Transmigrated as an Unwanted Ugly Girl

He’d had enough of Liu’er’s mother’s nonsense for one day. When Li Changliang stepped up, he realized how satisfying a proper scolding could be—nothing like his own pathetic, stifled anger that had gotten Juhua cursed out. Just when things were about to calm down, this Mrs. Wang had to stir the pot again, even fabricating a story about him and Liu’er. He couldn’t take it anymore. He rolled up his sleeves, ready to beat someone up.

Qingmu also stepped forward, his face taut. "How would the Tang family know Huai Zi once proposed to the Sun Family? Even if they did, who would care? They probably don’t even know who Huai Zi is. Sun Tiezhu, your wife is just spouting nonsense. So tell us, are you going to shut her up, or should we?"

Sun Tiezhu was already full of rage with nowhere to vent it. Seeing his wife being so tactless, he swung a slap across her face. The blow sent her spinning in place, her chest and backside jiggling, but she didn’t fall.

Mrs. Wang clutched her face, asking in disbelief, "You dare hit me? What did I say that was so wrong you’d hit me like this? Is it something to be proud of that your sister was sent back by her husband’s family? If every wife who isn’t happy gets sent home like her, who would dare get married?"

Liu’er’s mother also shrieked at Sun Tiezhu, "Tie Zhu, are you crazy? Your wife is pregnant! How could you strike such a vicious blow? Hitting your own wife for an outsider... you worthless thing!"

Sun Tiezhu regretted the slap the moment his hand landed. He remembered his wife was pregnant, and they were usually a loving couple. It was just that Li Changliang, Zhang Huai, and the others had cornered him until his anger boiled over, and he couldn’t help but lash out. Now that he’d done it, he was filled with regret and didn’t know what to do.

Seeing his wife’s defiant expression, he tried to scare her into backing down. He bellowed, "What are you rambling on about? We’ll talk at home. Keep this up and I’ll divorce you first!"

No matter how fierce these wives were, the mere mention of divorce would usually deflate them, like Xiaonian’s wife, for instance. Sun Tiezhu thought his own wife would be the same, but he didn’t realize he’d married a fiery one who wouldn’t fall for his threats.

Mrs. Wang was truly enraged now. Her face filled with a murderous aura as she said, "Then divorce me. But I’m a woman who knows shame. Since marrying into your family, I’ve been a dutiful daughter-in-law to your parents and carried your child. I will not be sent back to my family’s home alive—you can send my corpse back instead! It’s perfect timing, you’ve just made room in your ancestral tomb to bury your sister. Let everyone for miles around see the rules of the Sun Family: divorcing the wife to make room for the daughter. What a novel idea!"

As she spoke, she pulled the silver hairpin from her hair and clutched it in her hand.

Sun Tiezhu was stunned. He stared at the hairpin in his wife’s hand, his lips trembling, unable to say a word. Liu’er’s mother also cried out nervously, "Tie Zhu’s wife, let’s talk this out! Don’t do anything foolish!"

The crowd of onlookers fell silent. No matter how much they sympathized with Liu’er, there was no custom of a daughter moving in while a daughter-in-law was kicked out. The married women in the crowd, especially, began to sympathize with Mrs. Wang. They whispered among themselves, occasionally shooting strange looks at Sun Tiezhu.

But Mrs. Wang had the misfortune of running into Li Changliang today. She was destined to lose this fight. No matter how righteous her words, he could twist them until they lost all their power.

Seeing Sun Tiezhu stunned by his wife, he sneered, "Divorce her? Why go to all that trouble? For an indecent woman, you just stuff her in a pig cage and toss her into the Little Qing River. Who has time to send her back to her family? You’d even waste a reed mat."

Mrs. Wang flew into a rage, demanding in a shrill voice, "Who are you calling indecent? You’re just a boy, not even married, yet you’re already gossiping like an old shrew, slandering a person’s good name! Who would dare marry their daughter to you in the future?"

Liu’er’s mother and Sun Tiezhu also glared furiously at Li Changliang.

Zhang Huai retorted mockingly, "And you, a wife who’s been married for less than a year, are already slinging mud at your own sister-in-law, gossiping like an old shrew and slandering her good name. A person like you is the one who should be put in a pig cage! Otherwise, who would dare have anything to do with you in the future?"

Mrs. Wang completely lost her composure. She shrieked, "How am I gossiping? Your family asked my mother for a marriage arrangement before, so you have no right to meddle in my sister-in-law’s affairs! Mind your own business! She’s not your sister, so of course it’s easy for you to talk! If your sister were sent back home, I bet your parents would be in an even bigger panic, probably kneeling and crying and begging for forgiveness!"

She turned to the crowd, spreading her hands and asking loudly, "All of you, tell me, who would be happy to have their daughter sent back home? Is that something to be proud of? What I said just now was for my sister-in-law’s own good! What was wrong with it?..."

Seeing her trying to fan the flames again, Zhang Huai’s expression darkened. He roared at Sun Tiezhu, "Sun Tiezhu! Your sister asked to be sent home herself! If you have a million questions, go home and ask her! Don’t stand here blocking my doorway and arguing! If you keep dragging other people into this, don’t blame me for getting rough. All of you, get lost!"

Zhang Dashuan also said in a low voice, "Whether she’s happy about being sent home or not, that’s the Sun Family’s business. Go home and discuss it yourselves. Don’t drag a whole crowd of people into it. If these three hadn’t been trying to help, who would want to get involved in your family’s mess?"

Li Gengtian had been there for a while and had heard most of it. He finally managed to get a word in. "Liu’er’s mother, Tie Zhu’s wife, you really can’t blame Huai Zi and Changling for Liu’er being sent home. No matter how upset you are, you can’t take it out on uninvolved people. They try to help and end up getting dragged through the mud for it. Who’s going to dare get involved with you in the future? You could be on your deathbed and no one would pay you any mind."

The people in the crowd nodded one after another, whispering amongst themselves. Now that they understood the situation, they felt that Huai Zi and his friends had been in the right after all.

But Li Changliang didn’t chime in this time. His gaze drifted over the heads of the crowd, staring blankly at someone on the outskirts: Sun Liu’er was being supported by Little Shitou and Gou Dan. Her face was frighteningly pale, her large eyes sunken. She looked so withered and lifeless, as if her soul had already departed and she could pass away at any moment.

His heart suddenly shattered with grief. He clenched his fists, thinking in despair and anguish, ’When did she get here? How much did she hear? This... this is forcing her to her death! No, she was already dying. She just wanted to come home to die in peace, but now even that’s impossible.’

His eyes turned red. He spun around and roared maniacally at the Sun Family, "You animals! Your whole family is a bunch of animals! You’re not human! You’re not human!"

Everyone was stunned by his crazed outburst.

His mother, Granny Hua, was already in a shouting match with Liu’er’s mother. Her son had done a good deed only to be blamed instead of thanked, and with her temper, she couldn’t hold back. Seizing an opening, she had shouted, "A family with black hearts and rotten livers! You just don’t want your daughter dying in your house, so you’re trying to pin it on someone else!"

When Liu’er’s mother saw that even a good-for-nothing like Granny Hua was kicking her while she was down, she flew into a rage and immediately started a shouting match with her.

Li Changliang’s roar successfully silenced the two women. Liu’er’s mother froze for a moment, then her fury surged. She was about to put her hands on her hips and start cursing when she suddenly spotted Liu’er through a gap in the crowd. She cried out in alarm, "Liu’er, what are you doing out of bed?"