassing it is for me, it's not as embarrassing as your divorce! Her husband doesn't want her anymore, he left his wife and children and ran away! If I were her, I would not want to live anymore, I would just jump into the well and die..."
Bang!
Song Chunhua slapped her in the face, her eyes seemed to pop out, and she pointed at Fang Yuehe's nose and cursed, "What's wrong with divorce? She's still our daughter even if we divorce. She doesn't eat your food whether we divorce or not, it's none of your business! If I hear you say something bad about our Baoying again, I'll rip your mouth off!"
Fang Yuehe was not as strong as Song Chunhua, and she felt humiliated after being slapped in public today. She refused to give in and said, "I'm going to fight you!"
"Alright, alright, stop making trouble." Liang Baozhen stepped forward to persuade them to stop, and she and Auntie Fulai stopped Fang Yuehe, "Aunt, if you make more trouble, you will alarm the team leader. You just disturbed the commune last time, and if you make trouble again now, you will make the team leader unhappy."
"Then I got beaten for nothing?"
"Fang Yuehe, who told you to slander someone else's daughter?"
"My mouth is so dirty!"
The other members who were watching would at most discuss it behind her back, but no one would say it to her face. Now everyone has united to condemn her.
Fang Yuehe covered her face, feeling angry and anxious. Song Chunhua's family was large at the moment, and she would not be in a good situation, especially since Liang Baojun was waiting nearby. "I want to see how you will live in the future!"
Having said that, he pushed aside the onlookers and went home.
After the commotion, Liang Baozhen helped her mother back home. When she saw her elder sister, she found that she was in good spirits.
"Brother-in-law left?"
"Well, I'm back in the city." Liang Baoying said calmly. The gossip outside was uncomfortable, but I was mentally prepared.
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