With her hands planted firmly on her hips, Yang Mother stood in the middle of the street, her voice booming so loudly it echoed down the entire lane.
She pointed, stomped, and gestured furiously, looking as though steam were pouring out of her ears.
“Mom! Mom!”
“Careful, don’t throw out your back.”
“What happened?”
“Who upset you this badly?”
Yang Yuan hurried over, a piece of pork dangling from one hand while the other wrapped around her mother’s shoulders.
Hearing her youngest daughter speak up, Yang Mother’s anger eased a little.
This is exactly why I spoil my youngest, she thought.
Only Yuanyuan always says exactly what’s in my heart.
“That Zhao widow—the shameless woman who doesn’t know any shame—actually wanted to match her son with you!”
“That brazen hussy!”
“Who knows which bastard fathered that little mongrel of hers!”
“She actually wants to become my in-law?”
“I curse all her ancestors!”
The more she spoke, the more agitated she became, bouncing several steps away as she ranted.
Yang Yuan’s slight frame couldn’t possibly hold her back.
From across the street, Widow Zhao immediately spun around and shouted back.
“Wenqing’s Mother!”
“You can yell all you want!”
“Your Fourth Son still got dumped!”
“So what if he read a couple of books?”
“What can a bespectacled Yang Wenping do?”
“He can go kick the bucket for all I care!”
“And you!”
“You’re nothing but a tigress!”
“You dare look down on my precious son?”
“That little daughter of yours is just like you!”
“She’ll never find a husband either!”
“She’ll rot away in your house—”
Yang Yuan’s eldest brother was named Yang Wenqing.
Many neighbors addressed Yang Mother simply as “Wenqing’s Mother.”
The moment Yang Yuan heard those insults, she exploded.
She’d never tolerated this kind of abuse in either of her lives.
“The hell did you just say?”
“You old hag!”
“You looking for trouble?”
“You’re the one whose rotten mouth can’t spit out anything decent!”
“You’re the one who’ll rot in your own—”
“Ahhh!”
Just as Yang Yuan was getting into the rhythm of her tirade, Widow Zhao suddenly screamed, clutching her mouth.
Yang Yuan blinked.
Wait…
Did my curse actually work?
She turned around.
Yang Mother was calmly lowering her hand, a thoroughly satisfied smile on her face.
It turned out she’d flicked a small stone with astonishing accuracy…
Straight into Widow Zhao’s front teeth.
One tooth had snapped clean off.
“Hmph.”
“That’s what you get for insulting my daughter.”
“I’ll knock every last tooth out of your mouth.”
Widow Zhao stood there, blood filling her mouth.
She mumbled something completely unintelligible before covering her lips and fleeing.
Yang Mother strutted home like a victorious hen leading her little chick.
Even as they passed the crowd of spectators, she couldn’t resist snapping,
“What are you staring at?”
“Never seen people arguing before?”
That evening, after Yang Father came home and heard that his wife had gotten into another shouting match—the first in nearly ten years—he immediately sat her down for what he called a “family meeting.”
“Old Chen…”
“Our children are all grown up now.”
“We have to think about appearances.”
“They’re not married yet.”
“If you keep this up…”
“Who’ll dare become our daughter-in-law or son-in-law?”
Yang Mother rolled her eyes.
“Oh, you’re so reasonable, aren’t you?”
“If you’d heard what that Zhao woman actually said…”
“You wouldn’t be talking like this.”
The whole incident had begun because Zheng Yuyin had gotten married.
When people discovered the groom wasn’t Yang Wenping—the man she’d originally been engaged to—they were naturally shocked.
After asking around, everyone learned that the engagement had been broken off some time ago.
Immediately…
Rumors spread everywhere.
The Zheng family had once been one of the area’s prominent clans.
Director Zheng himself was a factory director.
Even when they’d originally chosen Yang Wenping, an ordinary worker’s son, people had speculated endlessly behind closed doors.
Now the engagement had quietly ended…
The gossip became even wilder.
The most common version was:
Director Zheng had looked down on Yang Wenping.
So what if he’d graduated from junior college?
He still hadn’t landed a job.
The Zheng family had dumped him.
When Widow Zhao heard those rumors…
Her eyes lit up.
She immediately came to the Yang household.
The shameless woman actually wanted to introduce her recently widowed niece to Yang Wenping.
Yang Mother slammed the door in her face.
But Widow Zhao grabbed the door before it could close.
“Wenqing’s Mother!”
“If that match won’t work…”
“What about another?”
