Hua Yun signaled to Hua Lei to carry Mrs. Wan on his back. Once they were out of the room, she pulled him toward the main gate.
Hua Lei was confused. "Eldest sister, let's take Mother back first. I'll go fetch a doctor."
Hua Yun shook her head as she dragged him along. "No money."
Hua Lei didn't quite understand, but his eldest sister's grip was incredibly strong, and he found himself involuntarily following her lead.
Not a single person from the main house came out to see what was happening; they were all sitting calmly, ready to eat.
Hua Yun helped Mrs. Wan down and laid her flat in the middle of the dirt road outside the gate. She glanced around—no one in sight. After a moment's thought, she pulled Hua Yu over and pointed toward the house the girl had shouted toward the night before. "Cry, shout," she instructed, pointing first to her own head, then to Mrs. Wan's. "Say."
"Huh?" Hua Yu was momentarily bewildered, but then she understood. She raised her voice in a wail: "Mother, what happened to you? Have you been beaten to death? How are we supposed to live without you? Motherless children are going to be bullied to death…"
Hua Yun nodded. The girl's voice was sharp and shrill—someone ought to hear it, right?
And indeed, someone did. Sounds of movement came from the gates of the neighboring houses on both sides.
Hua Yu pressed on with renewed vigor. "They won't let us live! Last night, my sister was smashed on the head until she bled, and this morning, my mother's head was split open. They're trying to drive our whole family to our deaths… How heartless can they be…"
Before the onlookers could gather, the stunned Mrs. Wan panicked. She quickly grabbed Hua Yu, urging her to stop. "Hurry home, I'm fine. If this gets out of hand, it won't matter if your grandparents lose face, but your reputations will be ruined. Your brother needs to marry, and you and your sister need to find husbands too…"
Hearing this, Hua Yu wailed even louder. "Mother, please don't abandon us…"
Mrs. Wan grew more anxious, and the bleeding quickened. She was about to say more.
"Quiet."
Mrs. Wan's eyes widened, and Hua Yu fell silent.
Hua Yun felt awkward—she wasn't the squad leader anymore. She softened her tone as much as possible. "Mother, rest for a while."
Mrs. Wan blinked and actually kept quiet.
Hua Bing leaned close to her ear, his voice filled with concern. "Mother, sleep. You wake up so early every day. Bing'er feels sorry for you."
A tear rolled down Mrs. Wan's cheek. She obediently closed her eyes, thinking with resignation, Well, they've already heard everything. Let them make a scene.
By then, people from both neighboring houses had gathered around. An old woman with a large black mole at the corner of her mouth glanced toward the Hua family's house, unable to hide her excitement as she asked, "Little Hua Yu, what happened? Your family always beats their daughters-in-law behind closed doors. Why did they drive her out this time? Did Old Woman Li kick her out?"
Last night, Hua Yu had probably wanted this old woman to hear everything. From the way she spoke, it was clear she didn't get along with Mrs. Li.
Hua Yu sobbed, "Who knows what happened? My mother was cooking for the whole family, just setting the table, when my aunt threw a bowl of porridge at her. My mother was knocked unconscious and still hasn't woken up."
Mrs. Wan nervously clenched her fists inside her sleeves. If Yu'er says things like this, won't Mother-in-law beat her to death?
The old woman's eyes gleamed. "Oh, it was your aunt? Last night, I thought I vaguely heard that your aunt smashed your sister's head open too. Oh, Hua Yun's head really is injured. How could she be so cruel?"
Hua Yun's head was wrapped in several layers of cloth, with a large patch of blood seeping through, a sight that made people uneasy.
Hua Lei was too proud to cry like a little girl, so he just reddened his eyes and spoke with a bellyful of grievances: "Yesterday, we worked together to bring back a wounded little wild boar." If he said his eldest sister had hunted it herself, no one would believe it. "Grandma had Mother prepare it for most of the day, and Mother cooked it all in the evening. Grandma had previously told our eldest branch to eat on our own and not come to the main house for meals. My mother cooked all the wild boar meat, but Grandma ordered it all brought into the main house. Eldest Sister begged for just one bite, but as soon as the meat reached her mouth, Auntie threw a bowl at her…"
More people joined the crowd of onlookers, and upon hearing this, they began chattering and discussing.
"Ah, I saw that wild boar. Just yesterday, Hua Lei carried Hua Yun, and together with little Hua Yu and Hua Bing, they dragged it back. Those four kids are lucky, and they have strong lives too." The speaker couldn't help but swallow a mouthful of saliva—a whole pig! At this time of year, when food is scarce, who can afford to buy meat? If he weren't familiar with Old Man Hua's family's ways, he would have gone over to try and get a bite.
"That's right. How could such a big wild boar not even give the kids from the eldest branch a single bite?"
"Tsk, do you even need to ask? Didn't you hear it was that old woman Mrs. Li who gave the order? This kind of thing isn't new in the Hua family."
"How does Old Man Hua run his household? They're all his own flesh and blood."
