naaapseattle Chapter 387 - 205: Outburst
Chapter 387 - 205: Outburst
"You lazy hag! You must’ve been a starving ghost in a past life, as if you haven’t eaten in eight generations. You’re sick with greed! How could you steal and eat your own son’s food? Even a sow knows to protect her piglets, but you’re worse than any pig! Is there anyone else in this whole village like you? So lazy, so gluttonous, so shameless, and with no regard for your own children. If that spineless loser Li Laoda had any guts, he’d have divorced you and sent you packing—instead of letting you stay here and disgrace the family! Eat, eat, that’s all you know how to do. And after all these years of stuffing your face, look at you! Still skinny as a rail, not even four taels of meat on your bones. You can’t do housework, you can’t work the fields. All that food wasted on you. If we’d fed it to a pig, at least we’d get a couple hundred pounds of pork for the New Year. What good are you?"
Gou Dan’s mother spat out this tirade, fast and furious, without a single pause. It was so smooth, you could tell she’d been practicing this verbal takedown in her head over and over again.
She turned to Meizi, whose eyes were red and swollen from crying, and said, "I told you long ago, didn’t I? She’s greedy and lazy. You have to be on your guard. How could you just leave food sitting in the pot like that? And even if you left it in the pot, why would you run back to my house and leave her here all alone? When she sees food, it’s like a cat smelling fish. Expecting her not to steal it is like expecting a pig to fly."
Meizi nodded repeatedly. After this, she couldn’t bring herself to trust her mother-in-law either.
Granny Hua stared at Gou Dan’s mother’s large, dark face and felt like she could die from shame and indignation.
’She suddenly realized just how happy she’d been in the past. No matter what people said about me, I could just ignore it. I was lazy in my own home, and if there was work I didn’t do, my husband and sons would do it for me. I ate in my own home, and no matter how much I ate, my husband and sons never blamed me.’
’But now, her son had taken a wife. He wasn’t just her son anymore—he was someone else’s husband.’
’By eating her son’s food, she was eating that woman’s husband’s food. Of course she wouldn’t be happy about it! From the standpoint of filial piety, it was perfectly natural for a mother to eat a piece of her son’s flatbread. The problem was, Gou Dan’s mother had her pegged as lazy, gluttonous, and neglectful of her children. How could she possibly argue against that?’
She couldn’t find a single word to retort to Gou Dan’s mother’s accusations. When it came to arguing, ten of her wouldn’t be a match for one of Gou Dan’s mother. Granny Hua was only good for idle gossip; expecting her to form a coherent, reasoned argument was practically impossible.
And so, after decades of living as she pleased, she was, for the very first time, being cursed at so badly that she wished the ground would swallow her whole, tears streaming down her face.
But Gou Dan’s mother didn’t care if she was crying or not. She had finally gotten her chance, and if she didn’t seize the opportunity to vent Meizi’s frustrations, was she supposed to wait for the next time Granny Hua caused trouble?
So, she stood at the kitchen entrance, her voice booming with energy, and shouted for all to hear, hurling insults about what kind of cruel mother-in-law doesn’t look after her own, and what a disgrace it is to steal food in your own house, until all the neighbors came out to watch the spectacle.
Li Changxing’s mother, Cheng, came forward and took Gou Dan’s mother’s arm. With an appeasing smile, she asked gently, "My dear lady, what’s all this about? Come on, let’s go inside and talk it over slowly."
It was too ugly a scene to have them blocking the main gate. Changxing’s uncle and Changming weren’t home, and Granny Hua, with the gap in her front teeth showing, was huddled in the kitchen, her face streaked with tears, too scared to come out. As the third aunt of the family, Cheng felt she had no choice but to step in and try to mediate.
But Gou Dan’s mother had no intention of going inside. She raised her voice and addressed Huai Zi’s mother and the others standing outside the courtyard, "All of you, come and be the judge! Li Changming went out fishing. The whole family has eaten, but he still isn’t back for his meal. My Meizi left his food and a flatbread warming in the pot for him. And this lazy hag took advantage of Meizi being gone to steal the flatbread and eat it! You tell me, a single piece of flatbread isn’t a big deal, but what kind of mother acts like this? How can she be so thoughtless toward her own son? We’re all mothers here. Just think, if your own son hadn’t had his lunch by now, wouldn’t your heart ache for him? How could you possibly steal and eat his food? She might not feel bad, but my Meizi’s heart aches! Li Changming works himself to the bone, and with a mother like this at home, what hope is there for their future!"
Cheng had been Granny Hua’s sister-in-law for decades and knew her temperament well. She wasn’t the least bit surprised by this incident.
But just because she wasn’t surprised didn’t mean Gou Dan’s mother would let it slide—after all, Li Changming was now her son-in-law.
The onlookers outside also began to show expressions of contempt and disdain. A mother like that was truly a rare sight—no, she was one of a kind!
No matter how unlikable a village wife might be, she always put her children first. Granny Hua’s behavior was naturally earning her the scorn of the entire community.
In that moment, all the women began to condemn Granny Hua as a heartless mother. "Even a vicious tiger won’t eat its own cubs," they murmured. To have a mother like that... they pitied poor Changming and Changliang. How on earth did those two boys manage to grow up?