Zhao Youcai frowned and was about to push the handcart inside when he saw his four sons running back, panting, carrying hoes, followed by a group of people.
"Dad, hide behind us, don't get caught in the crossfire!"
If it weren't for Da Mao from next door coming home to fetch water for the adults and running into the Zhao family's troubles, none of the Zhao family members would have known that something had happened in their home.
Zhao Youcai frowned and listened carefully to the sounds inside. Why did the noisy group of people sound so familiar? It was as if he had heard them somewhere before.
He searched through his memory but couldn't find the owner of the voice. It wasn't until his eldest son, Zhao Jianguo, opened the door with a cold face, and his second son, Zhao Jianjun, walked in with an even colder expression, that Zhao Youcai finally saw the face of the troublemaker.
The Zhao family's courtyard was in a mess.
The other side had more than a dozen people, led by a rather short old woman with a very mean face.
At this moment, the old woman also looked over following the sound and immediately saw Zhao Youcai standing at the back. She sat cross-legged on the ground, slapping her thighs and wailing.
"What sins have I committed! I had six sons, but only this one precious daughter, and she's married off to that heartless second son of the Zhao family!"
Zhao Youcai frowned, finally realizing who it was.
Isn't that old hag the mother-in-law of the second son, Zhao Jianjun?
Then I looked at the most familiar tall, thin woman in that group.
Good heavens!
This is the second daughter-in-law who complains to her parents about every little thing, and who takes half a pound of rice from her own home to give to her parents as a token of filial piety!
At that moment, the baby's cries were deafening in the second son's room.
No one paid any attention to the child whose voice was almost hoarse from shouting; they all stood around in the yard staring at each other.
Zhao Youcai felt his teeth itching at this moment.
It's one thing for others, but why didn't the second daughter-in-law, the mother, react at all?
Wasn't this child hers? She's acting as calm as a stepmother!
The eldest son's wife, being a mother, couldn't stand such things. Seeing that the men in the family had all returned, she quickly withdrew from the fray and headed straight for the second son's room.
Fortunately, she was cautious and asked her fourth sister-in-law to go with her. This was to prevent her second brother from accusing her of stealing anything that might be missing from his room.
Not only that, the two of them didn't even close the door, leaving it wide open for onlookers to see what was happening inside.
The second son's face darkened further, and his eyes were filled with anger as he looked at his wife, whom he hadn't seen for many days.
The second son's wife instantly felt guilty and was about to lower her head to avoid his gaze, feeling somewhat embarrassed. Suddenly remembering that her parents and several of her brothers were there, she straightened up and glared back fiercely.
What if she were a spineless coward like her sister-in-law? Would she still let her husband torment her?
She has her family backing her up!
I'm not afraid of him!
The second son's mother-in-law continued to exert herself, wailing and kicking her legs, kicking up dust everywhere.
“I’m a perfectly healthy girl who married into the Zhao family, and I can’t even get a full meal every day! After giving birth, I can’t even get a sip of sugar water! Now that I’m finally out of confinement, everyone in my family feels sorry for me. If a woman doesn’t take good care of herself during confinement, she’ll never recover her health properly for the rest of her life and will have health problems for the rest of her life!”
"That Zhao family is a bunch of scoundrels, not a single one of them is good! My daughter has been back at her parents' home for so many days, and not a single person has come to see her!"
"Who else is as unlucky as my family to have such terrible in-laws? Our ancestral graves must be emitting black smoke!"
Zhao Youcai calmly grabbed a small stool, and from somewhere pulled out a handful of pumpkin seeds, cracking them open with great enthusiasm.
To be honest, although this old lady overdid it a bit while singing, she was indeed a very suitable performer for mourning.
If someone in any family dies in the future, they can invite this old lady over to celebrate. She's guaranteed to make everyone who hears her shed a tear of sympathy.
In the past, the villagers who came to watch would definitely have pointed and gossiped about Old Zhao's family.
But I just bought some fabric from someone yesterday, and I still need to buy more today if I didn't get any. There's no way I can afford to offend Zhao Youcai.
Then look at Zhao Lao Er's eyes and his wife's attitude.
It's one thing for the biological mother to ignore her child, but even the eldest sister-in-law and fourth brother's wife couldn't stand it anymore, and this person was still standing there swaggering around. In their opinion, the one who should be having a hard time is Zhao Youcai.
Having such an unlucky in-law is bad enough; not only will the ancestral graves be emitting black smoke, but all the ancestral graves that had a good relationship with our ancestors will also be angry and start emitting black smoke!
Li Dafu's mother suddenly appeared from some hidden corner, exclaiming, "Oh dear! Whose daughter-in-law has suffered such injustice? That bastard Zhao Youcai is truly disrespectful to his elders; no wonder his sons are all worthless!"
Zhao Lao Er's fist hardened again, but after thinking carefully about the large sum of money he owed and what his father had said yesterday, he could only suppress his anger and force himself to loosen his fist.
Li Dafu's mother was already prepared to lie down at any moment, and her body was already half bent over, but Zhao Lao Er didn't move at all!
Li Dafu's mother rolled her eyes and started her impromptu performance again.
"Putting aside others, his good-for-nothing third son is already so old and still can't get engaged. Who in the surrounding villages would want to marry their fine daughter off to a scoundrel who might get shot any day now!"
The third brother, Zhao Jianhua, also lost his temper.
So what if he's a scoundrel? Did he steal from her house or eat from her house?
Besides, he's already changed, okay? Didn't you see him sweating in the field, wielding his hoe with great skill?
They're all from the Li family; they're all into staged accidents!
Just as he was about to retort, Zhao Youcai spoke first.
“I’ve never seen in-laws come to my door and the first thing they do is smash up my yard. This is something an old man like me can’t handle. I’ll call the police.”
He even glanced at Li Dafu's mother, saying, "This really wasn't your business, but you had to be so talkative and drag yourself into our Zhao family's affairs. Stay here and wait."
A private settlement is out of the question.
Zhao Youcai is in the right, so he must use a cunning strategy to thoroughly humiliate them.
To avoid one or two shameless individuals coming to our door and causing endless trouble.
The second son's wife's family came to cause trouble, and coincidentally, the Li family was fanning the flames from the sidelines.
If he still can't figure out that this was all Li Dafu's mother's doing, then he's a fool.
Zhao Youcai really couldn't understand Li Dafu's mother's thought process. What good would it do for the Li family to have their in-laws cause such a scene at their home?
Or is it that Old Lady Li simply can't stand seeing the Zhao family have a few good days?
Zhao Youcai's gaze lingered on his second daughter-in-law's face for a couple more seconds, his mind still preoccupied with how to handle the situation.
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