The Formidable Lady of the Poor Scholar’s Household - Chapter 12
Chapter 12: Battle Triggered by the Rabbits
Translator: Atlas Studios Editor: Atlas Studios
Hearing the words of his wife, rage was boiling inside of Zhang Dechang. It was as if his mind had been struck by lightning!
When Li Yuanyuan saw that her father-in-law had returned, she cried and said, “Father, quickly tell the two of them to stop fooling around! They’re inhumane. You have to think about your grandson!”
With people like them around, which daughter of a good family would want to marry into the family in the future?
Zhang Dechang was so furious that his entire body was trembling. When he saw a pole under the roof, he picked it up and waved it at his wife and daughter-in-law.
“You’ve embarrassed our whole family!” He shouted as he waved the pole, not holding anything back.
“Our family is unlucky—really unlucky!”
Someone was about to be beaten to death. The onlookers quickly pulled the old man back. The two women had almost been beaten to a pulp.
“Old Zhang, calm down. Calm down.” The old man who was holding Zhang Dechang’s hand patted his chest.
Liu Qingchun heaved a sigh of relief when she saw that someone was holding her husband back. She sat on the ground and slapped her thigh. “I don’t want to live anymore. It’s so embarrassing that our family has such a daughter-in-law. I just said some things about her, and she turned around to hit me! What’s the point of me living? Boohoo…” Her hair was disheveled, and tears and snot flew everywhere.
Shi Jiaojiao stood there silently, but her eyes were fixed on her mother-in-law.
Li Yuanyuan pulled her son, Zhang Gannong, to kneel in front of Zhang Dechang. “Father, please give our family a way out! Your eldest grandson is already 14 years old this year. In two years, he’ll be getting married.”
Zhang Dechang sat on the threshold dispiritedly and glanced at everything in the courtyard in disappointment. “Then what do you think we should do?”
Li Yuanyuan quickly replied, “Father, let us move out. Father, please!” She kowtowed as she spoke.
She was kowtowing with all her might. When Liu Qingchun heard the conversation, she blurted out, “Move out? Don’t even think about it. I’m not dead yet. You want to move out? Over my dead body!”
What a joke. Moving out? Who would take care of the family matters? Could she rely on Shi Jiaojiao?
Zhang Dechang had three sons. The eldest son’s family lived in the town, and the eldest son’s wife was domineering. Ordinary people could not suppress her! The second son, Shi Jiaojiao’s husband, was a man who only cared about women. Only the third son was easy to manipulate. He was honest and did whatever he was told.
“Mother, are you forcing me into a corner so that I’ll die?” Li Yuanyuan thought of her husband and suddenly lost the courage to resist.
“Then go to hell. If you die, I’ll immediately find another virgin for my son!” Her daughter-in-law was an outsider after all.
Zhang Dechang was so angry that he took off his shoes and threw them at Liu Qingchun’s face.
“Shut up!” Since when was she in charge of this family?
Liu Qingchun shut her mouth in fear, but her eyes kept darting around.
When Shi Jiaojiao heard that they were going to move out, she immediately perked up. After thinking for a while, she pulled her daughter closer to her. “Hurry up and call your father back. Tell him that we’re going to move out.”
Seeing her daughter run out, Shi Jiaojiao sat on a stool and watched.
“Move out then,” Zhang Dechang said helplessly.
“Father, what do you mean? Why are there so many people surrounding our house? Mother, what’s wrong?” Zhang Dechang’s eldest son happened to be back with his family. He just so happened to chance upon this scene.
“My son! Because you’re not at home, your mother is being bullied. If you didn’t come back in time, I’m afraid you would have lost your chance to see me!” Liu Qingchun immediately came back to life when she saw her eldest son.
Li Yuanyuan was already in despair. Her eyes were empty as she looked into the distance.
“These shameless people are saying that they want to move out! They’re trying to kill me!”
When the eldest daughter-in-law heard those words, she panicked. There was no way she would let that happen. If the others moved out, the two elders would have to live with her!
“Mother, why are you guys talking about moving out? Father and Mother are both here. If we children move out, what will others say about our family? It’s so good to have a big family together.”
“You’re the only sensible one,” Liu Qingchun patted her eldest daughter-in-law and said.
“Hahaha!” Shi Jiaojiao couldn’t help but laugh. “Sister-in-law, you’re so sensible. Then why don’t we get your family to move back home? It’ll be so lively!” She hated her the most! “Pfft! You make it sound so nice. Your family doesn’t farm. All you do is eat every time you come back. Besides, you always come empty-handed and cry that you’re poor! You dress better than anyone else! You’re against us moving out just because it doesn’t benefit you!”
As soon as Shi Jiaojiao said that, the onlookers saw that the eldest son and his wife were wearing almost brand-new clothes. Every time they saw the couple, they would be dressed in different colors and styles.
“You just don’t want to live with two old people! Hypocrite!”
Shi Jiaojiao wanted to move out. Her in-laws favored their eldest son, bullied their third son, and ignored their second son!
“Sister-in-law, what are you saying? We live in town. We can’t dress too shabbily.” As she spoke, she turned to her mother-in-law and said, “Mother, it’s not that I don’t want to live with you. It’s actually easier for me to live with you.”
At this moment, Zhang Dechang’s second son returned. “Moving out? When I heard that our family was going to split up, I immediately came back. Father? Are we really splitting up?”
The second son thought to himself that it didn’t matter if they split up or not. In any case, he would never get anything from his parents.
“Second Brother, do you want to move out?” the eldest asked, looking like a patriach of the family.
“I don’t want to…” After glancing at Shi Jiaojiao, he said, “We’ll do it if you guys want to!”
“Call your youngest brother back and invite the village chief over. We’ll split the family later.”
Zhang Dechang understood. The eldest son was treacherous, the second son was sneaky, and the third son was honest! If he refused to split up the family, his third son would be drained. The old man’s sons and grandsons were his life!
He had to split the family quickly while he was still alive. If he was dead, his third son would probably get nothing!
“I don’t agree to this!” Liu Qingchun hollered.
Zhang Dechang did not even glance at her from the corner of his eye. “If you don’t agree, take the divorce letter and go back to your family!”
This immediately shut the woman up. All that was left of her parents were ashes. Her brother and sister-in-law would never accept her back into the family!
The eldest son and wife wiped their sweat anxiously. “Dad, how can we split this family?”
Zhang Dechang looked at his eldest son calmly and did not say a word.
The couple immediately felt guilty and did not dare to act rashly in front of everyone.
Just like that, Zhang Dechang’s family in the village split up because of the rabbits Qian Sishui caught.
Shi Jinhua had heard about it when Auntie Wan came to visit.
However, Shi Jinhua didn’t feel anything.
Are all women so tough nowadays? Qian Sishui thought to herself.
“In my opinion, it’s better to split up! How can mother-in-law and daughter-in-law talk with no filter? Does she not care about her grandchild?” Auntie Wan continued to say excitedly, “Shi Jiaojiao is no different. How can a daughter-in-law physically fight with her mother-in-law? This marriage was already dishonorable…” As she spoke, she thought of something. “Aiyo, look at what I’m saying. Pretend you didn’t hear me!” No matter what, Shi Jiaojiao was still Hua’s second sister.
Shi Jinhua said, “It’s okay, Auntie. I don’t have a second sister like her.”
Qian Sishui was even more indifferent. She wanted to go to the mountains again to see if there were any wild boars.
Auntie Wan felt that she had said something wrong and left after staying for a while. On the other hand, Qian Sishui went out with her sickle.
When Shi Jinhua came out of the courtyard, he realized that Qian Sishui was not at home.
