The slightly warm atmosphere is ruined by by a loud piercing voice.
" Su Ruimei you vile woman. Come out here."
Mother Su freezes. Her expression is cold.
" Who is that?" Yehua asks.
" My mother in-law." Mother Su replies.
( Well, well, well, it seems like this old hag has an old hag of her own. I'll just sit back and watch the drama, what has any of this got to do with me?)
Mother Su's eyes dim. Then she smiles self-mockingly. Since when did She, Su Ruimei, start expecting help from others? Not to mention from a demon daughter in-law.
She sighs and goes outside.
Old woman Xiao was standing akimbo glaring at Mother Su.
Old Woman Xiao was not a woman blessed with a pleasant face.
Her eyes were small and triangular, sharp as two beads pressed beneath perpetually furrowed brows. Her nose was broad and flat, sitting heavily in the middle of her face, while her thin lips seemed permanently twisted into a dissatisfied line. Deep creases gathered between her brows and around her mouth, made more pronounced by years of frowning, scolding, and cursing at anyone unfortunate enough to cross her path.
Even when she was silent, she looked as though she were preparing to find fault with someone.
And when she opened her mouth, the impression only became worse.
Old Woman Xiao had a talent for turning the most ordinary sentence into an insult and the mildest inconvenience into a reason to curse the heavens, the ancestors, and three generations of whoever had caused it.
With her narrow, bead-like eyes glaring from beneath her knitted brows and her flat nose wrinkling whenever she became displeased, she had the sort of face that could make a child reconsider stealing an extra piece of sweet potato.
She was not frightening because she was particularly fierce-looking.
She was frightening because she looked as though she had been born dissatisfied with the entire world and had every intention of making sure the world knew it.
" Su Ruimei, you jinx, sl*t. Why weren't you drowned in a pig cage sooner? Else why would you be able to strut your fox face around while being incredibly useless. Oh the ancestors were right, a bad wife is a curse to three generations. You've cursed your husband, you've cursed your son, what? Do you want to curse this old lady too. Pah! I'm very tough." Old woman Xiao went on a rampage immediately she opened her mouth.
Mother Su could feel the looks and accusing points of the villagers.
Did she care? Yes.
Would she show it? No.
She had learnt to endure the insults and accusation. In the nation, filial piety reigned supreme. Any disrespect to the old woman might lead to the old woman threatening to report to the authorities.
Her stupid brother in-law, studied for many years without passing any exam yet the only knowledge he seemed to retain was the power of filial piety.
" Mother What's the problem?" Mother Su asks suppressing her irritation.
" The problem is that you are very vicious. I had asked you for money and you gave me so little and claimed you had no money. Where did you get the money to buy a daughter in-law? Why waste money getting a wife for someone who is dead?" Old woman Xiao says.
" My son is not dead. He went to war, he'll come back " Mother Su says trembling with failed to suppress rage.
' Pah! If he's not dead, then has he been lounging on a cloud for three years. Better awaken from your delusion. You married into the Xiao family and in ghost you belong to the Xiao family. You have to pay filial piety on behalf of your husband and son." Old woman Xiao says.
The other villagers just watch the excitement with noone bothering to stand up for mother Su. After all this was the Xiao family village, they all shared the same ancestor. They would support their kin.
Su Ruimei moved with her grandfather to the Xiao family village when she was 11 years old. Rumour has it that their family were merchants who offended a noble resulting in the death of the entire household except Su Ruimei and her grandfather.
" Mother, I have no money." Su Ruimei says.
" You have no money or you simply don't want to give? Su Ruimei you b*tch. You dare to disobey me? Have you found an old man touching your chest and giving you favours? I always knew you were a restless one. Why haven't you been struck down by lightning? You wh*re, I knew there was no way a woman could survive so long without support. You are simply opening your legs, ridden by thousands of.... Ow!"
Old woman Xiao's tirade was interrupted when a stone hits her on her mouth.
Da Yehua grabs a broom and starts hitting old woman Xiao