His calm, questioning tone made Su Mo cruelly squeeze the blister in her palm. Tears instantly welled up in her eyes.
What Lin Yuyi hated most was seeing Su Mo cry.
He immediately softened and walked over to her.
“Mo Mo, don’t cry. I just came back from my uncles’ place, and I heard Third Aunt say you had an argument with my mom. My mom didn’t even eat dinner tonight.”
Su Mo sniffed. Every word out of Lin Yuyi’s mouth was about Zhang Lanhua “my mom” this, “my mom” that.
As if the Zhang Lanhua who had eaten two bowls of rice for dinner wasn’t the same person.
“My mom is old. Arguing with her can make her anger build up. And now she’s not eating her body definitely can’t handle it.”
“Mo Mo, could you come with me to apologize to my mom?”
“Just take it as me begging you.”
“Mo Mo, just try to be understanding toward me, okay?”
Lin Yuyi’s humble coaxing every sentence, every word stood on Zhang Lanhua’s side. The grievances Su Mo had suffered all day were magnified again.
“Lin Yuyi, I didn’t argue with your mom. And your mom did eat dinner tonight.”
“Why do you believe what your Third Aunt said instead of me?”
“Or… did even your mom say the same thing?”
Su Mo truly couldn’t understand. Why was everything so different from what she had imagined, when they had only just gotten their marriage certificate?
Zhang Lanhua had been hiding outside the door. Hearing the young couple arguing, she was about to go in and mediate, but Third Aunt Zhang Cui pulled her back.
Whispering in her ear, she said, “You’re too soft-hearted. If you go in and explain now, that girl will definitely lord over you in the future.”
Zhang Cui dragged Zhang Lanhua out of the courtyard to her own house.
Zhang Lanhua was still worrying what if that delicate Su Mo started fighting with her youngest son?
Uneasy, she said, “Forget it, maybe I should go back.”
The moment she stood up, Zhang Cui pressed her back into the chair.
“I’m telling you, no wonder you get bullied. Just wait and see how I give that girl a proper warning.”
They sat there for more than an hour. It was already nine at night.
From afar, Zhang Cui saw Lin Yuyi bringing Su Mo over.
“Lanhua, just watch.”
As her voice fell, Zhang Cui’s daughter-in-law Xiaomiao had just returned from the fields, not even having eaten a hot meal yet.
She had been ordered around by Zhang Cui all day helping other families.
Just as Su Mo and Lin Yuyi reached the door, they heard Zhang Cui call out, “Xiaomiao, hurry and bring a basin of hot water. I’m going to wash my face and go to sleep.”
Xiaomiao looked honest and simple. Her wheat-colored skin had grown rough from years of working under the sun.
Her clothes were still stained with dirt from the fields, already dried into clumps.
Su Mo glanced at Lin Yuyi beside her, then heard Zhang Cui introduce her.
“Mo Mo’s here. This is my daughter-in-law, Xiaomiao same generation as you.”
Xiaomiao didn’t speak much, only smiled at Su Mo.
“Hello,” Su Mo said, still not understanding what was going on.
Had she been called here just to watch Xiaomiao fetch water to wash Zhang Cui’s feet?
Zhang Lanhua sat silently to the side. From the moment they entered until now, she hadn’t said a word, making everything feel strangely distant, a lump of air stuck in her chest.
As soon as Xiaomiao placed the basin in front of Zhang Cui, she was scolded:
“It’s so hot! What are you doing?”
A splash of water landed on Su Mo. The warmth wasn’t hot at all.
Su Mo frowned. “This water isn’t hot.”
Zhang Cui began wailing, “Oh my, I’m old now. Don’t you younger people know how to respect elders?”
“With water this hot, are you trying to scald me to death or what?”
Her gaze fell on Zhang Lanhua, who still said nothing.
Su Mo gradually understood Zhang Cui was putting on a show for her, like killing a chicken to scare the monkeys.
But she wasn’t Xiaomiao. She wouldn’t be ordered around without protest.
“Yuyi, you see? Your mom is perfectly fine now. Let’s go back.”
Lin Yuyi hadn’t quite grasped the situation and assumed it was just Third Aunt’s household matter outsiders shouldn’t interfere.
He stepped forward to Zhang Lanhua. “Mom, let’s go home. You didn’t eat dinner, Mo Mo didn’t eat either, and she even got blisters on her palms. Whatever it is, let’s talk at home.”
Hearing Lin Yuyi speak up for Su Mo, Zhang Cui became unhappy.
She had always been sharp-tongued; she never let her plans fail.
“Yuyi, what kind of talk is that? Your mom is tired today, so she’ll sleep here. It’s too late to go back. Have that Mo Mo pour some hot water.”
Su Mo wasn’t surprised at all. If Zhang Cui hadn’t said that, that would have surprised her.
“Mom, if you’re resting here, I’ll head back first.”
“As for pouring water your son’s hands still work. You don’t need me, right?”
Having bottled up anger all day, and being bullied in front of Lin Yuyi she wasn’t stupid.
“Hey! How can you talk like that?”
“Third Aunt, if you don’t like hearing me, then don’t come in front of me in the future. This is just how I talk.”
Su Mo looked Zhang Cui up and down. “You? You’re not worthy of being served by me.”
“Mom, don’t you agree? You wouldn’t be as unreasonable and mean as Third Aunt, right?”
Praised to the heavens, Zhang Lanhua naturally echoed her.
“Then let’s go back.”
“Hey, don’t leave!” Zhang Cui blocked the doorway. She had planned to give Su Mo a harsh warning so Su Mo might later help find her son a job in Shanghai.
She hadn’t expected Su Mo to be so tough this bone was hard to chew.
Furious, Zhang Cui bared her teeth and started cursing Xiaomiao.
“It’s all because you’re useless.”
“Just wait until my son comes back see how he deals with you.”
On the way back, Su Mo finally learned from Zhang Lanhua how miserable Xiaomiao’s situation was.
For years, she alone had supported the whole family. Her husband did nothing except gamble and drink in the village.
So Zhang Cui could only vent her anger on Xiaomiao. And since Xiaomiao had only given birth to daughters, not a son, Zhang Cui felt even more ashamed before the Lin family.
That wasn’t all.
To Su Mo’s shock, just a month ago Zhang Cui had forced Xiaomiao to abort a girl.
If she couldn’t bear a son, Xiaomiao might even be divorced.
Hearing all this, Su Mo was secretly horrified. She had never imagined some marriages could be this difficult.
She couldn’t understand why Xiaomiao didn’t divorce why she kept enduring such suffering.
Just imagining that kind of life made Su Mo feel terrified.
But at least Zhang Lanhua, though often making things hard for her, wasn’t that vicious.
That night, lying beside Lin Yuyi, Su Mo said:
“So now you know. I didn’t bully your mom at all if anything, I was the one bullied terribly by your Third Aunt.”