Xu Grandmother’s smile vanished as she got fired up. “I didn’t want to bring this up on such a good day, but you just had to jump out yourself. What do you mean by spreading nonsense outside and framing your sister? Since you were little, you’d pin your own misdeeds on her head. Now that you’re married, you still want to frame her?”
Xu Ziyan’s face also hardened. “Do you even understand what happened before you start scolding people? Is Xu Xiuyun someone who can never do wrong in her entire life? If she makes a mistake, she can’t be called out for it? Is the whole village stupid? If I had framed her, would everyone have believed me? Everyone could see it was her doing, yet you still have to stand up for her. Isn’t it just because you don’t take me seriously and are used to scolding me?”
Seeing the tense atmosphere in the room, Xu Mother tugged at her sleeve. Xu Ziyan turned to look at Xu Father and Xu Mother. “Mom, Dad, take a look. She’s scolding me without distinguishing right from wrong. Is that my fault?”
Xu Grandfather frowned and tapped his tobacco pipe on the table. “Enough, why bring up things that are already in the past? Xu Ziyan, you’re a junior. Don’t talk back to your grandmother. Today is your grandmother’s birthday. Is this how you show your filial piety?”
Xu Ziyan sneered. “Juniors become filial when their elders are kind and loving. With biased and muddle-headed elders like you, you still expect juniors to be filial? It’s only because you still hold onto a bit of money that this whole family listens to you. Try waiting until the day you’re too old to move. Let’s see if you can still enjoy any blessings then.”
“Bullshit! How dare you say such things?” Xu Grandfather sprang to his feet, raising his tobacco pipe rod as if to hit her.
Xu Ziyan dodged behind Xu Father. “Dad, look clearly. Your father, whom you’ve been blindly filial to for decades, is being unreasonable and even wants to hit me. Whose side are you on?”
Xu Grandmother slapped her thigh and shouted. “This is rebellion! You’ve truly rebelled! Second daughter-in-law, grab her for me. I must teach her a proper lesson today.”
At that moment, Fang Nan and Fang Bei, hearing the commotion, ran in. Seeing the situation, they were startled but immediately stood in front of Xu Ziyan, shouting, “You can’t hit our mom! You’re all bad people!”
Xu Ziyan chuckled. “Hear that? A whole family of bad eggs. Didn’t you all say ‘a married daughter is like spilled water’? I’m a member of the Fang family now. You still want to beat me? That’s called assaulting a military family member, understand? Want to go to the police station?”
Xu Grandmother trembled with rage. “Y-you… you want to send us to the police station?”
Xu Ziyan looked at Xu Xiuyun, feigning surprise. “The old man and old lady are so angry because of you. Why aren’t you hurrying to admit your mistake? Quickly help calm them down.”
Suddenly being singled out, Xu Xiuyun jumped. “Me?”
Xu Ziyan said righteously, “Isn’t it because of your business? If you hadn’t used your schemes on me, would today have happened? Should we have a good talk about how all the things about me at home got spread outside? How is it such a coincidence that your friends always seem to guess what’s happening and come to champion your cause? If you say you didn’t tell them, who would believe it?”
“I didn’t, I really didn’t!” Tears welled in Xu Xiuyun’s eyes as she looked pleadingly at Song Dongbo.
Song Dongbo frowned, stood up, and moved to Xu Xiuyun’s side. “Xu Ziyan, to be forgiving where one can. Don’t go too far.”
Xu Ziyan rolled her eyes. “Who do you think you are, managing my affairs? You’d better hurry up and earn big money so your wife can live well. Then she won’t be jealous that I married an officer and won’t plot against me.”
Xu Xiuyun’s heart sank. She looked at Song Dongbo and, sure enough, saw his face darken. Her previous fiancé had been an officer. Now that Xu Ziyan said this, Song Dongbo naturally thought she looked down on him for not being as high-status as her ex-fiancé, which made him very unhappy.
