TCFSRMR |Chapter 31

“It’s a holiday, and they’re still making the kid study. What if she gets worn out?”

Yin Zhaodi still wanted to make one last effort, but before Miao Xiuxiu could even say anything, the old lady beside her was the first one to get unhappy:

“Enough. Look at your natal family, what good would it do for Yingying and Hengkeng to go over with you? They’d only be wronged. Not to mention Yingying and Hengkeng, even for Tingting and Xiaojie, I wouldn’t be willing to let them go over.”

In this world, what grandfather did not dote on his granddaughter? Only their Yin family was like this. As for Yin family’s mother-in-law, the old lady also looked down on her very much, feeling that she was just an old muddlehead with no opinions of her own and weak to boot.

Yin Zhaodi was a little embarrassed.

Fortunately, that small disappointment over not being able to take her nephews and nieces back to show off was quickly cured by the holiday gifts the old lady had prepared for her this year.

Besides pastries, the old lady had also just made the call that when she went back, she should break off a few ears of corn to bring over to her in-laws. According to the old lady, the corn also had credit from the two children, Shiting and Shijie, so breaking off some corn ears would count as the granddaughters honoring their maternal grandfather and grandmother.

Yin Zhaodi immediately broke into smiles when she heard this.

Not to mention anything else, just these ears of corn were enough to make her proud. In an instant, she also lost the last trace of resentment toward Miao Xiuxiu.

Although Shiting and Shijie had also helped with weeding and watering, in the end, the corn had grown so well because of Shiying and Shiheng’s credit, and with the money from selling soy sauce in her pocket, she had already taken advantage of her sister-in-law’s family quite a lot.

Early in the morning on the sixteenth day of the eighth lunar month, Yin Zhaodi picked up the holiday gifts and happily took her two daughters back to her natal family.

After witnessing the wonderful effect of the Shi family’s “watering miracle device,” Liang Dacheng and Shi Guoan discussed it and wanted to hurry and install it in the field to try it out first.

Just so happened that they did not need to go out into the fields these past two days because of the holiday, so they gathered several carpenters from the village to come to Shi Guoping’s place to learn, and then Shi Guoping would be credited with full work points.

Compared with going together to visit relatives, Yin Zhaodi naturally thought it was more proper for the men to stay home and earn work points. Shi Guoping could not go, so Yin Zhaodi could only take her two daughters over.

There was also a little interlude during this period.

When Yin Zhaodi brought up taking Shiheng and Shiying along, Shiting instinctively wanted to object, but afraid of being scolded by Yin Zhaodi, although she did not dare say it directly, she kept desperately making eye signals at Shiying, indicating that she absolutely must not agree.

After Miao Xiuxiu found an excuse to refuse, she and Shijie sisters both went to Shiying’s room and told Shiying that even if Yin Zhaodi secretly came to ask her, she absolutely could not agree.

“… My maternal grandfather’s family is not some good place to go…”

Her maternal grandmother was a kind person, but her maternal grandfather Yin Shuanzhu was just too fierce.

The two of them felt like they were being punished every time they followed Yin Zhaodi back.

“… No matter which time we go over, my mom gets scolded.”

In fact, just as the old lady from the Shi family had said, not only Yin Zhaodi, but even when facing Shiting and Shijie, Yin Shuanzhu never had a good face. More than once, he had scolded Yin Zhaodi in front of the two of them for being hopeless, saying that she was born with a poor命 and besides being able to give birth to money-losing goods, she had no other ability.

“I don’t even want to go with my mom.” Shiting complained softly.

Which child, following the adults to visit relatives, would not want to eat something good?

But the tasty things at her maternal grandmother’s house were all locked in the cabinet. The key to the cabinet was held by her maternal grandfather, Yin Shuanzhu.

Most of what was inside went into her uncle’s mouth, and the rest was mostly enjoyed by Yin Shuanzhu.

Only occasionally could they, the granddaughters, get a little of it.

And after going there, they still had to, just like Yin Zhaodi, take on all the work of cooking for the whole family.

Yin Zhaodi was simply busier than she was at home…

Shiting was the eldest and had always been used to looking after the younger siblings below her, so she naturally felt that this was her maternal grandmother’s family. She and Shijie had no choice but to go with their mother once for the holiday, but there was no need for the younger brother and sister from the eldest uncle’s family to go over and suffer that grievance.

“Otherwise, let my mom tell Second Aunt that she should give you all make-up lessons too, and then you can stay at home.” Shiying also lowered her voice and quietly told them.