"Pfft, it's all Mrs. Li's doing."
"Hey, hey, don't say that. The Hua family is well-off, you know. Didn't you hear? The Hua family's daughter throws porridge when she's upset? If my daughter dared act like that, I'd smack her with my shoe sole."
"Exactly. Food is so precious. I make watery porridge every day, just waiting for the harvest to add some strength."
"The old Hua family doesn't care about that. Hua Changnian can harvest the fields without even eating. Old Man Hua has raised a good laborer."
"It seems Old Man Hua is rich. How much dowry will his daughter bring? Whoever marries her will get a bargain."
As more and more people gathered, Hua Yun knelt half beside Mrs. Wan, lowering her head to shield her trembling hands, listening curiously.
"A bargain? Pfft, throwing bowls and smashing chopsticks every day—who could stand that? No matter how big the dowry, she'd waste it all herself."
"Exactly. What's the point of marrying a wife? Isn't it to bear children and serve the family? Listen to this: yesterday she hit her niece, today she hit her sister-in-law. Would you dare marry someone like that?"
Those listening quickly shook their heads, laughing and saying, "She's so fierce, we couldn't handle her."
Someone with a more refined tone angrily said, "The eldest sister-in-law is like a mother. She is unfilial and disrespectful, unkind and unloving to her niece. Just imagine her behavior in the future. Even if she marries someday…"
He didn't finish the sentence, but everyone understood.
Hua Yun was a bit confused. Why was the discussion all about Hua Changfang? Why wasn't anyone talking about the eldest branch's misery? Last night, when Hua Yu shouted over the wall, she thought people here might care about reputation, so she had Mrs. Wan come out and lie down, letting everyone see how pitiful she was. She hoped to condemn the Hua family and force Mrs. Li to cough up some money for a doctor.
Why wasn't this working out?
Hua Yun was stunned. Could they still get the money?
Mrs. Li rushed out with a dark expression. She had heard the commotion earlier but didn't pay it any mind, calmly sipping her porridge and eating her side dishes. If the eldest branch could stir up any trouble, they wouldn't have been under her thumb all these years. Once Hua Changnian returned, she'd just nag a bit, and the whole family would be too scared to say anything. She was determined to make Mrs. Wan and those four little brats kneel in the courtyard all night this time. If she didn't teach them a lesson, they wouldn't know who was in charge of this household.
But slowly, Mrs. Li couldn't sit still any longer. How did this suddenly involve her little daughter? They were in the middle of discussing a marriage proposal!
Hua Changfang's eyes welled up with tears—what if this affected her own marriage prospects?
The others didn't have much of a reaction, only feeling that the situation was unseemly.
Mrs. Li stomped out angrily on her large feet, not even glancing at Mrs. Wan on the ground, and shouted at the crowd, "What are you looking at? What are you looking at? Everyone, disperse."
It was only then that Hua Yun took a proper look at the old woman's appearance. Mrs. Li's frame was neither short nor narrow; at least compared to the neighbor woman, she was quite tall and sturdy. She had a long horse-like face, thick lips, a broad nose, and a pair of prominent, unfriendly eyes.
In contrast, Old Man Hua, who followed behind her, seemed somewhat frail. At that moment, Old Man Hua's face was wrinkled like an old walnut. He glanced at Hua Lei, signaling him to quickly carry the person back home, without even looking at anyone else.
Hua Yun then looked at the other family members following behind. All four uncles had come out, and their appearances more or less resembled Mrs. Li's—none could be called good-looking. However, Hua Changfang, who was shrinking timidly at the back, had some charm, likely inherited from Old Man Hua.
Hua Yun thought to herself that Hua Changnian must also take after Old Man Hua, as he could be considered handsome. It was just that Old Man Hua was so wrinkled now that it was hard to tell what he looked like in his youth.
As Mrs. Li tried to shoo people away, the neighbor woman cackled, "Do you think this road belongs to you? Trying to chase everyone off? Go be a tyrant behind closed doors."
Mrs. Li scowled, "Stay out of my family's business."
The neighbor woman laughed again, her thick eyebrows nearly flying off her face. Her old eyes scanned behind Mrs. Li, and she pointed her chin, calling out, "Hua family girl, come here, come here. Tell your auntie how you managed to smash your eldest niece's head and then hit your sister-in-law? Truly raised by your mother, come and let your auntie take a good look at you."
Hua Changfang stamped her foot in anger, covered her face, and ran back inside.
Mrs. Li fumed, "Old Woman Cai, don't go looking for trouble. Do you think I'm afraid of you? If you keep spouting nonsense, I'll tear your mouth apart."
Old Woman Cai patted her chest, "Oho, as if I'm scared of you. I'm not talking nonsense—everyone heard it clearly. It was your daughter who did it. Tsk tsk, she's really grown up and ready to marry. Such strength, what a fine girl!"
The crowd burst into laughter, and someone started teasing Old Man Hua, asking which family Hua Changfang was betrothed to, how much dowry she would have, and how many plates and bowls she would bring along.