Chapter 20

After asking her question, Wang Guiying’s gaze swept toward Chen Chun, Chen Hua, and Chen Yue. Seeing them hanging their heads in silence, she sneered, “What? Afraid to ask? Or too ashamed? Fine, I’ll ask for you!”

Chen Chun mustered her courage, lifted her head, and stammered, “No… Mother, don’t!”

At this point, Wang Guiying didn’t even need to speak—villagers had long been disgusted by the sisters’ behavior and were itching to lash out. Now that the chance finally came, how could they let their mouths go to waste?

“Dreaming of spare food? I’ve spent the whole year tightening my belt, afraid to even hear my stomach growl!”

“Full meals? In your dreams. If I can get a thick bowl of corn or millet porridge per meal, I’d be content!”

“My grain sack at home is always nearly empty. If it weren’t, I’d laugh in my sleep!”

“The Chen family must’ve committed sins in their past life. These three daughters aren’t here to visit—they’re here to collect debts like soul-reaping ghosts! Everyone’s starving, but they come and take without asking, like it’s owed to them!”

“You marry a chicken, follow the chicken. Marry a dog, follow the dog. If your husband’s no good, that’s your fate. Dragging your maternal family down with you? That’s just wicked!”

“I can’t stand it. If one of them were my daughter, she wouldn’t even make it through the gate—I’d be swinging a firewood stick by then. I must say, the Chen family is loyal to a fault.”

“…”

The villagers were in an uproar, furious, voices rising with indignation. Gu Zhenqi quietly finished organizing the records.

She raised her hand to signal for silence and held up her notebook to the crowd.

The villagers instantly understood and fell quiet, waiting for her to speak.

Wang Guiying nodded at her, and Gu Zhenqi began reading aloud:

“Chen Chun, in the past ten years, has taken the following from her maternal home to supplement her husband’s household:
652 jin of corn flour, 323 jin of millet, 30 jin of wheat flour, 25 jin of rice, 20 jin of sweet potatoes, 152 heads of dried cabbage, 23 pickled radish knots, 30 dried pickled radish knots, 3 jin of pork, 4 wild rabbits, 3 wild chickens, 263 eggs, 4 jin of cotton, 8 bowls, 55 corn cakes, 32 mixed grain buns… 4 pairs of cloth shoes, 5 pairs of insoles, 3 pairs of socks… Total borrowed money: 58.52 yuan.”

Without pausing, she continued with Chen Hua:

“Chen Hua, in the past eight years, has taken the following:
535 jin of corn flour, 238 jin of millet, 28 jin of wheat flour, 22 jin of rice, 18 jin of sweet potatoes, 82 heads of dried cabbage, 20 pickled radish knots, 11 dried pickled radish knots, 2 jin of pork, 2 wild rabbits, 2 wild chickens, 108 eggs, 2 jin of cotton, 4 bowls, 41 corn cakes, 22 mixed grain buns… Plus numerous miscellaneous items: 3 feet of cotton cloth, 1 jin of wool yarn, 1 new piece of clothing… Borrowed money: 49.63 yuan.”

Her voice was getting hoarse. She glanced at Chen Yue, who flinched and avoided eye contact.

Clearing her throat, Gu Zhenqi continued:

“Chen Yue, in the past five years, has taken the following:
331 jin of corn flour, 133 jin of millet, 28 jin of wheat flour, 15 jin of rice, 17 jin of sweet potatoes, 72 heads of dried cabbage, 12 pickled radish knots, 11 dried pickled radish knots, 1 jin of pork, 2.5 wild rabbits, 1.5 wild chickens, 212 eggs, 1 jin of cotton, 112 corn cakes, 132 mixed grain buns, 62 bowls of millet porridge, 45 bowls of corn mush, 15 bowls of noodles, 25 bowls of egg custard, 15 bowls of stew…
1 headscarf, 2 handkerchiefs, 1 quilt cover, 1 pair of pillowcases, 2 jin of buckwheat husks, 2 pairs of shorts, 1 pair of pants, 1 floral cotton-padded jacket, 1 pair of cotton shoes, 1 pair of gloves, 2 hair ties, and countless small trinkets… Borrowed money: 33.12 yuan.”

When Gu Zhenqi finished reading, Chen Chun, Chen Hua, and Chen Yue looked stunned. All those years of “taking just a little here and there” had added up to an overwhelming total. No matter how thick-skinned they were, hearing every item clearly read out was enough to make their faces flush with shame.

The villagers exploded again. That tally was no small amount—it was obvious the sisters had hollowed out the Chen family like termites!

A sharp-eyed villager noticed how tattered the clothes on Wang Guiying, Chen Guo, and Chen Qiang were—patched over and over until there was no fabric left to patch.

Unable to hold back, someone shouted,
“Are you even human? Look at your own mother, your brothers—what are they wearing? No one in this village wears worse than them!”

The three sisters didn’t dare lift their heads but glanced sideways at their mother and brothers. Their eyes welled up. Even women abandoned by their in-laws were dressed better. If someone called them beggars on the street, no one would doubt it.

For the first time, they felt guilt. But it passed quickly, and they found excuses for themselves—they were forced by circumstances.

“I agree to your compensation demands,” Wang Guiying said coldly. “But what about all the things you’ve taken and the debts you owe? When will you return them? We’re mother and daughters—I won’t charge interest. Just repay what you took, item for item, as listed.”

“Mother, are you trying to kill us? You know we don’t have the means. Even a single grain of rice—we can’t make that decision!”

“You’re our mother. You wouldn’t really watch us walk to our deaths, right?”

“No mercy? How could you bear it—asking for such a huge sum. 200 yuan each, 600 yuan total? You’re pushing our families to death. Even if we sold our blood and flesh, it wouldn’t be worth 600 yuan!”

Wang Guiying didn’t let Chen Yue continue. She shut down any attempt at emotional manipulation.

Gu Zhenqi quietly stepped aside and wrote a useful pledge agreement—and an IOU.

Suddenly, the three sisters were cornered. Between Wang Guiying’s firmness and the villagers’ scathing accusations, they had no escape.

“Three leeches of the Chen family! Sucking their mother’s blood dry. 600 yuan? With mouths that big, not afraid the wind will slap your tongues off? Anyone else pulling out 100 yuan would consider it a fortune!”

“Good heavens, in all my years, I’ve never seen such shamelessness. No wonder their in-laws despise them. If they were my daughters, I’d have cut ties long ago—live or die, none of my concern!”

“They’re crazy! How could they do something so inhuman? Now they’ve burned their bridges with their maternal family. If their in-laws bully or beat them in the future, no one will be left to stand up for them. Serves them right!”

Each word struck the sisters like a hammer. In just ten minutes, they had been publicly condemned as unredeemable villains.

They couldn’t take it anymore. Everything that once felt “normal” had collapsed in a single night.

“No need for drama,” Wang Guiying said firmly. “It’s simple: sign the paper. From now on, your accounts with the Chen family are settled. If you want to visit during festivals, we won’t shut the door. But otherwise—live your own lives.”

Wang Guiying was exhausted—more than she’d ever been. She handed them the pledge and IOU that Gu Zhenqi had written and read aloud for her.

Despite how loud the three sisters normally were, they were illiterate—hadn’t studied a day in their lives. The paper in their hands might as well have been blank.

Gu Zhenqi took the paper and read it clearly, in front of them and the entire village.

“You three discuss it. Be quick and leave your fingerprints. If you don’t agree, I’ll visit each of your in-laws’ homes tomorrow and make this official. The team leader’s here, too. Chen family severs ties with you—as of today.”