Jiang Qingqing’s tears flowed even more freely, being treated so gently by her husband. She had intended to hold back, but having someone believe in her and stand up for her made her both happy and willful.
Thus, her tears couldn't stop anytime soon.
“Why are you still so upset? I’ll go teach her a harsh lesson.” Zhang Liunian, feeling guilty for causing his wife to cry incessantly, clenched his fists and was about to go confront the other person, but his arm was firmly grasped by his wife before he could take a step. “Don’t go, let me handle it myself.”
It wasn't good for a younger brother-in-law to hit an elder sister-in-law, and Jiang Qingqing didn't want people speaking ill of her husband. Therefore, she wanted to resolve this matter herself.
“No, you’re pregnant. You can’t get hurt because of her.” Zhang Liunian thought his wife wanted to take action and quickly pulled her into his embrace, his face full of worry.
Jiang Qingqing, having been soothed by him, forgot to cry. Leaning into his arms, she looked up at her husband. “I just have a few words to say to Big Sister-in-law.”
So it was about speaking her mind, which was acceptable.
Zhang Liunian released his wife with peace of mind. Jiang Qingqing, now free, walked up to Wu Gudi, who had stood up, and said, “Big Sister-in-law, there were some things I didn’t want to say, but your words just now truly disappointed me.
What do you mean by me being promiscuous? It’s you who kept telling me how great your brother is, and even asked me to leave Liunian and marry your brother.
For the past four years, every time you pulled me aside, you’d say these things. I told you to stop, that I didn’t want to hear it, and that I would never leave Liunian.
But you didn’t listen and kept trying to persuade me to divorce him. I tolerated all of that.
However, what you just did, twisting the truth and slandering me, I cannot tolerate.
From now on, I will no longer consider you my Big Sister-in-law, nor will I welcome you to my home. We will have no further contact.”
Boom!
As soon as Jiang Qingqing uttered these words, everyone present was stunned.
Wu Gudi, who had been trying to poach her brother-in-law’s wife for four years, truly lived up to her name, sacrificing everything for her brother.
“You’re talking nonsense, I never said that. Jiang Qingqing, you’re framing me.” Wu Gudi hadn’t expected that her third sister-in-law, who had always been so patient and silent, would expose her actions of the past few years today.
Of course, she couldn't admit it, and never would.
Unfortunately, while she denied it, everyone else believed the words!
After all, with her previous attempts to facilitate her brother's entanglement with her sister-in-law, this incident made it entirely plausible.
Furthermore, having interacted with Jiang Qingqing for so long, everyone considered her to be an honest person, so they believed her words at this moment.
Especially Yu Xiaohua, who had already had some suspicions about this matter, was now completely convinced. She roared out, “Wu Gudi, you bitch! To think you’d try to snatch your brother-in-law’s wife for your own brother! Watch me beat you to death!”
The onlookers applauded inwardly, thinking, “Good fight, good fight!”
A sister-in-law like Wu Gudi deserved a good thrashing. For the sake of her brother, she would stoop to such depths to steal her brother-in-law’s wife; it was truly despicable.
Thinking thus, they all looked at Zhang Liunian, their eyes filled with sympathy.
However, they were genuinely surprised that Jiang Qingqing had withstood Wu Gudi’s relentless pressure for four years.
After all, Zhang Liunian had been lying at home all these years, doing nothing but nursing his college dreams.
To make ends meet, Jiang Qingqing had borrowed money from half the village, yet she had remained steadfast. This showed the depth of her affection for Zhang Liunian.
Any other woman might have faltered long ago, but Jiang Qingqing was different.
Everyone’s impression of Jiang Qingqing improved significantly. The young unmarried men also hoped to find a wife as beautiful, loyal, and unwavering as her.
“Ah! Mom, I didn’t, I didn’t!” Just as everyone was looking at the Zhang Liunian couple, they heard Wu Gudi’s screams.
The crowd turned to see Yu Xiaohua grabbing Wu Gudi, first slapping her, then punching her. Wu Gudi was completely unable to retaliate.
Zhang Liunian still wasn't satisfied and wished he could take his wife's place to beat Wu Gudi. As he was thinking this, he keenly noticed his elder brother, with a bruised face, also arriving.
Zhang Liushui, upon seeing his mother hitting his wife, didn't understand the situation. He wanted to ask his third brother, but Zhang Liusha stopped him and explained everything.
Upon learning that his wife had been instigating their third sister-in-law for four years to divorce their third brother and marry her own brother, Zhang Liushui, furious, stepped forward and joined the fray.
“Wu Gudi, you trash! You actually advised Qingqing to divorce Liunian and marry your lazy, good-for-nothing brother! Watch me beat you to death!”
As expected of mother and son, his tone wasn't much different from Yu Xiaohua’s.
Seeing her eldest son finally personally dealing with his wife, Yu Xiaohua quietly stepped aside, yielding the battlefield, and went to her husband’s side. She then glanced at her younger son and his wife, seeing their unusually grim expressions, which made Yu Xiaohua regret that she hadn’t hit harder earlier.
“You care so much about your brother, even going so far as to persuade my third brother to divorce. I’m now telling you, I’m divorcing you. You can go back to your maternal home and help your brother properly, saving you from causing trouble here.” Zhang Liushui beat Wu Gudi soundly, then declared his intention to divorce.
This statement caused an uproar among the crowd.
Yu Xiaohua’s mouth opened, wanting to advise her eldest son, but before she could, Zhang Wenxue held her back.
“This daughter-in-law is not to be tolerated. If she can do this, it proves her heart is not with our Zhang family. In the future, she might do even more outrageous things for her maternal family.”
As long as it didn’t concern his second son, Zhang Wenxue was relatively rational and could see the seriousness of the matter.
“But what about our three grandsons?” Yu Xiaohua wasn’t reluctant to part with Wu Gudi, but she felt that it wouldn't be good for three grandsons to be without a mother.
“Don’t we have ourselves? Without the eldest daughter-in-law, we’ll help our eldest son look after the children.” Zhang Wenxue had already considered this issue.
“But…” Yu Xiaohua wanted to say more but heard Wu Gudi’s wails.
“I don’t want a divorce, I don’t want a divorce! You can’t do this!”
Zhang Liushui sneered, grabbed her collar with his large hand, and pulled her outside. “If you don’t want a divorce yourself, why did you instigate my third sister-in-law? If you don’t want it, don’t impose it on others. Fortunately, Qingqing is loyal to her third brother; otherwise, your third brother’s life would have been ruined by you.
Therefore, I am determined to divorce today. Besides, we never registered our marriage, so you can just go back to your maternal home.”
In those days, very few people went to register their marriages, so divorcing was also easy; all one had to do was send the person back to her maternal home.
But Wu Gudi would never agree. She had never lived a hard life since marrying into the Zhang family. Within a few months of entering the household, they had separated and lived apart.
Although her in-laws lived with her later, she had also benefited considerably. Moreover, her in-laws were reasonable people and didn’t cause trouble unnecessarily, which was far better than her elder sisters’ marriages.
Therefore, she absolutely did not want a divorce.
But she didn’t know that Zhang Liushui was serious this time.
He was already fed up with Wu Gudi, as this daughter-in-law constantly sent money back to her maternal family or caused trouble and harm to him.