When Xia Rong got home, he saw his grandmother, Xia, glaring at him. Zhao Danxiang was crying in front of him, and his second son, Xia Dahe, looked dejected. Xia Rong shouted angrily, "Grandma, don't push your luck! My mother would never steal things from home and send them to Grandma's house!" His eldest son's wife, Wang Chunhua, said sarcastically from the side, "Who else could it be but your mother? She was the only one who left home today. When I went into the kitchen this morning, I saw there were still twenty eggs left. None of us ate any today. Did those eggs grow legs and run away?"
The eldest son, Xia Fu, is already twenty-three. He had previously considered several girls, and they were all quite suitable in various aspects. However, upon inquiring, he learned that the three Xia brothers hadn't yet separated their households. Xia Fu himself was honest and capable, and his two younger brothers were also strong laborers, but the other two branches of the family didn't have as many strong laborers. Everyone ate together from the same pot, and the girls all felt that marrying Xia Fu would be too much of a loss, so they gave up on the idea. This dragged on and on, making Xia Fu an older single man. A few days ago, Wang, the matchmaker from the next village, introduced him to a girl from Xiaoliu Village next door. The girl's father owned a meat processing plant, so her family was certainly not short of money.
As for why such a well-off girl would choose Xia Fu, a poor country boy, it's all because her mother is useless. She gave birth to six daughters in a row. The eldest and second daughters are already married and have children, and the youngest sister is only five or six years old. Perhaps she inherited her mother's genes, as the four children born to the two daughters are all girls. The girl who is interested in Xia Fu is the third oldest, named Wang Xiaocui. She is nineteen years old this year. While she may not be a stunning beauty, she is certainly a pretty girl. It's not that there aren't young men with good prospects who are interested in her, but they all back away after learning about her family situation. There are also young men who don't mind, but they can't resist their mothers' disapproval. Being good-looking is useless; being able to give birth to a son is what matters. But Wang Chunhua wasn't afraid. It wasn't that she didn't favor boys over girls, but she thought that she had three sons. No matter which one had a grandson, wouldn't he have to call her grandma? And if her eldest son married Wang Xiaocui, wouldn't the family have meat to eat every now and then? Besides, she had given birth to three sons. Her eldest son had come out of her womb, so he couldn't be that bad today. Moreover, if Wang Xiaocui really couldn't give birth to a son, wouldn't her family be eager to offer her meat to please her and ask her to treat her better? Thinking of this, Wang Chunhua couldn't help but smile.
Wang Chunhua coughed twice, her thoughts drifting away. Today, she had to use this as an excuse to divide the family property. Zhu Hongmei seemed to see fragrant, oily pork beckoning to her. Xia Liang saw the window of the third room slam shut as she entered. Xia Liang raised an eyebrow and smiled at the action, then walked to Old Lady Xia's side and asked, "Grandma, what's wrong? Why are you so angry?" Old Lady Xia said irritably, "It's all because of your ungrateful mother! She relies on her mother to get enough to eat, yet she dares to send things to her own family. Bah, you shameless, ungrateful wretch!" Old Lady Xia cursed while pointing at Zhao Danxiang and stomping her feet.
Zhao Danxiang, wiping her red, tear-filled eyes, protested, "No, Mother, I didn't take any eggs to my parents' house." Xia Dahe also defended his wife, saying, "Mother, Danxiang isn't that kind of person. There must be some misunderstanding." Old Mrs. Xia became even more furious upon hearing this: "Misunderstanding? What misunderstanding could there be? No one else went into the kitchen today except her. I was wondering why she pretended to help Third Brother's wife when it wasn't her turn to cook. So it was premeditated!" Xia Liang immediately knew that the old lady's heart was completely biased. Just now, her aunt had said she had gone into the kitchen, but the old lady had made it seem like only the original owner's mother had gone in. Xia Liang said, "Grandma, my aunt just said she went into the kitchen, and Third Aunt was also in the kitchen, wasn't she? My mother couldn't have taken eggs right under her nose without Third Aunt noticing, could she?"
Xia Liang said this on purpose to drag Ma Guixiang into the matter. It wouldn't be so bad if Ma Guixiang bullied her sister-in-law because she had connections in the supply and marketing cooperative, but Ma Guixiang often watched the show when Old Lady Xia scolded the original owner's mother. Now that things have turned out this way at home, Ma Guixiang not only doesn't show up but has also gone into hiding. It's impossible not to have something fishy going on. Hearing Xia Liang's words, Xia Rong seemed to remember something and said, "I remember now. This afternoon when I came back to get something, I saw Third Aunt and Xia Xing sneaking around in the kitchen, doing something. As soon as they heard me open the door, they locked it." Ma Guixiang was displeased upon hearing this and rushed out of the room, yelling, "You little brat, what are you saying? How am I sneaking around in my own home?" Then she shouted at Xia Dahu, who was standing there like a wooden statue, "Are you dead? You can't even say a word when your wife is being bullied? Oh, I don't want to live anymore! I married a useless man who lets his wife be bullied by his juniors." As she yelled, she rushed over and grabbed Xia Dahu's collar, tearing at it.
Xia Dahu shouted, "Xia Rong, how can you talk like that? She's your third aunt, and your in-laws aren't short of such things." He then glanced at Zhao Danxiang, seemingly casually. "Enough! We're all family, why are you arguing? Aren't you ashamed? Second daughter-in-law, you took it, it's not a big deal. Just tell your mother-in-law. A family should act like a family, what's with all this sneaking around?" Old Man Xia, sitting under the eaves, stepped forward, seemingly trying to comfort Zhao Danxiang, but actually confirming that she had stolen the eggs. Xia Liang couldn't stand it anymore: "That's true, you're wrong. Taking a few eggs is indeed not a big deal, but there's no evidence that my mother took them. My grandmother beat my mother based solely on my aunt's side of the story. That's not right." She then turned to Xia Dahu: "And Third Uncle, you said that Third Aunt's family isn't short of those things and wouldn't take them. Although my maternal grandmother's family isn't as wealthy as Third Aunt's family, they would never encourage their daughter to take things from her husband's family to subsidize her own family."
This wasn't without basis. When the original owner was young, Zhao Danxiang took her back to her parents' home. She gave her mother a few biscuits, which her mother, Old Lady Zhao, couldn't bear to eat, giving them to the original owner instead. She also instructed Zhao Danxiang to be filial to her parents-in-law and not to bring anything back to her parents' home, fearing her daughter would be looked down upon by her sisters-in-law and mistreated by her mother-in-law. After all, Old Lady Xia was renowned, and this wasn't just praise; Old Lady Xia was known for her fierceness even in her youth, daring to challenge her stepmother. Under her stepmother's mistreatment, she found a matchmaker and married Old Man Xia herself. "Furthermore, it wasn't just my mother who went into the kitchen. My aunt said she saw eggs, meaning she went into the kitchen. My third aunt and younger brother Xia Xing also stayed in the kitchen. So, all of these people..."
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