Shijie was obviously somewhat tempted, blinking as she stared at Shiying, but Shiting refused:

“Dad can’t go. If Xiaojie and I also don’t go along, Mom will get scolded even worse.”

Although Yin Shuanzhu did not like the two granddaughters, he was not just ordinary vain. If it was only Yin Zhaodi going over alone during a big holiday, who knew how he would act up again.

Hearing Shiting say this, Shijie also fell silent.

Then she thought that this year’s holiday gifts were much richer. Maybe if grandpa was in a good mood, he would not scold Mom again and would be a little kinder to them too.

After breakfast, Yin Zhaodi called Shiting and Shijie to put on clean clothes, then cleaned up the cart at home, spread a mat on it, let Shijie hold the gifts and sit on top of it, loaded the back with a brush fence, and the three of them set off to visit relatives.

The old lady and Miao Xiuxiu were both people who had no natal family to visit, and even Shi Guorong could not make it back.

Ever since Shi Guorong married over, especially during holidays, the matters of the stove and pots had been almost entirely handed over to Shi Guorong by Old Lady Li.

Today the three daughters of the Yin family and their sons-in-law were all going back to their natal families, so Shi Guorong had to be busy at home for the whole day and could only come over tomorrow.

The whole family had originally thought that Yin Zhaodi, Shiying, and Shijie would probably not be back until the latter half of the afternoon, but unexpectedly, just after they finished lunch over here, Shiting hurriedly brought Shijie into the house.

The two of them had no idea how long they had run. Not only was there a lot of dust on them, but their hair was wet and clumped in strands stuck to their faces. Their eyes were also red, clearly from crying.

“What happened?” Miao Xiuxiu and the old lady were just cleaning up the stove when they saw this and were startled.

“Grandma, Auntie, can we not go to Mom’s maternal family with Mom anymore?” Shijie’s voice even carried a sob.

“What happened? Where’s your mom?”

“My mom is still being scolded by grandpa.” Shiting’s eyes were red too.

She had thought that since they brought so many gifts, grandpa would treat them better.

Unexpectedly, after going there, grandpa still did not even look at them properly. Even more outrageous was that not long after they sat down, an unfamiliar woman came over with a seventeen- or eighteen-year-old boy.

That woman said that by seniority, the two sisters Shiting should call her Fifth Maternal Grandmother. Then she grabbed Shiting’s hand and asked all sorts of questions.

When Shiting noticed that the boy kept sneaking glances at her from time to time, one look after another, she felt something was wrong. In the end, that auntie even held her hand, asked how old she was, and then smiled and told the boy’s family that Shiting had a big butt and would be good at bearing children…

It was only at that point that Shiting realized that they had actually come to arrange a blind date, and the blind date was not for her little uncle, but for her, a granddaughter from the Yin family.

Shiting was dumbfounded at the time. She shoved the matchmaker, who was about to call her “Fifth Maternal Grandmother,” away and ran out. Shijie had been Shiting’s little follower since she was young, so seeing her sister run out like her life depended on it, she naturally followed her out too.

“Has Zhaodi gone crazy?” Even though the old lady had a good temper, she was quite angry now.

“Tingni’er, don’t cry. Your mom definitely wouldn’t do such a foolish thing… As for your grandpa, there’s your grandma and dad, and your uncles too. It’s not their turn to point fingers at our family.”

The old lady softly comforted her granddaughter, but dissatisfaction toward Yin Zhaodi kept surging upward.

How had the second daughter-in-law’s mother been acting? She actually just let that old bastard from the Yin family trample all over their Shi family child like this?

Then she remembered another thing:

“Have you eaten? Grandma will make you some bian shi to eat, okay? Go wash your faces first, it’ll be ready soon.”

At noon the family had mixed meat filling and made dumplings, and there were still some left on the bamboo tray.

“No.” Shijie wiped her tears and honestly said.

It was just when they were about to eat that the matchmaker came over. Even though they had eaten enough at home in the morning, it was already this late, and after running all the way back, they were both starving now.

After the dumplings were done, Shijie ate a big bowl. Shiting, however, because she had something on her mind, only ate a few before saying she was full.

Although Grandma and Auntie both had sworn it, she still felt terrified in her heart. After following along to visit relatives there more than once, Shiting knew best that her mom was just like a little quail in front of grandpa, not daring to resist at all. If Mom really listened to grandpa and did not let her study, but forced her to get married, then what would she do?

Just as she was in a daze, she heard the front gate outside make a sound. Shiying poked her head out to look, and wasn’t it exactly Yin Zhaodi, whose eyes were swollen red from crying?

