Translator: Atlas Studios Editor: Atlas Studios
In the few days she had been home, she had been treated vastly different from when she had given them money in the past. Zhou Ping could not get used to it. She burst into tears when she was berated like that.
“Mother, I wish things were different too! The Gu family is too vicious. If I refused a divorce, they were going to send me to jail! I was the one who released Oldest Brother and the others, so the Gu family have evidence against me. I…”
“I? What about you? Isn’t it because you’re useless? If you can get them released once, you can do it twice. But look at you. You’ve given birth to four sons, but you can’t even get a small thing like that right. What’s the use of being in the Gu family?
“Theard Jinxuan say that his Second Uncle and Second Cousin are the heads of the Gu family. Ah! Doesn’t the Second Son’s family only have two sons? Why should they hold such a high position within the Gu family? Your second sister-in-law only gave birth to two sons, and yet she has a good job and is
the mistress of the household. What about you? Why are you so useless?”
To
This was Zhou Ping’s sore spot. Among the four children in the Gu family’s second generation, she was the one to marry the third son. He had a very good job in the provincial capital, and she was content.
‘When she joined the Gu family, she instinctively felt that she must have sons so that she could have someone to rely on. Fortunately, she had one son after another, then, at last, she had a pair of twin boys. In the Gu family, Third Son’s family had the most sons.
She thought that she would be the most important daughter-in-law in the Gu family, but to her surprise, she was still in an inferior position after all these years. In the end, she was even driven out of the family.
Zhou Ping did not know what had gone wrong.
‘When Grandma Zhou saw that Zhou Ping did not speak, she pushed her aside in irritation. “Get lost. Go and wash the clothes in the courtyard. Eat, eat, eat, the whole family is destitute but all you know how to do is eat.”
Grandma Zhou did not show Zhou Ping any respect. She drove Zhou Ping away in front of her two daughters-in-law.
Zhou Ping had no choice but to go to the courtyard to do the laundry.
It was the New Year, and the weather was very cold. Actually, there were only a few clothes to wash. But the house was in such a mess that Grandma Zhou had taken everything she could find and told Zhou Ping to wash them.
Every day, Grandma Zhou tried to think of ways to get Zhou Ping to release her sons and grandsons. In the end, Zhou Ping had no choice and really allowed Grandma Zhou to drag her there.
Grandma Zhou’s eyes reddened when she saw her oldest son who was still in prison and the state he was in. She made a huge fuss and said that her daughter was the wife of an important person, so they had to release her son.
Gu Jinhang had personally seen to this matter, and this time, he had not kept his identity a secret. He had given special instructions that the man was not to be released. No matter how Grandma Zhou fussed, everyone knew they had to obey the law.
They knew what terrible things had befallen the last batch of people.
At last, when she created such a ruckus that they had no other choice, they threatened to imprison Grandma Zhou for a few days. That frightened the old lady so much that she hurried out.
Grandma Zhou was white with fear. She scrambled out and checked to see that she was really safe before she sighed with relief.
Oldest Sister-in-law said angrily, “Little Sister! What have you been doing all these years? Look, you’ve even brought harm upon our mother. These people are just too arrogant. Your husband and sons are so capable, but they don’t show us any respect. Are you doing this on purpose?”
Zhou Ping was about to protest when Grandma Zhou slapped her.
smack!
“Useless thing, I should have strangled you to death when you were born. You’re a burden!”
Grandma Zhou was a very proud person. The local people had shown her great respect over the years. Now that she had been completely humiliated, she had nowhere to vent her anger except on Zhou Ping.
