Qiao Aihong hadn't expected that a simple statement of fairness would lead to a confrontation with Old Mrs. Liang. She was angered.
Having been married for many years and bearing several strong sons, she had never feared anyone in Liangjiawan. Not even her sisters-in-law from the main family could speak to her like that.
"You useless old hag, you only know how to bully the weak! Xiu'er is so good, yet you torment her every day. Yet, you dare not utter a word in front of the shrew at home!"
Qiao Aihong rolled up her sleeves and lunged at Old Mrs. Liang.
Old Mrs. Liang, who only feared her three daughters-in-law, was not intimidated by others. Of course, she wouldn't back down and rushed forward with a yell.
In that instant, the two old sisters-in-law were fighting.
The surrounding people hadn't even reacted.
"Why are they fighting?" Liang Bing, hearing the commotion, came to see.
"Don't know how it started. Let's watch, let's watch. These two women really go all out when they fight. Look, they're almost pulling each other's hair out," a relative from the main family said with a chuckle.
Liang Bing glanced at Xiao Zhou beside him, feeling somewhat embarrassed.
He wished he hadn't chosen today to visit. What would Xiao Zhou think of the people in Liangjiawan?
Xiao Zhou's expression was indeed a bit displeased, but he didn't overthink it. He had met Liang Bing's sister and found her to be a very nice girl.
It was just that these rural people were too fierce. He wondered if the seemingly quiet child would also become so fierce in the future.
"Why? Xiu-jie is here, why isn't her mother greeting her daughter, and instead fighting with someone?" Liang Bing couldn't help but ask again.
"It's because she took a liking to Xiu'er's job and wanted to snatch it. Liang Xiu refused, and Fifth Aunt said a few more words, and they started fighting!"
Someone nearby briefly explained the reason. Now, Xiao Zhou didn't dare to stay any longer. If he married a girl from here, would he be forced to hand over his job in the future?
"Bingzi, I just remembered I have something to do at home, so I'll be going back!" Xiao Zhou said tremblingly.
The countryside was too terrifying. He wanted to return to the city.
Liang Bing knew very well that Xiao Zhou was scared. He quickly said, "Xiao Zhou, please don't mind this. Actually, most of the time, people in the production team are quite nice. It's just occasionally, occasionally!"
But as he said this, Liang Bing himself lacked conviction!
It was truly too embarrassing!
Li Cuihua stood to the side, casting a sideways glance at Liang Xiu, who was anxiously trying to step forward, and said coldly, "Look, is this the result you wanted?"
Liang Xiu was overwhelmed with shame. What was all this?
Her mother hadn't been like this before. Why was she like this now?
"You unfilial thing, why aren't you quickly going to help your mother? Watching your mother get hurt?" Old Man Liang tapped his pipe and said.
He was a man, and he certainly couldn't step in when women were fighting. As for his daughters-in-law, they definitely wouldn't help. Seeing his wife about to be at a disadvantage, he could only urge his daughter.
Liang Xiu looked at her usually silent father and felt even more disheartened.
She used to think that even though her mother was biased, her father was still decent. But now, it seemed her father was also muddled.
Fifth Aunt had started fighting because she was speaking up for her. If she went to help, what would that make her?
"Bingzi, help me separate them!" Liang Xiu knew she couldn't separate them herself.
Although Liang Bing was angry, he still stepped forward to help break up the fight.
"Ungrateful wretch, the one getting beaten is your own mother!" Li Cuihua provoked Liang Xiu again.
Liang Xiu felt even more ashamed. As a daughter, she couldn't help others beat her mother, but the other party was helping her, so she couldn't side with her own mother either.
Caught in a dilemma, Liang Xiu was truly at a loss.
She simply pulled her children and turned to leave, ignoring Old Man Liang completely.
Old Man Liang was stunned. What was going on? How had his usually obedient daughter suddenly grown rebellious?
While he was still in a daze, Liang Xiu was already nearing the gate.
Li Cuihua tried to grab her, but Su Xiaowu blocked her.
