Liu Chunlan's wailing attracted the neighbors from next door again.
Zhang Cuihua was eating melon seeds, watching the drama unfold:
"Oh, Wanyi, you actually came back? I thought you were gone for good.
"All the out-of-town daughters-in-law in the next village have run away. Since you already left, why did you come back?"
Liu Chunlan spat at her. "Can you stop spouting nonsense? She married my son, so she belongs to our Wang family. Where else would she go if not back here?
"Don't come to my house to stir up trouble. Do you think I don't know your daughter-in-law is also threatening a divorce?"
Zhang Cuihua flushed. "Bullshit! My son and his wife are doing great. She just gave me a big, healthy grandson. Why would she divorce him?"
"Heh!"
Liu Chunlan sneered:
"Yeah, right. She gave birth to a grandson, so now she's acting high and mighty. She demanded five hundred thousand from you, threatening divorce if you didn't pay up, right? Hahaha, Zhang Cuihua, isn't having a grandson just wonderful?
"Can you even cough up five hundred thousand? You'd better go out and sweep the streets or pick up trash to make some money, or else your daughter-in-law will run off with your precious grandson! Hahaha."
Struck a nerve, Zhang Cuihua threw her handful of melon seeds right into Liu Chunlan's face:
"I'm willing to give her five hundred thousand! I have a grandson, and I'm happy to spend that money.
"But what about you? Even if you had the money, you couldn't buy a grandson. Lin Wanyi said she's only having one child. Liu Chunlan, your Wang family line ends here! Hahaha, you have no one!
"When you die, there won't even be anyone to perform the funeral rites for you! Hahaha!"
Liu Chunlan was so furious she almost fainted. She lunged forward and began wrestling with Zhang Cuihua.
Wang Hao hurriedly tried to pull them apart, while Lin Wanyi didn't even spare them a glance as she led Keke back into the room.
Outside the window, loud curses filled the air, and Wang Hao kept shouting:
"Stop fighting! Both of you, stop it!"
It was unclear how long they fought or how they eventually separated.
Liu Chunlan stormed into the house, her hair disheveled and several finger marks visible on her face.
She was beside herself with rage. "Lin Wanyi, get the hell out here! Don't hide."
Lin Wanyi hadn't been hiding at all. She opened the door. "I'm out. What do you want?"
Liu Chunlan pointed at her own face indignantly:
"Do you see this? Do you see it? I was publicly humiliated and slapped in the face by Zhang Cuihua today.
"All because she has a grandson and I don't! You wretched bitch, I just asked you to give birth to a son, and you act like I'm asking for your life.
"What woman gets married and doesn't have children? Who doesn't have three or four? Why are you so delicate? Why are you the only one who insists on having just one?
"You make it impossible for me to hold my head up in this village. Lin Wanyi, I'm warning you, get pregnant with a grandson within a month, or I'll make you pay."
Lin Wanyi just stared at her with a faint, mocking smile, saying nothing. Her gaze made Liu Chunlan's skin crawl.
"What are you looking at? Are you sick in the head?"
Lin Wanyi finally spoke. "You want a grandson? Fine. Sure.
"Have Wang Hao divorce me right now, and immediately marry him off to a local girl. I guarantee you'll be holding a grandson by next year!
"That is, if you actually have the ability to do so."
"You..."
Liu Chunlan's mouth hung open, unable to utter a single word.
She felt that Lin Wanyi had changed.
She was no longer the daughter-in-law she could easily manipulate.
Nor was she the daughter-in-law who always spoke in a soft, submissive voice.
She pulled Wang Hao into the room:
"Did something happen while you two went back?"
Wang Hao recounted everything in detail, and Liu Chunlan slapped her thigh:
"I knew we shouldn't have let her go back! I said she shouldn't go. Look, it's only been a few days and she's completely changed. When did she ever dare to speak to me like that before?
"If it weren't for that useless money-losing girl being here, she absolutely wouldn't have come back this time.
"I have to think of a way. I must find a way to tie her down here and make her stay willingly."
Wang Hao was also distressed.
He knew Lin Wanyi's heart had changed too.
He figured Lin Wanyi definitely wanted to divorce him.
He smoked one cigarette after another. Suddenly, Wang Jianguo spoke up:
"She doesn't want to conceive a grandson? Then I'll force her to. Just you wait."
After saying this, he clasped his hands behind his back and started to walk out. Liu Chunlan quickly grabbed him. "Old man, what are you going to do?"
Wang Jianguo said mysteriously, "I'm going to get some medicine to make that out-of-towner fall fast asleep so she won't know a thing.
"Haozi, you can do whatever you want with her. She'll get pregnant with as many as you want."
Wang Hao was a little worried. "That's not a good idea, is it? The baby born from that might not be healthy."
Wang Jianguo smacked him on the head. "What do you know? It's just to make her sleep. We'll get her pregnant without her even realizing it.
"Wait here. I'll be back in a bit."
Liu Chunlan was delighted again.
"Son, you have no idea. While you were gone these past few days, I asked around. A couple in the next village just got married a few days ago, and the bride price was six hundred thousand!
"They also demanded an apartment in the city and a car. My God, even if I sold my bones, I wouldn't be able to afford that.
"So, no matter what, you cannot let Lin Wanyi go. You absolutely cannot divorce her.
"We have to hurry up and get her pregnant. I'd like to see how she runs away then."
Wang Hao took a deep drag of his cigarette and nodded:
"I know."
As soon as he returned to their room, Lin Wanyi spoke up. "Let's get a divorce, Wang Hao. Our marriage simply cannot continue.
"I am not having any more children. No more sons, no more daughters."
Wang Hao quickly said, "Fine, fine, no more children. I'm not forcing you. It's just my mom who wants a grandson. It's okay. Doesn't our family still have my older brother's son? She has a grandson."
Lin Wanyi had only met Wang Kai three times.
When he got married, he married into his wife's family. Liu Chunlan couldn't afford the hundreds of thousands needed for the bride price, so Wang Kai simply moved to the city to live with his wife's family, and actually received five hundred thousand as a dowry from them instead.
The condition was that he had to live with his wife's family permanently, and any children they had would have to take the wife's surname, Chen.
At first, Liu Chunlan was smug about getting a daughter-in-law without spending a single penny, but she regretted it bitterly after her grandson was born.
Because the grandson didn't share Wang Kai's surname, and they hadn't come back to visit her in all these years.
Sometimes, she would go to the city carrying bags of gifts, but at most, she would get a single meal before being promptly sent away.
This matter had always been a thorn in her side, which was why she was so desperate for Lin Wanyi to give her a grandson. The thought of going to the city to show him off made her happy.
But Lin Wanyi simply refused to have one. She was furious; she was resentful.
She wanted a grandson so badly it was driving her crazy.
Thinking of this, Liu Chunlan called Wang Kai again. It took a long time before he finally answered:
"Mom, what is it? I'm cooking right now."
Liu Chunlan was displeased. "Why is a grown man cooking? That's women's work. Can't you let Chen Qingxiu do it?"
The next second, Chen Qingxiu's voice came through the phone:
"Mom, stop interfering in our family's business. Who says men can't cook? Who says women are born to do chores?
"Do you need something? If not, I'm hanging up."
Liu Chunlan hurriedly replied:
"Hey, hey, hey, don't hang up! Qingxiu, the New Year is coming up soon. When are you guys coming back this year?
"I've prepared so many New Year's goods for you, and I've cleaned the room. I'm just waiting for you and my precious grandson to come back."
Chen Qingxiu chuckled twice. "Mom, we have to stay home and keep my parents company!"
