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Wan Chunmei laughed. “He was supposed to return today, but the heavy snow made the roads impassable, so he plans to wait until the snow stops before heading back.”
Old Tan, his spirits lifted, glanced outside. “This snow looks like it’ll last for a few days. Perfect timing to wait until the pickles are ready before leaving.”
Wan Chunmei nodded. “Exactly, that’s what I was thinking too.”
After finishing their chores, they cooked for the children.
The days remained as simple and peaceful as ever.
But the noise at the Chen family’s house grew louder and more intense.
Wan Chunmei, unable to bear it any longer, opened the door and looked outside.
She saw Sun Shi throwing out all the jars and bottles from the house, the once-pristine white snow in the yard now covered with a mess of broken things.
Aunt Chen was trembling with anger. “You vile woman! My son marrying you is the worst luck our family has ever had!”
Sun Shi wasn’t intimidated in the slightest. Hands on her hips, she spat on the ground and retorted, “Marrying your son is the real misfortune! It’s the worst luck of my life!”
Aunt Chen slapped her own thigh, trembling as she pointed a finger at her and shouted hysterically, “I’ll make my son divorce you! Divorce you!”
Sun Shi raised her head defiantly, sneering. “Divorce? Go ahead, try! Before, he was living off my family, eating my food, relying on my father’s money. Now he dares to say divorce me? He wouldn’t even dare fart!”
Aunt Chen was left speechless, remembering how Chen Shian had indeed relied on Sun Shi’s family to make a living under the management of Bai Zhanggui. Though Chen Shian had been kicked out now, her words still held some truth.
Old Man Chen, unable to stay silent, yelled at Sun Shi, “Then right now, aren’t you also eating off our family and living in our house? We could kick you out with just one word!”
Sun Shi froze for a moment, then looked down at her belly, slapping it several times. “Fine, if you want to kick me out, then I’ll abandon this child! I don’t want it!”
Aunt Chen rushed forward to grab her. “You crazy woman! Stop this at once!”
But Sun Shi forcefully pulled away, continuing to slap her stomach with no sign of stopping.
Aunt Chen became frantic, grabbing Sun Shi’s hand with all her strength.
Sun Shi kicked her aside and continued to strike her own belly.
In the struggle, both women slipped on the icy ground and fell backward.
By sheer misfortune, Sun Shi’s belly slammed into the sharp edge of a broken bowl. A piercing scream filled the air, followed by a heart-wrenching cry of pain.
Aunt Chen was horrified. She quickly scrambled to her feet and turned Sun Shi over. There, she saw the sharp edge of the broken porcelain embedded in Sun Shi’s lower abdomen, blood pouring out and staining the snow red.
“Oh my heavens! Eldest daughter-in-law! What have you done?!”
Aunt Chen was so shocked she couldn’t even speak.
Wan Chunmei, who had been standing at her door, had witnessed the entire scene. She quickly ran over to them, saying, “Aunt Chen, your eldest daughter-in-law seems badly hurt. Let me go get Dr. Li right now!”
Aunt Chen snapped back to her senses and nodded repeatedly. “Yes, yes, thank you so much.”
Wan Chunmei, aware that the Chen family was difficult to deal with, kept her distance and immediately headed to Dr. Li’s house.
After a short while, Wan Chunmei returned with Dr. Li.
By this time, Sun Shi had been carried into the house, her face pale and on the brink of death.
Dr. Li was a young man, but his medical skills were quite good. Upon seeing the situation, he quickly understood what had happened and rushed to apply a dressing with gauze and some herbal medicine to stop the bleeding.
Aunt Chen collapsed on the ground, frantically slapping her own ears as she cried, “I shouldn’t have gone against her. You see, she’s pregnant, and I still had to argue with her—what was I thinking?!”
Old Man Chen, puffing on his dry tobacco, impatiently said, “Enough, stop crying. Let’s see what the doctor says.”
After Dr. Li finished tending to Sun Shi’s wound and wiped the blood from his hands, he turned to them and said, “Don’t worry. The injury isn’t too serious. I’ve stopped the bleeding. With proper care, she’ll be fine.”
“Really nothing to worry about?” Aunt Chen stopped crying, stood up, and asked.
Dr. Li, with a serious expression, replied, “Her pale face is due to blood loss. Once she wakes up and replenishes her strength, she’ll recover.”
Aunt Chen let out a sigh of relief, but then suddenly thought of the baby and immediately asked, “Dr. Li, what about the baby in my daughter-in-law’s belly?”
Dr. Li looked puzzled. “What baby?”
Aunt Chen was stunned for a moment, then hurriedly pointed at Sun Shi’s stomach. “The baby she’s carrying!”
Dr. Li suddenly laughed. “Your eldest daughter-in-law isn’t pregnant at all. There’s no baby. She just has a small wound on her belly from the broken porcelain. It hasn’t harmed her inside.”
Aunt Chen stood frozen, her mind struggling to process the words. After a long pause, she asked again, “Are you sure she isn’t pregnant?”
Dr. Li nodded firmly. “Absolutely sure. I’ve been practicing medicine for many years and would never make such a mistake. If you don’t believe me, you can visit another doctor in the neighboring villages.”
Hearing this, Aunt Chen’s eyes lost focus. She stared at Sun Shi on the bed for a long time, and slowly, her eyes filled with hatred.
“So, she’s been lying to me, huh? What a gutsy little thing!”
Old Man Chen, hearing this, threw his tobacco aside and slammed his hand down on the table with a forceful thud. “These two are becoming more and more lawless!”
His loud voice woke up the previously sleeping Chen Shian. Rubbing his eyes, he sat up and looked at Old Man Chen, asking, “Father, what’s wrong?”
Old Man Chen walked up to him and, without warning, slapped him across the face, shouting, “What do you mean, ‘what’s wrong?’ Don’t you know what you’ve done?!”