Chapter 107: A Family Division Row Next Door
As Yun Jiao left, she glanced at the man.
She hadn’t laid a hand on the old woman or the pregnant one. It wasn’t out of respect for the elderly or any desire to protect the expectant mother. The main reason was her fear of not being able to control her strength and accidentally injuring them. If that happened, her family would be the ones to pay the price.
She didn’t want that.
But that man... he was the perfect target for a little bit of revenge.
He was Old Mrs. Li’s favorite son, and that woman’s husband.
Hehe...
After they got home, Grandma Shen grumbled for a bit but didn’t dwell on what had happened with their neighbors.
The moon was especially big tonight, and the whole family was out in the courtyard, shucking corn and enjoying the cool evening air.
Everyone was chatting, so their hands weren’t moving very fast.
"You all heard that Shen Cuimei got divorced, right? She’s the first one around here to do it."
Shen Yunlian actually hadn’t heard. "They really got divorced?"
Grandma Shen nodded. "Mhm. That whole business with her husband caused a huge stir last time. They don’t really arrest people for it anymore, but otherwise, what Shen Jiantong and Widow Zhao did would be considered an illicit affair. They would’ve been locked up."
Yun Jiao’s little ears perked up. ’I didn’t think there’d be a follow-up to that story.’
Shen Yunlian said, "It’s for the best. What good is a man like that? He’s useless, does nothing but drink, and gets violent when he’s drunk. What happened with their child?"
"How else could it have gone? The child was left with the husband’s family."
It was a feat in itself that she was able to get a divorce; there was no way the husband’s family would have let her take the child.
Aunt Shen pursed her lips. "That fool Shen Cuimei didn’t even want to get divorced. It was her parents who couldn’t stand it anymore and forced her to."
"Shen Cuimei is just too obsessed with saving face. Even when her parents were begging her to divorce, she felt it was too humiliating. She’d rather suffer in silence than lose face. But it’s her own life she’s living! Who cares if people gossip a little? Aren’t the punches that land on her body painful?"
Shen Yunlian nodded.
Still, life wasn’t easy for a divorced woman. Even if her own parents didn’t look down on her, her sisters-in-law were another matter entirely.
The saying "a daughter married off is like water thrown out" wasn’t just empty words. Even a son who had formally split from the household could be considered a separate family, to say nothing of a daughter who had married into another.
But when it came to other people’s affairs, their curiosity was fleeting at best.
「The next morning, everyone was up before the crack of dawn.」
Yawning, Yun Jiao sat on a small stool in the courtyard, munching on a cucumber.
Behind her, Shen Yunlian was tying her hair into little braids.
Grandma Shen and Aunt Shen were tending the fire and cooking noodles.
"Meow."
Just as her braids were finished, Yun Jiao heard a familiar meow.
She turned her head and saw the tabby, Cat Boss, had jumped onto the wall. A pair of bright green eyes were staring right at her.
"Mimi."
The tabby stared at her sullenly, sitting motionless on the wall and ignoring her completely.
"Mimi, come down! Are you going to eat that chicken from yesterday or not?"
That chicken belonged to the tabby cat. She had already cleared it with Grandma Shen and the others yesterday.
It pained them to give up the meat—it was a whole chicken, after all—but since the tabby had caught it, they had to give it what was due.
The tabby had led them to the pheasants they caught, too.
Yun Jiao called out "Mimi" and "Big Mi" several times, but the creature remained unmoved.
Yun Xiaojiu said, "Jiaojiao, you have to call him Cat Boss."
Yun Jiao mumbled, "But I want to be the boss."
Yun Xiaowu and the other kids started pointing and chattering about the big tabby cat on the wall.
Yun Xiaowu said, "So that’s the tabby cat that led you to the pheasants. He looks pretty imposing."
Shen Xiuyuan added, "This cat has lofty ambitions. It even wants to be our Jiaojiao’s boss."