Shiting also saw her mother coming in from outside and immediately stiffened all over. Shijie had obviously been frightened earlier too, so frightened that she hurriedly hid behind Shiting.

“Shiting, get out here for me!” Yin Zhaodi was clearly a little furious. After setting down the cart she had been pulling, she shouted toward this side.

Then she angrily complained to the old lady, who had come out of the room after hearing the noise:

“I’ve never seen such an unwise one… So many people were watching, and she just shoved the person away like that. My fifth aunt from my natal family fell flat on her face…”

She had been busy in the kitchen originally, and when she heard the noise and went to the main room to look, the room was already in complete disarray. A layer of melon seeds and candy pieces was scattered on the floor, and her fifth aunt, who had such a way with words, was sitting on the ground going “ow ow ow”不停.

The moment she entered, her father, Yin Shuanzhu, kicked straight at her. Yin Zhaodi was kicked so hard that she fell to the ground then and there, and even now her lower abdomen still hurt terribly. Not daring to argue with her father, Yin Zhaodi naturally aimed all her anger at Shiting.

The more she thought about it, the more furious she became. She casually grabbed a broom and was about to smack Shiting with it:

“You shameless thing, is this how I usually teach you at home? If you’re like this, how can your mom still have the face to return to her natal family? Today none of you are allowed to stop me. Watch me today, I’ll…”

But the broom did not manage to land on Shiting. It was grabbed away.

Yin Zhaodi turned around, and it was Miao Xiuxiu running over. Behind Miao Xiuxiu was the old lady from the Shi family, her face full of anger.

That instantly made her even more aggrieved.

She had said long ago that children needed to be beaten, that if they were not beaten they would not amount to anything. But Big Brother and Big Sister-in-law just would not listen. Even the old man and old lady usually could not bear to scold the child once, and now look, they had clearly spoiled things.

“Big Sister-in-law, let go. Today I’m going to peel off her skin no matter what… Which hand pushed someone? I’ll cut it off myself…”

But before she even finished speaking, the broom was snatched by the old lady, who then flung it at her:

“Let me see if you dare touch my Tingni’er!”

The broom fell onto Yin Zhaodi’s back, then dropped down and hit Yin Zhaodi’s lower leg.

“Ow, Mom, what are you doing?” Yin Zhaodi came back to her senses and immediately looked a little miserable. After so many years of marriage, this was the first time she had seen the old lady so angry, and for a moment she felt both frightened and wronged.

“What am I doing? What do you mean what am I doing? Tingting is your daughter. You didn’t even ask her what happened first, and you came back wanting to hit her. Is that how a mother acts? What, does a broom hurt less when it hits someone? Tingting is your daughter, you’re her biological mother, so why are you treating her like a stepmother would? No, even stepmothers treat children better than you do!”

Just then, Shi Guoan and his brothers came in from outside. Yin Zhaodi raised her eyes and saw Shi Guoping, and tears immediately fell:

“Guoping…”

The man had always dote on her quite a lot. Before, when she was beaten at her natal family, Shi Guoping would immediately get angry after seeing it, so that Yin’s father no longer dared to beat or scold Yin Zhaodi in front of Shi Guoping. Seeing the old lady being so fierce to her now, he would definitely protect her too.

Unexpectedly, Shi Guoping ignored his pitiful wife and instead hurriedly asked the old lady:

“Mom, what’s wrong with you? You’re older now, you can’t get so angry. If there’s anything, just tell me…”

Seeing her son, the old lady got even angrier.

The Ten-Mile Slope was only a dozen or so li away from Yin Zhaodi’s natal family, and they knew the basics of the Yin family. It was a famously patriarchal family.

The sons had been treated like gold nuggets since childhood, while the daughters were not even as good as the grass by the roadside.

There were two daughters above the Yin family’s son. One was sent away as soon as she was born, cradled and given to someone else by the Yin family. The other died not long after she was out of confinement.

People said that the child who died young did not actually have any serious illness, just a cough and fever, but Yin Shuanzhu and his old mother simply refused to take the child to see a doctor, and they dragged the child into pneumonia until in the end the little life was gone.

When the several daughters grew up and reached the age to talk marriage, all three daughters were treated as “clearly priced goods”; whoever offered the higher betrothal gift would be given to that family. As far as the old lady knew, just for the sake of coveting a few extra dozen yuan in betrothal gifts, Yin Shuanzhu had actually promised his youngest daughter to an idiot.

Fortunately, the Yin family’s youngest daughter was not the kind to swallow her grievances and let it go. She went straight and caused a scene in the commune.

