Liu Yong had gone to the ditch early in the morning to catch eels. Li Fengmei found him there, and the couple hurried back home, worried that Xia Xiaolan and her mother might be at a disadvantage.
When they reached their house, they saw people watching from outside. They didn’t dare stop Liu Yong, but they held Li Fengmei back.
“What’s going on? Has your sister-in-law’s husband’s family finally come?”
“Must be Xia Dajun. The couple had quite a big fight this time, Ah Fen has been staying at her parents’ home for quite a few days…”
“Fengmei, your sister-in-law is quite pitiful. Don’t be too quick to drive them away, give her some support.”
Liu Fen was honest and hardworking, didn’t care about dressing up, and with her thin, dark, unremarkable appearance, she posed no threat to the village women. They weren’t afraid to chat with her, knowing it wouldn’t spread through the village. She was just unfortunate not to have given the Xia family a son. If the Xia family couldn’t even tolerate someone like Liu Fen, then as women, their fate was truly bitter.
As they say, distance lends enchantment. Liu Fen was the same person in Dahe Village, but after twenty years of marriage, when Xia Xiaolan’s incident happened, not a single person in Dahe Village spoke up for Liu Fen—they were all just waiting to watch the drama unfold.
Qijing Village was Liu Fen’s hometown. The Liu family had been rooted here for three generations, shedding their outsider status, and the villagers all sided with Liu Fen and her daughter.
Li Fengmei thanked everyone for their goodwill and finally broke free. Returning home, she saw several people sitting in the main room. Liu Yong occupied the main seat, with Xia Xiaolan and her mother sitting on his left, while the Xia family members sat on the right. There were no signs of an impending fight.
Li Fengmei breathed a sigh of relief—if a fight broke out, her husband would surely be at a disadvantage. She’d need to call villagers for help!
“Speak up, what’s your purpose in coming today? Was something not made clear before?”
Liu Yong’s eyes showed disgust.
These two women from the Xia family still dared to come. They thought he didn’t know how Liu Fen was often bullied by her sisters-in-law at the Xia house. Zhang Cui was like a dog that bites without barking, while Wang Jingui was Old Mrs. Xia’s top attack dog—neither were decent people.
Xia Dajun glanced at Liu Fen, who kept her head down, counting ants. The couple hadn’t seen each other for over ten days, and Liu Fen didn’t show her usual concern for him and hadn’t even spoken a word to him. The same went for Xia Xiaolan, who hadn’t even greeted him.
Xia Dajun suppressed his anger: “I’ve come to take mother and daughter back home. The fieldwork is done, and her grandmother’s illness has improved greatly.”
Xia Dajun meant that the family was no longer angry with Xia Xiaolan, and he’d brought his two sisters-in-law to fetch them—giving everyone a way to save face and return to a peaceful life. Though Xiaolan’s ruined reputation was troublesome, Sister-in-law Zhang Cui had promised him on the way here that she would arrange a marriage for Xiaolan, letting her marry and settle down peacefully.
Liu Yong had a headache—communicating with idiots was particularly difficult. Xia Dajun hadn’t taken their previous words seriously.
“Ah Fen doesn’t want to live with you anymore. You two never registered your marriage anyway. Let’s write an agreement and put our fingerprints on it. From then on, we’ll go our separate ways.”
In rural areas of the 1980s, many couples who had lived together for decades never got marriage certificates from the Civil Affairs Bureau, and nobody cared about such things. Marriage was considered a lifelong commitment, and even if couples fought terribly, few would think of divorce. Marriage certificates meant little to most people.
If Liu Fen didn’t want to live with Xia Dajun anymore, she could just pack up and leave—the law couldn’t constrain her anyway.
However, Liu Yong worried the Xia family might cause trouble later, so it would be best to have both parties sign an agreement.
Xia Dajun found his brother-in-law’s persistence troublesome. His face showed displeasure, and Zhang Cui, seeing the situation deteriorating, quickly cut in:
“Xiaolan’s uncle, there’s an old saying that it’s better to tear down ten temples than break up one marriage. Sister-in-law has been with Dajun for twenty years—what couple doesn’t have conflicts? If you insist on separating them, think about Xiaolan… She’ll have to marry eventually, and when her future in-laws inquire and learn that her parents are separated, it won’t sound good, don’t you agree?”
Liu Fen’s shoulders trembled as she kept counting ants.
