Chapter 11: War of words between mother-in-law and daughter-in-law [I]

“Mother, I’m not beating around the bush, I really mean it. You’ve been living in this house for three years! Not only you, but you’ve also brought your eldest brother, eldest sister-in-law, younger brother, and younger sister. But my children and I have been living in the kitchen for over three years! I think you should go and taste the experience of living in the kitchen…” “You… you… wait until the third son comes back and see how he deals with you!

” Liu Cuifha said angrily. “Go ahead! Go ahead! I want to see how Lu Cheng will deal with me! He left his wife and children alone for five years after getting married, did the army teach him to treat his wife and children like this? If he dares to deal with me, I will directly report to the village, to the town, and to the army leaders about your family’s abuse of my three children, let’s see if he still wants to stay in the army!”

 “Lin Yuexi, you unfilial thing, you dare…” Liu Cuifha said through gritted teeth. How could she have imagined that this woman would be so powerful? If she had known, she would have never let her in the door.

And when she gave birth to Gou’er and Mao’er, she should have prevented her from giving birth safely, she should have made her have a difficult delivery, and it would have been better for them to die together! “Why wouldn’t I dare? Even a dog will jump over the wall when it’s cornered! You treat me like this, and you don’t allow me to fight back…” Lin Yuexi said angrily. Liu Cuifha was choked by Lin Yuexi’s resolute words, she couldn’t speak for a while, her chest heaved violently, her face turned green and white, her eyes wished she could swallow Lin Yuexi alive.

 “Good for you, Lin Yuexi, you usually seem quiet, but you’ve been holding back your anger! Don’t get too cocky, the third son always listens to me, he’ll believe your lies?” Liu Cuifha roared, trying to maintain her composure. Lin Yuexi sneered, took a step forward, forcing Liu Cuifha to involuntarily step back a little, “Mother, don’t fool yourself. No matter how filial Lu Cheng is, he wouldn’t ignore the lives of his wife and children. Everyone in the village knows what kind of life we’ve been living these past few years. If we really make a fuss, everyone’s saliva will drown the Lu family.”

“What’s all the noise, do you want to live or not? Old woman, you too, the third son’s wife, I asked her to move in, you’ve already moved out, what’s the fuss about, don’t be afraid of the neighbors laughing at you…” Lu Zhengdong shouted at Liu Cuifha, who had just finished work. But Liu Cuifha was like a lit fuse, she exploded instantly, turning to Lu Zhengdong and yelling, “You old fool, you’re putting on a good act now!

Didn’t you also support putting them in the kitchen? Now you’re turning around and blaming me…” Lu Zhengdong slammed his hoe heavily on the ground, his face grim, he said, “Enough! Back then, the third son was in the army and didn’t come back, you all suspected that the two children she gave birth to weren’t the third son’s? Now that I think about it, it was all hearsay, it wasn’t true.

So you should also restrain your temper, the third son’s wife has been living in the kitchen for so long, it’s our Lu family who wronged her.” Lin Yuexi listened, her anger rising, so you, Lu Zhengdong, also had a hand in driving the original Lin Yuexi and her children to live in the kitchen. It really is “Kind people are bullied, good horses are ridden!” The original Lin Yuexi was just too honest and kind, so they bullied her.

As soon as I came, I was just a little bit tougher, and they were afraid? Thinking of this, Lin Yuexi said, “Father, you’re saying this now, isn’t it too late? If you had even a little bit of compassion back then, my children and I wouldn’t have lived in the kitchen for over three years. Now it’s good, you just say ‘wronged her’ and think that’s the end of it?” Lin Yuexi stared straight at Lu Zhengdong, showing no signs of backing down, “These past few years, when the children were sick, I begged my mother-in-law to find a doctor, but she just watched coldly; I, a woman, did all the heavy and tiring work in the house, and I also had to put up with the eldest brother and sister-in-law’s bad temper, I remember all these grievances.

” Lu Zhengdong was embarrassed, he opened his mouth but didn’t know how to respond. Liu Cuifha snorted coldly from the side, “Hmph, don’t act pitiful here, everyone in the family has been through this, you’re the only one who’s delicate!” Lin Yuexi laughed angrily, “Mother-in-law, you’re really good at lying with your eyes open, the eldest brother and sister-in-law are living in my big tile house and enjoying themselves!

 The younger brother and sister are studying and playing, I’m taking care of the children in the kitchen, filled with smoke and fire, eating leftovers, wearing patched-up clothes, how can this be the same? If you really think I’m easy to bully, let’s invite all the elders in the village today, let them judge, who’s the one who’s out of line, me or the Lu family who are being too cruel!” “Third son’s wife, it’s late tonight, you go and cook something to eat first, take the children to rest early, can we talk about this tomorrow?…” Lu Zhengdong tried to appease Lin Yuexi.

“Father, it’s clear that mother doesn’t want me to move in, even if I move in, will I have a good life in the future? I think we should go find the village chief today to judge, let’s clarify this matter before we talk about anything else…” Lin Yuexi finished and was about to rush out.

Seeing this, Liu Cuifha took a step forward, reaching out to grab Lin Yuexi’s arm, her face full of panic and ferocity, “You dare! If you bring the village chief here, the Lu family will lose face, how will we hold our heads up in the village in the future!

” Lin Yuexi shook off Liu Cuifha’s hand, straightened her clothes, her eyes cold, “Mother-in-law, you’re afraid of losing face now? Why didn’t you think about the Lu family’s reputation when you were arbitrarily manipulating me and the children all these years?

 I’m telling you now, I won’t let things settle down until this matter is completely resolved!” At this moment, a commotion suddenly came from outside the courtyard, it turned out that the neighbors had just finished work and heard the noisy commotion in the courtyard, they couldn’t help but gather to watch the show.

Everyone stood at the entrance of the courtyard, whispering to each other, their eyes occasionally looking at the tense figures in the courtyard. Seeing this, Lin Yuexi thought, this is heaven helping me, the neighbors came just in time, saving me the trouble of calling everyone over.

 Lu Zhengdong saw the increasing number of villagers, he was so anxious that sweat broke out on his forehead, he lowered his voice and said to Lin Yuexi, “Third son’s wife, let’s not make such a big fuss, we can talk things out, tell me what you want, father will do whatever you say, just keep it down, let the people disperse, alright?” But Lin Yuexi, as if she hadn’t heard, raised her voice and said to the people outside the courtyard, “Uncles, aunts, brothers, sisters, I’m really sorry for disturbing everyone today.

 But my life has been so unbearable, I want to ask you all to judge for me. Since I married into the Lu family, Lu Cheng has been away for many years, I’ve been taking care of the two children, devoting myself to this family, but who would have thought that my mother-in-law, together with the eldest brother and sister-in-law, occupied our three large tile houses, and forced me and the children to live in the kitchen for over three years, and they’ve been making things difficult for me all the time…

” Before she could finish, there was a murmur of disapproval from the crowd, everyone looked at the Lu family members with condemnation.

Liu Cuifha was both angry and anxious, she rushed forward to cover Lin Yuexi’s mouth, yelling, “You, a jinx who talks nonsense, don’t ruin the reputation of my Lu family here!”