Seeing Song Lizheng enter the house, Granny Gu, disregarding her still-lying-on-the-ground state, immediately began to wail at the top of her lungs: "Heavens! Is there no justice or law here? The eldest Song brother died at the border, and now the second brother is being sent to his death! This is going to wipe out the Song family line! Song Laohei, you heartless bastard, since I didn't marry you, you've repeatedly brought misfortune to my descendants..."
When Madam Gu, who was following behind, saw that she was provoking Song Lizheng again, she did not help her up. Instead, she turned around and peered into the room from behind the curtain.
Inside the room, Song Laohei's face was truly ashen.
His eyes blazed with fury. He spat on the ground and glared angrily at Song Lao Er, who was lying sprawled on the kang (a heated brick bed): "Are you going to die? If you're not, then sign your fingerprints and go serve your sentence."
On the kang (heated brick bed), Song Lao Er leaned against the pile of quilts, closed his eyes and groaned, "Uncle, you see, I want to go to work, but I can't walk!"
"Stop talking nonsense to me, can't you walk? Are you missing a leg or an arm?" Song Lizheng stepped forward and tried to pull Song Defu away.
"Ouch! Ouch! Mother, I'm dizzy and my back hurts, it's going to break!" Before his hand could even touch her, Song Lao Er cried out loudly.
The curtain was lifted, and Granny Gu rushed in like a gust of wind, ramming her head against Song, the village head, yelling, "If you want to take him away, you'd better strangle this old woman first..."
Caught off guard, Song Lizheng staggered several steps from the impact, but fortunately, he was caught by Xiao Gu, who came in right after him, so he didn't fall.
Madam Gu chuckled lightly, saying flippantly, "Mother, please speak properly. Don't worry and hurt yourself. It will upset Fifth Uncle!"
Song Lizheng felt a dull pain in his chest from the impact, and when he heard Xiao Gu's words, he almost vomited blood.
Xiao Gu is Gu Pozi's niece from a distant relative's family. The two women, mother and daughter-in-law, are equally shameless and can say anything.
Song Lizheng pointed at Xiao Gu Shi and scolded, "Not a single one of you in your family has any shame. The elders are uneducated, the young ones are shameless, and you don't know any shame at all."
Where in the world have you ever seen a daughter-in-law tarnish her mother-in-law's reputation?
Despite being scolded by the village head, Madam Gu remained unperturbed and chuckled, "No matter what, Fifth Uncle did arrange a marriage with my mother back then. It's fate, and Uncle can't forget that."
Song Lizheng's face turned red and then pale, and he almost choked on his breath.
When I got home today, my wife said that Granny Gu was talking about the past again, and she gave him a good scolding, saying that he was blind back then to have gotten involved with such a worthless woman.
Now that I'm old, all I see are my children and grandchildren, and I still have unresolved romantic entanglements, leaving me with no way to save face.
Song Lizheng felt wronged and had no way to express it. He felt that saying "I'm being intimate" was worse than jumping into a cesspool, and he would never be able to wash it off.
More than 30 years ago, his family sent a matchmaker to Granny Gu's house to propose marriage, but the Gu family asked for a dowry of ten taels of silver plus other miscellaneous items.
Later, he heard from others that the Gu family's daughter was unreasonable and domineering, so the engagement fell through, and the two families never even met.
Unexpectedly, just a few years later, Gu, an old maid with a bad reputation, married into Xiaoshi Village and became the second wife of Song Laohan, who had lost his wife and left behind a son. She would tell everyone she met about how he had proposed to her back then.
It is said that Song Lizheng ruined her life at a young age, turning a perfectly fine young woman into a stepmother.
Gu's family home was in the neighboring village, only ten miles away. Everyone knew about these things, and the villagers just listened to her words as a joke.
But ever since Song Laohan died a few years ago and Song Laohei became the village head, Granny Gu has become even more shameless.
Over the years, I've secretly sneaked into his house a few times. Whenever we met on the street, I would pull and tug at him, determined to tarnish his reputation and get revenge for not marrying him back then.
Fortunately, the village head's wife, Huang, was a fellow villager who knew her well and was very magnanimous. Apart from arguing with Granny Gu to a standstill and complaining about the village head, she was helpless against Granny Gu's behavior and could only endure it.
Song Lizheng knew that if he continued talking, the two women in the room would say that they had taken a liking to that old shrew and would make up a whole bunch of other stories.
As for Song Liyun's drowning incident, he dared not mention it at all.
If I were to interfere in Song Lao Er's family affairs again, Granny Gu would probably take off her pants and pounce on me, blaming me for all the trouble.
Faced with such a family of scoundrels, Song, the village head, could only curse angrily: "The day after tomorrow, before dawn, the town will come to take people away. I don't care what you do. Anyway, the town police will come to pick them up. Let's see if you still cause trouble then."
After saying this, he turned to Old Madam Gu and spat, "Marrying into a bad family ruins three generations. I'm so glad I didn't marry you back then. Look what you've done to Song Laohan's family, you scourge!"
Gu was about to retort with a curse when Song, the village head, ripped down the straw curtain hanging at the door, kicked open the courtyard gate, and stormed off.
There was no curtain at the door, and a cool breeze blew straight in, making chicken feathers fly all over the ground.
Watching Song Lizheng leave in a sorry state, Song Lao Er, who had been sitting leisurely on the kang watching the show, sneered: "Look at you, so capable! I'm not going, so what can you do about it!"
Qingping Town is a hundred miles from the border. Every year, people are sent to the border to perform corvée labor, and they receive some wages. People are also willing to go at other times.
But now winter is just around the corner, and the weather is getting colder every day.
If it's a job involving carrying stones or bricks, the hands and feet get so cold that they become numb, and you're likely to get injured if you're not careful. It's a tough job that nobody wants to do.
Besides, that's how the eldest son of the Song family lost his life.
With her life at stake, Madam Gu was filled with anxiety. Although her mother-in-law could control Song, the village head, this matter was being handled by the government, and she couldn't place all her hopes on her mother-in-law's antics.
"Honey, what do you think we should do? If we don't send anyone and don't pay, the town will come and arrest us. We need to find a way to deal with this."
Seeing that the mother and son seemed indifferent, Xiao Gu could only emphasize that the town was going to arrest them.
Being able to unleash a torrent of insults on Song Lizheng put Granny Gu in a great mood, made her feel refreshed, and boosted her confidence. Even her fatigue vanished.
She dismissed Gu's concerns with disdain: "What's there to be afraid of! If Song Laohei dares to make his second son do corvée labor, I dare say he stripped me naked back then."
Despite saying that, Granny Gu still felt deeply resentful.
She married widower Song Laohan at the age of twenty-five. The two were only intimate for two months before their relationship plummeted after she got into a fight with Song Laohan over hitting the eldest son of the Song family.
After she became pregnant with Song Lao Er through a series of bumps and bruises, Song Lao Han never touched her again.
So, less than a year after their marriage, Granny Gu was left a widow in name only. Looking at the wooden man beside her and then at her shrewd and capable former suitor, she was naturally filled with resentment.
After Song Laohan died, Song Lizheng regained his status and power in the village, and Gu Pozi was tormented day and night, unable to sleep, regretting her past actions.
If he can't find Song Lizheng every now and then and cause a scene, he won't be able to quell his resentment.
Over the years, she had become accustomed to it and naturally had no respect for power whatsoever.
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