Su Xiaowu glared fiercely at Li Cuihua.
Li Cuihua flinched and instinctively took a step back.
Liang Xiu pushed open the door and fled.
Li Cuihua watched helplessly as Liang Xiu left with her children on a bicycle.
Seeing her sister-in-law disappear into the distance and thinking about the job opportunity that had slipped through her fingers, Li Cuihua was filled with resentment.
She stomped her foot and cursed at Old Mrs. Liang, who had just been pulled apart by Liang Bing.
"You old crone, everyone's gone, and you're still fighting? You're getting more and more useless! Why am I so unlucky to have met an old woman like you?"
Li Cuihua had no qualms about scolding her own mother-in-law.
Instantly deflated by her daughter-in-law's scolding, Old Mrs. Liang no longer cared about fighting with Qiao Aihong.
She asked in a panic, "Gone? Gone? That dead girl is gone? Why didn't you stop her?"
"Stop? Your grandson is like a wolf cub! How could I stop him? Not a single good person in the family. Why am I so unlucky to have married into your family!" Li Cuihua pointed at Old Mrs. Liang's nose and scolded.
Old Mrs. Liang no longer bothered with Qiao Aihong and rushed out of the gate, intending to chase Liang Xiu.
But Liang Xiu was already far away.
"This little slut, why did she run away? She hasn't even promised me that job yet!" Old Mrs. Liang sat on the ground and wailed.
Liang Bing looked at Old Mrs. Liang like this and suddenly felt a pang in his heart.
Xiu-jie was a very good person and filial. But such a good woman was not cherished.
It was fortunate that her in-laws were good, otherwise, Xiu-jie's life would have been too miserable.
He didn't want to continue watching these disheartening things and, thinking that Xiao Zhou was leaving, he turned and went home.
Liang Xiu pedaled the bicycle with all her might, much faster than on the way there.
"Mom, it's okay, let's go home!" Xiao Ba said softly.
"Mom, does your back still hurt? Do you want to rest?" Xiao Wu also said considerately.
Liang Xiu could clearly feel that her children were not in good spirits, and the atmosphere was a bit off.
She didn't want her children to be sad because of this, so despite her own heartache, she forced a smile to comfort them.
"It's okay, Mom is fine. Xiao Wu, hold your sister tightly so she doesn't fall!" Liang Xiu reminded Xiao Wu.
Xiao Wu tightened his grip on his sister's arm.
Su Xiaotian, however, reached out her small arms and hugged Liang Xiu's waist tightly.
"Mom, we and Dad all love you. Don't be sad!"
Hearing her three children's comfort, Liang Xiu instantly felt it was all worth it.
With such wonderful children, what more could she ask for?
Her parents had never treated her well; she had known that for a long time. Why be sad and upset?
"Mom is fine. Let's go home and live our lives well." Liang Xiu felt relieved and even managed a smile.
When Liang Xiu smiled genuinely, her children felt less pressure.
The mother and children chatted and laughed, the atmosphere cheerful, and even the bicycle wheels turned faster.
Soon, they reached the small grove they had passed earlier.
Su Xiaotian remembered her conversation with the old tree and immediately struggled to get off the bike.
"Mom, I want to get off!"
"Why get off?" Su Xiaowu held Su Xiaotian tightly, afraid she would fall off while struggling.
What if little sister got hurt?
Liang Xiu also feared Su Xiaotian would fall, so she stopped the bike.
"Xiaotian, what's wrong? Are you feeling unwell?"
"Mom, I'm fine. It's just that I feel there's something good in this small grove."
Su Xiaotian didn't hide it and stated her purpose directly. After all, they were family, and they would definitely help her keep it a secret.
Everyone in the family knew that following her would bring them many good things; they were already used to it!
But, what good things could there be in such a place?
However, trusting Su Xiaotian's confidence, Liang Xiu said nothing more and walked towards the grove with her.
What Liang Xiu didn't expect was that Su Xiaotian actually pulled out two large stones from a tree hollow.