A couple of days ago, she had cried for ages, found many excuses, and finally managed to soothe Song Dongbo. Now, because of one sentence from Xu Ziyan, all her previous efforts were wasted. Since when had Xu Ziyan become so clever?
Xu Ziyan continued. “And you’re really not up to it either. You promised to marry Xu Xiuyun and treat her well, but you’re never home. You leave her alone to do the laundry, cook, sweep the yard, feed the chickens. She raises the child alone and still has to go to the fields to weed. Do you think she wouldn’t feel wronged? What kind of life is this? It’s exhausting.”
Xu Xiuyun hurriedly said, “I’m not wronged, really.”
Song Dongbo instinctively defended himself. “Don’t everyone live like this? Stop trying to drive a wedge between us.”
Xu Ziyan acted surprised. “Where do you see everyone living like this? Let’s not talk about faraway examples. Take me, for instance. I live next door to you. Have you ever seen me do work? I got married to live a good life, not to be someone’s maid. How come the Fang family can let me live like this, but you can’t? Then what do you mean by treating her well? You’re never home, so it’s all just empty talk, huh?
Look at Xu Grandmother. Does she do work? Eldest Aunt, Third Aunt, don’t they do very little work? It’s my mom who does the most. You don’t think saying a few nice words counts as my mom living in comfort, do you?”
Song Dongbo’s face flashed with discomfort. There wasn’t a single swear word in what she said, but it was all criticizing him. But he hadn’t lied. His conditions had been laid out from the start, so he said righteously, “When your sister and I were matched, she knew I had to go out often and wouldn’t be home much. She had no objections then. What need is there for you to complain on her behalf?”
Xu Ziyan had a sudden realization. “No wonder she doesn’t get angry at you. It was her own choice back then. So when she feels wronged and sees me living so well, she directs all her efforts at me, right? Xu Xiuyun, why are you so cowardly? If you have the guts, go argue with your man! You don’t dare argue with him, so you come and stomp on me instead? Picking on the soft target, thinking I’m easy to bully, huh?
Well, you’re wrong. I’m someone who never accepts taking a loss. If you dare to scheme against me again in the future, I’ll definitely turn your world upside down. Don’t think you’ll have a peaceful life!”
Xu Xiuyun had already started crying. “I didn’t! I really never thought that. You’re making me out to be too evil. How can you say such things? How am I supposed to face people after this?”
Xu Ziyan averted her eyes. “You’re already a person. However you act, you’re still a person. Stop pretending.”
“Enough!” Xu Grandmother roared. “And you have the nerve to talk about others? Since you were little, you were into petty theft, stealing my money…”
Xu Ziyan took out one yuan and tossed it on the table. “I only took fifty cents from you, but the story of me being a thief spread throughout the whole village. If Xu Xiuyun didn’t spread it, then you did, since you’re the only ones who kept harping on it every day. The extra fifty cents is interest. Consider it repaid. Now shut your mouth!”
Xu Grandmother collapsed onto the kang, gasping for breath. Xu Grandfather pointed at the door. “You… get out! Don’t ever think about coming back to the Xu family!”
Instead, Xu Ziyan slowly sat down. “I can leave, but there’s one more thing that needs to be sorted out today. Mom, Dad, you should split from the family and live on your own. Just look at what kind of people these are? They bully me to death and then tell me not to come back, so I’d have no maternal home, right?
Fine, I just won’t come back. If you two stay here, I won’t have any dealings with you either. If you split off and live separately, then from now on, you will be my maternal home. Make your choice, and hurry up.
Everyone was stunned, then immediately spoke up. “You, an married-out daughter, meddling in our family affairs? What does it have to do with you whether we split or not?”
“That’s right. You’re a junior trying to manage your elders’ business. Get lost!”
“Second Brother, what are you waiting for? Drive her out!”
Xu Ziyan just looked at Xu Father and Xu Mother. The two of them looked at the whole big family, then at Xu Ziyan, their faces full of helplessness. Their whole lives, they had listened to their parents. They had never faced such a choice before. But remembering what Xu Ziyan had said earlier—that if they chose blind filial piety, she would never come home again and would cut off contact with them—then they would have no daughter.
