Chapter 8

The rising sun illuminated every patch of green in the mountains, with sunlight filtering through the leaves, casting dappled shadows. Some rays lit up a smooth stone, others danced like bubbles on the grass, and some even touched the tips of the girls’ hair.

Ruan Jie and several children of varying ages were gathering firewood in the forest, each piling their collected wood in a heap, competing to see who could gather the most. Once done, they tied the bundles with hemp rope, hoisted them onto their backs, and carried them home.

The girls, carrying their firewood, sang mountain songs to lift their spirits as they walked. Living in such a small world, they had no other worries, anxieties, or hopes. They felt immensely happy if they could fill their bellies each day and occasionally taste something sweet or meaty during festivals. With few desires, they were easily satisfied and found joy in simple things.

However, this simple joy was easily disrupted.

Ruan Jie, happily carrying a bundle of firewood, returned home. But as she approached the house, her mood soured upon encountering her mother, Sun Xiaohui.

From childhood, it seemed her mother couldn’t stand to see her happy.

Whenever Ruan Jie was happy, Sun Xiaohui always found a way to make her unhappy.

Ruan Jie tried to ignore her mother, but Sun Xiaohui called out to her.

Hearing her voice, Ruan Jie had to stop outside the side room but didn’t turn around or speak.

Sun Xiaohui walked up behind her, grabbed her shoulder, and spun her around.

Of the three children, Sun Xiaohui liked Ruan Jie the least. Last night, she called Ruan Jie to do something, but Ruan Jie didn’t respond, making Sun Xiaohui even more displeased with her. Filled with anger, she immediately scolded, “Are you blind? Didn’t you see me?”

Ruan Jie lowered her head, biting her lip, and remained silent.

Seeing her like this, Sun Xiaohui wanted to slap her to vent her anger. But she held back, not hitting Ruan Jie’s face, and instead reached for the hemp rope on her shoulder.

Ruan Jie realized what she was doing and quickly pulled her shoulder back.

She looked at Sun Xiaohui and said, “I gathered this.”

Sun Xiaohui’s eyes widened, “So what if you gathered it? Last night, I told you to tend the fire, and you didn’t. I haven’t even settled that with you yet! Don’t forget, I’m your mother. I gave birth to you!” As she spoke, she grabbed the hemp rope on Ruan Jie’s shoulder again, squeezing her shoulder and pulling the firewood off her back.

Ruan Jie tried to resist but wasn’t strong enough. She managed to grab the rope, her eyes welling up with tears. Holding onto one end of the rope, she looked at Sun Xiaohui and said, “I gathered this.”

Sun Xiaohui had no patience for Ruan Jie. She pushed her away, nearly causing her to fall.

After pushing Ruan Jie, Sun Xiaohui took the firewood to the small thatched shed, cursing as she walked, “You ungrateful girl, your conscience must have been eaten by a dog. You’re an ingrate, born after ten months of pregnancy for nothing!”

Ruan Jie barely managed to stay on her feet. She watched as Sun Xiaohui took the firewood she had gathered into the newly built kitchen. Her body ached from the push, her hands hurt from the rope, and she felt incredibly wronged. Tears streamed down her face. She didn’t cry out loud, just sniffled and wiped her tears with her sleeve.

After placing the firewood in the small kitchen, Sun Xiaohui headed to the main house, still muttering, “From now on, all the firewood you gather goes into this small kitchen. If you keep being ungrateful, you’ll get nothing good!”

The family used various crop stalks, wheat straw, and corn cobs for firewood. But none of these burned as well as the firewood gathered from the forest, which made the food taste better and was easier to burn.

She added, “And the pigweed you pick, the pig food you cook, and the chicken feed you chop must all prioritize our family. If our pigs don’t gain weight and our hens don’t lay eggs, I won’t be nice to you!”

Ruan Jie didn’t respond, wiped her tears, and was about to leave when she heard Sun Xiaohui call her.

She turned around to see Sun Xiaohui, eyes wide, holding a pile of dirty clothes. Sun Xiaohui stormed out of the main house, threw the clothes at her, and continued scolding, “You haven’t washed the clothes yet? Do you want to die?!”

Ruan Jie pulled the clothes off her head, her eyes red with accumulating resentment.

Sun Xiaohui pointed at her, face twisted with anger, “What are you looking at?!”

Ruan Jie glared at her, unable to hold back her anger and resentment any longer, and suddenly shouted, “Why should I wash them? Big brother and little brother do nothing all day. Why don’t you make them wash? Uncle washes his own clothes!”

Sun Xiaohui, gritting her teeth in anger, said, “So you still know Yuejin and Yuehua are your big brother and little brother? I thought you didn’t even recognize your parents! Why should you wash? Because I’m your mother! And your father and your big brother and little brother!”

Ruan Jie, eyes red, glared at her silently.

Sun Xiaohui’s finger almost touched Ruan Jie’s nose as she angrily asked, “Will you wash them or not?!”

Ruan Jie bit her lip, “I won’t!”

Fine! Alright!

Sun Xiaohui was so angry that she felt like her head was going to explode. She turned around and went into the side kitchen, coming out with an iron fire poker. Pointing it at Ruan Jie, she said, “I’ll ask you one more time: are you going to wash the clothes or not?”

Seeing the fire poker, Ruan Jie couldn’t help but feel nervous. No matter where it landed, it would leave red marks. If struck, she might even limp for a few days.

Seeing Sun Xiaohui approaching, Ruan Jie didn’t stand there foolishly this time. She turned and ran.