Yin Shuanzhu was heavily criticized above for his arranged marriage and had no choice but to back down.

Back when the two families were arranging the marriage, after inquiring clearly about the Yin family’s affairs, the old lady had been somewhat displeased then.

It was not that she looked down on the Yin family for being poor, but that she felt girls from such a family, when they grew up, had children, and became mothers themselves, might copy the pattern and treat their own children the same way. Add to that the fact that Yin Shuanzhu’s demanded betrothal gift was especially high, and the old lady felt somewhat unhappy in her heart, thinking that her eldest son’s allowance had all gone to prop up such a family.

The Shi brothers were all filial. Hearing the old lady say this, Shi Guoping agreed to look at other families instead.

Unexpectedly, when Yin Shuanzhu heard that the Shi family wanted to back out, he immediately flew into a rage. He did not do anything to Shi Guoping, but he took up a child’s-arm-thick stick and went to beat Yin Zhaodi, while saying over and over that Yin Zhaodi must have done something wrong for the son-in-law to suddenly back out.

At the time it was still summer. With one blow like that, Yin Zhaodi was whipped so hard that she fell flying outward.

Seeing Yin Zhaodi screaming over and over yet not daring to dodge at all, Shi Guoping was clearly frightened stiff. He rushed up directly to protect Yin Zhaodi and also promised Yin Shuanzhu that he would not change his mind, and that he would go back and bring the betrothal money over right away.

The old lady was also a kind-hearted one. After hearing her son talk about the Yin family’s situation, she also pitied Yin Zhaodi’s circumstances terribly. Besides, the second son’s meaning was obviously that he had taken a liking to Yin Zhaodi. Softened by compassion, she ultimately took out all the allowance her eldest son had sent back and made up the amount of the betrothal gift that the Yin family had demanded.

After she married in, she also discovered that Yin Zhaodi was indeed not bad, for example, she worked diligently without complaint and was not stingy with effort. There was only one thing: just as she had expected, when it came to teaching children, she was far too stubborn. Not only did she fly into a rage at the drop of a hat, she also single-mindedly wanted to have a son. On the contrary, she was obedient to that natal father who always beat her.

She had always wanted to be a cow and a horse for her natal family, fine, let that be it. But now it was even better, because she actually wanted to sell off Shiting’s marriage to her natal family too.

Knowing that daughters-in-law had a hard time, the old lady had never raised her voice at Miao Xiuxiu or Yin Zhaodi. Right now she was truly furious, and the Shi family had no precedent of beating daughters-in-law, so she picked up the broom in anger and struck Shi Guoping’s back:

“What? You still dare ask me what’s wrong? What exactly is wrong with our Tingni’er that you have to treat her like this?”

“Let me tell you, today I, this old lady, am going to stand up for my own! From now on, our Shi family has no such relatives as the Yin family, and our Tingting and Xiaojie also have no maternal grandfather or maternal grandmother… Whoever dares to take my granddaughters over again, don’t blame me for turning my face and not recognizing people.”

The old lady had always been gentle and virtuous. Forget beating people like this, she rarely even raised her voice.

Even the most mischievous Shi Guoan, from childhood to adulthood, had never been willing to lay a finger on him. Now that she suddenly got so angry, the whole family was immediately frightened stiff.

Shi Guoping thudded down onto his knees, hugging the old lady’s leg:

“Mom, Mom, if you want to hit someone, hit me, just don’t anger yourself… Give me the broom, I’ll hit myself…”

Shiting and Shijie also ran over, hugging Grandma and starting to cry.

Yin Zhaodi was completely dumbfounded, and she could not figure out at all why, when it was clearly her daughter who did not know proper manners, it ended up with the man being the one beaten? Immediately, her heart ached terribly.

Yet Shiting and Shijie both looked as though they had suffered a great grievance, refusing to even look at her. Yin Zhaodi, furious and angry in turn, also started to cry:

“Mom, what are you doing? It’s clearly Shiting who was being ignorant. Why are you hitting Guoping? You even said I was heartless…”

“Shut up!” Shi Guoping turned back and roared. With that jolt, Yin Zhaodi only then mumbled and dared not speak.

“Zhaodi, go back to the room first. Don’t stand here.” Miao Xiuxiu hurriedly stepped forward and led Yin Zhaodi into the room.

After entering the room, Yin Zhaodi threw herself onto the bed and started crying, while also complaining softly to Miao Xiuxiu:

“Big Sister-in-law, what does this even count as? Tingting isn’t the one I gave birth to, so why can’t I manage her?”