And what Xu Ziyan said about who would support them in their old age? They had only just started thinking about this question and finally realized that even though they did the most work in the family, the day they grew old and couldn’t work anymore, it was very likely no one would take care of them. A wave of sorrow washed over them.
So now, when suddenly forced to make a decision, the two exchanged a glance. Xu Father gritted his teeth and said, “We’ll split! Whether you all split or not is up to you, but just split the two of us off.”
Xu Mother added, “What happened this time wasn’t Xiao Yan’s fault. It was Xiuyun’s fault. Bullying Xiao Yan like this is going too far!”
Hearing this, the parents of Xu Xiuyun from the Eldest Branch couldn’t take it. Cursing and swearing, they moved as if to start a fight. “Second Brother, have you two lost your minds? Asking for a beating, huh?”
Seeing this, Xu Ziyan raised her hand and overturned the table!
The cacophony of shattering kettles and bowls startled everyone, even the neighbors who heard the noise started peeking over the wall.
Xu Ziyan said calmly, “Want to fight? Should I call all the Fang family relatives and friends to join in? And then summon the villagers to judge who’s right? Let everyone see what a den of wolves this is, forcing my parents to work like oxen and horses. Are you trying to be landlords? Trying to be capitalists?”
Everyone’s faces changed color with fright, especially when they noticed people were already listening outside. They were terrified. “You can’t say such things recklessly…”
“Then hurry up and split!”
Just as Xu Father was about to say they could leave with just their bags, Xu Ziyan spoke up. “All these years, how much work my parents have done, the whole village has seen it. Take out one hundred yuan, and today’s matter ends here. Otherwise, no one will have a good time today.”
Xu Grandfather raged. “You little bastard still want money? In your dreams!”
Xu Ziyan said, “Then let’s just tell the villagers about your affairs, shall we? Old man, what were you trying to do sneaking eggs to that young widow? Eldest Uncle did too. You two, father and son, wouldn’t… Ew! Disgusting! Third Aunt, that one night you…”
Third Aunt suddenly spoke up. “The Second Branch has worked hard and suffered. If they’re leaving, giving them one hundred yuan is only right. Just give it to them.”
Third Uncle’s expression turned strange, staring hard at Third Aunt. This reaction clearly indicated something was wrong. Did she have a lover outside?
Eldest Aunt was already pinching Eldest Uncle’s ear and questioning him. Xu Ziyan said, “Eldest Aunt, you’ve been sneaking aid to your maternal family, haven’t you? And not just a little at a time.”
Now Eldest Uncle’s confidence surged again. He smacked Eldest Aunt’s hand away and started arguing with her.
The whole big family was in an uproar, noisy and chaotic. Xu Grandmother slapped the kang edge forcefully and threw out one hundred yuan. “Take the money and get lost! From now on, don’t you from the Second Branch ever set foot in our old Xu family home again. Otherwise, I’ll beat you every time I see you!”
【Congratulations, Host, for completing the plot: Causing a huge scene at Grandma’s birthday gathering, making Grandma tremble with anger, severing ties with maternal family. Congratulations, Host, for completing the plot: Indirectly causing parents to be driven out of the house by Grandma.】
Xu Ziyan was delighted. She had completed two plot points at once? Excellent!
She picked up the hundred yuan and stuffed it into Xu Mother’s pocket, smiling. “Aren’t you going to hurry and pack? I’ll wait for you outside.”
After saying that, she picked up all the gifts she had brought. “Since you think Xu Xiuyun is the filial one and look down on the things I brought, I’ll just take them away. Won’t clutter up your view.”
Xu Ziyan left decisively. Fang Nan and Fang Bei followed beside her, their eyes shining brightly. They thought this fairy was amazing. They really liked this new mom.
Yes! They had a fairy for a mom! How wonderful!