Chapter 18

The villagers, who had been called over especially, fell silent as soon as they heard Wang Guiying’s voice. They stopped chatting on their own, eyes turning toward her in unison, listening seriously to what she had to say next.

“Actually, these past years have been very difficult for our family. I have three daughters, and they’re constantly coming back to take things. Even a lock can’t stop them.”

“I’m not afraid to embarrass myself by saying this—if it makes you laugh, so be it. Every time they come back home, our whole family has to go hungry for several days. We often had to borrow food from the brigade. Every year, we had to repay so much of it before we got our share that there was barely anything left for us!”

“Every year after the food rations are distributed, they time it just right to come home. Each of them takes dozens of jin at a time—together, that’s over a hundred jin!”

At this moment, the brigade leader stepped forward to back up Wang Guiying’s statement. “Auntie Wang is telling the truth. Normally, the Chen family has two able-bodied men, plus Auntie Wang and her daughter-in-laws. During the autumn rationing, they should be receiving about 1,500 jin of grain—just enough to get by.”

“With what they grow on their private plot, plus wild vegetables in spring, leaves, mushrooms in the summer, and other food from the mountains, they should have no need to borrow from the brigade.”

“But these past few years, they’ve borrowed over 300 jin annually—nearly equivalent to what one strong laborer receives in a year!”

The villagers weren’t fools. After hearing this, they immediately realized where the borrowed grain had gone.

Disgusted and disdainful looks turned toward Chen Chun, Chen Hua, and Chen Yue, who were hanging their heads, not daring to meet anyone’s gaze.

“Really shameless. I’ve never seen anyone rely on their maiden home like that at their age. What have they ever brought back to their family?”

Wang Guiying didn’t hesitate to respond, “Nothing. I really wasn’t born to enjoy blessings from my daughters. All these years, whenever they came home, they were empty-handed…”

Before Wang Guiying could finish her emotional statement, Li Mei couldn’t hold back anymore and cut her off. “You ungrateful things! Coming back to your parents’ home empty-handed—aren’t you ashamed? After your parents worked so hard to raise you, you bring nothing back? Where’s your conscience? I truly admire that!”

“The Chen family owes us—why should we bring anything?” Chen Chun finally spoke, still looking down. Though she didn’t raise her head, she felt wronged after hearing Li Mei’s words and couldn’t help blurting out what was on her mind.

“Chen Chun, are you listening clearly now? The Chen family owes you nothing. If I hadn’t given birth to you, if I hadn’t hurried to find you a husband in time, you would’ve starved to death!”

“You owe me—owe the Chen family your life. Think carefully about how you’ll repay that. After I finish settling things with Chen Hua and Chen Yue, we’ll tally up the final account together!”

Without giving Chen Hua and Chen Yue time to react, she continued bluntly: “Chen Hua, Chen Yue—you two got married around the same time. Each of you only had a 15 yuan bride price. After your blind dates, I asked you both, and you agreed to the amount yourselves!”

“Our family gave you dowries: a brand new quilt set, six jin of cotton for the comforter, four jin for the mattress, a pair of dragon and phoenix pillowcases, a pair of embroidered handkerchiefs, a red padded jacket, a pair of red embroidered cloth shoes, a scarf, a pair of enamel basins, and a pair of porcelain jars. Each of you even got two yuan secretly stuffed in your pockets by the elders. All in all, it totaled exactly fifteen yuan—matching your bride price.”

As she spoke, she walked up to Chen Hua and Chen Yue and questioned them, “Now tell me—what exactly does the Chen family owe you? Or are you just copying Chen Chun, repeating the same false claims so often that you’ve started to believe them yourselves?”

Chen Hua and Chen Yue were choked speechless by Wang Guiying’s words. Especially that last sentence—it was exactly as she said. Their eldest sister had said it so many times, they themselves couldn’t distinguish truth from lie anymore.

Chen Yue, still stubborn, argued: “Of course the family owes us! You—you rushed to marry me and Second Sister off just so you could help Chen Guo find a wife! He used our bride price to marry Fan Chun!” She even pointed toward her second brother, Chen Qiang.