Hearing her go back and forth saying this, Miao Xiuxiu’s face also turned cold, and she simply said directly:

“Zhaodi, let me ask you, do you really not know or are you pretending not to know?”

“What do you mean, really not know or pretending not to know?”

“Your natal family had a matchmaker go over to look at Tingting. You knew about this, right? It should be the so-called Fifth Aunt you mentioned…”

“My fifth aunt really is a matchmaker, but when she went over, she was there to arrange a marriage for my younger brother…”

“And you’re still speaking up for them! No matter what, you’re Tingting’s mother. How could you just watch them do something like this!” Shi Guoping lifted the curtain and came in, his face also full of rage.

The men of the Shi family did not beat their wives. Shi Guoping also pitied his wife for having a hard time at her natal family, so usually he practically never even turned red with Yin Zhaodi.

Even when Yin Zhaodi constantly worried about her natal family, Shi Guoping mostly just turned a blind eye.

But now her father-in-law had actually set his sights on his daughter, and Shi Guoping really could not endure it anymore.

“Dad…” Shiting also came in behind them. Seeing Shi Guoping’s fury, she instinctively moved to block in front of Yin Zhaodi, while shedding tears and explaining for Yin Zhaodi, “Mom was busy in the kitchen then and really didn’t know what was happening in the main room…”

—

As the first child of the Shi family, Shiting had been very loved by her family since the moment she was born. If one had to say who had caused her the only grievance, it was actually her own mother, Yin Zhaodi. Even so, Shiting still usually protected Yin Zhaodi very much.

Seeing that Yin Zhaodi still did not say anything, Miao Xiuxiu also got somewhat angry:

“We know what kind of temper our Tingting has, Zhaodi. She’s not that kind of troublesome child. Up till now, you still don’t believe Tingting’s words?”

“It’s not that I don’t believe my daughter, it’s just that how could my parents do such a thing?” Yin Zhaodi said with a sob in her voice.

“Then isn’t that still not believing your daughter?” Shi Guoping was even more furious. He raised his hand and went to pull Yin Zhaodi up. “Get up. We’re going to your natal family to ask them clearly.”

Usually, thinking that those were at least the wife’s parents, even if they did something not quite right, the family would not bother with them for Yin Zhaodi’s sake. But today that side had truly gone too far.

Seeing Shi Guoping serious for real, Yin Zhaodi immediately got a little afraid:

“Why are you dragging me? Anyway, whatever I say, you never believe it…”

Shi Guoping did not bother arguing with her, and just dragged her up from the bed:

“Fine, then we’ll go ask your father face to face.”

Seeing the two of them tugging and really heading out, Shi Guoliang also got a little flustered and hurried to the main room to call the old lady:

“Mom, are you really going to let Second Brother and Second Sister-in-law go over?”

“Go.” The old lady was truly enraged this time, and clenched her teeth as she said, “Your second sister-in-law is the kind of person who won’t shed tears until she sees the coffin. If I don’t let her see with her own eyes what kind of people her natal family are, who knows how she might continue trampling on my two granddaughters in the future.”

In fact, the old lady was really right.

Yin Zhaodi had already concluded that it was Shiting who had lied. After all, no matter what her parents were like, they were still the grandparents of the children. How unreliable would one have to be to think of bypassing the child’s grandparents and parents to find a husband for Shiting?

Only, seeing Shi Guoping’s darkened face, Yin Zhaodi did not dare defend her parents, and could only keep wiping away tears as she followed behind Shi Guoping.

If this had been usual, seeing her so wronged, Shi Guoping would have definitely said something gentle. Today, however, he simply gave her a cold look and, ignoring the startled, foolish-looking Yin Zhaodi, strode ahead.

Wasn’t Yin Zhaodi just able to keep up with Shi Guoping’s pace by trotting?

The two of them entered the Shi family’s small courtyard one after the other like that. Just as they stood still in the yard, they heard a burst of noise coming from inside:

“Brother Shuanzhu is not the kind of person you can deal with like this…”

Then Yin Shuanzhu’s subservient voice sounded too:

“Fifth Auntie, don’t be anxious first…”

“I’m not anxious? How am I not anxious? I made a solemn promise to someone that as long as they nodded, this match would definitely work… And what happened? Your granddaughter pushed me straight to the ground… Ow, my old waist…”

“Fifth Auntie, don’t stand there, come sit, come sit…”

“Sit what sit? Didn’t you see how they just scolded me! I’ve arranged so many matches for people, and this is the first time I’ve been talked about like this. If it weren’t for your granddaughter, would I be in this state? … Looking at it, you’re just trying to make a fool of me!”

