Song Jinhe pushed open another door, let out a bitter laugh, and said helplessly to the crowd:
“Xiao Ran is flesh from my own body. Of course I don’t want to hit him either.”
“But some things simply can’t be resolved without punishment.”
Song Jinhe lowered her eyes, sighing as she rolled up her sleeve to reveal the wounds on her wrist.
“They say family shames shouldn’t be aired in public, but at this point, I have no choice but to speak up.”
“The moment I stepped through the door today, Xiao Ran started throwing stones at me. He blamed me for stopping Guoheng from accompanying Liu Qingying to the hospital, and called me a wicked woman.”
Though worn out from constant work, Song Jinhe’s complexion remained as pale as ever.
The stones Lu Xiaoran had thrown at her were sharp, leaving clearly visible marks on her arm.
“This isn’t the first time he’s clashed with me over outsiders. Before, I always thought he was still young and that proper guidance and talking would be enough.”
“But who would have thought even that wouldn’t work? He actually raised his hand against his own mother for the sake of outsiders.”
“He even stole my things to give away. I was so furious that I had to hit him.”
Tears welled up in Song Jinhe’s eyes, streaming down her cheeks when she reached the most painful parts of her story, making her appear utterly pitiful.
The onlookers erupted in outrage upon hearing this.
“A son actually hitting his own mother over outsiders? That’s deserving of a lightning strike!”
“Didn’t you hear what Jinhe just said? Not only did he hit her, he stole things too!”
“To raise a son with such hardship only for him to turn out like this – he definitely deserves a beating! If it were me, I’d have my husband use a belt on him!”
Lu Xiaoran widened his eyes, stunned by the crowd’s accusations.
This wasn’t how he had imagined things would go!
Clutching tightly to Zhou Yufen’s sleeve, all his earlier bravado in slandering Song Jinhe vanished, leaving him too terrified to utter a word.
Seeing her precious grandson being criticized, Zhou Yufen’s face darkened.
She yanked the boy behind her and started shouting back defiantly.
“May your own children be struck by lightning!”
“My grandson is none of your business, no matter what he does!”
“Get out, all of you, get out!”
As Zhou Yufen grabbed a broom to chase people away, Song Jinhe pretended to dodge to the side, putting on a frightened expression.
Auntie Yang, being shoved toward the door by Zhou Yufen, stumbled and nearly dropped the cucumber in her hand.
“Pah! As if anyone wants to meddle in your wretched affairs!”
“With your unreasonable, shrewish behavior, how dare you claim Jinhe is bullying you and your grandson? It’s clearly you two ganging up on her!”
“With your grandson’s behavior – hitting people and stealing – I doubt any family in the village will let their children play with him from now on!”
Auntie Yang stood at the doorway, hands on hips, unleashing a torrent of criticism.
Others in the crowd loudly agreed.
Zhou Yufen clutched her chest, gasping for breath: “You, all of you!”
Hearing Auntie Yang’s words, Lu Xiaoran plopped down on the ground, crying and throwing a tantrum.
“I didn’t do anything wrong! Why won’t they let me play with them?”
Furious, Zhou Yufen slammed the door shut and hurried over to comfort him.
“Be good, Xiao Ran. Grandma is here with you. Grandma will play with you.”
Lu Xiaoran slapped her hand away and continued wailing and rolling on the ground.
“I don’t want to! I want to play with them, I want to play with them!”
Seeing that she couldn’t calm her grandson down, Zhou Yufen grew frantic, sweat beading on her forehead.
Out of the corner of her eye, she caught sight of Song Jinhe standing there watching the drama, and her anger flared up instantly.
“It’s all because of you, you troublemaker! You even told outsiders about your own son’s affairs—are you trying to kill him?!”
“How can your heart be so cruel!”
Zhou Yufen couldn’t understand how Song Jinhe, who used to dote on her grandson so much, could have become like this.
That woman surnamed Yang was a notorious gossip; once driven away, she would surely spread bad rumors about her grandson.
What if the other children really stopped playing with her grandson?
Worried, Zhou Yufen gritted her teeth, steeled her heart, and pointed at Song Jinhe, issuing a command.
“You go and explain to people right now. Say that Xiao Ran accidentally hurt you, and that you’re the one making a fuss.”
“And the matter of stealing—that was also a misunderstanding.”
Song Jinhe sneered, “When you were slandering me and harming me, you didn’t care about my feelings at all.”
“Now that the knife has turned on you, you’re panicking.”
“Let me tell you, what happened today is your own fault. I will absolutely not explain for this thieving, unfilial son.”
Zhou Yufen’s face flushed red with anger, and she raised her voice, shouting:
“Xiao Ran is your own flesh and blood! How can you bear to see him pointed at and gossiped about in the village?”
Song Jinhe smiled, “They’re not cursing me, so what does it have to do with me?”
When the two of them were ruining her reputation, they wished they could nail her to a pillar of shame for the whole village to scorn.
Now that the tables had turned, she felt no pity.
Zhou Yufen pressed a hand to her head, so angry she could hardly speak coherently.
As soon as Lu Xiaoran heard that Song Jinhe refused to explain for him, he immediately scrambled up from the ground and glared at her, threatening:
“Old woman, if you don’t go explain for me today, I’ll kill myself!”
After saying this, he made as if to run headfirst into the wall.
Zhou Yufen was so frightened her heart nearly leaped out of her throat. She quickly reached out to stop him.
“Xiao Ran, you’re your grandma’s precious darling! Are you trying to kill me?”
Zhou Yufen wept bitterly and, for the sake of her grandson, softened her tone toward Song Jinhe for the first time.
“Jin He, I’m begging you as your mother-in-law. Please explain for Xiao Ran.”
“You can’t really drive Xiao Ran to his death, can you?”
Song Jinhe watched her cry, unmoved.
She knew Zhou Yufen’s personality all too well.
Domineering, overbearing, and uncompromising.
The only time the other woman had spoken to her kindly was back when they were discussing her marriage to Lu Guoheng at the Song family home.
Back then, Zhou Yufen had beamed at her and praised her endlessly to her parents, calling her a good girl.
Song Jinhe was only eighteen at the time and couldn’t tell whether Zhou Yufen’s words were genuine or not.
She foolishly believed Zhou Yufen’s praise and thought she was marrying into a good family.
Who would have thought that as soon as she married in, Zhou Yufen would flip her attitude?
Blaming her, tormenting her—it was as if she had become a completely different person.
The way Zhou Yfen was speaking softly now was exactly like how she had acted before the wedding.
Song Jinhe knew clearly that Zhou Yufen wasn’t truly yielding; she was only doing it for the Lu Family’s only grandson.
If she softened and went to explain, Zhou Yufen would immediately revert to her former self.
She might even become even harsher in tormenting her because of this moment of submission.
Song Jinhe raised her hand and pointed at the wall, her tone icy cold: “If he wants to run into the wall, let him. I’ll just act as if I never gave birth to him.”
Any relationship requires mutual effort.
She couldn’t bring herself to be soft-hearted toward an ungrateful wolf who had hurt her again and again.
Lu Xiaoran stared at her in disbelief, screaming like a madman:
“You’re my mother! How could you actually let me die!”
Where had the mother who used to dote on him and tolerate him gone!