Chapter 599: The Jia Family Widow's War of Words

Shazhu's expectation.

It is correct.

The Jia family is indeed not peaceful.

Qin Huairu, just back from work, had barely entered when the sight before her left her stunned.

Jia Zhangshi and Xiao Dang were eating, with four white flour steamed buns and a small bowl of stewed vegetables beside them.

Looking at the color.

One could tell it wasn't Jia Zhangshi's doing.

Jia Zhangshi is nothing but a dung-producing machine; she's either lazy and gluttonous, or on her way to being so.

Tonight's meal could only have been made by Xiao Dang.

She took a sniff.

The taste was all right.

It could also be that Qin Huairu was hungry.

She, as usual, walked straight into the inner room; having just put down her satchel, she heard Xiao Dang's concerned voice from the outer room.

"Mom, wash your hands and come eat."

Qin Huairu was taken aback.

She turned her head to look outward, saw Xiao Dang's face full of expectation, her heart inexplicably softened—indeed, he was flesh from her own body.

But when her gaze fell on Jia Zhangshi, she felt ill at ease; hearing Xiao Dang call Qin Huairu to eat, Jia Zhangshi, who merely sponged off others, wore a fierce look, her eyes filled with a hint of hatred as she stared straight at Qin Huairu—Qin Huairu could clearly see the meaning: a warning not to come out, saying this was the Jia family's food and she had no right to eat it.

She had no intention of provoking Jia Zhangshi's bad luck, and smilingly refused Xiao Dang.

"Xiao Dang, you eat; I'm not hungry."

Seeing Qin Huairu not come out to eat and giving the excuse of not being hungry, Xiao Dang knew it was an excuse, rose and walked toward the inner room, intending to pull Qin Huairu out.

But she hadn't expected that this action would anger Jia Zhangshi.

Jia Zhangshi snorted coldly in her heart, "Well, Qin Huairu, you can't attract any other men, so you've come home to snatch my Xiao Dang from me."

Xiao Dang has been Jia Zhangshi's meal ticket for ten years; she thinks of letting him support her.

Mother-daughter bond aside, when they were young Jia Zhangshi strongly favored sons over daughters; the family's good things went first to Bangeng, after he finished eating, Jia Zhangshi came second, and Qin Huairu and Xiao Dang third.

Jia Zhangshi's habitual phrase is "a money-losing good."

Worried that Xiao Dang would settle old scores with Jia Zhangshi, she stopped dealing with her, letting Jia Zhangshi fend for herself.

This is intolerable.

Under the notion that striking first brings advantage while striking later brings disaster, Jia Zhangshi moved first to provoke Qin Huairu, spewing vulgar abuse.

"You've been out causing trouble all day, come home and still act high and mighty? Let you eat, you eat; what's with the weird attitude? What, 'I'm not hungry,' 'I don't want to eat'—do you think my old woman sitting at the table eating is blocking your view, Qin Huairu? Isn't this just not to your liking, Qin Huairu?"

Facing Jia Zhangshi's ranting.

Qin Huairu fought back.

"You really hit the nail on the head—you disgust me; seeing you makes me unable to eat, what's wrong? Can't I?"

"How did our Jia family end up marrying such a jinx like you? You've not only lost face for our Jia family, but also let the neighbors in the courtyard stab our Jia family's back, Qin Huairu—are you going to die or not?"

"If you die, I still won't die; saying I'm unlucky, I think it's you who's unlucky—go piss and look at yourself, see what kind of conduct you have."

Qin Huairu launched into a tirade without restraint, giving Jia Zhangshi no face, cursing whatever came to mind; the vehemence of her words left Xiao Dang dumbfounded.

Is this still her usual submissive mother?

When did she become so formidable?

She even claimed that the Jia family's current state was entirely due to Jia Zhangshi's lack of virtue in speech, spreading trouble throughout the siheyuan.

Rather than saying Qin Huairu killed Jia Dongxu, it's more accurate to say Jia Zhangshi drained Jia Dongxu's virtue; saying the biggest mistake of her life was marrying into the Jia family, which dragged her down—otherwise, with her reputation as a renowned beauty across ten miles, her doorstep would have been trampled by matchmakers, and taking a liking to Jia Dongxu would have been his good fortune.

"Aiyo, you say marrying into our Jia family is the biggest blunder of your life; if I were you, I'd find tofu and kill myself by smashing my head; truly you could put gold on your face, and yet marrying into our family's Dong Xu is a blessing—bah! Since you married into our Jia family, we haven't had a single good day; we're just a walking jinx."

Jia Zhangshi slapped her own cheeks.

She mocked Qin Huairu as much as possible.

Some old stories were also brought up by her.

