Rebirth in Famine: She Thrives by Lucky Space

Chapter 825: Chapter 825: Sister-in-law Liu

Jiang Xinyu grabbed Qu Xiaoli’s hand, ”Sister-in-law, I won’t stand on ceremony with you, so please don’t feel out of place.”

In the end, Qu Xiaoli left with a basin of chestnuts.

Jiang Xinyu placed these sweet potatoes on the windowsill; they must be the best ones Qu Xiaoli picked and brought over.

The villagers are honest and simple, and this is the best way to get along.

Seeing the fire is almost out, she picked up two sweet potatoes and tossed them into the stove.

The house was already warm, and the two children slept very soundly.

Sitting beside them, she didn’t feel like reading, it’s straining on the eyes. She turned on the radio, never realizing that the melodious tunes of the Peking opera could sound quite pleasing.

Waiting for the sweet aroma of sweet potatoes to waft over, she took a candle outside, sat in front of the stove eating the sweet potatoes.

Sister-in-law Liu, Du Fenglian, cried alone at night as she hurried toward the Wei Family.

She never imagined that people could be so wicked.

She grew up without a dad. Her mom struggled to raise her, and when she was sixteen, her mom passed away. Her eldest brother is a wimp; his words carry no weight, and the sister-in-law is a shrew.

Within a month of her mom’s death, they found her a match.

Her husband was decent, treated her well. Although they didn’t have much standing in the husband’s family, at least privately, he was good to her. Even though she was beaten and cursed daily, and never had enough to eat, it was still her home, right?

Because her younger brother-in-law had some skills, to prevent them from taking advantage of him, the family split, and they left empty-handed. The eldest brother’s family had a house and money, but they had nothing. However, they agreed that they wouldn’t need to support the old couple in their retirement.

She was pleased with this, at least in the future, both of them could work hard and would at least not be perpetually hungry.

Without a place to live, the couple set up a shed, worked during the days, and dragged soil blocks at night. When winter came, they finally had their own house. Although it was just a low adobe house, it was theirs.

Du Fenglian felt that life had hope. The couple lived lovingly and never argued.

Two years later, the adobe house expanded from two rooms to four, forming a courtyard.

Life improved, but after more than four years of marriage, they still had no children. Outsiders said terrible things; what was once thought to be a happy life was now always occupied by the issue of having children.

Back then, the village said she couldn’t bear children; she also thought it was her problem, leading her to become increasingly humble in front of her husband.

Men are like that; the more humble you become, he doesn’t care for you; instead, arguments lead inevitably to violence.

Back then, all she thought was she’d rather be beaten every day than return to her maternal family; once she was sold off, she severed ties with them.

During the disaster years, she couldn’t eat much but still had to find food every day.

Her greatest heartbreak was spending a whole day on the ice to catch a fish, only for the man to take it directly to the widow’s house without saying anything.

Then she lost hope, cursing in her heart for him to die a bad death.

That man didn’t come back at night, and she didn’t go out the next day, waiting a whole day, and still he didn’t return until he was brought back frozen stiff.

She guessed he probably fell into a ditch coming back from the widow’s place, and in the cold winter night, no one passed by, so he froze to death.

She didn’t shed a single tear; villagers helped bury him. But that hateful old woman actually wanted to drive her away?

That was the first time she fought with all she had; the village head took pity on her, and the final condition was she could live there but couldn’t remarry.

She thought her maternal family was like non-existent; in old age, she had to rely on her nephews. So she endured some grievances.

The widow’s doorstep is a place of gossip, she cried bitterly more than once, but what could she do? She muddled through life every day until the disaster years passed, and life was better; then the old woman came asking her for money for their upkeep every year, she accepted it.

The yearly work points were just enough for her to eat and drink; after giving the upkeep money, nothing was left. Those close to her advised her to remarry. But she was stubborn; nothing could persuade her.

Years flew by, and that’s how she lived. Villagers pitied her, but no one advised her anymore because she was ignorant back then.

But Da Jiang, whom she had helped before, saw her plight, and she got the chance to serve the three children and an elderly person here.

Since arriving here, she lived a life she hadn’t imagined for over thirty years.

Thinking of relying on her nephews for retirement, she went back to check every six months, giving some money to that old woman.

Today, she went back, bought two jin of snacks and one jin of fruit candies, being late due to not returning during the autumn harvest.

Arriving in the village, she had changed so much, she was well-fed and warmly dressed, no longer the past skinny stick figure. So few people recognized her.

Right now, people were working in the fields, harvesting sweet potatoes. But the elderly mostly didn’t work.

So she found her way to the threshing ground, where they were handling corn.

She heard her mother-in-law’s voice from afar, so carrying the snacks, she walked over.

”Liu Ershao, why hasn’t your second daughter-in-law come back?”

”She wouldn’t dare not come back? Just wait, if she really doesn’t return, let her die without anyone to bury her.”

”Ershao, Fengying is still decent.” Aunt Wang spoke a fair word.

”Decent? She’s just a hen that doesn’t lay eggs.”

”Old Mrs. Liu, don’t you feel guilty saying such things?

Your second son’s infertility, don’t you know? Now that the second son is gone, treat Fengying better.”

”Hmph, what does it have to do with you, you old woman?”

”I just can’t stand you, your second son got hurt when he was little, losing his ability to reproduce. You lay all the blame on Fengying; don’t you feel guilty? You’re getting older, aren’t you afraid of future retribution on yourself?”

”What should I fear? She was bought to care for my second son.”

Upon hearing this, Du Fengying’s face turned pale, she was just about to step forward, when the old woman continued.

”She’s just a pathetic waste, I never said she couldn’t remarry, she’s foolish, willing on her own, what does it have to do with you?”

What didn’t Du Fengying understand now? She had been a fool all these years?

So she rushed over, flinging the snacks directly at the old woman.

”You old hag, don’t you feel any guilt after all these years, aren’t you afraid of going to the eighteenth level of hell when you die?”