10
Stealing Chicken Soup
Gu Wenshu had just placed two bowls of soup in front of the little ones, reminding them to let it cool before drinking, then sat down to peel sweet potatoes when she suddenly heard shouting and banging from outside. The two little gluttons who had been drooling over the chicken soup were startled. Xiao Ni’er’s small mouth quivered, her eyes reddened, and tears welled up in her eyes. Her expression, on the verge of crying, made Gu Wenshu’s heart ache terribly.
She quickly went over to lead the two children away from the table, carrying them to sit on the bed. “Don’t be afraid, Mommy is here. I’ll protect you.”
In the past, the original owner would vent her anger on the two children after being scolded, so whenever they heard their grandmother’s yelling, the children would instinctively become frightened and want to cry.
Now, hearing their mother’s gentle reassurance, they seemed less afraid.
Gu Wenshu picked up the knife she had prepared earlier, opened the room door, shoved Granny Li aside in one swift motion, and closed the door again.
Turning around, her eyes filled with murderous intent, she raised the knife as if to strike Granny Li.
Seeing this, Granny Li was terrified and quickly ran away.
Gu Wenshu chased after her while shouting, “Since you won’t let me live in peace, then no one will have peace either.”
If she didn’t teach her a harsh lesson, Granny Li would keep causing trouble in front of her these next few days.
In that case, she might as well make it unforgettable for her.
Granny Li, along with Li Mingshan and his wife, as well as the second son and his wife, came out upon hearing the commotion. They saw their third sister-in-law chasing their mother with a knife. The faces of the two older brothers turned grim as they tried to step forward and intervene, but Gu Wenshu redirected the knife toward them. “Take another step and try me.”
Both brothers were intimidated by her ferocity and dared not advance further. Old Mr. Li hurriedly said, “Third daughter-in-law, what are you doing? Again and again, aren’t you afraid we’ll report you to Public Security?”
Gu Wenshu retorted sharply, “Go ahead, report me now.”
Old Mr. Li recalled his wife telling him how their youngest son had entered the third daughter-in-law’s room with ill intentions and how his wife had conspired with the eldest daughter-in-law to sell the two children. He immediately fell silent. If either of these matters were to get out, their entire family would face severe consequences.
“All five chickens in this house were raised by me. I’ll slaughter them whenever I want.”
Not only would she slaughter a chicken today, but she would do so again tomorrow, just to show this family she was not to be trifled with.
Seeing Old Mr. Li and his wife seething with anger but not daring to speak, she knew they had been intimidated once again by the knife in her hand. She snorted lightly, “That chicken soup isn’t even enough for my family of four, so don’t get any ideas. If you disturb us while we’re eating again, I won’t hold back.”
After saying this, she turned around, went back inside, and closed the door.
Left in the courtyard, the family members looked at each other in confusion. A chubby six-year-old boy ran out of the house, hugged Granny Li’s leg, and said, “Grandma, I want to drink chicken soup. I want to eat chicken legs.”
Granny Li looked at her most beloved eldest grandson, listening to him clamor for chicken soup and chicken legs, and cursed Gu Wenshu under her breath, wishing she would choke on a chicken bone while eating.
She picked up her grandson and said, “My precious, don’t cry. Grandma will fry eggs for you. How about we fry five eggs for you?”
Mentioning frying eggs made her heart ache with reluctance.
But compared to eggs, she was even more reluctant to kill the hens in the backyard coop—those were kept for laying eggs.
With chicken legs and chicken soup to enjoy, who would still crave eggs?
Li Dabao cried and threw a tantrum, struggling in Granny Li’s arms, constantly clamoring to eat eggs. He nearly caused Granny Li to fall, and in a fit of anger, she put the child down and shouted, “Keep crying, and you won’t get any eggs to eat.”
Chen Hongzhen, hearing her mother-in-law say this, stepped forward discontentedly and pulled her son away. “A Niang, you’re scaring Dabao.”
“Dabao doesn’t want eggs. How about we kill a chicken instead?” Chen Hongzhen hugged her precious child, coaxing him, “Don’t cry, Dabao. Your A Nai loves you the most. She’ll definitely kill a chicken for you to eat.”
Dabao, with tears and snot smeared across his face, looked up at his mother. “Really? Will A Nai really kill a chicken for me?”
Before Chen Hongzhen could finish painting her rosy picture, Granny Li flared up. “Eat, eat, eat! We’ve already lost so much money today, and you’re still thinking about eating chicken? You’ll eat yourselves to death.” After saying this, she returned to her room, not forgetting to remind her second daughter-in-law, Lu Xiaoli, to cook.
Sanbao looked at the steaming, fragrant chicken soup in front of him and couldn’t help but cautiously ask his mother, “Mom, can we really drink the chicken soup? Won’t A Nai come and hit us?”
Gu Wenshu’s heart ached at this. For a child to want a sip of chicken soup and have to be so cautious—the Li Family was truly wretched.
She smiled and said, “Go ahead and drink it. From now on, as long as Mom is here, no one will bully you, and Mom won’t hit you anymore.”
After saying this, she placed a sweet potato into Sanbao’s bowl. “Of course, the condition for Mom not hitting you is that both you and Xiao Ni’er must be well-behaved and obedient. Otherwise, I might still resort to it.”
What would childhood be without the education of love?
Xiao Ni’er quickly chimed in, “Mom, Xiao Ni and Brother will be obedient from now on.”
Sanbao nodded. Today’s Mom was good—she didn’t hit or scold anyone, and she even let him and his sister drink chicken soup. He liked today’s Mom. As long as she stayed like this, he would be obedient in the future.
As soon as Li Xiuran stepped into the yard, his mother pulled him aside to complain. Hearing that his wife had killed the family’s egg-laying hen and even threatened his mother with a knife, he found it hard to believe. Gu Wenshu was the type who only dared to bully those weaker than her—the two children who had no standing in this family.
Faced with his third son’s skeptical look, Granny Li gritted her teeth. “You can ask your second brother and sister-in-law. They wouldn’t lie to you.”
His second brother and sister-in-law were the most honest, and he did believe they wouldn’t deceive him.
He glanced at Granny Li. “A Niang, Wenshu is usually very timid. If she acted like this today, it’s because you’ve pushed her too far.”
So, all of this was brought upon yourselves.
He tried to leave after speaking, but Granny Li grabbed his arm. “Give me that fifteen hundred. I’ll keep it safe for you. Otherwise, that vixen will swindle all your money away. When she runs off with another man, you’ll have nowhere to cry.”
Li Xiuran gave his mother a deep look. Did she think he was a three-year-old child to be coaxed? Or did she take him for a brainless fool?
Once that money was in her hands, he wouldn’t see a single cent of it again.
“A Niang, we’ve already separated our households.” After saying this, he pried open his mother’s hand and strode toward his own room.
Granny Li still wanted to persist obstinately – no matter what, she had to get the money today.
Seeing her like this, Li Xiuran raised an eyebrow: “A Niang, we’ve already separated our households. We’re two different families now.”
Watching the room door open and close, Granny Li was dumbfounded. Previously, it had always been easy to coax money from her third son – if she made enough fuss, he would definitely take out the money. But today he refused. In her heart, she bitterly resented Gu Wenshu, certain that she must have whispered in his ear, which was why her third son refused to give her the money.
Staring at the room door, she gritted her teeth and said venomously: “Gu Wenshu, even if that money ends up in your hands, you won’t be able to keep it.”