She remembered that Liu Xinghua had said in the morning that she was going to borrow shoe patterns from Grandma Zhao. So she ran straight to Grandma Zhao’s house, shouting, “Grandma, help me!”

Sun Xiaohui was furious and couldn’t hold back her anger. She chased after Ruan Jie with the fire poker, cursing, “Even God can’t save you today. I’ll beat you to death, you ungrateful girl!”

When Liu Xinghua went to borrow shoe patterns from Grandma Zhao, several other old friends were there, so she sat down to do needlework with them instead of going home. They chatted about the local gossip while working.

Grandma Zhao asked Liu Xinghua, “I heard your second daughter-in-law and your second son had a big fight at home, and she went back to her parents’ house crying, saying she wanted to split the family. Is that true?”

Liu Xinghua snorted, “We already agreed to split the family as they wished. She came back happily last night.”

Grandma Li said, “Oh my, you and the brigade leader are so good-tempered to agree to that. If it were my family, we’d beat that ungrateful son to death. After raising him with so much effort and saving money for his marriage, when the family is facing some difficulties and is preparing for Xiao Wuzi’s marriage, instead of helping, he wants to split the family. He’s a real ingrate. Where did the money for his marriage come from? Weren’t you two and the eldest son and his wife saved it together?”

Liu Xinghua, rolling the white edge on the shoe surface with a fine needle, said, “Forget it. Arguing only makes us a laughingstock. They wanted to split, and not agreeing would make everyone unhappy every day. So we split, and now everyone lives their own life without bothering each other.”

Grandma Zhao asked, “How much did you and the brigade leader give them?”

Liu Xinghua replied, “We gave them everything we could, either by headcount or half of everything.”

Grandma Hu’s eyes widened, “My goodness, why give so much to such ingrates? If it were me, I’d give them nothing and kick the whole family out to sleep in a cave.”

Liu Xinghua said, “They’re still our sons. Not giving anything would cause endless trouble. We don’t want people saying we’re biased parents, favoring the eldest and youngest while kicking the second son out to starve. We did what we should as parents so no one could say anything. Whether they live well or not in the future, we won’t care anymore.”

Grandma Zhao nodded, “It’s good to split cleanly and peacefully.”

Just as the words “peacefully” left her mouth, a shout came from not far away: “Grandma!”

The old ladies looked up to see Ruan Jie, who seemed to be chased by a wolf. Seeing Liu Xinghua, she quickened her pace. Behind her was Sun Xiaohui, holding a fire poker.

Grandma Li squinted and asked, “What’s going on?”

Liu Xinghua didn’t know either, but before she could speak, Ruan Jie ran over and hid behind her.

With her hands on Liu Xinghua’s shoulders, Ruan Jie gasped for breath and said intermittently, “Grandma, I spent half a day gathering firewood, and my mom took it all. She wants me to wash clothes, and if I don’t, she’ll beat me to death. She also said I have to feed the pigs and chickens.”

As she spoke, Sun Xiaohui, holding the fire poker, caught up. With hands on her hips and looking fierce, she panted, “You better get back here!”

The other old ladies didn’t understand and looked at Liu Xinghua, asking softly, “What’s going on?”

Liu Xinghua didn’t even glance at Sun Xiaohui and said calmly, “They think Xiao Jie eats too much, so they let her stay with me when we split the family. They don’t want to raise her because she’s a girl, but they still want her to do chores. Tell me, where in the world can you have such a good deal? Wanting the horse to run but not letting it eat grass.”

Hearing this, the old ladies all looked at Sun Xiaohui with disgust.

Grandma Li spoke first, “Sun Xiaohui, is this how you act as a daughter-in-law and mother?”

Grandma Hu added, “When times were good, you were eager to take advantage. As soon as things got tough, you pushed your husband to split the family. Do you have no conscience? Not only no conscience but no shame either!”

Grandma Zhao was even more direct, “I’ve seen many shameless people in my life, but none as shameless as you. If you don’t want to raise Xiao Jie or even feed her, how do you have the face to make her work?”

Sun Xiaohui, usually indifferent to gossip, couldn’t help but blush and feel like she was being slapped repeatedly. She said, “I gave birth to her. I’m her mother. Why can’t I make her work?”

Before the old ladies could say anything, Ruan Jie suddenly shouted, “I didn’t ask you to give birth to me! I don’t even want you as my mother. How dare you have me without my consent?!”

Sun Xiaohui was so enraged that she felt her blood rush to her head. She gripped the fire poker tightly and raised it, pointing at Ruan Jie, “Ruan Jie, say that again! See if I won’t beat you to death!”

Hiding behind Liu Xinghua, Ruan Jie felt more confident and less afraid. Of course, these words weren’t her own; she had heard them from Ruan Xi during their bedtime chats and found them very reasonable.

Liu Xinghua continued to support Ruan Jie, “Who are you going to beat to death?”

Faced with Liu Xinghua’s calm eyes and overwhelming presence, along with the disdainful and sharp looks from the other old ladies, Sun Xiaohui swallowed her anger and didn’t dare to speak further.

These were all experienced women, not easy to deal with.

She stood there, gritting her teeth, and after some consideration, put down the fire poker, gave Ruan Jie a fierce glare, and turned to leave.

The more she walked, the angrier she became, gripping the fire poker tighter. Unable to swallow her anger, she spat on the roadside and cursed loudly, “A bunch of old hags!”

Just as she finished cursing, she stepped on some loose gravel, slipped, and fell to the ground.

“Ouch!” She landed on her butt, and the stones pressed into her back. She got up with a limp.

Liu Xinghua watched her limping away and snorted coldly, “Serves you right!”