"What's going on here?"
Yang Yufen arrived with her two children to find Gui Xiang sitting dazed in the yard, her eyes red and swollen—clearly, she had been crying not long ago.
"You two play in the yard. I need to talk with Granny Gui Xiang."
The children obediently ran off to play.
"Yu Fen, tell me—what’s the point of raising children? His father and I worked ourselves to the bone to bring them up, get them married, and even built houses for them."
Gui Xiang’s voice was thick with bitterness.
"I can understand my daughters-in-law being upset, afraid the family can’t pay off debts and wanting to leave. But my eldest son… he’s heartless!"
Her head drooped low.
"He didn’t even ask how his father or younger brother were doing. All he said was how hard things were for him—how his in-laws came demanding to take his wife and child away, insisting on splitting the family."
"Then let them split! Have him send Qing to you. She’s old enough to help out, earn some money, and it won’t interfere with her schooling. Get the village head to draft a division agreement. We’re not so old we can’t work. Remember how we got by back in the day? You think we’ll let a little hardship like this break us?"
Yang Yufen was disappointed too. How could a boy she’d watched grow up become so selfish after marriage?
"You’ve seen it yourself—if you’re willing to work hard and swallow your pride, making money isn’t as hard as it seems. Xianjun and his wife have jobs, and I watch their kids, so I can’t keep helping you forever. Qing is seven now, a sensible girl. Once Ershun and the others recover, things will get easier for you."
She squeezed her old friend’s hand, giving her courage.
"You’re right. At least I have you. That eldest son of mine—fine, let him split the family, but he’d better pay his share for our care every year, and he won’t get to farm our land for free. After all we’ve done for him, now that his father’s in trouble, he suddenly has nothing to say?"
Gui Xiang straightened her back, splashed cold water on her face, and stopped worrying about making that phone call. Instead, she started preparing supplies for the next day’s business.
"You’ve already helped me so much. If I still can’t pull myself together, then I’m truly useless. Go home and take care of the kids. They’re such good children. And don’t worry about me—I’ve got the hang of the tricycle now."
Once she finished organizing, she shooed Yang Yufen away.
Seeing this, Yang Yufen took the children back to the residential compound. Keeping busy was good—it kept the mind from dwelling on troubles.
Not long after Yang Yufen and the kids entered the compound, Qin Nian returned from work on her bicycle. Spotting her mother-in-law with the children, she brightened.
"Mom, why did you pick up Dabao and Erbao so early today?"
Yang Yufen hesitated—she hadn’t mentioned anything to her daughter-in-law, but there was no easy way to explain.
"Nothing much. Come on, I made scallion and egg pancakes today."
Qin Nian didn’t press further, happily wheeling her bicycle alongside Yang Yufen.
As they passed their old neighborhood, Aunt Liu stopped them.
Aunt Liu gestured excitedly, and Yang Yufen’s eyes lit up—some juicy gossip? But before they could step into the Liu household, loud arguing erupted from next door.
The new neighbors had moved in recently.
"I told you to cook, you useless wretch, and you burned everything! What good are you?"
"Mother, I was feeding Niuniu and forgot for a moment. It wasn’t on purpose."
The woman’s voice was weak, exhausted.
"Just a worthless girl—missing one feeding won’t kill her! Now none of us can eat. I think you did it on purpose! My son must’ve been cursed to marry you. That girl’s tainted our family line, and you still slack off!"
Qin Nian’s grip tightened on her bicycle handles. Dabao and Erbao had already run off to play with Aunt Liu’s grandsons.
"The new neighbors are this difficult?"
Yang Yufen had seen worse, but this was the research institute’s compound—people here were usually more refined. The sudden outburst felt out of place.
"Absolutely! The daughter-in-law just gave birth a few days ago—a girl—and they fight nonstop. That old hag despises her own granddaughter and even bosses my little granddaughter around. Some relic from the feudal era, I swear. The other day, I caught her trying to drown the baby!"
"She did what?!" Yang Yufen gasped.
"Yep. Her daughter-in-law stopped her, and they had a huge scene."
Next door, the shouting continued.
"I went through all this trouble moving here so you could soak up some luck! Others give birth to twins, and all you managed was a useless girl. Pathetic."
Aunt Liu exchanged a glance with Yang Yufen—this "soaking up luck" nonsense was taboo.
A man walked past them, pausing slightly before entering the neighboring yard.
"That’s Wang Aimin," Aunt Liu muttered.
Qin Nian recognized him but didn’t know him well.
"Enough! You’re making a scene." Wang Aimin’s voice carried from next door.
"It’s your wife’s fault! I told you her hips weren’t meant for sons, but you married her anyway. Now the Wang family line ends with you, thanks to this jinx! Can’t even cook right!"
"Can’t you stop causing trouble? I have to work, and Mom’s getting old." His tone was impatient.
"I’m not the one causing trouble, Wang Aimin. I’m still recovering from childbirth—Niuniu needs care—"
The woman’s voice was desperate, pleading for him to understand.
"Recovering? How spoiled can you be? In my day, women gave birth in the fields and went right back to work, cooking for their husbands! If you’d given me twin grandsons like Qin Nian did for the Yang family, I’d treat you like a queen too. But no, you’re useless as a woman. If it weren’t for bearing children, you think that Yang hag would coddle her daughter-in-law?"
Yang Yufen’s temper flared. In a flash, she climbed the ladder leaning against Aunt Liu’s wall and jabbed a finger at Granny Wang below.
"You old witch! The great leader said women hold up half the sky—how dare you drag my Qin Nian into your nonsense! You treat your daughter-in-law like a slave, but don’t assume everyone’s as vile as you. Mention my family again, and I’ll tear your mouth apart!"
"Auntie, my mother was just disciplining my wife. Isn’t it wrong for you to shout from a wall like this?" Wang Aimin was startled by Yang Yufen’s sudden appearance.
"Ha! A woman who crawled out from between a woman’s legs, yet looks down on women? You’re blind when your mother bullies your wife, huh? You—no, you’re not worth calling a woman if you despise your own kind. Women do more than just pop out babies!"
Yang Yufen scoffed at Wang Aimin. This man was even worse than her own good-for-nothing son.
"When we carried hoes on our shoulders and rifles on our backs, did you think we hid in the kitchen? Look down on girls? Girls study just as hard, go to university, drive tractors—hell, they’ll fly planes too! Pah!"
She spat in disgust. Granny Wang trembled, pointing furiously, while Wang Aimin took a step back.
