Liu Daya came in trembling, without looking up at anyone, and just stood by the table.
Sanya looked at Liu Daya with a puzzled expression. "Big sister, why don't you sit down and eat? The porridge is getting cold."
Li Cuihua watched Liu Maocai eat his meal without even looking up, and gave him a helpless look. He must hate Daya now.
The man in the family truly treats her well. Even though his mother upsets her, he still won't let it go. Seeing his daughter bullying him like this today, he definitely won't stand for it anymore. It's a lie to say I'm not touched. The couple's relationship has remained unchanged for over ten years; they still protect her in everything, just like when she was a child.
"Alright, Daya, sit down and eat. After you're done cleaning up, go apologize to your second sister."
After saying that, he stopped looking at her and went back to eating and drinking his porridge.
Liu Daya remained silent, but picked up her bowl and began to eat. Inside, however, she was furious. Why should she apologize to Er Ya? She was Er Ya's older sister; what was wrong with hitting her? Besides, she wasn't blind! Er Ya was always targeting her. Her parents' favoritism was outrageous. Grandma was right; her mother simply didn't like her. Since that was the case, she wouldn't come back to see Er Ya after she got married, and she wouldn't be filial to her.
After dinner, Liu Daya volunteered to wash the dishes. However, unlike Er Ya, she didn't boil water for everyone to wash up. Li Cuihua sighed, thinking that she had really wasted her time providing for Liu Daya, as she showed no interest in doing anything.
Liu Jianguo wasn't about to indulge Daya. "Sister, why didn't you boil some water? How are you going to soak your feet later?"
Liu Daya was furious. Why did she have to do everything herself? She had just picked up the utensils to wash the dishes, so why did she have to do everything herself? Why couldn't she just boil some water herself? Thinking this, her dissatisfaction showed on her face.
Liu Jianguo was angry watching her act, but this was his sister, not his daughter. He really couldn't say anything to her. Li Cuihua was ignoring Daya now, but she still had to do her job. "Hurry up and boil some water, then go apologize to your second sister."
Liu Daya threw the water ladle into the vat with a snap. "I'm not going. I didn't do it on purpose."
Li Cuihua's eyes reddened with anger. "If you're not going, get out of this house!"
"Fine, I'll leave then. Do you think I want to stay here? From now on, just pretend you never raised me." Liu Daya said angrily and walked out.
At this moment, Liu Maocai lifted the curtain and came out. "Wait a minute, didn't you tell us to pretend we never raised you? Zhong, Jianguo, go and call the brigade leader and the accountant over. Sanya, go and call your grandma and your uncles over. Cuihua, go inside and lie down. It's nothing serious, it'll be resolved in a bit."
Liu Daya was truly frightened this time. She knelt down before Liu Maocai, crying, "Dad, I said those hurtful things. I'll apologize to Erya and to Mom. I promise I'll never make her angry again."
Liu Maocai completely ignored her, "You two are disobedient, aren't you going to move?"
Liu Jianguo had no choice but to go out and call for help, knowing his father's temper. Sanya, being young, saw her older brother leave and quickly ran out to call her grandmother and family as well.
Li Cuihua lay on the kang (a heated brick bed) with tears streaming down her face. What was wrong? Was her husband going to separate Daya from her? She was only fourteen! But thinking about Daya's attitude towards her, she felt she should teach her a lesson, make her afraid. Little did she know that Liu Maocai had truly made up his mind not to raise his eldest daughter anymore; such an ungrateful wretch was better off not being raised at all.
Because it was dark, and everyone had finished eating but hadn't gone to bed yet, they all arrived quite quickly. Hearing footsteps in the yard, Liu Daya felt ashamed and quickly stood up. She thought that since she had already knelt before her father, she couldn't be too ruthless, but after instructing her eldest brother and third sister, her father went inside, completely ignoring her. And since everyone she had called had arrived, she couldn't avoid losing face today. She felt annoyed; this was forcing her.
Everyone bumped into each other in the yard. As soon as the brigade leader saw Liu Maocai's mother coming over, he knew it couldn't be anything good. "Auntie's here? What's going on?"
Liu Maocai's mother rolled her triangular eyes. "How should I know? Sending a little girl to wake me up? Doesn't anyone get any sleep at this hour?"
The captain felt relieved upon hearing this, thinking that it was probably just the old lady causing trouble.
At this moment, Liu Maocai came out and said, "Mom, if you want to sleep, go back inside. Everyone, please sit inside. I feel bad for calling everyone here so late, but I have something I need you all to witness."
Everyone in the courtyard was completely bewildered, not knowing what was going on. They all went inside, and Liu Jianguo brought out a few stools for everyone to sit down, all looking at Liu Maocai.
Liu Maocai lit his pipe, and smoke swirled around him. With only a kerosene lamp lit in the room, his face was completely obscured. Li Cuihua remained lying on the kang (heated brick bed). "I called everyone here today because I want to sever ties with Liu Daya. In a moment, I'll provide this testimony, and everyone here will sign and affix their fingerprints as witnesses."
"You little brat, what do you want to do? Cut ties? How will this eldest daughter find a husband in the future?" The old lady immediately became anxious.
"Mom, you know it'll be hard for our daughter to find a husband in the future, but what have you been doing? You've been badmouthing us in front of the child, making her dislike us and hate us. Even after we separate, you still don't want to let me go?" Liu Maocai's eyes reddened as he glared fiercely at his mother.
The old lady was startled and trembled. Her third son was a force to be reckoned with when he got angry, so she shrank to the side and remained silent.
Everyone was startled. Had Liu Maocai gone mad? His daughter was so grown up, what was he up to?
The brigade leader looked at Liu Maocai and said, "Have you thought this through? That's your own child! What happened that made you disregard your own flesh and blood? Cuihua, is that what you think too? That's your own flesh and blood. Daya, come in here and apologize to your parents."
Li Cuihua sat up, looking at her red and swollen eyes, but remained silent. The brigade leader felt a headache coming on; what was going on now?
Liu Daya came in, knelt down in front of her parents without saying a word, and lay on the ground crying bitterly.
Li Cuihua sat on the kang (a heated brick bed) and cried. Liu Maocai patted her back and said, "Don't cry. It's not worth it. Just think of it as raising a dog."
"Mao Cai, what's going on?" Liu Mao Cai's elder brother looked on helplessly at this farce.
“I’ve raised this girl for nothing. She’s grown up and can support herself now. I’m not separating from her; I’m severing all ties. My husband and I started from scratch and worked hard to raise our children. Everyone here knows how we lived before we separated. Now that we’ve separated, we can finally eat our fill, but my mother has raised her to be completely ignorant and unable to distinguish right from wrong. I can tolerate all of that, but I can’t stand her upsetting her mother. Cuihua and I have never had a single good day together.”
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