“Oh my! So you really are here, traveling with the wealthy family~”
That day, it was Mei Qian’s turn to guard the camp. She was tending the fire and boiling water nearby, while Madam Jiang continued making straw sandals for the entire family.
The atmosphere between mother and daughter was warm and cozy, but they were startled by a sharp, shrill voice.
“Who are you?”
Hearing the voice, Mei Qian turned her head and saw a thin, withered old woman staring intently at their donkey—or more precisely, at the food loaded on its back.
Immediately on high alert, Mei Qian stood up and shielded the pregnant Madam Jiang behind her, glaring at the old woman standing not far away.
Madam Jiang, however, stared at the dark, skinny old woman for a long moment before hesitantly asking, “Are you—Eldest Sister-in-law’s mother?”
“Huh?”
Mei Qian was confused and turned to look at her mother.
What on earth?
Recognized, Huang Shi immediately beamed like a chrysanthemum and eagerly replied, “Yes, yes, it’s me! You’re Mei Erhu’s wife, right?”
As she spoke, the old woman tried to step forward.
The Chen family’s camp always had patrols of retainers. Seeing that the woman seemed to know Mei Qian’s family, the retainers didn’t intervene.
But this behavior, in Huang Shi’s eyes, sparked a glint of cunning. Seizing the opportunity, she hurried toward Mei Qian and her mother.
Seeing the old woman’s actions, Mei Qian’s internal alarms blared even louder. She shouted to stop her, “Halt! Who said you could come closer?”
Mei Qian’s voice was loud, drawing the attention of the previously silent retainers. Meeting their gaze, Mei Qian quickly explained:
“We don’t know her! This person is up to no good!”
“Hey! What nonsense are you spouting, you little wretch! I…” Huang Shi, seeing Mei Qian trying to drive her away, immediately cursed back, “I’m your family’s proper in-law! What do you mean you don’t know me?”
“What proper in-law? Huang Guifen, get the hell away from here!”
Just as Huang Shi was throwing her tantrum, Grandma Mei and Han Shi, who looked rather displeased, returned.
The moment they arrived, Grandma Mei saw Huang Shi standing near their campsite, seemingly cursing at her granddaughter.
Furious, Grandma Mei tossed her bag to her daughter-in-law and rushed forward in a few quick strides, unleashing a torrent of abuse at Huang Shi:
“We agreed to cut ties forever, you wretched hag! Are you trying to ruin our family again?!”
With Grandma Mei taking charge, there was no need for the retainers to intervene.
Mei Qian watched as her grandmother grabbed Huang Shi by the collar and yanked her backward. Huang Shi struggled frantically but was no match for Grandma Mei’s astonishing strength.
Her cursing quickly turned into desperate cries for help.
Just then, Mei Qian saw three tall men burst out from the bushes nearby. They called out “Mother!” to Huang Shi and charged toward Grandma Mei.
“Mother, stay here and don’t move.”
Seeing this, Mei Qian immediately instructed Madam Jiang to stay put. She bent down, picked up a fire poker from the ground, and rushed forward to help her grandmother.
Compared to the burly men, Mei Qian’s slender arms and legs seemed utterly inadequate. But the fire poker in her hand, glowing red-hot, effectively intimidated the three men.
“Mother (Grandma)!”
However, Mei Erhu and Mei Shitou arrived right after the three men.
As soon as they returned, they rushed toward Grandma Mei and Mei Qian.
“Stop! What do you think you’re doing?”
Mei Qian’s earlier fire poker had already intimidated those three burly men somewhat, let alone now, with Mei Erhu and Mei Shitou directly holding knives in their hands.
As they charged forward, the three men instantly retreated five meters away.
Cowards!
Seeing their reaction, Mei Qian couldn’t help but feel disdain in her heart.
The rapid changes in the surroundings didn’t escape Grandma Mei’s sharp eyes either.
Now that no one was stopping her, Grandma Mei slapped Huang Shi several times in a row.
“If I ever see you sneaking around our place again, I’ll make you regret it!”
Grandma Mei’s combination of hitting and threatening flowed seamlessly.
After saying this, Grandma Mei shoved Huang Shi toward her sons.
Huang Shi, dazed from the slaps, didn’t even notice the expressions of the people around her after her sons caught her.
She thought that with her sons present, she had a strong backing.
So, the moment she was steadied on her feet, Huang Shi felt emboldened. Fueled by the burning pain on her face and the anger it ignited, she actually dared to shout Grandma Mei’s maiden name at her, even though Grandma Mei had already stopped:
“Li Shuangshuang!”
“What do you want from me?!”
Hearing Huang Shi still dared to yell at her, Grandma Mei turned her head, eyes flashing with menace, instantly making Huang Shi shrink back in fear.
