Now the evidence was conclusive—the daughter-in-law had struck her mother-in-law.
Mother Lu slapped her thigh as she lamented, “Everyone, judge for yourselves! What did I even say? What exactly did I say? After she gave birth to a daughter, I’ve been waiting on her hand and foot every single day, not daring to utter a single word. I’ve been serving her day and night—if it’s too cold, it’s wrong; if it’s too hot, it’s wrong. If she’s the slightest bit displeased, she gives me attitude. This isn’t a mother-in-law and daughter-in-law relationship—it’s clearly a feud between enemies! I really don’t know what to do anymore. My Third Son has such a hard life! Out there defending our country, fighting until he’s battered and bruised, earning just a meager salary, and in the end, he has no son, and his wife has wandering eyes. I’ve failed him!”
She deliberately brought up “wandering eyes,” ensuring those with ulterior motives would start speculating.
Liu Feng was the most intrigued. “Jiang Yue has wandering eyes? With whom?”
“I don’t know! I haven’t heard anything. With her looks, what decent man could she possibly seduce? Is it the widower east of the village whose wife died? Or Wang Wu from the Wang family, the one with the limp? I’ve seen the two of them talking together.”
“With Lu Laosan away from home, it’s no surprise she can’t endure the loneliness.”
Liu Feng slapped her thigh. “Oh dear! We’ve gone off track again. Look at her behavior—daring to hit her own mother-in-law. We should call Lu Laosan back to teach her a lesson and beat her within an inch of her life.”
“Right, beat her several times a day. Let’s see if she still dares to act so arrogantly.”
“No, we can’t let this go so easily. I’m going to find the captain and gather the commune members for a criticism session. Let’s see how she dares to act up then.”
Some ran off to report the incident, others supported Mother Lu, while a few stood with hands on their hips, pointing and cursing at Jiang Yue.
Jiang Yue gave Mother Lu a thumbs-up. “Old woman! You truly are the ancestor of green tea. Keep pretending, keep up the act!”
“What am I pretending about? I’m telling the truth. Oh, my head—it hurts so much I can’t stand it.” Mother Lu swayed unsteadily but stubbornly refused to collapse.
Furious, Jiang Yue laughed in disbelief. “Fine! When the captain arrives, we’ll call Father Lu back too, and air all our family’s dirty laundry in public.”
She had had enough of this family.
There was a father-in-law who always wore a gloomy expression and a mother-in-law who pretended to be pitiful and kind but was secretly as vicious as Rong Momo.
Although Mother Lu disliked her, someone still had to do the household chores.
There was no shortage of farm work—from morning till night, there was no time to rest, and the tasks were endless.
In the evenings, after the family finished dinner, Jiang Yue was the only one left washing and cleaning while the others chatted, laughed, and gossiped, seeing nothing wrong with the arrangement.
The captain, formerly the village head, was responsible for the entire village’s agricultural affairs—planned economy, unified management, and all.
Not only that, but he also had to deal with the village’s petty squabbles—mediating disputes, breaking up fights, acting as a witness, and judging right from wrong. He was a very busy man.
Moreover, at this time, every commune was engaged in competitions—comparing everything from production and morale to hygiene.
If something happened in the village, he would be criticized. In severe cases, it could be seen as undermining unity and hindering production.
Captain Lu stormed into the courtyard like a whirlwind, shouting, “Day after day, your family causes the most trouble. Will it ever end? Do you still want to earn work points? Do you still want to focus on production? Can our brigade still win this year’s advanced award? All you know how to do is argue. Speak! What is it about today?”
Captain Lu had nearly sprained his hand from clapping so hard.
Those who weren’t working crowded around the Lu family’s gate, drawn by the commotion.
Jiang Yue had just stepped inside to check on the child earlier. When Captain Lu arrived, she stood by the doorway again, arms crossed, watching her mother-in-law’s performance.
Zheng Xiaoliu squeezed through the crowd to watch the commotion. The young man, having rarely eaten his fill, seemed revitalized and full of energy.
He secretly observed the scene in the courtyard and noticed Third Aunt standing alone, looking isolated and somewhat pitiful.
“My demands are simple: send a telegram to call Lu Jingzhou back. I’ll go with him to get a divorce. The child stays with me. As for property, divide it as it should be. That’s all.” Jiang Yue’s voice was crisp, her reasoning clear, and her eyes bright.
“You call that simple?” Captain Lu was nearly driven mad by her. “Jiang Yue! How old are you this year? Twenty, right? You think with a snap of your fingers, the marriage is dissolved, and everything’s settled? Go ask around—which production team nearby has anyone getting divorced? If this really happens, our team will be utterly humiliated. Besides, do you think Jingzhou can just come back from the army whenever he wants?”
“Even if we set that aside, where will you go after the divorce? Do you have a place to live? How will you earn work points? When you married into this family, your household registration moved here too. You can’t go back to your parents’ home. So what will you eat and drink? How will you raise the child? Truly, long hair but short-sighted—utterly impractical.”
Jiang Yue exploded too. “Captain, am I the one insisting on divorce? We all live in the same village. Do you really not know what happened the day I gave birth? Hmph! Her! Zhang Guifang, the child’s grandmother, wanted to strangle the newborn and bury it in the wilderness. Let me ask you: are we living in a new society or not?”
“If we are, what does her behavior amount to? No one in the village even questioned it. It seems to me you’re all bullying me because my family isn’t here, because my husband isn’t here—thinking you can push me around. If that’s the case, why should I keep living here? Better to break clean and divorce the Lu family! Whether I live or die, it’s none of your concern!”
She even thought to herself, with the Lu family being like this, that Lu Jingzhou might be no different—a mama’s boy who does whatever his mother says.
Living with such a man would be worse than death.
Hearing those sensitive words, Captain Lu’s internal alarms went off.
“Nonsense! Of course, we’re a new society. Sister-in-law, how could you do such a thing? I truly didn’t know. If I had, I would’ve rushed to stop it. Boy or girl, it’s a life—your Lu family’s flesh and blood. To put it bluntly, that’s murder! You could be arrested and executed. Such things must never happen again in our village, or I won’t spare anyone, regardless of connections.”
Mother Lu suddenly wailed loudly, “Heavens! My heart aches too! But what can I do when life has come to this? Your uncle is right—Third Son is in the army; he can’t just return on a whim. Wait till he comes back, then you can do as you please. For now, I beg you, live peacefully. Stop making trouble, and stop hitting me. Is that too much to ask?”
“You hit your mother-in-law?” Captain Lu glared sternly at Jiang Yue.
Striking an elder was another blow to the production team’s reputation. As for discarding a child, he didn’t really care that much—after all, he’d lived through the old society too.
Jiang Yue shot him a glance. “If she dares lay another finger on my daughter, forget hitting her—I might even grab a knife and slash her. If you don’t believe me, just try me. And if Lu Jingzhou doesn’t come back, I’ll go find him—I’ll go to his military unit and divorce him!”
Bang!
Father Lu had just stepped through the door when he heard this. His eyes nearly spat fire. “If you weren’t my daughter-in-law, I’d beat you to death!”