“Bullshit!” Wang Guiying could no longer tolerate Chen Yue’s nonsense and burst out angrily.

“Chen Qiang’s marriage was arranged even before yours. Fan Chun’s family loved their daughter and wanted someone dependable. They picked Chen Qiang right away!”

“The bride price was only a symbolic 5 yuan and 20 cents—which I secretly added myself! Originally, the in-laws only asked for 1 yuan and 10 cents. They said it sounded nice, like ‘one heart, one intention.’ I felt too ashamed and insisted on giving 5.20 instead!”

All these years, Wang Guiying had never aired out these things in public. She’d kept it to herself out of affection for her daughters, knowing none of their in-laws were easy to deal with.

The three daughters were all aggressive at home but pushovers at their in-laws’. She thought if she kept helping them now and then, their in-laws might go easier on them. To avoid conflict with her sons and daughters-in-law, she let her daughters use all sorts of poor excuses.

But human greed knows no limits. Now things had completely fallen apart. If she didn’t act decisively, Chen Chun, Chen Hua, and Chen Yue really would empty out the Chen household.

After living a peaceful and well-fed life recently, Wang Guiying finally felt human again and began to reflect at night.

All these years of secretly favoring her daughters had wronged her sons, Chen Guo and Chen Qiang. Now that a better life was finally within reach, she couldn’t continue turning a blind eye.

She made up her mind, just waiting for Chen Chun, Chen Hua, and Chen Yue to come so she could settle everything once and for all. But when she saw how thin and frail they looked, she hesitated—maybe she wouldn’t have made this decision so quickly if things hadn’t gotten so out of hand tonight?

If not for tonight’s chaos, she might’ve let things slide again—at most letting Gu Zhenqi give them a good scolding and sending them shamefully back to their in-laws.

“Why aren’t you saying anything? Cat got your tongue? Normally you’re full of complaints, always saying the Chen family owes you. I’m an unfit mother, always planning for my daughters’ futures. In the end, none of you are grateful, and now my sons resent me. I’ve really ended up pleasing no one!”

Some elderly villagers couldn’t bear it any longer. They understood Wang Guiying’s feelings as a mother and genuinely sympathized with her.

“Don’t take it to heart. Having ungrateful children isn’t your fault. People have to look forward.”

“It’s not too late to see clearly now. From now on, don’t let them take advantage of you anymore! I’ll say something you might not want to hear—but in the end, it’s your sons who’ll look after you in your old age. Don’t suffer for your daughters’ sake. Don’t be foolish again!”

“A daughter can be a blessing, sure—but look at your three! If it were me, I’d be ready to hang myself with a rope!”

“…”

As the crowd offered their advice one after another, Gu Zhenqi could see Wang Guiying’s spirits were sinking and that she couldn’t go on. She walked over and gently took the notebook from her hand.

Gu Zhenqi smiled at Wang Guiying and said, “Let me take over. You sit and rest for a bit.”

Wang Guiying thought for a moment, then nodded. She quietly instructed, “Zhenqi, handle it however it needs to be handled. They don’t care about saving face, so we don’t need to protect their pride. Settle the accounts clearly. I believe you’ll do a good job.”

Gu Zhenqi gave her a reassuring smile and opened the notebook, quickly flipping through the pages.

She couldn’t help but marvel at the Chen sisters’ rat-like behavior—not even a needle or a spool of thread escaped their grasp. She was even more impressed by Wang Guiying’s memory and record-keeping—everything was detailed and crystal clear.

Most likely, Chen Chun, Chen Hua, and Chen Yue had always assumed no one noticed what they took from their mother’s home, that no one had kept track, and that it would forever remain a muddled account.

They say dragons give birth to dragons, phoenixes to phoenixes, and rats will dig holes. Why hadn’t any of them inherited Wang Guiying’s cleverness?

Gu Zhenqi truly felt sorry for them!

But only for a moment—her smile quickly disappeared, replaced by a cold and serious expression.

“Chen Chun, Chen Hua, Chen Yue—don’t you think it’s time we properly settled and closed the accounts for everything you’ve taken from the Chen household?”