“Mother, please, I beg you, eat something. If you keep going like this, your body will collapse!”

“Mother-in-law, you can scold or beat me, I’ll accept it all. Just please don’t throw them away…”

“Don’t bring up what Mother doesn’t like! Right now, the most important thing is for her to eat. Nothing is more important than her health!”

“Mother, please let us come in.”

When Shen Qing opened her eyes and saw the dark, low roof above her, she froze, unable to tell if she was still dreaming.

For the past few days, she had been having the same dream—inside this same decrepit house.

A thatched roof, walls made of yellow mud smeared over reed poles.

The floor was uneven and muddy, with small puddles in some places surrounded by sludge, clearly from leaks when it rained.

The room was barren, without a single piece of furniture, so bare it was almost painful to look at.

In one corner, three to five dusty burlap sacks were piled up, making the already cramped room feel even smaller.

Shen Qing was utterly bewildered. Could she still be dreaming?

Outside the flimsy wooden door came the sound of clear, desperate cries. Shen Qing’s eyes widened as she suddenly sat up in bed!

The sudden movement brought a wave of dizziness, sinking her heart to the pit of her stomach even as her mind grew sharper.

This was the house from her recurring dream—the one where that wretched old hag lived!

The same old hag who would throw a fit and cry like the sky was falling over the smallest dissatisfaction, making life unbearable for everyone in the family until her demands were met.

The entire family, including a granddaughter not yet three years old, had to bow to her whims.

Whether it was silver coins, bowls of rice, or even deciding when to sleep and wake, everything was dictated by her!

This time, the commotion was because the eldest daughter-in-law had just given birth to a second daughter.

The old hag, unhappy with yet another “useless girl,” was threatening to starve herself unless both granddaughters were abandoned.

The elder granddaughter wasn’t even three yet, and the younger was barely a month old.

Selling them wasn’t an option.

The old hag’s plan was to leave them in some remote field or hill, where their frailty and illness would ensure they wouldn’t survive three to five days.

The elder granddaughter could have been spared, as she was close to an age where she could start working.

But a recent cold snap had left her ill, and with another “money-draining” girl born, the old hag decided to get rid of both, saving the cost of medicine.

Her method of coercion was well-practiced: she wouldn’t hang herself—the low, flimsy reed roof couldn’t support a rope.

Traveling to a far-off forest to hang herself would risk being too far from help if she changed her mind.

Nor would she drown herself; that carried the same risk as hanging.

Starving herself, however, was perfect: it wasn’t life-threatening but still dramatic enough to manipulate her children.

Which child could stand by and watch their mother waste away in front of them?

In the end, they’d have no choice but to give in to her demands, no matter how unreasonable.

Once you gave in once, it became easier to give in again and again.

Over time, it became a habit.

If the old hag had used her scheming outside the home, she might have made a fortune by now.

Instead, she stayed here, saving a bit of food by tormenting daughters-in-law and discarding granddaughters.

But somehow, in all her scheming, something had gone wrong, and she had miscalculated—because Shen Qing had taken her place.

Shen Qing sighed.

Hearing her stomach grumble, she called out to the voices outside, “I’m hungry. Bring me something to eat.”

The noise outside paused briefly, then erupted in joy. “Oh! Yes, yes, right away!”

“Mother is finally willing to eat!”

Kneeling on the ground, the eldest daughter-in-law, Huo Bing, froze for a moment, holding her frail daughter close.

Doubt flickered in her mind, but she said nothing.

Why would her mother-in-law agree to eat before achieving her goal?

Normally, the old woman wouldn’t stop crying and banging on the bed until her sons and daughters-in-law agreed to her terms.

“Mom?” The thin little girl, nicknamed Xiaohua, looked up at her unmoving mother and softly reminded her.

The commotion brought a fiery young woman storming out of the house.

She picked up Xiaohua and scolded her, “Get up! You’re still sick—you can’t let it get worse.”

“Little aunt, I was just surprised that Mother said she was going to eat,” Huo Bing forced a smile to explain.

Normally, after being berated or mocked by her sister-in-law Jiang Shui, Huo Bing would avoid speaking to her.

But this time was different—her mother-in-law wanted to throw away both daughters, and Jiang Shui had been the fiercest opponent of the idea.

Jiang Shui might not care much for the newborn, but she had taken care of Xiaohua since she was born.

When it came to caring for children, the more effort one put in, the deeper the bond.

Jiang Shui, who was usually lazy and sharp-tongued, had made an exception for Xiaohua.

She would even share her own food with the child.

This time, Jiang Shui had been the first to stand up and protest.

Huo Bing was deeply grateful.

Holding Xiaohua, Jiang Shui brushed the dust off the girl’s skirt with practiced ease.

Looking at the frail child in her arms, she couldn’t bring herself to say anything ominous.

Instead, she forced a smile and said, “If she’s willing to eat, it must mean she won’t throw away Xiaohua and Xiaocao anymore.”

Though she said that, her heart wasn’t optimistic.

She had known her mother for fifteen years.

How could she not know what kind of person she was?

Most likely, the old woman was just too hungry to endure any longer.

She would eat her fill and then cry in front of her sons, lamenting how girls were worthless, how the family was struggling, and how keeping two girls and spending money on doctors would make life impossible for everyone.

She would claim she was doing it all for the family’s sake.

And then, she’d probably repeat the same argument: wives could be replaced, children could be born again, but there was only one mother who had raised them.

Stories of burying sons to feed mothers had become legends of filial piety.

Throwing away two “worthless” girls was hardly comparable…