But Li Chunhua was beautiful, and the third son had his eye on her, insisting on marrying her. The only option was to add just a bit more to the bride price in order to bring her into the family.
It was initially assumed that the third son's wife, born into a family that valued sons over daughters, would at least not excessively scold or beat her own daughters, if not shower them with love.
Indeed, before Xiaobao was born, this was the case, and she could even be considered somewhat good.
But once she had a son, Li Chunhua only had eyes for her son. Her daughters became as insignificant as weeds by the side of the road, not receiving even a second glance from her.
And then it got worse. Whenever feeling upset, she would vent her anger on her daughters. But since she never struck too hard, her mother-in-law, being the grandmother, didn't step in. After all, which child hadn't been spanked in those days?
