When Mrs. Hu saw Dahu crying and pointing at Chen Afu, she assumed that Chen Afu had bullied Dahu. Enraged, she kicked Chen Afu a few times and cursed, "You big idiot, why would you beat my Dahu? You're incredibly malicious, do you want to make him stupid like you?"
Chen Ye and Chen Ming, among others, walked in just in time to witness this scene of Mrs. Hu kicking and cursing Chen Afu.
Chen Ye cursed at Mrs. Hu, "You nasty woman, why are you scolding Afu? Afu isn't in his right mind, and it seems you aren't either!"
Seeing Chen Ming, Chen Dabao ran over, grabbed his hand, and cried out loudly, "My mother did not hit Dahu. Aunt Aju gave my mother a pine nut candy. Seeing that Dahu wanted it, she gave it to him. Unexpectedly, he vomited as soon as he put it in his mouth and started crying."
Everyone saw Dahu's mouth was bright red, and he was crying and panting heavily. They saw the piece of candy he spat out on the ground covered in chili powder and understood what had happened. It must have been Chen Aju who wanted to tease the fool, but she unintentionally ended up hurting Dahu.
Mrs. Hu didn't see it that way and kept glaring at Chen Afu, saying, "How does a fool like you know that Dahu wanted candy? Humph, being stupid is not terrible, but being both stupid and bad is lethal."
Chen Ye's face turned red, he scolded, "You woman, it's clearly Aju who was at fault. Why are you blaming Afu?"
Chen Dabao added through his tears, "Also, Aunt Aju first gave my mother a bowl of boiling hot water, but she didn't drink it."
Mrs. Hu defended herself, "How can you talk nonsense? You haven't tasted it, how do you know the water was boiling?"
Chen Dabao fell silent and clung to Chen Ming's leg, sobbing softly. Chen Afu secretly cheered. His son was the best partner. He said everything that needed to be said, others could figure out the rest. She, in the meantime, looked at the ceiling with a blank expression.
Listening to this, Chen Ming and Mrs. Wang were livid. Although Afu hadn't suffered, she was only lucky and her mind is clearer now. If she was as foolish as before, she might have fallen for the trick and suffered. Mrs. Wang had circles around her eyes, she hugged Chen Afu in her arms, and Alu went to comfort his sister.
Chen Ming was shaking with rage, he muttered, "No matter how my child is, he is a treasure to his parents. How can we tolerate him being bullied like this? Ah, it seems the sight of my children disturbs you or perhaps, they are ugly to you. Regardless of that, we have already paid our formal visits and offered gifts. Let's just go home."
Chen Ye hastily tried to coax him, "Second Brother, we can't let women and children come between us, don't hold anger." Then, he started cursing at Mrs. Hu and Chen Aju.
Chen Agu also kept apologizing.
Mrs. Hu kept her mouth shut with a stony face, but Chen Aju couldn't hold back her grievances and started crying, "She is a fool because of her and that bastard. We endure so much because of them, but dad and big brother even support them and scold me..."
Chen Ye was so furious he wanted to hit her but was stopped by the Aunt Alan who took Chen Aju away.
Mrs. Chen, even though she didn't like Chen Afu and Dabao, understood that Aju was the one at fault and the second son was overly protective. In addition, she was grateful to Mrs. Wang for not only enabling her second son to miraculously survive but also for giving them a grandson. If Aju really ended up burning someone, her reputation would be tarnished even further.
She played the role of peacekeeper, comforting Chen Ming "Second son, Aju is to blame. She is young and naive. Didn't your brother scold her? Why are you talking about leaving? We mustn't say things that could harm our family harmony, otherwise, our old lady would not be happy. Don't be angry, for our old lady's birthday banquet, everyone should be cheerful and happy. Only then it would be our old lady's fortune."
Chen Ming didn't actually want to leave. He always felt his elder brother and nephew were good persons and wanted to maintain good relations between the two families. He knew he could die any day and wanted the first family to help his widow and orphan after his death in case they got bullied.
He relaxed and said to Chen Ye and Mrs. Hu, "We've already split the family. Even if our Afu isn't clever, she's not as ugly as your daughters. People will only criticize them and say how the Chen daughters from the east end of the village are. Besides, Afu considers Dabao as her son. I've explained this to the Li Zheng and the villagers many times. This is because Afu is special. We don't want her to marry and suffer, so we decided to set up a female household for her in the future. Most villagers understand and approve of this. It wouldn't affect your daughters' marriage."
Upon hearing these words, Mrs. Hu became angry and scolded, "Uncle Chen Chu speaks so lightly, who have the villagers agreed to? Which one agreed? If anything, it's a joke on us, the Chens. A grown-up daughter already taking a son; what else couldn't they do? Plus, you only explained about Afu and Dabao to the people in this village, what about those from other villages?"
With a red face, Chen Ming said, "If anyone misunderstands my niece because of Afu and Dabao, I will personally go to explain."
Mrs. Hu said, "Can Uncle really explain everything...".
Chen Ye interrupted Mrs. Hu's words, scolded, "Still blabbering, will we celebrate mom's birthday or not?" He finished speaking, helped Mrs. Chen, and pulled Chen Ming back to the main room.
Mrs. Hu had no choice but to go to the kitchen with Mrs. Gao, still complaining along the way, "You always talk about establishing a family for her, is it done? Don't fool people."
Following behind Mrs. Hu, Mrs. Wang explained, "My husband planned to establish a family for Afu a few years later. By then, Dabao would be a few years older, and they, mother and son, can live their own lives."
Mrs. Hu coldly hummed and ignored Mrs. Wang.
At mealtime, Chen Aju was angry and didn't come to the main room to eat.
Mrs. Chen led her two sons and great-grandson Chen Agu to eat at the table on the bed, while others ate at the table on the ground.
The table on the bed was lively, with chit-chatting and laughing. Especially when talking about the thriving business of the third son, Chen Shi, now he even had capital to buy a small courtyard with a shop in the capital city. Everyone was proud and laughed heartily.
Chen Shi often brought money and gifts to Mrs. Chen and the main room, and he didn't forget the second room either. The whole family had a great fondness for him.
The table on the ground was not so friendly. Chen Dahu and Chen Daya sat far away from Chen Afu despite Chen Alan's smiling face. Chen Afu didn't care. She sat next to Mrs. Wang on the left, and Dabao and Afu on the right.
Though it was just country dishes, it was still rich, with five vegetarian and four meat dishes, symbolizing the longevity of "99". Some meat dishes had only a few slices of meat, but they still smelled good. In addition, several dishes were fried in oil instead of the stewed dishes they usually eat at home. Smelling the aroma, Chen Afu couldn't help but drool, and she quickly wiped it with her chest scarf.
Chen Dahu spotted Chen Afu drooling. He said, "Look, she drooled again." Fearful of his father, he cleverly lowered his voice.
Chen Afu angrily rolled her eyes. Anger even made her eyelids more flexible.
Chen Daya suddenly said, "Wow, she can roll her eyes."
Mrs. Gao quickly coddled the two children, "Stop talking nonsense, be careful your dad hears and beats you."
Mrs. Hu glared at Mrs. Gao, "She is a fool, and we're not even allowed to say it?"
............
Thank you for your various supports, thank you! And special thanks to keppra and 浅忆伊人颜 for their recommendation vouchers and red envelopes, very much appreciated!