“You, you, you… we haven’t seen each other for so many years, and this is how you treat me? Aren’t we in-laws, after all?”
At first, Huang Shi’s voice was quite loud, but after noticing the “knife display” by Mei Erhu and Mei Shitou standing behind Grandma Mei, her voice grew softer and softer:
“Who treats their in-laws like this?”
“Who’s in-laws with you?”
Grandma Mei was equally disdainful of Huang Shi’s words.
She looked at Huang Shi and her three sons behind her, mocking them, “Back then, you took the silver and signed a severance agreement. Now, my daughter-in-law has no maternal family. Who’s related to your family? Shitou, do you acknowledge this maternal grandmother?”
Suddenly called by his grandmother, Mei Shitou looked up at Huang Shi. Seeing the young man, Huang Shi immediately put on a kindly smile.
But Mei Shitou shook his head and said, “I don’t.”
Instantly, Huang Shi’s smile froze on her face.
Witnessing all this, Mei Qian couldn’t help but glance at her aunt-in-law standing not far away, clutching a bag and looking utterly dejected.
It was only now that Mei Qian recalled from her original self’s memories the grudge between her aunt-in-law’s maternal family and the Lao Mei Family.
It turned out her aunt-in-law had long severed ties with her maternal family.
The reason for the severance was that when Mei Qian’s uncle passed away, the Han Family took the opportunity to visit, saying they wanted to take Han Shi back home.
However, at that time, her aunt-in-law decided to remain a widow for Mei Qian’s uncle, unwilling to return home, and vowed to raise her son, Shitou, to adulthood herself.
But the Han Family coaxed and tricked her into going back, then, behind Han Shi’s back, accepted a hefty betrothal gift to marry her off to a fool.
When Han Shi found out, she risked her life to run back and told Grandma Mei. It was Grandma Mei who personally led their village chief to the neighboring village and caused a huge scene at the Han Family home.
In the end, with mediation from both village chiefs, the Lao Mei Family paid silver in exchange for a severance agreement personally written by the head of the Han Family.
Perhaps even Han Shi herself never expected that her final refuge wouldn’t be her maternal family but her marital family.
Mei Qian sighed as she recalled the past events. No wonder her grandma said that no matter what, her eldest aunt would wholeheartedly agree.
Just as Mei Qian’s thoughts drifted away, the Han family was scolded off by Grandma Mei.
However, Mei Qian noticed that although her grandma had driven them away, she still looked furious.
As everyone was walking back halfway, Grandma Mei seemed to remember that she still had an eldest daughter-in-law. She turned her head and saw Han Shi still standing there in a daze, and she shouted again:
“What are you still spacing out for? Come over here!”
“Coming.”
Snapping back to reality, Han Shi hurried over to Grandma Mei, her face filled with guilt. “Mother, I’m sorry. I didn’t know my mother would really come looking for me. I just… I just wanted to show off a little…”
Han Shi was not a magnanimous person. She would remember for the rest of her life how her mother had tried to secretly sell her off for the sake of her younger brother!
While digging for wild vegetables, she never expected to run into her mother. Seeing how miserable her brothers looked now, she couldn’t help but flaunt how well she was doing.
But she never expected it to cause such trouble for the family.
Upon learning that this trouble was brought about by her eldest aunt herself, the whole family couldn’t help but look at Han Shi. Han Shi lowered her head, not daring to look up.
Grandma Mei scolded her a few times: “Look at your shallow-minded behavior. Don’t you know what kind of person Huang Guifen is? What are you showing off for?”
After Grandma Mei finished scolding, Han Shi shrank back even more, but that was the end of it.
“Alright, we’ve gathered a lot of wild vegetables today. While it’s still bright, hurry up and get to work. What are you standing around like wooden stakes for? And the rest of you, don’t you have anything to do? Get back to work!”
With that, Grandma Mei turned and left. Han Shi was still a bit dazed. She looked up at everyone and saw that they all seemed to be busy with their own tasks, with no one intending to blame her further.
“Alright, sister-in-law, hurry back. Mother still wants you to sort out the vegetables, right?”
Madam Jiang stepped forward at this moment. She had always been the gentlest speaker in the family. As soon as she spoke, Han Shi’s eyes gradually brightened.
“Right, right, let’s sort out the vegetables. We gathered so many today!”
Han Shi returned to her usual self.
A somewhat simple, dogged smile spread across Han Shi’s face as she eagerly went back to Grandma Mei’s side to help with the work.
Standing there, Mei Qian couldn’t help but smile as she watched everything unfold.
The next moment, she felt as though someone was watching her. She turned toward the direction of the gaze, only to catch a glimpse of a white robe disappearing from sight…