"Back then, who knows who, in order to get into the city, did that shameless thing, insisting on marrying our family's Dong Xu no matter what; now you regret it—what were you doing back then? Don't come into our family then! You went into the city for comfort, did that shameless thing, and hooked up with the aged Yi Zhonghai. If it weren't for Yi Zhonghai relying on his position as Head Steward and being our family's Dong Xu's master, my old woman would never have consented to your marrying in, Qin Huairu; back then I thought you were an immoral shrew, just like Pan Jinlian."

A mouthful of spit.

It flew toward Qin Huairu.

A moment of carelessness.

Qin Huairu was hit.

The widow was broken down by Jia Zhangshi's latter remark.

Staring with eyes wide.

Glaring ferociously at Jia Zhangshi.

"Exactly, exactly, exactly—I went to the city, I'm shameless, I hooked up with Yi Zhonghai; you just want to say I gave Dong Xu a green hat, right? Fine, fine, I admit it—when I meet a mother-in-law like you who arranges green hats for her own son, I'll satisfy your wish no matter what I say."

Qin Huairu adopted a "broken pot, broken sack" attitude.

After wiping the spit from her face with her hand.

She used a smile to provoke Jia Zhangshi.

"Not only did I hook up with Yi Zhonghai, I also hooked up with many, many men; before marrying Dong Xu, I had plenty of lovers in the village—Old Zhang, Old Li, Old Zhao, Old Wang, too many to count. Even if Dong Xu were dead, he'd still be wearing a two-meter-tall green hat; your Jia family is a green-hat lineage—I've said this, are you satisfied?"

Qin Huairu made a hand gesture of a green-capped tortoise.

Jia Zhangshi, already furious to the point of death, upon seeing Qin Huairu make that gesture,

became even more furious beyond containment; if she weren't old and not a match for Qin Huairu, she would certainly give Qin Huairu two slaps.

To discipline Qin Huairu for the sake of her own unfortunate son.

Can't use force.

Can only talk.

"You shameless seductive fox, pity my Dong Xu, even dead he wears a green hat, Dong Xu, how could you marry such a shameless wife, you can't be apart from men for a day."

"I'm not someone who can't be apart from men for a day; I can't go a second without a man, unlike some people who keep saying they're mourning their husband but actually no man wants them."

"Who are you talking about?"

"You, if you had a man wanting you, you'd have remarried long ago; don't think I don't know about your affairs. When you were young, you also wanted to remarry, but Old Jia's mother was formidable and had you under her thumb; I heard you even gave Old Jia a green hat."

"Qin Huairu, even if I die I won't let you off; I'm dying now, so you'll bear the reputation of having driven your mother-in-law to death, and you'll bury me with you."

Jia Zhangshi pretended to go through the motions of hanging herself.

Qin Huairu, not far away, casually threw a hemp rope to Jia Zhangshi.

Seeing the thrown hemp rope, Jia Zhangshi was dumbfounded.

The script is a bit off.

Shouldn't we be urgently begging her not to seek death? How did it turn into going along with it, and damn it, throwing the rope over?

What should we do?

Hang oneself?

The key is Jia Zhangshi is reluctant.

Afraid of death.

Still wants to live.

Living to wait for Bangeng to come out, watching Bangeng marry and have children.

She cannot die.

If she doesn't hang herself, it shows Jia Zhangshi is guilty; how will she later manage to overthrow Qin Huairu?

The conflicted Jia Zhangshi could only curse Qin Huairu with foul language.

"You vicious widow, you want me dead!"

"It's you who wants to die, not me wanting you dead; I'm just helping you along. You're not dead? Don't you have the guts? Want me to help you, send you on your way?"

The three words "send you on your way".

Qin Huairu said it lightly and casually.

Seeing this, Jia Zhangshi felt extremely unpleasant, thinking she had disgraced the role of mother-in-law.

She stood there in a stalemate.

Xiao Dang noticed Jia Zhangshi's intention to retreat, quickly smoothed things over, thinking the matter should end here; if it continued, it would be unfavorable to Xiao Dang's revenge plan.

"Mom, say a few less." Their gaze fell on Jia Zhangshi, saying: "Grandma, say a few less."

"For my granddaughter's sake, I won't argue with you."

Jia Zhangshi seized the opportunity to sit down heavily on the stool, grabbing chopsticks, holding a steamed bun, and began to eat slowly and deliberately, wanting Qin Huairu to see how her daughter serves this grandmother.

Xiao Dang again invited Qin Huairu: "Mom, wash your hands and eat; I made this."

Qin Huairu glanced at Xiao Dang, then looked past her at Jia Zhangshi; seeing Jia Zhangshi eating with relish, she also put aside her earlier disgust.