Yun Xiaowu said, "But if he can lead me to pheasants and wild rabbits, I’d gladly call him Cat Boss, too."
Those two were the most talkative.
Like Yun Jiao, Yun Xiao Liu was also hugging a cucumber and munching on it, though he ate much faster than she did.
"Oh, just call him Cat Boss, Jiaojiao! He’s only getting the better of you in name. If he listens to you when you call him that, doesn’t that just make him your underling?"
Yun Jiao tilted her head, thinking it over. ’That actually makes some sense.’
So, she called out to the tabby, "Cat Boss!"
"Meow."
Yun Jiao huffed. "I invite you to come eat chicken, and I still have to call you ’Cat Boss’ just to get you to eat."
The pheasant had already been prepared: its feathers were plucked clean and its innards removed.
"Cat Boss, will just the meat be enough for you? Do you want the innards?"
As Yun Jiao mentioned the innards, her eyes sparkled with desire.
Because chicken giblets could be made into a very delicious dish.
She licked her lips. ’Giblets stir-fried with pickled chilies are incredibly fragrant, delicious, and have a great chewy texture.’
"Meow."
Cat Boss paid no mind to the innards. He leaped gracefully down from the wall, landed in front of the large basin of chicken, and started to eat.
He wasn’t afraid of the crowd of people; as long as no one tried to touch him, everything was fine.
Of course, Cat Boss wasn’t afraid of humans. He just disliked crowded places, especially when they were full of children.
For example, right now, two mischievous brats with grabby hands were trying to snatch his tail.
Cat Boss whipped his tail around, baring his fangs and hissing a warning at Yun Xiaowu and Shen Xiuyuan.
The two boys rubbed their noses sheepishly.
"Man, he’s fierce."
Shen Xiuyuan said, "Hey, we’re from the same village, at least! How come you let Jiaojiao play with your paws but won’t even let me touch the tip of your tail?"
The tabby cat paid him no mind at all.
Yun Linhai and the others came over to take a look at the impressive tabby, but they soon left to get their things ready.
"Grandma, can we have stir-fried giblets today?"
"Yes, I’ll stir-fry them for you when you get back."
Yun Jiao and the other children immediately beamed with delight.
Their happiness was simple. Having enough to eat, good food to enjoy, and warm clothes to wear was enough to make them content.
The noodles were ready, served with a side of dressed cucumber slices.
Each of them held a bowl of steaming hot noodles, squatting in the courtyard as they ate. The children would occasionally snatch food from each other’s bowls, laughing and giggling all the while.
Suddenly, a shrill torrent of curses from next door shattered their peaceful atmosphere.
Yun Jiao’s ears shot up. Shoveling noodles into her mouth, she held her bowl and scurried over to watch the drama unfold.
Yun Xiaowu and the others hurried to follow.
Shen Yunlian said with a sigh of exasperation, "I don’t know where Jiaojiao gets her love for being a busybody."
"It’s fine, as long as she doesn’t get into trouble. I like to watch the drama, too."
Aunt Shen also picked up her bowl of noodles and went to see what was going on.
"From what I can hear, it sounds like they’re fighting about splitting up the family next door."
And indeed it was. The one demanding to split the household was none other than the neighbor’s eldest son—the one who toiled without complaint and was treated like a beast of burden.
Grandma Shen got excited, too. Even though yesterday’s conflict with the neighbors had been unpleasant, now the unpleasantness was all on that old hag’s side, which made her very interested indeed.
And so, several heads popped up over the wall on their side.
"I forbid it! Your father and I aren’t even dead yet, and you’re already thinking of splitting the family! What, you think you’re all grown up now, that your wings have hardened? You ungrateful, unfilial wretch!
"After all the hardship I went through to raise you, this is how you repay me? Oh, everyone, come and look! Come look at this beast who deserves to be struck by lightning..."
Shen Jiang knelt on the ground, letting Old Mrs. Li beat him, but he was dead set on splitting the family.