After finishing the household chores, Gu Lao Da and Gu Lao Er went to pick up their respective wives. Wang Ni returned safely with Gu Daya.
When Zhang Cuihua saw Gu Aidang at the door, she said angrily, “So you finally remembered to come pick me up? Why don’t you just wait until after the New Year? It’s already the twenty-ninth today, and you only come for me the day before the New Year.”
“What’s this madness?” Gu Aidang ignored her, walked past her, and entered the house. “Mother, I’ve come to take Cuihua and Mengmeng home. We’ve had some things to deal with at home these past few days. Thank you for taking care of them.” As he spoke, he handed over the catty of wild boar meat he was carrying.
Zhang Cuihua’s mother accepted the pork with a deadpan expression. “Son-in-law, you’re not young anymore. It’s time you had another child.”
Gu Aidang’s face turned ashen upon hearing this. So Zhang Cuihua thought her maternal family could back her up.
Pretending not to notice her son-in-law’s dark expression, Zhang Cuihua’s mother said, “Son-in-law, you don’t even share a room with Cuihua. How is she supposed to get pregnant on her own? She’s willing, but she can’t do it alone.”
Gu Aidang sneered. “She was careless and fell when she was pregnant back then. The premature birth damaged her body. Grandma Gu, the neighbor, said it would be difficult for her to conceive again.”
He then looked at Zhang Cuihua and said, “I gave you several years of chances. But you can’t give birth. Zhang Cuihua, did you think I wouldn’t find out just because you hid it from me? Liu Zhaodi told me long ago.”
Zhang Cuihua’s face turned deathly pale when she heard Gu Aidang’s words. “Grandma Gu said I could still get pregnant if I took good care of myself.”
Gu Aidang looked at her with amusement. “It’s not like our family has been starving you, right? What do you want to eat, bird’s nest soup?”
Once Zhang Cuihua’s mother heard that the problem was with her own daughter, she couldn’t say much more. Without a son, one couldn’t stand tall.
Zhang Cuihua could only tuck her tail between her legs and return with Gu Lao Er, leading her eldest daughter, Gu Meng.
Gu Yihan was following Gu Hao out to check the fish cages by the river. Just as they reached the gate, they saw Gu Lao Er returning with Zhang Cuihua and Gu Meng.
The moment Zhang Cuihua saw Gu Yihan, her mind was consumed by a wave of hatred.
All Gu Yihan could feel was a sudden push that knocked her to the ground, followed by hands closing around her neck.
“You little bitch, why don’t you just go die! It’s all your fault I can’t have any more children!” Zhang Cuihua shrieked as she squeezed Gu Yihan’s neck with all her might.
Gu Hao froze for a second before immediately prying at Zhang Cuihua’s hands with all his strength. He watched as Gu Yihan’s face turned a deep, flushed red.
An enraged Zhang Cuihua was too much for Gu Hao to handle alone. He yelled, “Second Uncle, hurry up and help!”
Only then did Gu Aidang snap out of it. He and Gu Hao immediately subdued Zhang Cuihua, but Gu Yihan had already been choked into unconsciousness.
Hearing the commotion, Grandma Gu came out and saw Gu Yihan lying on the ground. She shouted for Uncle Gu to take the child to the village’s barefoot doctor, Uncle Gu.
When Gu Yihan woke up, she saw Grandma Gu sitting by her bed, and tears instantly streamed down her face. “Grandma.”
Hearing her voice, Grandma Gu said worriedly, “Don’t talk. Your Uncle Gu said your throat is a little injured.”
Hearing the concern in Grandma Gu’s tone, Gu Yihan cried out loud for the first time.
Grandma Gu hugged her with a pained heart. “I won’t let your mother get near you again. She’s a lunatic. A heartless, ungrateful monster.”
“You must be hungry. Grandma made you some congee,” Grandma Gu said, wiping her tears as she went out.
This time, Gu Yihan felt truly wronged. She could feel that Zhang Cuihua had wanted to kill her. She had thought she wouldn’t survive this time.
Grandma Gu stormed straight to Gu Lao Er’s room and slammed the door open. “Our family must have had eight lifetimes of bad luck to marry a daughter-in-law like you! Even a vicious tiger won’t eat its own cub!”
Zhang Cuihua’s hatred for Gu Yihan was overwhelming. “I gave birth to her! If I want her dead, she’d better die for me!”
Just as Grandma Gu was about to curse back, a voice called out.
“Grandma.” Gu Yihan’s pale face stood in stark contrast to the purple bruises on her neck.
Enduring the pain in her throat, Gu Yihan said, “Don’t be angry. It’s not worth it.”
Zhang Cuihua began to curse Gu Yihan hysterically. “It’s you, you ungrateful wretch, you money-losing good-for-nothing! You’re the reason I can’t have more children! You’re a jinx to me! I’ll only be happy when you’re dead!”
“And that shameless father of yours is no good either! Don’t think I don’t know about him and that Widow Zhao! None of you will have a good death!”
Hearing this madwoman drag him into it, Gu Aidang strode forward and slapped her across the face. “Are you insane? If you want to die, go back to your parents’ house and die! Don’t think I won’t dare to divorce you, you useless hen that can’t even lay an egg!”
Seeing her cheap father and cheap mother start fighting, Gu Yihan, afraid that Grandma Gu would get hurt, quickly took her hand and led her out of the room.
Grandma Gu was utterly heartbroken. She had never approved of this Zhang Cuihua from the start, but her second son had insisted on marrying her, and now things had come to this.
“Grandma, don’t worry. You still have us. Dad is an adult with his own ideas. You just need to worry about us, the younger generation,” Gu Yihan said with difficulty.
Seeing her granddaughter looking at her with a worried expression, Grandma Gu said, “Your parents are no good. I’m done with them. They don’t listen to me anyway.”
Gu Yihan smiled happily and said nothing. She slowly led Grandma Gu back to her room.
Gu Meng stood in the middle of the courtyard, taking in the scene. Her parents were fighting, hurling what seemed like the most vicious words in the world at each other. Uncle Gu’s family stayed in their own room, pretending not to hear anything.
In Grandma Gu’s eyes, there was only her little sister, Gu Yihan, and her cousin, Gu Hao. It seemed like no one in this family liked her.
From that moment on, she wanted to escape this home. She wanted to grow up quickly so she could get married. As long as she married out, she would never have to return to this cold and heartless family again.