They were indeed two large stones, one grayish-brown and the other dark. They didn't look special at all.
Su Xiaotian examined the two large stones up and down, even doubting if there had been a miscommunication or if the old tree had provided faulty information.
They clearly looked like two ordinary stones, not treasures at all.
She couldn't help but communicate with the old tree again. The old tree indicated that these two stones were treasures, priceless!
Although Su Xiaotian couldn't see it, since the old tree said so, there must be a reason.
After communicating with the old tree, Su Xiaotian looked at the two stones, each larger than a basketball, and her eyes were brimming with joy.
Not only was Su Xiaotian bewildered, but the mother and children watching were even more clueless.
They had expected something like gold or silver, but now there were just two large stones. What was going on?
"Sweetie, why are you getting two stones?"
Seeing the changing expressions on her daughter's face, Liang Xiu thought her youngest daughter might have been a bit dazed by the day's events.
Why else would she be happily staring at two stones?
Could these really be treasures? Why couldn't she see it?
"Mom, believe me, these are good things, really, and they're not conspicuous!"
Su Xiaotian's fair, jade-like hand stroked the two stones. If someone didn't know, they might think she was stroking a lump of gold.
Su Xiaowu curiously reached out and touched a stone. It was cool, no different from ordinary stones!
"Xiaotian, there are many stones like this on the mountain behind our brigade."
Su Xiaowu thought it would be difficult to carry two such large stones home, so he advised against it.
If others saw them, wouldn't they think their whole family was foolish?
"Brother, they are really good things." Su Xiaotian said with certainty, "Don't you believe what I say?"
Su Xiaowu was stunned.
Indeed, Xiaotian's mouth seemed to have been blessed; what she said was almost always correct.
Just as Xiao Jiu said, when Xiaotian went up the mountain, good things seemed to come to her as if they had legs.
These two stones, since Xiaotian liked them, must have some significance.
"Do you really want to take them back? But I can't carry them!" Su Xiaoba said with a bitter face.
He didn't want to upset his sister, but he really couldn't carry them!
These two stones were very heavy.
"Let's put them on the back of the bike and walk slowly!"
Su Xiaotian was quite straightforward and immediately proposed her clever solution.
Liang Xiu gave a wry smile and finally decided to go along with her daughter's wishes. At worst, they would just be two stones, and there would be no loss.
"Then let's take these two stones back!"
"I knew Mom was the best!" Su Xiaotian clapped her small hands and said.
Liang Xiu and Su Xiaowu managed to tie the two stones to the back of the bicycle with great effort.
Xiao Wu and Xiao Ba each held one side of the cool stones, and the mother and three children walked slowly.
"Xiaotian, if people in the brigade see this, they'll probably laugh at us for being foolish!" Su Xiaoba said with a sigh.
It was quite something that Xiaotian could think of bringing two large stones home from such a distance.
"It's okay. If anyone asks, just say our stones for pressing pickled vegetables cracked, and we picked up two while we were out," Su Xiaotian had thought of everything.
Compared to the treasures she had found before, these two stones were truly excellent. They wouldn't attract attention if placed at home, and no one would think they were treasures.
Su Xiaoba grunted and said no more.
Whatever his sister said was right. If his sister said they were for pressing pickled vegetables, then they were for pressing pickled vegetables!
After all, judging by their size, they seemed suitable.
Indeed, when the mother and four children returned to the brigade, someone saw them and curiously asked why they were picking up two stones to bring home.
"These two stones are beautiful. They'll be great for pressing pickled vegetables, and the vegetables will taste better!" Su Xiaotian replied with a sweet smile, not being modest at all.
The woman looked at them left and right but couldn't see what was beautiful about the two stones. There were many more beautiful stones on the mountain behind them, some with patterns.
But given how doted upon this little girl from the Su family was, if she said they were beautiful, the Su family would probably think the dark stones had flowers on them.
"They are quite beautiful!"
Back home, seeing the mother and children bring two stones home, Grandma Su couldn't help but smile.
"What are you doing? You could have brought anything, but you brought back two stones."
