Chapter 831: Backstabbing
Zhou Ergui pulled Ms. Li outside with a sullen face. Ms. Li struggled but couldn’t break free. She turned her head forcefully and looked at Yun Jiao, "Then give me the retirement silver, and you owe me for the past years too!"
Yun Jiao sat upright and let out a cold laugh, "You want silver? Impossible! I’d rather throw my silver into the river than give it to you!"
"You’re married, naturally you have your husband to support you."
"Even in the future, you have your son to take care of you in old age."
"I’m just a daughter; even if I spoke all the way to the edge of the sky, there’s no reason for a married daughter to support her mother in old age!"
Zhou Ergui listened to Yun Jiao’s words and felt embarrassed for Ms. Li. He pulled Ms. Li out the door, cursing as he walked, "Shameful creature, can’t I feed you?"
"You have a son, why should a daughter be responsible for your old age support?"
The women outside looked at Ms. Li disdainfully, pointing and gossiping behind her back.
Zhou Ergui cursed all the way while dragging Ms. Li back home.
Once home, he shoved Ms. Li through the door and slapped her face hard, "You wretched woman, am I not treating you well enough?"
"At home, the food, the clothes, everything is prioritized for you."
"You don’t have to work in the fields, don’t have to handle house chores; you don’t even care about your son. My daughter Chun Zhi has to cook, gather pig grass, feed pigs and chickens, all while taking care of her younger brother. What use do I have for a wife like you?"
Ms. Li held her face, crying, "You... you dare hit me?"
Zhou Ergui snarled viciously, "Hit you, I dare!"
"From now on, feeding pigs, chickens, and taking care of the kids is your responsibility."
"If you dare not do it, you’ll see if I don’t beat you to death!"
Just then, Zhou Ergui’s daughter Chun Zhi came in holding her two-year-old brother, "Dad, I just went to the river to wash clothes and didn’t have time to watch him. Came back to find he was picking up rubbish off the ground to eat."
Zhou Ergui looked at his son with his face smeared in snot, and suddenly thought of Gu Chuan and Yun Jiao, sister and brother.
He wouldn’t even mention Yun Jiao, born like a celestial being.
Even Gu Chuan, though young, had an extraordinary demeanor.
All from the same mother’s womb, how can one be in heaven and the other on earth?
Zhou Ergui refused to admit he was lesser than Gu Yuheng. He could only think of one reason: Ms. Li’s heart still missed her former husband, and she hadn’t invested her efforts into their son.
In a fit of anger, he slapped Ms. Li again, "Next time I see him eating stuff off the ground, next time I see him dirty, I’ll hit you every time I see it."
"Cheap woman, I treat you so well and yet your thoughts are running away with you."
He spat angrily, "Cheap woman, too bad that former husband of yours doesn’t want you now!"
Having vented his anger, Zhou Ergui left Ms. Li and went to work in the fields again.
The mouths to feed at home were growing, and if he didn’t work, the whole family would starve.
At Second Uncle Gu’s home, the family was finally reunited.
Second and Third Uncles asked about Gu Yuheng’s disappearance. Gu Yuheng didn’t dare tell the truth, only saying he was abducted by bandits and ended up in the Capital City, where he met Jiao Jiao by chance.
Second and Third Uncles sighed a lot over this.
Second Uncle, hearing of Gu Mei’s passing, said with some shame, "Back then, when Big Brother disappeared, our sister-in-law was still here, and we couldn’t interfere too much with certain things."
"As for selling the land, I was informed too late, and by the time I learned of it, it was already sold."
"I blame myself; if only I had interfered more, maybe the family wouldn’t have fallen apart."