Chapter 7: You’re Bound to Get a Beating

The three sisters were overjoyed and surprised to see Jiang Jiuyue appear unharmed, rushing towards her.

“Mom! They didn’t catch you? Did you manage to escape when they weren’t looking?”

Jiang Jiuyue flicked Jiang Zhen’er on the forehead. “Your mom isn’t that weak. I took care of all of them. Your aunt is making noodles at home. Let’s go eat.”

Jiang Bao’er was so happy she almost jumped up. “Mom is the best!”

Jiang Jiuyue flicked her on the forehead as well. “Yes, your mom is the best. From now on, don’t worry about me getting beaten to death. It’s always me, Jiang Jiuyue, who beats others. No one beats me. Got it?”

Jiang Bao’er nodded vigorously. Jiang Zhen’er and Jiang Yu’er leaned against Jiang Jiuyue, feeling like they never had to worry about their mom being bullied again.

Jiang Jiuyue took the three sisters back home, where Chen Cuihong’s noodles had just finished cooking.

Liang Chengyong, the eldest son of the main house, was standing by the pot, about to grab some noodles with chopsticks to eat without asking.

Chen Cuihong hurriedly pushed him away, panic in her eyes. “What are you doing? Are you crazy? Don’t you see how badly your grandmother was beaten?”

Liang Chengyong, on the other hand, was desperate. From yesterday until now, he hadn’t eaten a proper meal, and he was starving.

As the eldest grandson of the Liang family, despite the family’s poor condition, he was highly favored by Du Jinhua and had never gone hungry before.

These past two days, he hadn’t eaten much, and now he couldn’t hold back his hunger and wanted to grab some noodles.

Chen Cuihong couldn’t stop him in his desperate state, but when she saw Jiang Jiuyue had entered the yard, she didn’t know where the strength came from, but Jiang Jiuyue suddenly shoved Liang Chengyong to the ground.

Jiang Jiuyue stood at the kitchen door and saw Liang Chengyong holding chopsticks and being pushed down by his mother. She smiled. “Oh? What’s going on here? Is your sister-in-law still willing to beat up your precious son, the golden grandson?”

Chen Cuihong was flustered as she tried to explain, “No, no, Chengyong just wanted to check if the noodles were done, and I accidentally knocked him over. It’s nothing, really. Uh, Third Sister-in-law, please, you and the girls go to the main room. The noodles will be ready soon.”

Jiang Jiuyue raised an eyebrow as she looked at Liang Chengyong, probably realizing that he, the precious golden grandson, couldn’t handle the hunger from not eating for two days. He came rushing to grab noodles, and his mother stopped him.

Jiang Jiuyue was quite satisfied with Chen Cuihong’s clear-eyed attitude. If she could see the situation correctly, she deserved some reward.

After all, Du Jinhua had hidden a lot of food, including some coarse grains that were almost like chaff. It wouldn’t hurt to let the Liang family taste what the original Jiang family had to eat every day.

Jiang Jiuyue turned around and went back to her room, grabbed some unknown grain husks or something similar, and handed them to Chen Cuihong.

“Take this and cook it. Don’t let everyone starve to death.”

She didn’t say the last part, which was, “If you starve to death, that would be too good for you. The real torment is the mental and physical suffering you’ll endure.”

Chen Cuihong was pleasantly surprised. She never expected Jiang Jiuyue to voluntarily give them food to fill their stomachs. Although it was just some bran, at least it would fill them up.

They could have borrowed some food from the neighbors, but with Jiang Jiuyue in charge now, they didn’t dare ask anyone. If she found out, they would definitely get beaten.

“Th-thank you, Third Sister-in-law. I’ll go serve the noodles now.”

Chen Cuihong quickly scooped the noodles out of the pot and brought them to the table in the main room.

In the main house, Liang Chun’er was watching the scene from the window, her eyes nearly bleeding with hatred.

The people from the third house, who had always been the servants of the family, suddenly turned things around, and even those damn girls were able to suppress her now?!

Liang Chun’er touched her swollen cheek, and if it weren’t for the occasional pain in her mouth, she might have thought this was a dream.

The people from the second house were in the same situation but seemed to accept things faster, redirecting their hatred toward Du Jinhua.

Ma Guichun spat toward the dilapidated house where Du Jinhua lived, “If it weren’t for this old hag treating the Third Daughter-in-Law so cruelly, would she have gone mad and gotten revenge on us?”

She seemed to have completely forgotten that although Du Jinhua had tortured Jiang Jiuyue, not a single person from the Liang family had ever helped her. Everyone looked down on Jiang Jiuyue, which was why the whole family ended up being dragged into this mess.

Liang Wenchang agreed with Ma Guichun’s opinion, and the two of them cursed Du Jinhua back and forth in the room. They regretted not splitting the family earlier, as now they had to suffer the consequences with Du Jinhua.

Ma Guichun seemed to be reminded of something and slapped her thigh. “Right! Splitting the family! Now that the old hag has been crippled by Jiang Jiuyue, does she still dare to show off any authority at home? We can all split the family! At worst, we’ll give that demon Jiang Jiuyue some silver. We won’t have to share a pot with her anymore. Can she still come bully us?”

The more she spoke, the more excited she became. “After splitting the family, we’ll go to my mother’s village to find a house to live in, far away from here, and live our own lives!”

Liang Wenchang was somewhat reluctant, though. He was happy about splitting the family, but moving to Ma Guichun’s mother’s village was another matter.

He had a relationship with the widow Dong in the village and occasionally went to her house to enjoy himself. If they moved to Ma Guichun’s mother’s village, how would he continue his trysts with Dong?

Ma Guichun was completely oblivious to his thoughts, still immersed in her fantasies about a better life after the split.

The two families had their own agendas, while Du Jinhua, lying in the broken house, cursed Jiang Jiuyue in silence, hoping that a bolt of lightning would strike and kill her.

No matter what they were thinking, Jiang Jiuyue and her three daughters were sitting in the main room, happily eating the smooth and delicious noodles.

Chen Cuihong’s cooking was quite good. Plus, out of fear of Jiang Jiuyue, she didn’t dare to serve anything subpar. She used all her skills to make the noodles delicious.

Jiang Jiuyue wasn’t picky when it came to food. After surviving in the apocalypse for so long, she had long gotten used to the idea that as long as her belly was full, it was good enough.

The three sisters ate without looking up, as they had never had good food growing up and ate everything with great enjoyment.

After the four of them finished eating and went back to their room, Chen Cuihong finally dared to bring out another bowl of bran and serve some to the second house, keeping the rest for herself.

It was Liang Youchang, the eldest son, who remembered that Du Jinhua hadn’t eaten anything. He bravely picked up two of the bran buns and went to the broken house.

“Mom, have something to eat.”

Liang Youchang placed the two buns beside Du Jinhua’s bed, not daring to look at her disfigured arm, and quickly left.

Du Jinhua looked at the two buns, which were obviously made from chaff, and felt a surge of hatred rise in her chest.

Damn Jiang Jiuyue! She had taken all the food and was now making them eat this stuff!

The malice in Du Jinhua’s eyes was so intense it seemed almost tangible. She swore she would make Jiang Jiuyue, that poisonous woman, pay!