Such rare malted milk powder is something that my fourth brother's wife's family tries to get two cans of every year, just to nourish her body.
During holidays and festivals, the regular visits between relatives never stopped, and they never came empty-handed.
Otherwise, how could someone like her fourth sister-in-law live peacefully in the Zhao family?
She initially scoffed at it and spoke ill of her fourth sister-in-law behind her back. She believed that her sister-in-law's family was afraid that she wouldn't be able to have children and would be divorced and sent back to her parents' home, thus affecting the marriage prospects of other family members.
But does she really not know the truth?
It was just a sour remark made because she didn't have what others had.
Now that she saw her man was really serious, as if he truly didn't want her anymore, she started to feel scared.
Seeing her husband pry her apart and stride quickly toward home, she panicked even more.
I don't know where I got the strength, but I got up and stumbled home.
She remembered.
Her father-in-law is the one who calls the shots in the family!
As long as her father-in-law puts in a good word for her, she can continue living in the Zhao family. She will then have plenty of time to slowly win over her husband.
...
"Dad, you can't abandon me!"
Zhao Youcai had just finished his work in Happy Town and returned to his room with his hands behind his back to check on the fabric sales progress. He was once again drawn to his second daughter-in-law's familiar mournful wailing.
Zhao Youcai was so angry he wanted to flip the table.
What kind of daughter-in-law is this?!
Why isn't this over yet?
The second daughter-in-law's skin was indeed thicker than a wall. She could cry her eyes out in front of so many women in the village, and she knelt down in Zhao Youcai's direction to plead her case.
"Dad! Please do something about Jianjun! He wants a divorce!"
The already lively room became even more bustling, with the noise growing louder and louder and impossible to stop.
Zhao Youcai glanced at his second daughter-in-law, his lips twitching. "What's wrong? When you were always going back to your parents' house and causing trouble with your family, why didn't you think this far ahead?"
"Besides, it's just a divorce, why are you crying and making a scene?"
Zhao Youcai was speaking from the heart. Divorce is a common occurrence in later generations; everyone knows at least a few people who are going through a divorce and can't make it work.
But this is the 1960s, a special era where people would point fingers and gossip about anyone who got divorced, no matter the reason.
Sure enough, as soon as he finished speaking, a cacophony of voices arose from the crowd of people buying cloth.
"Wow, the Zhao family is really lively here. Is it because they're having bad luck with the year's ruling animal?"
"Shh! Shut up! Don't spread those feudal ideas, or you'll get arrested by the Revolutionary Committee!"
"To be honest, Zhao Youcai, this old man, has finally started to get things done, but there are quite a few people in his family who are holding him back."
"What a tragedy! No wonder Zhao Youcai's mental state is so unpredictable. If I had a daughter-in-law like that, I'd go completely mad, even more so than Zhao Youcai."
...
Even more distressed than Zhao Youcai was the second son's wife, who was the subject of gossip. At this moment, she bit her lip tightly, feeling both angry and aggrieved.
She's clearly the victim; her man is about to leave her. How dare these loose-lipped old women say these things to her face!
He glared fiercely at the women from the village who had come to buy cloth, and the surrounding chatter grew even louder.
"Look at her! A daughter-in-law like a wolf cub. With such fierce eyes, she doesn't look like a kind person at all!"
"If they wanted a divorce, they would have done it long ago. Zhao Lao Er is pitiful. I bet a penny that his wife is definitely the one who falsely accuses others first. Maybe she did something wrong and couldn't find anyone else to take the blame, so she made her husband take the fall."
"Oh my, this is probably true! Look at Zhao Lao Er's wife's face, she looks so unnatural!"
The second son's wife hurriedly lowered her head, her eyes filled with anger.
These gossipy women are so hateful!
Once she gains the trust of her father-in-law and her own husband, none of these old women will be able to buy fabric from her house!
Zhao Youcai acted as if he hadn't heard a word they said, completely ignoring them. He walked out the same way he had entered the room, displaying an air of nonchalance that he was hard of hearing and hadn't heard a thing.
The second daughter-in-law didn't hear any sound for a while. When she looked up again, she was suddenly shocked to find that her father-in-law was nowhere to be seen.
Seeing her fourth sister-in-law still smiling and selling cloth as if it were none of her business, she suddenly yelled out, for reasons unknown.
"If you don't forgive me, I won't live anymore!" After saying that, she covered her head and ran outside.
The women who had just bought the fabric and were waiting for their neighbors to go home together exchanged glances, their eyes sparkling with gossip.
A small group of people, carrying cloth, followed behind the second son's wife and ran quickly to the stream at the foot of the mountain in the village, a stream that the second son's wife was very familiar with.
That's right, it was right by the stream where Zhao Lao Er had just pulled her aside.
"Don't follow me! Anyway, Zhao Lao Er doesn't want me anymore, I'm going to jump in now!"
None of the women behind her spoke, and the second son's wife felt even colder.
Is she really that unpopular?
They were about to commit suicide, and there wasn't even a single person to persuade them to stop?
She closed her eyes in despair, secretly hoping someone would speak up for her. If only someone would step forward and offer even a token word of advice, she would have a chance to act.
Unfortunately, as the crowd grew larger, not only did no one try to persuade her to let it go, but some people even started to jeer.
"Stop just talking and actually doing it! What's the point of all this empty talk?"
"Exactly! We're already here, so let us see something before we leave, right?"
"If you're going to put on an act, you have to go all the way. All you're doing is talking and not taking any action. That's just too fake."
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