“Ow, Fifth Auntie, don’t say that, this is all a misunderstanding, a misunderstanding… That girl was just shy, that’s why she was so clueless… When I tell Zhaodi, this marriage will definitely work…”

Yin Shuanzhu said this with complete confidence.

His eldest daughter, Yin Zhaodi, was different from the third daughter. Since childhood she had always been the most obedient. He did not even ask a single question before making the decision for Shiting, and it was because of this.

With the obedient, spineless look of his eldest daughter, even if you lent her ten times the courage, she still would not dare oppose him.

Unexpectedly, just as he finished speaking, the door was pushed open at once, and his son-in-law Shi Guoping, who was well over one meter eighty tall, was standing there with a dark face.

Behind Shi Guoping was Yin Zhaodi, whose face had gone pale, looking as though she could not believe what she had just heard:

“Dad, how could you do something like this? Tingting, no matter what, is your granddaughter!”

As Yin Zhaodi spoke, her voice had already turned tearful.

Apparently not having expected Yin Zhaodi to actually return, Yin Shuanzhu also froze for a moment, then flew into a rage. He turned around, grabbed a stool, and hurled it at Yin Zhaodi:

“What, you want to rebel against your own father?”

His intention was to kill the chicken to scare the monkeys, to use beating Yin Zhaodi to frighten Shi Guoping. Unexpectedly, Shi Guoping grabbed another chair with a dark face and swung it over as well. The two stools collided in the air, making a loud “bang,” and when they fell, they smashed into a low table, not only breaking the stool into pieces but also shattering the two teacups on it.

Yin Shuanzhu was so frightened that he let out an “ah”.

Looking at it, it was less like his son-in-law was trying to smash the family’s stool and more like he was trying to smash his father-in-law himself.

Old Lady Yin also hurriedly ran over:

“Guoping…”

Usually, taking pity on his mother-in-law, especially since she was already so old and still had to be beaten by her husband from time to time, Shi Guoping sympathized with her, and would often deliberately buy her some food and clothes.

This time, however, he did not even look at Old Lady Yin, and instead stared viciously at Yin Shuanzhu:

“Zhaodi is now a daughter-in-law of the Shi family, and it’s not your natal family’s turn to beat her anymore!”

Then he shifted his gaze to the fifth aunt, who was standing there dumbfounded:

“I’ll say this right here today. No matter who it is, if they dare set their sights on my daughter Shi Guoping’s daughter, I guarantee they won’t get away with it.”

This Fifth Auntie was seeing such a scene for the first time. Frightened, she staggered backward and hit her head against the west wall. Goodness, earlier she had already been pushed down by Shiting, and her butt hurt terribly. Now she had also hit her head, and Fifth Auntie truly felt she had been unlucky for eight lifetimes. Furious, she got up and headed outside:

“What am I even doing here… None of you stop me. In the future, for matters of your family’s matchmaking, don’t look for me again. Even if your son remains a bachelor, don’t expect me to help your family again!”

Hearing the fifth aunt say this, Yin Shuanzhu immediately panicked and wanted to chase after her:

“How can that do, Fifth Auntie…”

But the other party acted as if she had not heard him and ran off in a flash.

Yin Shuanzhu was simply unreliable. To think that earlier he had solemnly claimed that both the daughter and son-in-law listened to him, that he had already discussed it with his daughter and son-in-law, and wanted to use his granddaughter to exchange for a wife for his son. Looking at things now, it had all been lies.

Not to mention that Yin Shuanzhu’s son-in-law was obviously not someone to be trifled with. If she kept getting involved, maybe she really would get beaten.

Watching the matchmaker run off in a flash until there was no sign of her, Yin Shuanzhu’s face instantly turned blue-black.

If it came to real fighting, he naturally could not be Shi Guoping’s match.

But that did not mean he was willing to bow his head.

What was the point of raising daughters all this way if not to marry them off and have them support their brothers after marriage?

As for the son-in-law, since he was willing to marry the daughter, he should naturally take on the responsibility of helping the younger brother-in-law too:

“You two cursed bastards, you just can’t stand to see the family doing well, is that it?”

“… What use would I have for a daughter like you? You might as well have been pressed into the chamber pot and drowned the moment you were born!”

Yet because he scolded them like that, Yin Zhaodi not only did not refute him, she was simply like a quail, and besides trembling, she did not know how to respond at all.

The reason he had insisted on bringing Yin Zhaodi back was to make her see her natal father’s true colors. Now that the purpose had been achieved, Shi Guoping also did not want to continue wasting words with Yin Shuanzhu.