Li Fengmei laughed mockingly, “So Sister Zhang runs the Xia household now? What makes you think an aunt can decide whether Xiaolan marries or not?”
Damn, using Xiaolan’s marriage prospects as a threat—if she didn’t spit in Zhang Cui’s face, she’d think the Liu family were all pushovers!
Xia Xiaolan was still anxious to go out and collect eels. Compared to her money-making plans, the Xia family held little weight.
“Let me say something. I won’t return to the Xia family, and I won’t agree to my mother returning either. Even if she was sold to the Xia family, these years of working like an ox and horse have more than repaid that debt. Don’t glare at me—rumors are spreading everywhere. You tried to ruin my reputation and force me to commit suicide. Aunt probably knows the truth in her heart already. First, I have no improper relationship with Zhang Erlai from Shipozi Village—never had, and never will. Second, even if every man in the world died, I would never try to steal Xia Ziyu’s man… I won’t accept these two false accusations!”
Xia Xiaolan was irritated by people not speaking plainly and instead being evasive.
People in Qijing Village had also heard the rumors, they just didn’t bring them up in front of the Liu family. Xia Xiaolan didn’t want others making wild speculations, so she might as well speak clearly. She had conducted herself properly—though her “original self” may have appeared flirtatious, she hadn’t been involved with anyone. Her interactions with Wang Jianhua were mutual, and they hadn’t crossed any final boundaries!
Sooner or later, Xia Xiaolan would settle accounts with Xia Ziyu and Wang Jianhua about all these twists and turns.
She looked at Xia Dajun, unable to suppress a cold laugh:
“Did you ever try to understand what happened? When rumors drove me to the brink of death, did you show even a hint of fatherly love? After all these days, have you thought about confronting Zhang Erlai who ruined my reputation? No to all of that, right? So why do you think I should return to the Xia family? Why should I give up being a decent person to become a Ferning dog?!”
Xia Dajun’s mouth gaped open.
Wang Jingui muttered, “After you did such shameful things, who would want to ask about it?”
“So, Third Aunt means that if these rumors were about Hongxia, you wouldn’t care either?”
Wang Jingui was furious—if anyone spread such terrible rumors about Hongxia, she would have already grabbed a hoe and fought them to the death. Even Zhang Erlai would have been beaten half to death, just to see if anyone else dared spread lies!
Wang Jingui realized Xia Xiaolan had led her thoughts astray and started cursing: “My Hongxia isn’t improper like you. Where there’s smoke, there’s fire—if you had nothing going on with Zhang Erlai, why would everyone be talking about you? Third Aunt won’t argue with you, girl. Come back with us, properly apologize to your grandmother, and let Ziyu forgive you. We’re still family!”
“Sister-in-law!”
Zhang Cui was alarmed—that brainless Wang Jingui would probably provoke Xia Xiaolan.
The urgent matter was to coax Xia Xiaolan back—once she was home, they could handle her however they wanted.
“Your Third Aunt spoke in anger. How could your grandmother hold a grudge against her granddaughter? Even your Sister Ziyu hasn’t said she blames you…”
Xia Xiaolan ignored the two women’s nonsense and only asked Xia Dajun: “Is it true? I need to apologize to Grandmother and Xia Ziyu?”
Zhang Cui desperately tried to signal Xia Dajun with her eyes, but after hesitating briefly, he still admitted his thoughts: “Your grandmother fell ill, and though your sister doesn’t hold it against you, you can’t act like nothing happened.”
His meaning was clear—if the mother and daughter wanted to return, they must apologize.
When the family is harmonious, all affairs prosper. If others forgave Xia Xiaolan, there would be no more family quarrels.
Liu Yong was so angry his eyes nearly popped out of their sockets. Li Fengmei had never seen such a father—all of Xia Xiaolan’s previous words hadn’t registered with Xia Dajun at all!
Xia Xiaolan felt it was pointless to reason with idiots anymore.
But Liu Fen, who had been counting ants, seemed struck to the core and suddenly raised her head:
“Xiaolan won’t apologize. Are you deaf? Didn’t you hear what she said? She did nothing wrong—outsiders bullied her, and the Xia family tried to drive her to death. None of you stood up for Xiaolan, yet you want her to go back and apologize? Who does she need forgiveness from? Who has she wronged? Xia Dajun, Xiaolan won’t go back, and neither will I. I want a divorce!”