"Mother, it's Xiaotian, this child. She insisted these were good stones and that I had to bring them back," Liang Xiu said helplessly.
Her youngest daughter being spoiled was not without the contribution of her mother-in-law.
"Xiaotian wanted them, so bring them back." As expected, Grandma Su immediately said, "Oh my, how beautiful these two stones look to me! Our Xiaotian has good taste."
Hearing Grandma Su praise her, Su Xiaotian's eyes twinkled with joy.
"Xiaotian, tell Grandma, what do you want these two stones for?"
Su Xiaotian said nonchalantly, "They can be piled in a corner, or used to press the pickle jars or sauerkraut jars!"
Grandma Su didn't know how to respond for a moment. They had worked hard to bring back two large stones, only to pile them in a corner?
It was too wasteful. It was better to use them to press pickles.
"I was just about to look for a stone, and you brought two back." Grandma Su changed the subject.
Seeing this, Liang Xiu wanted to roll her eyes. She knew her mother-in-law was like this.
She was always clear-headed, but the moment it came to her youngest granddaughter, she became muddled instantly!
She looked at her youngest daughter again, wondering if Xiaotian would be spoiled.
Well, Xiaotian wasn't an unreasonable child, so she probably wouldn't be spoiled.
A mother's confidence was like this, blindly confident when it came to her daughter.
"Have you eaten?" Grandma Su asked at this point. "I saved some food in the kitchen. You children go and eat something first."
Over the years, Grandma Su had gotten used to it. The third daughter-in-law's maternal family was extremely stingy and never gave their third daughter-in-law any food.
Therefore, every time Liang Xiu visited her maternal home, Grandma Su would save food for her.
At first, Liang Xiu felt a bit embarrassed, but over time, she got used to it.
"Okay, Mother, I am indeed hungry!"
Liang Xiu responded and went to the kitchen, but the children didn't plan to go to the kitchen. Grandma Su was very curious. Could it be that the stingy relatives had given the children food this time?
"Why aren't you all going to eat?" Grandma Su asked curiously.
"Grandma, we've eaten!" Su Xiaowu happily recounted what had happened at the Liang family's that day.
Grandma Su couldn't help but laugh when she heard it. These children were really mischievous.
However, why did she feel that what these children did was so right?
"You children are becoming more and more naughty. We shouldn't do this in the future, okay? Otherwise, people will laugh at our Su family for being ill-mannered."
Grandma Su's words were insincere. The smile on her face completely betrayed her true thoughts.
The three children had eaten five white flour steamed buns, which was not a loss.
"You wait, Grandma will make you steamed egg custard later."
Grandma Su hummed the tune of "The East Is Red" happily and went to the kitchen, intending to make egg custard to reward her grandchildren.
These children had it tough, managing to snatch a bite to eat from the Liang family.
Before Grandma Su's egg custard was ready, the main door was violently pushed open.
"Who is it? Why so violent?" Grandma Su came out of the kitchen and asked displeasantly.
Then, she saw the people from the Liang family arriving in a menacing manner.
When the children spoke, they only mentioned that their maternal grandmother's family didn't give them food and they ate the steamed buns. They didn't mention that the Liang family had forced Liang Xiu to give up her worker's quota.
Grandma Su didn't know this at the time.
She only thought that because the children had eaten the white flour steamed buns that were sent over, the Liang family had come to make trouble.
"I really don't understand how they can be so stingy. It's just a few white flour steamed buns? So what if they ate them? Chasing after us for such a thing, aren't they tired?"
Grandma Su's voice was low, and others didn't hear it, but Su Xiaotian, who was standing right beside her, heard it.
The little girl couldn't help but stifle a laugh.
"Grandma, they want my mother's city job." Xiaotian's words almost made Grandma Su faint.
What did that mean? They wanted the city job?
How much nerve did they have to say something like that?
Did they have any shame?
Grandma Su instinctively looked at Liang Xiu. Liang Xiu, who had just taken a few bites of food, turned pale upon seeing her maternal family arrive.