He directly called to Yin Zhaodi:

“What are you standing there dumb for? Let’s go.”

Only then did Yin Zhaodi seem to come alive again, not daring to make a sound as she turned and followed him out.

Unexpectedly, before they had even reached the courtyard gate, her natal mother’s cry of surprise sounded from the room:

“His father, his father, what’s wrong with you…”

Then she shouted toward the outside:

“Guoping, Zhaodi, something big has happened. Come over and take a look, what’s wrong with your father?”

Yin Zhaodi stopped at once and, almost on the verge of tears, said to Shi Guoping:

“Guoping…”

After all, he was her own father-in-law. If something really happened, they could not just watch him die, could they?

In the end, Shi Guoping turned back.

Only after entering the room did he see that Yin Shuanzhu was lying on the ground.

Looking at his eyes tightly closed, it was clearly the appearance of someone who had passed out.

Shi Guoping did not say much, and directly went over to pinch Yin Shuanzhu’s philtrum. With a hard press of his hand, Yin Shuanzhu opened his eyes with an “ow.” When he saw Shi Guoping crouching beside him, he turned his head away angrily:

“Don’t play the benevolent act after the cat has cried for the mouse. Do you think I don’t know? You two probably can’t wait for me to die sooner.”

“Dad…” Yin Zhaodi started crying again. “Why are you saying that? If it doesn’t work, let Guoping take you to the hospital and have a look!”

“Have him send me to the hospital? I’m still afraid he’ll strangle me halfway there!” Yin Shuanzhu said, his neck stiff.

Shi Guoping ignored him, and only called Yin Zhaodi to leave.

“If you want to leave, then leave. Why are you calling my daughter for?” Yin Shuanzhu became even angrier.

“Guoping ah,” Old Lady Yin also wiped her tears and begged the son-in-law, “With his father like this, he probably can’t do without someone by his side. Just let Zhaodi stay at home for a few days…”

Shi Guoping did not take up the old lady’s words either, and with a dark face, said to Yin Zhaodi:

“Go home!”

Yin Shuanzhu and his old wife immediately looked at each other in dismay.

Clearly, they had thought earlier that this eldest son-in-law was an honest man. How had it suddenly looked like he was not taking soft or hard approaches at all?

Seeing that Yin Zhaodi really was being dragged away, Yin Shuanzhu simply lay back down on the ground.

“His father, his father, what’s wrong with you…”

Yin Zhaodi, who was following Shi Guoping out, slowed down more and more. In the end, unable to bear it, she quietly begged Shi Guoping:

“Guoping, you go back first. I’ll stay at my natal family for a few days. My father looks like he might not be doing so well…”

“Fine then, if you want to stay, stay,” Shi Guoping’s voice was ice-cold. “Stay in your natal family as long as you want. You don’t need to come back to the Shi family either.”

“Guoping, don’t scare me…” Yin Zhaodi’s tears immediately fell even more urgently. “What they did before was indeed wrong, but no matter what, they’re still my parents…”

If it had been usual, seeing her like this, Shi Guoping would already have softened. Today, however, he only looked at her coldly, and, ignoring the frightened, dumbstruck Yin Zhaodi, directly pushed open the door and left.

Old Lady Yin, who saw this through the window, immediately became a little worried.

The old man’s plan had been to use pressure on Yin Zhaodi to force Shi Guoping to give in. Earlier, seeing that the eldest son-in-law also seemed to value Zhaodi quite a bit, they had thought there was a chance. How had it turned out now that Shi Guoping was basically as firm as a mountain, determined to break with them?

No matter what, Yin Zhaodi was still a piece of flesh that had fallen from her body. However much she wanted to plan for her son, if she really caused her eldest daughter’s family to be torn apart, the old lady felt she still could not bear it.

As for Yin Zhaodi, who had been given the final ultimatum, she was already holding onto the door frame, unable to even stand steadily.

In fact, this time, the old lady really had guessed right.

If Yin Zhaodi were truly stubborn and willing, for the sake of her younger brother, to sacrifice her daughter, Shi Guoping felt that the fate between him and Yin Zhaodi would be completely over.

Only, what Shi Guoping had not expected was that just after he left the village, he was blocked by his younger brother-in-law, Yin Jiabao:

“Brother-in-law…”

Speaking of this younger brother-in-law Yin Jiabao, he was not some bad person. It was just that because he had been spoiled by the whole family since childhood, he developed the habit of being lazy, glib, and smooth-talking.

