Liu Guiying listened to Xiumei chattering endlessly in her ear.
Thinking that although, in her own mind, their mother-daughter bond had already been separated by life and death for half a lifetime, in Xiumei’s eyes, she had only recently returned to her parents’ home.
She forced herself to calm down and steady her emotions.
“It’s nothing. Don’t worry about those brats. Mom came today to take you and the child back home for a few days.”
“You’re about to give birth soon, Xiaoxin isn’t home often, and your in-laws are working in the fields. There’s no one at home to take care of you—I’m not at ease leaving you like this.”
Sun Xiumei looked at her mother’s concerned eyes and felt her nose sting.
Holding Liu Guiying’s arm, she said, “Mom, don’t worry about me. I’m already an adult—I can take care of myself.”
“Besides, how can a married daughter go back to her parents’ home to wait for childbirth? People will say I don’t understand propriety.”
“Even if sister-in-law doesn’t say anything, the younger sister-in-law will definitely have opinions.”
“She dares? What is she? That’s your home to begin with. It’s only natural for you to stay there. If she has any objections, I’ll beat them all out of her.”
Sun Xiumei thought her mother was just speaking out of anger. After all, her mother had always been sharp-tongued but soft-hearted, so she didn’t take it seriously.
Still, she tugged at Liu Guiying’s arm and coaxed her:
“Alright, alright, why are you getting so worked up? Don’t worry. Zhang Xin said he’ll calculate the timing and come back early to take me to the hospital.”
“The hospital is close to our house. He’ll go to your place ahead of time to call you, okay?”
Seeing her mother still disapproving, Sun Xiumei quickly changed the subject.
“Mom, the weather’s nice today. You haven’t had dinner yet, right? I’ll cook a couple of dishes. Stay for dinner before you leave.”
As she spoke, she started thinking about what to cook for her mother.
The household grain was tightly controlled by her mother-in-law, who only gave her a daily ration each morning.
But that was too shabby—she couldn’t possibly use that to treat her mother.
Maybe she should slaughter a chicken.
Even if her mother-in-law scolded her later, so be it—it’s not like she would lose a piece of flesh.
Seeing that her daughter truly didn’t want to go back with her, Liu Guiying could only sigh helplessly and take out ten yuan from her pocket, placing it into Sun Xiumei’s hand.
“Take it. You’re not separated from the family yet, and your in-laws are biased. Good things probably never reach you.”
“Now that you’re pregnant, you need nourishment even more. When they’re not home during the day, take Xiaofang and secretly buy something good to eat.”
Liu Guiying pointed at Xiaofang.
“Look at Xiaofang—she’s shorter and thinner than other children her age. Was I ever like this when I raised you?”
“You’ve never suffered like this before, so why should your daughter suffer?”
She tapped Sun Xiumei’s forehead in frustration.
“She’s my only granddaughter. If the Zhang family won’t raise her properly, I, Liu Guiying, will feed her myself.”
“You really need to think about this carefully!”
Looking at her pregnant daughter, Liu Guiying couldn’t bring herself to scold her further.
There were still two troublesome people at home waiting for her to deal with.
She couldn’t stay long.
“I won’t stay for dinner. Your sister-in-law has already prepared my meal at home.”
“If you don’t want to come back with me, fine. But remember this—no matter how big or small the matter is, you must come home and tell me. I won’t be going out much these days.”
“If anything happens, let Xiaoxin come and call me. Got it?”
Sun Xiumei nodded vigorously.
“I understand, Mom. Don’t worry.”
Work hours were about to end, and her in-laws and sister-in-law would be returning soon. Liu Guiying didn’t want to meet them.
In her previous life, Sun Xiumei died in childbirth along with her baby. If her third son was half responsible, then the other half definitely came from them.
Before clarifying everything, she couldn’t bring herself to exchange polite words with them.
So she waved her hand and left.
After seeing her mother off, Sun Xiumei returned to the courtyard.
Looking at her young daughter’s thin body squatting and playing alone, she couldn’t help but reflect on herself.
Had her long-term tolerance been wrong?
She doted on the eldest, protected the third, and treated the second like a brick to be used anywhere.
Her husband Zhang Xin was just another “brick” caught in the middle.
She knew her in-laws were biased, but she thought as long as Zhang Xin treated her well, it was enough. After all, she wouldn’t be living with her in-laws forever.
But now her mother’s words rang like a warning bell, forcing her to face the reality she had always avoided.
Thinking of this, Sun Xiumei decided not to cook anymore. She went into the house, took out grain coupons secretly given to her by her husband when he returned home, and planned to take her daughter to town for a good meal.
After buying candy for her daughter at a small shop, she unexpectedly ran into her in-laws, her sister-in-law Li Chunyan, and her four-year-old nephew Zhang Yaozu.
Seeing the candy in Xiaofang’s hand, Zhang Yaozu immediately got angry.
“Mom! That little wretch is secretly eating candy! Why should a girl eat it? I should be the one eating it! I want it too!”
Li Chunyan felt sorry for her son sitting on the ground crying and immediately turned her attention to Sun Xiumei, ready to confront her.
Before she could even speak, her mother-in-law Li Ruhua stepped in first.
“Xiaofang, who bought you that candy? Don’t you know how to share with your brother?”
Although she was speaking to Xiaofang, her gaze was fixed directly on Sun Xiumei.
Sun Xiumei understood the implied accusation immediately—they were implying she was hoarding things for herself.
If it were before, she would have given in to avoid trouble.
But today, she simply didn’t want to.
This was money her mother gave her daughter—not family funds.
When Li Chunyan went back to her own family, didn’t she also hide things for herself?
Why did it become “shared property” when it came to her?
Seeing Sun Xiumei unmoving, Li Ruhua’s face darkened.
“Second daughter-in-law, the child is ignorant, but you’re an adult. Are you not ashamed? Yaozu is crying like this, and you just stand there watching?”
“And we’re not even separated yet, and you’re already hiding things for yourself? It seems the second son must have given you quite a bit privately. If you behave like this now, how can we expect you to be filial after the family splits?”
Seeing the mother-in-law and sister-in-law teaming up, Sun Xiumei knew it wasn’t the time to break things open yet.
She was pregnant, Xiaofang was still small, and she was alone. A fight would only put her at a disadvantage.
But she couldn’t give up the candy today.
If she gave up one piece today, tomorrow they would demand an entire room.
She had already allowed their greed to grow too much—she couldn’t let it continue.
The small shop entrance was the village’s gossip hub, and at that moment, many people were watching.
Sun Xiumei suddenly had an idea.
She clutched her belly like a fragile, pitiful figure, wiped her eyes, and sobbed:
“Mom, sister-in-law… my mother came to see Xiaofang today. She saw she was too thin and gave her one yuan to buy some candy to nourish her body.”
“Besides, you know I don’t have any money. Zhang Xin earns 31.5 yuan a month. He has to hand over 20 yuan to the family fund every month. After his transport and meals, there’s nothing left. How could he give me anything?”
She slowly squatted down, hugging Xiaofang and crying:
“My poor Xiaofang… even eating a piece of candy requires approval from others… it’s all my fault… just because you’re a girl… you’re looked down upon…”
Her exaggerated performance almost made her nauseous, but when she saw the crowd at the shop all leaning in with gossip-filled eyes, she knew she had succeeded.
She just had to wait for tomorrow, when “righteous villagers” would spread the news—that the mother-in-law favored sons and mistreated granddaughters—throughout the entire village.