Chapter 97: Chapter 96: Cursed Wretch
Song Wei noticed something was amiss from the sounds, pushed the door open, and asked Granny Song, "Mother, is everything alright?"
Granny Song spat in the direction of the wall, "An old sow on the butcher’s table, that nuisance won’t die from a fall."
After speaking, she yawned and instructed Song Wei a few more times, mentioning she hadn’t slept all night and was going to the room to rest. She asked the couple to keep an eye on the door for the old man and Fangniang later, so they wouldn’t be left outside.
Song Wei nodded and said, "Mother, thank you for your hard work, please go back and rest!"
Granny Song waved her hand, "This kind of old hag who eats like a person but shits like a dog, you really can’t handle. I must personally deal with her. Alright, I’m very sleepy, not going to babble with you, let your wife make breakfast for you."
——
The Second Lang’s wife squatted in the corner again, listening to Mrs. Wu scream miserably as she fell off the wall and hurt her lower back.
Song Erlang saw her standing by the corner of the wall with a broom, motionless for a while, and asked her what she was doing?
The Second Lang’s wife looked at her husband, her face bearing an indescribable expression, clicked her tongue, "I finally understand, when the Zhou family comes looking for our mother, it’s like a copper pot meeting an iron brush, a clash of titans, nothing good comes from it. Did you see, our mother made her fall off the wall, with those old bones, such a fall won’t kill her but she’ll be half crippled."
Song Erlang asked, "Is it still because of the third sister-in-law’s dowry?"
"Isn’t that right?" The Second Lang’s wife pouted, "I don’t know exactly what rare thing the third sister-in-law got, but it caused the young ones from the Zhou Family to stir things up and then the old ones stepped in, and it never ends, does it?"
Song Erlang took the broom from her hand and began to sweep, not forgetting to say, "Even if there are good things, they belong to someone else, so stop dreaming about it. The Zhou family encountering mother is bound to take a fall, with your little tricks they aren’t even worth watching. If you’re not careful, and you really anger mother someday, neither of us will have any good days in the future."
The Second Lang’s wife secretly rolled her eyes. Although Song Wei clarified that Wen Wan’s dowry was an antique, she knew it wasn’t originally from the Wen Family but was a treasured item passed down in the Song family. If that’s the case, Wen Wan’s dowry is very likely to be the rumored box of gold and silver jewelry.
Gold and silver jewelry! Who wouldn’t think about it? The Second Lang’s wife thought of it so much that her heart itched, but as soon as she thought of mother-in-law, she instantly became timid.
——
Mrs. Wu hurt her back, went home, and lay paralyzed on the bed, refusing to move, just groaning.
Over at the ancestral hall, their family’s name had already been removed from the genealogy, and there were villagers outside shouting for them to pack up their things and leave quickly.
——
Mrs. Zhou waited at home for a long time without seeing her mother return, asked around, and heard Mrs. Wu hurt her back and was sent back to Zhou Village. She hurried to her family’s house and as soon as she entered the village, she saw villagers crowding at her mother’s house door, driving people out. The fierce scene terrified Mrs. Zhou, and she didn’t dare to get involved, so she quietly sneaked back home.
Father Wen returned from the fields, sitting in the main hall drinking water.
Wen Shun, traumatized by the bracelet incident, was scared and shivered all over at the sight of his father, having already hidden himself under the quilt in his room and refusing to come out.
Mrs. Zhou stepped over the threshold of the main hall, saw her husband was back, and pulled a smile at the corner of her mouth, "Husband, why are you back so early?"
Father Wen put down the water bowl, "If I hadn’t come back, were you still thinking of meddling with your family’s affairs?"
"I... I didn’t!"
"Was it you who leaked Wan Niang’s dowry?"
Father Wen stepped forward, frightening Mrs. Zhou into retreating repeatedly, "Husband, listen to my explanation."
"Alright, explain, I’m listening." Father Wen said, "If your story adds up, I won’t argue with you. If not, then don’t hide behind my back to clean up your family’s mess, just pack up and leave with them."