Ma Lanying suddenly slapped her thigh and shrieked loudly:
“Xiao Mandong, you heartless creature! That sewing machine was bought only after you married into the Lu family. How dare you decide to sell it? And you promised it would be Lu Hong’s dowry! Don’t you forget, you’re still my daughter-in-law in the Lu family.”
Her husband had told her to keep Xiao Mandong calm while he called the military to check on the enlistment situation. They couldn’t afford to lose both the soldier slot and the daughter-in-law—such a working wife was hard to come by. If the enlistment fell through, he told Jianguo to coax her well, get the marriage consummated. After a night together, no woman would be disobedient. So in Ma Lanying’s mind, everything Xiao Mandong owned still belonged to the Lu family.
Ma Lanying rushed at Xiao Mandong while shouting, but Xiao Mandong’s eyes turned sharp. She raised her hand and slapped Ma Lanying across the face—a slap she owed herself from her past life. In that previous life, she had served Ma Lanying until she was over seventy, without receiving a single word of gratitude. Now that she had recovered some strength, Xiao Mandong put all her force into that slap, and half of Ma Lanying’s face instantly swelled and reddened.
Ma Lanying was stunned. She staggered back, clutching her cheek. She had been beaten by her own daughter-in-law. That little wretch, Xiao Mandong, dared hit her. She flew into a rage like a madwoman, lunging to scratch Xiao Mandong.
Xiao Mandong sidestepped and dodged. “Ma Lanying, if you lay a finger on me today, I’ll go straight to the public security bureau tomorrow. Feel free to try me. And dowry? How shameless to demand a dowry from your daughter-in-law! So what if the sewing machine was bought after I married in? It was paid for with my own money and ration tickets. What does that have to do with your family?”
Xiao Mandong didn’t say it outright. She had promised the production brigade leader she wouldn’t reveal the truth. Though paper couldn’t wrap fire, this couldn’t come from her mouth.
Ma Lanying heard Xiao Mandong’s words and saw the icy look in her eyes. She came to her senses. She couldn’t fight. Her husband had told her not to provoke Xiao Mandong for now.
Tao Cuihua was still frozen in place. Ma Lanying, that old shrew, had been hit by her daughter-in-law and didn’t even fight back? And she called her by her full name without even a “Mother.” Was Xiao Mandong really this formidable? She had Ma Lanying under her thumb now.
“Aunt Cuihua, over here,” Xiao Mandong called out to Tao Cuihua.
Tao Cuihua snapped back to reality and followed Xiao Mandong to look at the sewing machine.
Staring at the gleaming new sewing machine, Tao Cuihua couldn’t stop touching it. She was an expert at making clothes but had never used a sewing machine before. What a treasure!
They carefully carried it out. Tao Cuihua handed over the money she had prepared, and Xiao Mandong counted it on the spot. Ma Lanying’s eyes turned red with fury.
“Mandong, is there anything else you want to sell?” Tao Cuihua hoped to find another bargain.
“Yes, this wardrobe is part of my dowry too. I’ll sell it to you for just eighty yuan. This is top-quality catalpa wood.” Xiao Mandong was ready to sell for whatever she could get now.
“Good, good, good. I’ll take it. Wait for me to go home and get the money,” Tao Cuihua agreed quickly. Then she turned and spotted two chests by the kang. “Are you selling these camphorwood chests too?”
“No, Aunt Cuihua, I need to keep those.” Xiao Mandong couldn’t sell them. Her grandfather had made them with his own hands, and she would be going to the countryside soon. She could load them onto an oxcart and take them with her.
Tao Cuihua clicked her tongue regretfully and hurried home. That wardrobe would make a fine piece for her son’s wedding furnishings.
Outside, a crowd had gathered to watch the commotion. One auntie chased after Tao Cuihua. “Cuihua, what’s going on? Why is the Lu family even selling their wardrobe?”
Selling just the sewing machine hadn’t surprised people much—many didn’t know how to use one, so it was just decoration. But a wardrobe was a household necessity. Look how beautiful this one was, with all those carvings. Tao Cuihua had really lucked out.