As far as Shi Guoping knew, several previous matchmaking attempts had fallen through. Besides the fact that people found out about the Yin family’s patriarchal attitude, there was also one very important point: they had concluded that Yin Jiabao was a loafer and not the kind of man who knew how to live a proper life.

When he used to come over, Shi Guoping would still call Yin Jiabao aside and privately tell him that now that he was grown, he should also have a man’s sense of responsibility. This time, however, seeing Yin Jiabao, he felt not ordinary annoyance.

His father-in-law had actually set his sights on Tingting for the sake of his younger brother-in-law. Right now, let alone talking to Yin Jiabao, he even had the urge to pin him down and beat him up.

Yin Jiabao obviously already knew what had happened at home, and kept forcing a smile at Shi Guoping:

“Brother-in-law, don’t be angry. Isn’t it all because my dad is too arbitrary in how he does things… this not allowed, that not allowed, he really thinks he’s the emperor or something…”

Seeing that Shi Guoping remained gloomy-faced and ignored him, the little smile on Yin Jiabao’s face also could not hold up. He trotted after Shi Guoping pitifully:

“Brother-in-law, good brother-in-law, all the mistakes are mine. Please be magnanimous and don’t hold a petty person’s offense against me… It’s all because I, as the uncle, am useless and dragged Tingting down…”

“You even know it was you who dragged Tingting down…” Shi Guoping directly shook off Yin Jiabao. The force was too great, and Yin Jiabao was a little small and thin, so he actually sat straight down on the ground.

For a moment, he hurt so badly that he was baring his teeth and grimacing:

“Brother-in-law, listen to me… you have to help me, this time you absolutely have to help me…”

Before he had even finished speaking, Shi Guoping had already suddenly stopped, turned around, and swung a bowl-sized fist at Yin Jiabao:

“You still dare say it! I think you don’t want to live anymore!”

He actually still dared to ask him for help! What, did he still want to set his sights on Tingting?

Yin Jiabao was also quick-witted. Seeing that Shi Guoping’s expression was off, he hurriedly waved his hands with a bitter face:

“Brother-in-law, you misunderstood, it’s not Tingting, it’s, it’s…”

He said “it is” for a long while, but still did not get the next words out.

Shi Guoping could not be bothered to argue with him:

“Say it or don’t.”

“I’ll say it, can’t I say it!” Yin Jiabao got up from the ground and again chased after Shi Guoping. “Brother-in-law, I’ll tell you the truth, actually I already have a woman I like… it’s just that my dad and mom are unwilling…”

It was precisely so he would not be allowed to marry the woman he liked that Yin Shuanzhu and his wife had taken the risk, even dragging their granddaughter into it.

“You already have a woman you like? Then why are they opposed?”

“Because they think I’m a widow.” A woman’s voice rang out.

Shi Guoping turned to look, and saw a woman wearing a blue jacket with her hair coiled up in a bun.

The woman was tall and thin. Her looks were fairly delicate, but the slightly protruding cheekbones carried a bit of sharpness, making her look like someone with a bad temper who was not easy to handle.

“Xiuzhen…” Yin Jiabao, however, was overjoyed. When he ran over, he could not hide the jump in his expression. He directly pulled the person in front of Shi Guoping. “Her name is Xiuzhen. The woman I want to marry is her.”

“What’s the use of telling me? Why don’t you say that to your parents?” Shi Guoping said unhappily.

If Yin Jiabao had said earlier that he had a woman he liked, Yin Shuanzhu probably would not have been in such a rush as to hit on the daughter.

“How do you know I didn’t say it?” Yin Jiabao said anxiously, jumping up and down. “I not only said it, I even brought Xiuzhen home… and then…”

He carefully looked at Xiuzhen’s face, then swallowed the rest of the words back down.

Xiuzhen, however, smiled faintly:

“And then his parents disliked me for being a widow, saying that I’m not only older than Jiabao, I also have a son with me…”

Yin Shuanzhu’s exact words were that he would not raise another turtle grandson’s child for free. Then he took up a broom and drove Xiuzhen and the child both out.

“I don’t dislike you, I just like someone like you…” Yin Jiabao seized the gap to quickly confess to the woman, the flattery on his face even more obvious.

“What you mean is, they plotted against Tingting just to break the two of you apart?” Shi Guoping also understood the meaning of the two of them.

“Isn’t that exactly it.” Talking about this, Yin Jiabao was full of complaints. “My dad and the others were thinking of picking me a heavenly fairy, but they never think about it. With my kind of appearance, besides Xiuzhen, who else would be willing to have me…”

“So, brother-in-law, please have some mercy and help us! As long as I can marry Xiuzhen, you can make me do anything.”