Old Lady Qiao retorted, "What kind of good bird are you? You’ve been secretly subsidizing the eldest son’s family just because they gave you a grandson!"
"Aren’t you only bullying those two honest people because your eldest daughter-in-law’s family has no one to rely on?"
Upon hearing this, Old Lady Qiao jumped up again and lunged at Old Lady Xiao, and the two of them began wrestling once more.
Zheng Xin finally understood why Old Lady Qiao disliked their family. It wasn’t because she wasn’t good enough—it was because her mother had remarried, so no one would stand up for her.
Wasn’t this exactly like what her sister-in-law had said—bullying the honest ones? And she had foolishly failed to realize it all these years.
Just then, Qiao Zhengping, the eldest son of the Qiao family, arrived and saw his mother fighting with the Xiao family.
"Mom!"
He rushed over to pull them apart, but Zheng Xin wouldn’t let him. She quickly grabbed hold of him.
"What’s the hurry? They’re just fooling around. Those two are usually as thick as thieves."
Qiao Zhengping thought about it and found it somewhat reasonable.
But when he saw his mother being hit several more times, he tried to go over again.
Zheng Xin thought to herself, Let them fight. It’d be even better if they beat each other to death or crippled each other.
"What are you doing? Your mom’s favorite sons, the second and third, are standing right there and haven’t moved a muscle."
"If you ruin your mom’s fun, she’ll definitely come after you once she’s free. Believe it or not."
Qiao Zhengping looked over and saw that his second and third brothers were indeed standing by their mother’s side without moving.
He wondered if it would be a mistake to intervene, but he couldn’t bear to watch his mother being beaten.
Zheng Xin understood exactly what he was thinking.
"Come on, let’s go back inside. I need to talk to you."
With that, she dragged her reluctant husband away.
Meanwhile, the two old women continued hurling insults at each other, airing each other’s dirty laundry for all to hear.
In the end, their husbands had to step in and drag their respective wives back home.
As expected, the two old women lost all face in their neighborhood, trampled upon again and again.
They had lost all dignity, and with each still having an unmarried younger son, they now hated each other to the core.
From that day on, their little boat of friendship capsized for good.
Zheng Xin pulled her husband and children into their room and locked the door.
"Zhengping, I’ve told you what our life has been like since we got married. I don’t mind suffering a little, but we can’t let our children suffer with us."
Qiao Zhengping also felt useless and deeply sorry for his wife and children.
Zheng Xin asked him, "If there’s ever a conflict between me and your mother in the future, whose side will you take?"
Qiao Zhengping tried to smooth things over as usual. "Honey, Mom is getting old. As the younger generation, we should give in to her a little…"
Zheng Xin had never found anything wrong with his words before, but today, she was especially angry.
"If your mother could truly treat everyone fairly, I wouldn’t have any complaints. But Qiao Zhengping, search your conscience and tell me."
"Does your mother treat you as her son? Does she treat me as her daughter-in-law? Does she treat our children as her grandchildren?"
All her pent-up anger erupted at that moment, and she felt as if she could barely breathe.
Qiao Zhengping knew his mother favored his two younger brothers, but as the eldest, he had been taught since childhood to give in to them. He was used to it.
Besides, she was his mother. What else could he do but obey?
"Honey…"
Seeing his wife so heartbroken, with both children staring at him, he couldn’t bring himself to say anything insincere.
Zheng Xin pulled the two children in front of him. "Take a look for yourself. How are your two children dressed now? How are your second brother’s children dressed?"
"Aren’t they your flesh and blood? Aren’t they the Qiao family’s children? Is it because you don’t earn money, or because I’m just lazing around all day?"
Qiao Zhengping didn’t know how to answer her questions. Couldn’t he see it? But all the money and ration tickets had been taken by his mother. What could he do about it?
Zheng Xin cried, "From now on, if the second brother’s family only hands over half their wages each month, we’ll only hand over half too."
Qiao Zhengping didn’t need to think to know his mother wouldn’t agree.
"Mom won’t agree."
Zheng Xin said, "If she doesn’t agree, we won’t go to work. We’ll ask someone else to cover our shifts, and let them collect our wages."
"Anyway, as soon as you get paid, you have to give me half. I need to make clothes for the children and buy them snacks! If you can’t do that, then let’s get a divorce. I’ll marry a man who can."
Qiao Zhengping was stunned. His wife had even mentioned divorce. How could that be allowed? With someone like him, divorced and with two children, who would ever be willing to marry him?
Not to mention how biased his mother was—it would be a miracle if she’d even spend money to get him a new wife.
"No, we can’t get divorced."
"Absolutely not!"
Zheng Xin thought, Fourth Sister-in-law was right. Only when it hits you personally does it hurt.
Before, her husband had always told her to endure, to let the children endure.
Now it was his turn. Why couldn’t he fulfill his mother’s filial expectations?
"Will you give me half your wages or not?"
Qiao Zhengping thought for a moment. "What if Mom starts hitting us?"
Zheng Xin said, "Then we’ll make a scene. We’ll take it to the Women’s Federation, to the Street Office, to your father’s and your brother’s factories, and demand to split the family!"
Qiao Zhengping wanted to back down again.
"That would make us a laughingstock. It’s not good, wife…"
Zheng Xin didn’t let him continue. "Your mother isn’t afraid of losing face, your brother isn’t afraid of losing face, why should I be afraid? Your son and daughter dress like beggars every day, and eat worse than beggars. Don’t you feel ashamed?"
"Don’t you think people are calling you a useless coward behind your back?"
"Aren’t they saying you’re a pushover? You have a salary but can’t even feed your own children—aren’t you just a waste?"
Having been with him for so many years, she knew exactly how to hit him where it hurt.
"Wife, how can you say that about me?"
He didn’t know what had happened to his wife. It was as if she had become a different person, deliberately poking at his sore spots.
Zheng Xin said, "Go outside and listen. What people say about you is even worse than what I just said."
"Qiao Zhengping, even if you can’t support me, at least don’t hold me back when I confront your mother. Otherwise, I will definitely divorce you."
As Sister-in-law had told her, when a man is no longer needed for anything, there’s no point in keeping him around.
Then she used the method Yang Yiyang had taught her and instructed the children: when their grandmother hit them, they should run—run to where there were more people and cry.
Tell everyone how the Qiao grandparents treated them.
Qiao Zhengping wanted to say that teaching children this way was wrong, but when he saw Zheng Xin glaring fiercely at him, he didn’t dare say anything.
Unexpectedly, a moment later, the door was slapped with a loud "bang, bang!"
Grandma Qiao shouted furiously outside, "Eldest son, eldest daughter-in-law, hurry up and open the door! Are you itching for a beating?"
Qiao Zhengping and the two children were all startled.
He instinctively moved to open the door.
Zheng Xin said, "Don't you dare open it. If you dare, you'll be sleeping on the streets tonight."