Wang Xiaofeng, seeing the condemning looks from everyone around her, stopped pretending to be pitiful.
She got up and shouted at the crowd:
“What do you all know? Wasn’t it always like this before? Why is it suddenly not okay today?”
“The job went to the eldest, and Sun Xiuju and the other two still have to go to school. There’s only so much in this household—Jianguo and I don’t get anything. If she’s playing favorites, then this is what she deserves! What’s wrong with making them do some work?”
“If she didn’t feel guilty toward us, would she work so hard without complaint? I’m the one who feels shortchanged!”
The crowd shook their heads in disapproval and turned to look at Sun Jianguo.
They thought—surely, with his wife speaking so outrageously, he would at least say something.
But instead, they saw him gazing at his wife with a foolishly infatuated expression, as if thinking, Even when she argues, my wife is still beautiful.
Everyone sighed inwardly: This kid is beyond saving.
“Your elder brother got the job because he met the requirements. And as for school—did I stop your man from going? Back then, the one who stood at the school gate shouting he’d rather die than continue studying was him!”
“And you say I play favorites? If I did, would I have spent nearly 700 yuan to marry him off to someone like you?”
“You came into this house with nothing but two shabby outfits. If that’s called favoritism, what do you call your own family—bloodsuckers?”
“Pfft—!”
“Even bloodsuckers aren’t that ruthless. That’s not marrying off a daughter—that’s selling her!”
“I heard her two older sisters—one became a second wife, and the other’s in the city as someone’s mistress.”
These were things Liu Guiying had once mentioned casually to Sister Ma, who had sighed at the time, wondering how Jianguo ended up marrying such a woman.
The lack of a dowry was Wang Xiaofeng’s sore spot. She had always felt uneasy entering her husband’s home empty-handed.
But her mother had told her: Your dowry isn’t your backing—your natal family is.
The better her brothers lived, the more secure her position would be in her husband’s home.
And her life after marrying Sun Jianguo had only reinforced that belief.
Now that Sister Ma was insulting her family, how could she tolerate it?
“You old hag! Your family is the one that sells daughters! Marrying Sun Jianguo is his good fortune—so what if it cost some money? For that little amount to get me, he should count himself lucky!”
“If your family can’t afford a daughter-in-law, you should’ve said so earlier! I’ll divorce Sun Jianguo tomorrow—don’t you regret it!”
Wang Xiaofeng pointed at Liu Guiying and shouted arrogantly.
Liu Guiying nudged her eldest daughter-in-law, signaling her to throw out the clothes she had just gathered.
Ma Lijuan admired her mother-in-law immensely. When she had been told to collect those clothes earlier, she hadn’t understood why.
Now she finally did—how had her mother-in-law predicted that her second brother’s wife would leave?
In truth, Liu Guiying didn’t need to predict.
Wang Xiaofeng was a walking contradiction—sensitive and prideful, insecure yet arrogant.
In a situation like today, if she didn’t run back to her natal family and stir up trouble, she wouldn’t set foot in this house again.
Though this time… maybe not.
Her family was already in chaos. Even if she didn’t want to return, her mother would likely drag her back.
Thinking of how, in her previous life, her third child had begged her for help—and she had even gone back to her own family to ask her elder brother for assistance—she wished she could slap herself.
Seeing the bundle of clothes thrown in front of her, with familiar fabric peeking out, Wang Xiaofeng felt as though her dignity had been stripped and trampled.
Without hesitation, she grabbed the bag, pointed at Liu Guiying, and snapped:
“Don’t regret this!”
Then she stormed off.
Seeing his wife leave without a second thought for him, Sun Jianguo felt it was all his mother’s fault for driving her away.
He glared angrily at Liu Guiying.
“Mom, what are you doing? What good does it do you to drive my wife away? I think you’ve really gone crazy.”
He ran off after Wang Xiaofeng.
The onlookers sighed again.
This kid is truly hopeless…
With the show over, everyone dispersed, returning to their own homes.
Liu Guiying patted Sister Ma’s hand.
“Sister Hongxia, it’s getting late. You should head back too. Thanks for today.”
“Oh, we’ve been friends for so many years—why say such formal things? I told you long ago, children are debts you can never finish repaying. Take better care of yourself.”
“Yes… I’ve figured it out now. Before, I was too stubborn. I kept thinking they were still young, and as their mother, I should do as much as I could while I still had the strength.”
“Looking back, I spoiled them myself. From now on, I’ll just let them be—do whatever they want.”
“That’s the right mindset! When you have time, come over to my place to listen to opera, or we can go eat at the state-run restaurant. Wouldn’t that be a happy life for us?”
“Alright, I’ll listen to you. From now on, I’ll just live for myself. Hahaha!”
“That’s more like it. Now I’m relieved. Go inside—you don’t need to see me off.”
Watching Ma Hongxia’s departing figure, Liu Guiying recalled how Sister Ma had given her the same advice in her previous life.
And how had she responded back then?
She had said, “Isn’t that how life is? First you live for yourself, then for your children. If not for them, then for whom?”
She had never thought about why she had to live for someone else.
Why couldn’t she just live for herself?
In her previous life, she had burned herself out for her children.
Now that heaven had granted her a second chance, she didn’t have the ability to benefit society—but she could at least live happily.
This time, she would just take it easy—do nothing extra.
“Mom, go rest first. It’s late—you must be starving. I’ll cook you a bowl of noodles with two eggs and bring it to your room.”
Ma Lijuan looked at her mother-in-law cautiously.
Today’s events had shaken her deeply.
Normally, her mother-in-law rarely even raised her voice, let alone hit anyone.
Her own grandmother often said she was lucky to have married into such a good family—half her blessings came from her mother-in-law.
Liu Guiying responded with a simple “Mm” and went inside.
Partly because she was physically exhausted, and partly because there were still a few “little brats” in the yard.
If she had to face them during dinner, she might choke from anger.
For today, this was enough.
You couldn’t get fat in one bite—she’d deal with them one by one.
After dinner, Liu Guiying wiped herself down and lay in bed, thinking about Wang Xiaofeng’s family.
In this life, not only would she not help them—she would find a way to make them pay.
Based on what she knew about Wang Xiaofeng, she definitely wouldn’t come back for the next couple of days—she’d try to “cool things off” and make Liu Guiying anxious.
Then, once Liu Guiying panicked, she would start making demands.
That trick had worked perfectly in her previous life.
But now?
Keep dreaming.
Thinking about having to work in the fields tomorrow, Liu Guiying forced herself to sleep.
It was 1981. The previous year, the country had begun promoting the household responsibility system to boost farmers’ productivity.
The principle was: “Hand over enough to the state, leave enough for the collective, and whatever remains is yours.”
So the work-point system was still in place.
It wouldn’t be until next year that their area would implement full “household contracting” and production responsibility systems—
What people called the “big contract system.”
When that time came, she could subcontract her land to others. As long as they paid the state and collective quotas for her, the rest would be theirs.
Many people would be willing.
Which meant she only needed to endure another half year before she could fully carry out her plan to “take it easy.”
But before that, she needed one thing—
Money.
A lot of money.
So that in the future, she could leave whenever she wanted, buy whatever she wanted, and never have to look at anyone’s face again.
If someone pleased her, she’d reward them.
If they angered her—get out of her sight.
“Hehehe…”
Just thinking about it made her happy.