"... My poor, dear granddaughter, why is life so cruel to you? So young and already gone. It breaks my heart, it really does. Your cold-hearted mother doesn't want you anymore, but didn't you know that your grandparents still loved you dearly? How could you not see that?"
A crowd suddenly crammed into the small health clinic, each one looking fierce and aggressive.
They were all from the same village; who wouldn't recognize this group as Su Lao Liu's family? Bellowing at the front was Su Lao Liu's wife, Chen Juxiang—Xia Yuan's former mother-in-law.
All at once, the murmuring among the surrounding crowd stopped. Everyone pricked up their ears, paying close attention to the commotion here. Those who enjoyed a spectacle even squeezed into the cramped space of the village clinic.
Chen Juxiang led the charge with her sons, grandsons, daughters, daughters-in-law, and several relatives from their lineage, storming in with a threatening air.
After howling out loud, she moved to rush toward Xia Yuan, clearly intending to grab her by the hair.
Xia Yuan did not even lift her head but simply kept her gaze fixed on her daughter.
Seeing the situation escalate, Lu Aiguo, Lu Hongzhen, and Wu Tan quickly stepped in front of Xia Yuan, all on guard as they stared at Chen Juxiang. As men, Lu Aiguo and Wu Tan couldn't make the first move, so it was Lu Aizhen who eventually intervened. She stepped forward, speaking in an unfriendly tone,
"Chen Juxiang, your granddaughter isn't even dead yet and you're already howling like she is? When did Xia Yuan say she didn't want her daughter? Lu Aiguo made it clear for the whole village to witness; he said he would treat Xiaoyun as his own daughter, that he would go through thick and thin, even if he has to break the pot and sell the iron, to support her education all the way to college."
"Pah! Lu Aizhen, are you trying to fool a three-year-old? Who would believe such empty promises? Xia Yuan dreaming of bringing the Su Family blood into the Lu Family's home is just that—a dream."
Chen Juxiang sprayed saliva, her face ferocious, but she ultimately didn't dare to forcefully push her way through. She couldn't afford to actually fight with Lu Aizhen—this woman was not only fiercely outspoken but also had five strong sons who Chen couldn't cross. But if physical confrontation was out of the question, she was not about to lose a war of words.
"Once Xia Yuan married into our family, she became a Su Family person in life and will still be a Su Family ghost in death. She has to stay with my son, to serve us like cattle and horses—that's her debt. She can only be buried alongside my son."
"Tsk, just how esteemed is your Su Family? Even more overbearing than the landlords and bullies from the old society? Who do you think you are, Chen Juxiang? The Jade Emperor?"
Despite Lu Aizhen's sneer, she wasn't feeling very confident on the inside. The counterattack seemed weak because she, too, had heard what Xia Yuan said earlier. She feared that, this time, the Su Family would triumph again.
She suddenly felt a sense of helplessness.
"Auntie Lu, this is a Su Family domestic matter. You'd do well to step aside. We can't let Xia Yuan, that despicable woman, harm our flesh and blood without consequences—this won't end peacefully."
That daughter of the Su Family, Su Huahua, who married into the town and always thought herself above others, stood up and said with a raised chin to Lu Aizhen. She didn't know what her mother was afraid of; with so many people they brought, they could start a fight right there. Could they really lose?
"Who are you to talk to me like that? You're nothing but a married daughter, water thrown out. Are you so full of shit because you eat crap all day, stinking up the place with your nonsense? Who are you calling a despicable woman? If you ask me, the one who caused her brother's death is the real despicable woman."
Lu Aizhen pressed down on the about-to-explode Lu Aiguo, laughing coldly without a trace of politeness in her voice.
Xia Yuan's late husband, Su Family's eldest son, was foolishly filial. He followed his mother's instructions to deliver food to his sister in the county, and after walking for hours through the mountain roads to her house, he was sent away without so much as a meal. Starving and exhausted, he fell into the village's canal in the middle of the night and lost his life. This was common knowledge in the village.
Yet, the Su Family had the audacity to turn things around and blame Xia Yuan, claiming she had a "hard fate" that caused Su Family's eldest's death, twisting the truth and constantly holding it over Xia Yuan's head that she owed them.
Usually, they came to demand support for the elderly and didn't hesitate to take things or ask for money. As soon as they heard that Xia Yuan had come into a bit of money or possessions, they would try to seize it. The rationale was that even though the Su Family's eldest was dead, he left behind a wife and children, so his wife and children should continue to fulfill his filial duties.
Moreover, Chen Juxiang somehow brainwashed Xia Yuan's child, making the kid resent her own mother and side with her grandmother completely. Even when there was something good to eat at home, the child would run off to tip off the grandmother, allowing Chen Juxiang to carry off the freshly cooked food, pot and all.
Poor Xia Yuan was gentle by nature and had no family support because they lived too far away. Her daughter, who had been deceived, became her biggest vulnerability.
Behind her back, villagers sympathized with her plight. Yet, because Xia Yuan lacked a solid footing in the village, no one wanted to truly offend the entire Su Family, led by Su Old Six. So, while they wouldn't openly discuss these matters, it didn't mean they were afraid of her.
"You, you, you..." Su Huahua, who was usually spoiled and aggressive at home, simply could not endure someone poking at her sore spot and rolled up her sleeves, ready to charge over.
Chen Juxiang, at least a bit rational at that moment, quickly grabbed her daughter. Her five sons, Chen Aizhen's sons, were all known throughout the area for being extremely filial—and unreasonable too.
If her daughter really hit their mother, would there be any peaceful end to it? Once her daughter dusted off her hands and left, Chen Juxiang and her youngest son would face retaliation. So even if Chen Juxiang was itching with rage, she dared not let her daughter go forth and bite, only able to engage in a war of words.
"Lu Aizhen, children don't understand things, as their elder you shouldn't take them too seriously. It would be beneath you to lose your status as an elder. Besides, you can eat whatever you want, but you cannot just say whatever you want."
"And how is what the aunt saying 'just saying whatever'? Isn't Xiaoyun's dad dead because of you and your daughter's doing? How come today, killing your own son, your brother, is not enough, and you still want to see with your own eyes whether your granddaughter, your niece, has been ruined by you?"
Finally, Xia Yuan raised her head. She stood up straight, glaring at Chen Juxiang with eyes full of hatred.
In the past, she was weak everywhere only because she worried about her daughter, fearing that in trying to catch a mouse, she might break a vase. And what was the result of her constant yielding? Why did she bother in the first place?
Now she no longer feared death, so why should she fear her ex-mother-in-law? They better pray that her Xiaoyun was alright.
"..."
Perhaps it was the intense hatred in Xia Yuan's eyes that frightened the Su Family members. Even Chen Juxiang felt a chill run down her spine despite the hot weather, involuntarily shivering and momentarily silenced.
Chen Juxiang quickly regained composure, but when she tried to charge over again, she was suddenly knocked to the side by someone.