Didn't wash hands.

Sat opposite Jia Zhangshi.

Worried that if Jia Zhangshi saw her washing hands, she would eat all the food, leaving no way to anger Jia Zhangshi.

Grabbed a steamed bun, picked up the stew Xiao Dang had just scooped, and began to eat.

In the midst of eating.

Felt slightly moved.

This seemed to be the first time in years that Qin Huairu, after getting off work, came home to eat a ready-made hot meal. Thinking back, before she had to prepare meals and attend to Jia Zhangshi upon returning home, she felt a bit foolish, wondering why she didn't send Jia Zhangshi back to the rural hometown; it was purely her own doing, creating trouble for herself.

Her eyes were a little moist.

But she still forced it back.

Jia Zhangshi sitting opposite, seeing Qin Huairu about to cry, blurted out a sentence.

"Just eating a bit of rice and you're about to leak urine; are you made of urine?"

"I'm still better than that heartless bastard who eats his granddaughter's food."

"Who are you calling a bastard?"

"You, you're not a bastard; who is the bastard then?"

"You dare call me a bastard? Qin Huairu, I'm your mother-in-law."

"Soon I won't be."

Jia Zhangshi's heart.

Rose to her throat.

What she feared most had happened: Qin Huairu was determined to remarry, must seize Xiao Dang, but Xiao Dang ignored her, leaving Jia Zhangshi without meals.

More importantly, Qin Huairu's job belonged to Jia Dongxu; Bangeng is in prison, will be released in ten years, and intends to use this job to marry and start a family, continuing the Jia family line.

What if Qin Huairu remarries bringing the job with her; will the job still be available for Bangeng?

Jia Zhangshi expressed great worry; she glanced at Xiao Dang, realizing they must join forces, let Xiao Dang fill the position, wait for Bangeng to come out, then give the job to Bangeng.

Completely unaware, Xiao Dang at this moment felt a strange sense of scheming success.

Qin Huairu is finally going to remarry; Jia Zhangshi must also make a big fuss over the job she holds, as the only person of the next generation of the Jia family present, the job must go to Xiao Dang, and can only go to Xiao Dang.

Let's make a fuss.

The bigger the fuss, the better.

Xiao Dang's heart unnaturally cheered on Jia Zhangshi and Qin Huairu; their life or death meant nothing to her, she only cared about the job.

Afraid that the matter won't become a big deal.

Xiao Dang, adding fuel to the fire, said a line.

"Mom, what's that man like? When you bring him back, let me vet him for you—you've suffered all your life; if you think he's decent, just marry him. If he dares to give you a cold shoulder, tell me and I'll stand up for you. You protected us when we were little; now that we've grown up, we'll protect you."

Jia Zhangshi hated Xiao Dang so much she wished she could kill him with her gaze.

The ignorant, foolish granddaughter still wants to speak up for Qin Huairu—do you treat her as your mother, and does she treat you as her daughter?

If you truly regarded her as a daughter, you wouldn't, at fifty-something, have the idea of remarrying.

She slammed her chopsticks down on the table, and when Qin Huairu and Xiao Dang focused their gazes on Jia Zhangshi, she deliberately let out a cold snort.

"A bride in her fifties is rare enough; the neighbors' spit could drown a remarried widow, and the widow's children would be stabbed in the back."

"I'll keep guarding Jia Dongxu?" Qin Huairu knew Jia Zhangshi was scapegoating, and she jabbed at Jia Zhangshi's heart with words: "I just had this thought—if I remarry, I remarry; if I don't, I'll just bring the person back, same thing—I don't care."

"You dare!"

Jia Zhangshi's voice.

It carried a hint of cold.

If you really bring someone home to fool around, Jia Dongxu's coffin lid really won't stay shut.

"You see if I dare or not? You just said I can't be without a man for a moment, so I have to fulfill your wish."

"Qin Huairu, you really have no shame left?"

"Didn't I learn it from you?"

"When did I become shameless?"

"Dongxu left, and I toiled hard to support the family, raising Bangeng and them, feeding you—what about you? You spend all day making cloth shoes, only six pairs a year, and people keep telling you to find a job, earn some money to help the household, but you either pretend your arm hurts or claim your butt hurts, constantly saying I, Qin Huairu, am unfilial, having taken Dongxu's position yet forcing his mother to go out and work—back then, did you have any shame?"

Jia Zhangshi said sarcastically.

Faced with her own past glorious deeds, she didn't know how to refute Qin Huairu's accusations.

Who let the other side make sense?

If Jia Zhangshi were just a bit more diligent, the Jia family wouldn't be in such a miserable state.