Tao Cuihua just smiled and kept quiet, because she didn’t really know what was happening either. All she knew was that her family had scored a huge bargain. But she would definitely spread the word about Ma Lanying getting slapped by her daughter-in-law.
After the items were moved out, Xiao Mandong looked around the empty room with a light heart. She stashed the money away, locked the door, and went to the kitchen. She made herself a bowl of white flour dough drop soup with two poached eggs.
Ma Lanying pursed her lips and muttered to herself. See? In the end, she still goes to the kitchen to cook. Trying to please and scare us at the same time. If her son really goes off to the army, she’ll cry her eyes out if he never comes back.
Her face still stung. Someday, she would get her revenge. The more Ma Lanying thought about it, the angrier she grew. She didn’t even want to know how Tao Cuihua was gossiping about her out there.
Ma Lanying waited a long time, but Xiao Mandong never called them to eat. When she went to the kitchen, she found Xiao Mandong had already finished her meal there. She hadn’t even cooked theirs.
Ma Lanying was so furious her chest hurt. She couldn’t breathe properly. She stormed into the room and kicked open Wang Xiumei’s door.
“If you don’t cook the meal, who are you waiting for? Waiting for me, your old lady, to serve you? You slut.”
Ma Lanying, having been enraged by Xiao Mandong, lashed out recklessly at Wang Xiumei.
Wang Xiumei didn’t want to return to her own family. Her husband’s death benefits had all been taken by her mother-in-law. If she went back, her stepmother would surely marry her off again. What decent man would want a widow? So she endured the pain and went to cook, swallowing her pride. If only she could get pregnant with Lu Jianguo’s child, then this old hag wouldn’t be able to push her around anymore.
She had been married to Lu Jianjun for three years, and he was often away on missions. Even when he came home, he was rough, but she never got pregnant, and she didn’t know why.
Xiao Mandong, full and satisfied, returned to her own room to plan her next steps. The first day of her rebirth, and it was a good start for her new life. She would write to her younger brother and tell him to send future letters to her second elder sister’s address. After the divorce, she would go see what had really happened to him. In her past life, he died suddenly, and she had to go back to check. Thinking these thoughts, she drifted off to sleep.
Late that night, Ma Lanying crept into Lu Jianguo’s room and whispered:
“Jianguo… Jianguo…”
Lu Jianguo had been scared by Xiao Mandong’s words during the day. His mind was full of his older brother’s ghost. He was sleeping soundly, face down, when he heard his mother’s eerie call. He looked up at her face in the lamplight and was so startled he wanted to run.
“Plop!” Lu Jianguo fell heavily off the bed, waking Xiao Mandong next door.
Xiao Mandong pressed her ear to the door crack to listen. She worried the Lu family might be plotting something.
“Aiyo… Oh, Mom, you scared me to death. Now I’ve hurt my leg again.” Lu Jianguo was startled badly by Ma Lanying.
He couldn’t help recalling Xiao Mandong’s words. Ever since he touched Wang Xiumei today, everything had gone wrong. Was it really his older brother’s spirit? He shivered and dared not think further.
Ma Lanying looked at her son with heartache. What a disaster! Just lost her eldest son, and now her younger son had suffered all day. What rotten luck. She lowered her voice again:
“Jianguo, until the divorce is final, Xiao Mandong is still your wife. You can’t let her just walk out the door. You have to consummate the marriage. If she gets pregnant, she’ll raise the child for our Lu family on her own. If she doesn’t get pregnant, we still won’t lose anything. Besides, once she’s lost her virginity, no one else will want her. Then we can have her serve you without any status or title, and we can also hold her job over her head.”
Lu Jianguo was already simmering with anger from his injury. Upon hearing this, his face flushed crimson, and he snapped at Ma Lanying in a low, irate growl:
“Consummate the hell out of it? That fall just made it hurt even worse. How am I supposed to do it? You want me to die from the pain?”