She hadn't expected her maternal family to come all the way to Hongxin Brigade for this job.
How confident were they to come and demand it directly?
But since they were here, Liang Xiu had to cautiously greet them.
"Father, Mother, why have you come?"
Old Man Liang reached out and slapped Liang Xiu. The slap was very hard, and Liang Xiu's face immediately began to swell slightly.
Grandma Su was stunned. What was going on? Why were they hitting someone as soon as they entered?
Although Liang Xiu was the daughter of the Liang family, she had married into the Su family and was now a member of the Su family.
Even she, as her mother-in-law, had never hit her like this. Why could Old Man Liang?
"My in-laws, if Xiu'er has done something wrong, you should talk to her properly. Why hit her as soon as you enter?" Grandma Su said with a stern face.
Su family's eldest daughter-in-law, Wang Xianghua, and Su family's youngest daughter, Manxiang, had the same name. Liang Xiu's name also overlapped with the eldest daughter's name, Manxiu.
Because of this, Grandma Su had always referred to her daughters-in-law as eldest daughter-in-law, second daughter-in-law, etc.
At this moment, by suddenly using a familiar term like "Xiu'er," she was telling Old Man Liang that this was their child, and even her own father couldn't hit her casually.
However, Old Man Liang didn't understand Grandma Su's intention. Instead, he said with a stiff neck, "I'm disciplining my own daughter. What's it to you?"
Grandma Su snorted in anger. What was this? Coming to cause trouble?
She thought she had a good eye for people, but why were her in-laws one after another like this?
Her eldest daughter's and youngest daughter's husbands' families were not bad, but the in-laws of her third child were truly terrible!
"Xiaowu, forget it. Xiaoba, go find your grandfather and tell him we have guests."
Grandma Su gestured for Su Xiaoba to go find her husband.
Xiao Wu couldn't go. There were only old and weak women at home. With Xiao Wu there, they could at least put up a front!
Grandpa Su was currently in the cowshed looking for Du Tonghe and Chi Ge.
He had also brought his own children with him, so at this moment, only Grandma Su and Liang Xiu and her children were at the Su family home.
The three elderly people of similar age had a lot to talk about.
Anyway, everyone in the brigade now knew that the brigade had a good year because of Du Tonghe.
Therefore, even if Grandpa Su was close to these two people, the people in the brigade pretended not to see it.
When Old Man Liang heard that Grandpa Su was not there, he seemed displeased.
But after all, he was visiting someone else's home, so he didn't say much in the end.
Grandma Su only asked them to stand in the yard and did not intend to invite them into the main hall.
She didn't think these people were here to visit relatives at all.
"In-laws, I didn't teach my daughter well! Her own mother came to visit, and she didn't even invite her into the house," Old Mrs. Liang said shamelessly.
With those words, Grandma Su felt suffocated. She was clearly saying that Liang Xiu was impolite for not inviting her maternal family into the house, but wasn't she also implying that Grandma Su didn't invite her in-laws into the house?
But she didn't want such people in her house, lest the house smell unpleasant!
Grandma Su gave no face at all and said directly, "I think Xiaotian's child has done very well. For more than ten years since marrying into our Su family, she has been filial to the elders, loving to her children, and getting along well with her sisters-in-law!"
Old Mrs. Liang hadn't expected Grandma Su to say such a thing in front of her.
Did she understand her words, or not?
If she understood, why wasn't she inviting her into the house for good food and drinks?
If she didn't understand, how could she praise her daughter-in-law like this?
Could a mother-in-law be satisfied with her daughter-in-law? It must be fake!
"In-laws, you don't need to consider my feelings to praise her. I know my own daughter, what kind of person she is!" Old Mrs. Liang glared fiercely at Liang Xiu and said.
When those words reached Liang Xiu's ears, she felt overwhelmed with shame.
This was her own mother. Was she trying to force her to die?
"That's a bit much! If Xiu'er wasn't good when she was at home, then it's your fault for not teaching her well," Grandma Su said with a cold snort.