Northeast: My Absurd Woman

After a moment of contemplation, Zhang Shuhua shook her head and told Yang Wuni with a smile.

"Auntie, I mean, if there really were people like that, would you agree to them being together?"

Yang Wuni didn't want to keep trying to figure things out, so she asked Zhang Shuhua directly.

"Wu Ni, did your older sister say something to you yesterday?"

Zhang Shuhua's face darkened, as if covered in frost.

He grabbed the broom handle on the kang (a heated brick bed) and squeezed it hard.

One by one, the broom grains fell onto the kang (a heated brick bed), and soon they piled up.

"Auntie, my older sister and Hu Xiao, aren't they a perfect match?"

I've seen Hu Xiao's mother too; she's not crazy anymore.

The basket I bought was woven by Hu Xiao's mother; you can see for yourself if you don't believe me.

Yang Wuni could tell that Zhang Shuhua was angry. She wanted to back out, but she was afraid that Guan Shuyun would blame her.

I had no choice but to bite the bullet and ask the questions I needed to ask.

Whether you stick your neck out or pull it back, you'll still get stabbed, so you might as well just get it over with quickly.

That damn madwoman, she's still alive, she's got a long life ahead of her.

My daughter would never marry that madman's son.

Tell your older sister to give up on this idea.

Even if she invited the Jade Emperor, I would never agree to this.

Three-legged toads are hard to find, but two-legged men are everywhere.

If she insists on this stubborn idea, then she shouldn't come back to this house, and she shouldn't call me "Mom."

Zhang Shuhua twisted the broom tighter and tighter, until only a few broom grains remained.

"Auntie, my older sister didn't say she had to marry Hu Xiao."

Zhang Changyao and I thought Hu Xiao and she were a good match.

If we had known you disagreed, we shouldn't have said those things back then.

Now look what's happened! We managed to persuade my older sister to change her mind, and only then did we realize your attitude.

It's also our fault for being so talkative; we stirred things up without knowing the facts.

"When I get back, I'll sew your nephew's mouth shut, and see if he dares to mess around like that again."

Yang Wuni knew this matter was not simple, and if she pressed on, she was afraid she wouldn't get to smoke any good cigarettes.

So they changed their approach to calm Zhang Shuhua down.

"Why!

Wu Ni, I don't blame you and Chang Yao. Your aunt knows you meant well.

I haven't told you younger generations about what happened here, so it's normal that you don't know.

That's why I always say that incompatible people shouldn't get married.

Even if they got married and stayed together, they wouldn't have a good life together.

I said "your mother-in-law" because your father-in-law is my own brother.

What's the difference between my own life and your mother-in-law's?

Your uncle is extremely ugly. Compared to my fifth brother, who is your father-in-law, your father-in-law is a handsome man.

I don't let him near me at night; I feel nauseous whenever he gets close.

If all else fails, I'll close my eyes and not look at his face.

Because of this, your uncle sneaked into the cornfield in front of Hu Xiao's house and bullied Hu Xiao's mother.

At that time, Hu Xiao's father had just died, and Hu Xiao's mother, who was timid and raising the child alone, did not dare to make a fuss.

Your uncle assumed that this woman agreed to be with him.

After returning, he became less obedient than before.

Whenever we're together, he makes me have to keep my eyes open and look at him.

If I don't listen to him or cooperate with his demands, he punches me in the back.

Later, he used every method he could think of to torment me.

As soon as he gets a chance to bully Hu Xiao's mother, he comes back and torments me even more.

He was so perverted that he wouldn't do anything but prevent me from wearing clothes.

Seeing my cold hands and feet huddled together, he grinned happily.

Half a year passed like this, and Hu Xiaoniang was so frightened that she went mad.

That's when I realized why he treated me that way.

Your uncle was also arrested and imprisoned because of this.

After he came out, he was looked down upon by others, and no one spoke to him or interacted with him.

He stayed home smoking opium and drinking heavily, which eventually triggered tuberculosis, and he died from it.

Zhang Shuhua finished speaking through gritted teeth, her eyes still filled with lingering resentment.

"Auntie, I feel like Hu Xiao's mother is the victim."

According to you, it was her uncle who bullied her, so why do you still hate her?

Yang Wuni frowned; she couldn't understand Zhang Shuhua's behavior.

"Wu Ni, why shouldn't I hate her? If she hadn't kept enduring it, I wouldn't have suffered so much."

If she hadn't gone along with your uncle the first time, how could your uncle have come back and beaten and scolded me?

Even if she sent him straight to jail, I wouldn't hate her.

It was because of her that I endured his bullying time and time again without saying a word, which caused me to suffer humiliation for half a year.

She went crazy, she's better now, but what about me? Who can I tell about the suffering I've endured?

Forget it, let's not talk about this crazy woman. I get angry just thinking about her.

Zhang Shuhua rubbed her snot on the broom in her hand.

He tilted his head, not wanting to talk about this with Yang Wuni anymore.

"Auntie, I think what you said is all correct."

All these years you've helped your kids, and you still have to put up with my uncle's temper.

If it were me, I'd be even angrier than that.

However, there's something I don't know if you've thought about.

Hu Xiao's mother had just lost her husband and was raising her child alone.

She was bullied by an extremely ugly man again, but dared not speak out.

Is the bitterness in her heart greater or less than yours?

How has she been coping for the past six months? Why did she go crazy?

How did her child survive after she went mad?

That little boy now supports himself and his mother by weaving baskets.

He cleaned his mother's house spotlessly, and there wasn't a speck of dust in it.

Will a child raised like this be good to your daughter?

Hu Xiao and his mother don't hate their uncle, so why do you hate them?

Yang Wuni spoke her mind without expecting any response from Zhang Shuhua, and then got up and left Zhang Shuhua's house.

On the way, she thought of Hu Xiao and his mother's experiences and couldn't help but burst into tears.

"Yang Wuni, your Zhang Changyao is really something, he's turned my mother-in-law into his mother."

Ma Pengsheng just came back and said that my mother-in-law bought him a set of clothes and also bought Zhang Changyao a set of clothes.

Tell me, what kind of love potion did your husband give my mother-in-law?

Zheng Meizhi, who had been waiting at the intersection, stood with her hands on her hips and blocked Yang Wuni's way home.

"Zheng Meizhi, you're talking nonsense! How could your mother-in-law possibly buy clothes for my Zhang Changyao?"

If you have nothing to say, then don't say anything. What's the point of babbling on when you have nothing to say?

Yang Wuni glared at Zheng Meizhi, then walked around her and continued home.

"Yang Wuni, you stop right there. The old woman I'm talking about isn't Liu Zhaodi."

Ma Pengsheng's biological mother was named Zhao Xiulan, who is now Zhang Kaiju's wife.

I'm talking about Zhao Xiulan, your mother-in-law. Don't play dumb with me.

Zheng Meizhi ran a few steps behind Yang Wuni, overtook her, and then turned around to block Yang Wuni's path.

"Zheng Meizhi, you said it yourself, Zhao Xiulan is now my father-in-law Zhang Kaiju's wife."

In other words, she is now Zhang Changyao's mother, my mother-in-law.

Given her status, what was wrong with her buying clothes for Zhang Changyao?