“Auntie, look how much of a failure you are. Your husband and son ignore you, and even your beloved grandson doesn’t stand up for you. Tell me how much of a failure you are.”
"You're talking nonsense! I'm the one in charge of this household. Who would dare to disobey me? They'd probably be asleep by now, otherwise they wouldn't dare ignore me." Aunt Pan stubbornly refused to admit her defeat in front of others.
Everyone else present laughed when they heard this. Everyone knew her family's situation. The whole family relied on Old Man Pan's meager salary to survive. The money for her three sons' weddings was only enough to pay the bride price by selling their daughters. Not to mention that her three sons were lazy and unambitious.
If it weren't for Old Man Pan's good luck in drawing this room, these guys wouldn't even have a place to live. Old Man Pan went to great lengths to find jobs for his eldest and second sons, but they complained that it was too tiring and refused to go back to work after a few days. This caused quite a stir back then, and even though Old Man Pan broke several sticks, he couldn't change their minds.
Aunt Pan stood by, protecting her eldest and second sons. "If you don't want to go, then don't go. Why hit your son? If you hurt him, who will take care of them in their old age? This old man just doesn't understand. Relying on one son for old age isn't secure. Having more sons means more security."
Now it seems that her three sons have no security at all, and it's clearly impossible for her to rely on them for her old age.
And those damned girls, they never even come back to visit their mother. Although the dowry was a bit too much, it was practically like selling her daughters. Besides, she found wealthy husbands for them, so they don't have to worry about food or money. Many people envy that.
What an ingrate!
Inside the house, Pan Lao Er's wife was secretly listening to the commotion outside. She nudged Pan Lao Er, who was lying on the bed, and whispered worriedly, "Wouldn't it be bad if we didn't go out to help Mom? What if Mom gets angry with us? I heard Mom was planning to kick the eldest son's family out and leave the house for us and Pan Lao San's family to divide. What if she gets angry and doesn't give us any?"
"Did Mom really say that?"
"Yes, I heard it with my own ears, how could it be false?"
Pan Lao Er immediately sat up excitedly from the bed and glanced at Pan Lao San's family next door. This room had been divided into two rooms, which were occupied by them and Lao San's family, while Lao Da had a room partitioned off in the living room. It was fine during the day, but at night, the lack of soundproofing always made it awkward and inconvenient to do anything.
If it's really like Mom said, and the house is divided between him and Pan Laosan, then after Mom and Dad die, our family can get a single room and won't have to squeeze in with Pan Laosan's family anymore. Then we can partition the living room, making the space much larger and more comfortable to live in. The room where Mom and Dad live is big, so we'll choose that room when it's allocated.
The Pan family also had the same idea.
Although Pan Lao Er and his wife were speaking softly, Pan Lao San overheard them. Upon hearing this, he whispered what he had overheard into his wife's ear. Pan Lao San's wife's eyes lit up, and she stopped playing with the child, turning to face Pan Lao San excitedly, saying:
"Oh my god! This way we can have a separate room for Da Bao. Da Bao is so big and it's really not good for him to be crammed in with us."
The couple had worried about this too. With their eldest son growing up, it wasn't appropriate for him to share a room with them anymore. They had to wait until their son was asleep to do anything private, and if they made too much noise, it would upset other people. He had had enough of that.
The couple looked forward to the future and discussed how to divide the room after the two elderly people passed away.
In the living room, Pan Laoda, rubbing her belly, looked at the three sisters in front of her with a belly full of anger. She picked up a willow branch next to her and started hitting them, cursing them incessantly: "It's all your fault! You've made it impossible for me to have a son. I can't hold my head up in this family. We are the eldest in this family. All of this is our fault. Why did you have to be born into my belly!"
Sister-in-law Pan lashed out repeatedly, taking revenge on her daughters for all the grievances she had suffered over the years. Her eyes were filled with a terrifying intensity, as if she wanted to devour them alive.
The three sisters covered their mouths, afraid to make a sound. Daya stood in front of her two younger sisters, trying her best to protect them with her small body, letting the willow branches whip her body. Even so, the two younger sisters still suffered a brutal beating from Sister-in-law Pan.
The pain was unbearable, so they bit their hands, afraid to cry out. If they disturbed Boss Pan, their fate would only be worse.
Sister-in-law Pan got tired of smoking and plopped down on the bed. The next second, a big foot kicked her hard in the waist. She immediately fell to the ground, clutching her waist, in so much pain that she couldn't stand up. Her face was contorted with pain, and she felt as if her waist was broken.
"What's all the noise about! Can't you let me sleep? Damn it, that bitch deserves a beating!"
As he spoke, Boss Pan got out of bed and kicked Sister-in-law Pan's stomach hard: "You slut! All you do is give birth to a money-losing child, making me unable to hold my head up in public. Damn it, what use is your belly!"
"Ah! Don't hit me!"
Pan's sister-in-law curled up, clutching her stomach and rolling around, trying to escape Pan's violence, and kept begging him for mercy.
The three sisters hid in a corner, numbly watching the familiar scene before them, feeling nothing at all.
Everyone in the room heard Boss Pan's roar, mixed with Sister-in-law Pan's pleas for mercy, but they just shrugged and continued with their own business.
Outside, Aunt Pan was still arguing with the crowd until a roar came from inside the house. Her expression froze, and she couldn't continue speaking. She was furious that Boss Pan had caused trouble for her at this time, making her lose face in front of everyone.
Xu Qingqing crossed her arms and leaned against the wall, saying in a nonchalant tone, "Aunt Pan, didn't you say your family was asleep? You should never be stubborn, or you'll be proven wrong very quickly. Admit it, you're a terrible parent."
Your son clearly values his wife more than you. He's too busy beating her to stand up for you. Even if you died out there, your beloved sons probably wouldn't bother to collect your body.
"Pah! You're the one who'll die! My son is very filial to me, not like what you say. I'm telling you, if you don't pay me a hundred or two hundred yuan today, no, a hundred yuan! I'm staying here!"
Aunt Pan spat a few times and arrogantly made her demands, pointing to her scalded feet and asking for compensation.
Everyone looked at the uninjured foot, except for a small red mark, and looked at Aunt Pan's shameless appearance with disdain. They despised her in their hearts. Most of the people present had been swindled by her to some extent, but this was the first time they had seen her make such an outrageous demand, asking the young couple for such a high amount of compensation. She was utterly shameless.
In the past, it was only a few cents, and at most a dollar. They accepted it with resentment. But this time, they actually asked for so much, which is equivalent to several months' salary for them. Tsk tsk tsk!
Xu Qingqing walked towards Aunt Pan, stared at her intently, then smiled, turned back to look at a certain spot, and gave Bo Jingran a look.
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
