Liu Guiying held onto her eldest son’s arm, completely unable to control herself.
The eldest son didn’t realize that her unusual behavior today had nothing to do with a meal.
It was because her own son had indirectly caused her daughter’s death.
He killed your own younger sister!
Sun Jianjun looked at his mother’s gaze—grief, despair, emptiness—and his heart suddenly clenched.
He felt at a complete loss.
Ever since his father passed away, his mother had used her not-so-strong shoulders to hold up the family for him and his siblings, never once complaining of hardship or fatigue.
Whether it was him dropping out of school to take over his father’s job, his second sister getting married, or his third brother’s wedding—she had always done everything she could.
Now that the third son had made her angry, no matter the reason, he deserved a beating.
And if he deserved it, why should he stop her?
If his mother was tired, he still had strength.
Thinking of this, Sun Jianjun took the thin stick from Liu Guiying and quickly climbed onto the roof.
Sun Jianguo, who had never been beaten since childhood, suddenly faced his first “combined assault” in life and simply couldn’t take it.
Looking at the vegetable garden below—over a meter high—he gritted his teeth and jumped down.
It wouldn’t kill him, but it hurt badly.
Holding his groin, Sun Jianguo knelt in the vegetable garden, silently enduring the pain.
Seeing her husband beaten by his mother-in-law and then by his elder brother, Wang Xiaofeng initially wanted to help him.
But remembering that she had only said a few words earlier and was already whipped by the old woman, she hesitated and didn’t dare move forward.
There was affection—but not much.
Just as she was hesitating, a loud “bang” came from outside the yard.
She looked up in shock.
Where was her husband? Where was her husband who was just there a moment ago?
She rushed out the door.
Seeing Sun Jianguo’s twisted expression as he knelt on the ground holding his groin, she thought he had injured something important.
In reality, he was only holding it because he had pulled a muscle when jumping down—but she didn’t know that.
Thinking her future happiness might be ruined, she felt the sky collapse.
“Help! The Sun family is killing people! The mother-in-law is starving her daughter-in-law and beating her own son to death! Heaven, why is my life so miserable? I married into a wolf’s den!”
Wang Xiaofeng closed her eyes tightly, tilted her head toward the sky at a 90-degree angle, and sat on the ground slapping it loudly while wailing.
She had clearly learned this from her own mother—completely.
Her performance was so loud that she intended to summon the entire neighborhood.
Aunt Zeng from across the street opened her door:
“What’s going on? Who’s killing who? Oh, Jianguo’s wife, why are you sitting on the ground?”
Next door, Aunt Ma had been listening to her newly gifted radio and enjoying herself, but upon hearing the commotion, she rushed over.
She glanced at Wang Xiaofeng but ignored her and walked straight into the yard.
She thought this was just another daughter-in-law causing trouble like back in her parents’ home—crying, making a scene, threatening suicide.
Only nosy people like Aunt Zeng would respond to that act.
Inside the yard, Aunt Ma saw the old lady sitting on the ground, the eldest daughter-in-law supporting her.
Sun Xiuju, Sun Jiandang, and Sun Jiancheng stood nearby looking frightened, almost clinging to each other.
She turned to Sun Jianjun:
“Jianjun, what happened to your mother?”
Sun Jianjun gave a bitter smile and shook his head.
They helped Liu Guiying up and walked to the door, where a crowd had already gathered.
People were peeling sunflower seeds, eating, knitting sweaters—this era had little entertainment, so any commotion drew a crowd instantly.
When they saw Liu Guiying come out, everyone started asking:
“Guiying, did Jianguo’s couple fight again? Is this the first time your daughter-in-law has cried since marrying in?”
“I can’t live like this anymore! We just came back from my parents’ home and didn’t even finish eating when I was beaten for no reason! My husband was almost beaten to death!”
Wang Xiaofeng pointed to a dark figure by the wall, crying dramatically.
Everyone followed her finger.
“That’s Sun Jianguo? That’s rare. Ever since he got married, getting beaten has been normal—but this is the first time I’ve heard it was by his mother.”
“Looks pretty bad too. Didn’t Liu Guiying always dote on her children? When Jianguo was a kid and got a nosebleed from being bullied, she once went to fight someone with a knife.”
The crowd was not easily fooled by Wang Xiaofeng’s words.
Sun Jianguo saw his wife isolated and stopped pretending. Gritting his teeth, he limped over and explained:
“What my wife said is true. My mother suddenly went crazy and hit me with a branch the moment she came in. She wanted to beat me to death.”
“She really hit you? Guiying, I have to say something. Kids grow up and have pride. If there’s a problem, talk it out. Beating them like this—oh my, it hurts just to look at.”
Li Cuihua from the back row spoke up. She and Liu Guiying were from the same village. She had always been jealous of her—especially since Liu Guiying’s husband had a stable job while hers only worked in the fields.
Liu Guiying looked at her and felt a moment of daze.
It had been thirty or forty years. In her previous life, this woman had also caused trouble around the time of her downfall.
But nostalgia aside, Li Cuihua was still as unpleasant as ever.
“Shut your mouth,” Liu Guiying snapped coldly. “You’ve got your own mess at home and still come here to watch jokes? If you care so much, take him home and keep him. Stop barking nonsense here.”
She continued sharply:
“His wife doesn’t cook, doesn’t wash dishes, even tries to shove her underclothes onto her sister-in-law. She beats her husband every few days. If Sun Jianguo enjoys it, that’s his business—but I’m not that kind of person.”
“She behaves like a tyrant at home, constantly bringing things back to her family but never even leaving them a meal. And today she came back late, started mocking me, and even called me a ‘dead old woman’ to my face.”
“This kind of ‘family disaster’ we don’t want. If you like her so much, take her and the husband both. I’m selling them as a package deal today.”
“You can live together, and maybe your husband will even praise you for being virtuous.”
“You—!”
Li Cuihua was left speechless and stormed off angrily.
Everyone immediately understood the situation—the couple had brought this on themselves.
“I told you, Liu Guiying has always loved her kids. She must’ve been pushed too far.”
“Exactly. That daughter-in-law really acts like a queen just because she has brothers at home.”
“She dresses flashy, runs around wherever men are working—if you didn’t know, you’d think she crawled out of nowhere and never seen a man before.”