“Your youngest daughter is old enough now too, isn’t she?”
“She still isn’t engaged, right?”
“Look at my Bao’er.”
“He’s only two years older.”
“He’ll treat her wonderfully—”
Before she could finish…
Yang Mother hurled a broom straight at her face.
Serves her right.
Yang Yuan silently applauded.
Suppressing a grin, she went into the kitchen to boil water.
After hearing the entire story…
Even Yang Father fell silent.
His face became even darker than his wife’s.
“Mom…”
“What are we cooking tonight?”
Yang Yuan’s voice finally broke the heavy silence.
She still couldn’t cook properly.
Boiling water and reheating steamed buns…
Fine.
Actually making a meal?
That usually ended one of two ways.
Either the pot burned…
Or the food stayed half raw.
Whether something edible emerged depended entirely on luck.
She couldn’t help feeling helpless.
Who actually knows how to use one of these old stoves?
She’d never even seen one before coming here.
At first she’d constantly worried about exposing herself.
Later she’d learned the original Yang Yuan had been just as hopeless in the kitchen.
After that…
She’d completely stopped pretending.
The following day, Yang Lan returned to her parents’ home.
She had already heard about the argument.
After Yang Wenping’s engagement was canceled, the Yang family recovered the five hundred yuan bride price and repaid all the money they’d borrowed from relatives.
While doing so, they explained to everyone that the engagement had ended.
They never revealed Zheng Yuyin’s affair.
They only said she’d changed her mind and no longer wished to marry.
But Yang Lan wasn’t an outsider.
Yang Mother told her everything.
The Zheng family had clearly been at fault.
Yet after countless retellings…
Yang Wenping somehow became the one with the damaged reputation.
And then there was Yang Yuan.
Yes, she could be a little spoiled.
But she was pretty.
She had a good job.
She was the younger sister Yang Lan herself had practically raised.
How dare that awful Zhao family even think about her?
Yang Lan became furious as soon as she heard.
Everyone within miles knew exactly what kind of person Widow Zhao was.
Before all the factories were built, this had only been a small county town.
Even the tiniest scandal spread everywhere.
Yang Lan had heard countless stories growing up.
Widow Zhao’s husband had died only two years after they married.
Her elderly mother-in-law couldn’t control her.
Living off compensation money, she’d enjoyed herself freely.
People often saw different men visiting her home.
If that had been all…
Most neighbors would’ve simply sighed and said,
“A widow’s doorstep always attracts gossip.”
Some might even have pitied her.
But Widow Zhao had gone much further.
Six months after her husband died…
She became pregnant.
And then boldly insisted the child was her late husband’s posthumous son.
The whole town had laughed.
Did she really think everyone else was stupid?
Later, as times became increasingly difficult…
People mostly left her alone.
They figured raising a child by herself wasn’t easy.
Otherwise…
If anyone had truly wanted to ruin her…
One report to the authorities would’ve been enough.
She would’ve been publicly denounced, paraded through the streets, pelted with old shoes, and spat upon.
Even mentioning Widow Zhao made Yang Mother look disgusted.
As though she’d just remembered a pile of rotting garbage.
Yang Lan hadn’t come home for anything special.
She’d only heard Yang Wenping had left town and wanted to check on him.
When she learned he’d already been gone for nearly ten days without any news…
She became worried too.
“Didn’t Wenping leave a phone number from school before?”
“Have you tried calling it?”
“We already did.”
Yang Father sighed.
“I went to the post office myself.”
“It wouldn’t connect.”
“It’s not that the line was busy…”
“The number simply doesn’t exist.”
“They told me either the telephone line has been cut…”
“…or the phone itself is broken.”
“In any case…”
“We can’t contact them.”
There was nothing else anyone could do.
All they could do was wait.
Yang Lan didn’t stay long.
Yang Mother tried to persuade her to stay for dinner.
She waved her hand.
“I’m worried about the baby.”
“Meng Quan’s a grown man.”
“I’m afraid he won’t manage very well by himself.”
Yang Mother packed up a bowl of leftover dumplings from lunch and handed them to her.
“Take these.”
“There weren’t many.”
“Eat well.”
“If you’re healthy…”
“The baby will be healthy too.”
Yang Father and Yang Mother walked her to the door.
She rode away on her bicycle.
The handlebars and rear rack were piled high with all the things Yang Mother had packed for her.
Just before leaving…
She turned back one last time.
“Mom…”
“Has Third Sister written home recently?”