"Who do you think you are? Gao Laosan’s things will never fall into your hands. You don’t have sons or daughters of your own, so you try to snatch from others. If you’re so capable, go give birth to one yourself," Old Mrs. Song scolded, her words viciously poking at the other woman’s lack of heirs.
"Bullshit! Bai Jiu cut ties with your family ages ago. What right do you have to take her things?" Aunt Peng cursed. Even if she couldn’t out-argue the old woman, her mouth wasn’t just for show. "Captain, it’s one thing that you didn’t send someone to notify Bai Jiu, but are you really planning to let the Gao family take the meat away?"
The brigade captain rubbed his aching head. He absolutely wouldn’t dare let the Gao family take this meat.
"Aunt Peng, what are you talking about? Gao Laosan’s family has severed ties with the Old Gao Family, so of course it can’t be given to them," the captain said. "Enough, stop arguing. You all do nothing but bicker all day long. That mother and her two children only got a little over a catty of meat, and you, as their grandmother, have the nerve to come here and snatch it."
The captain would rather offend the Gao family than offend Bai Jiu, a woman who would threaten to drag her whole family to die together at the drop of a hat.
"This meat will be converted into cash, and we’ll give it to Gao Laosan’s wife when she returns," he concluded with finality.
"No way, I don’t agree!" Old Mrs. Song immediately protested upon hearing that the meat would be turned into money. "They say blood is thicker than water. No matter what, we are still Gao Laosan’s biological parents. How can ties be broken just because she says so?"
She resolved that if she didn’t take this meat today, she would forfeit her surname.
Bai Jiu arrived just in time to hear Old Mrs. Song’s words. She thought about how this person was truly shameless just for a tiny bit of meat.
"Then go ask Gao Laosan for it!" Bai Jiu shouted. Her voice was so loud it nearly ruptured the eardrums of the people standing next to her. "This is mine. You are not my parents, so don’t even think about taking my meat to feed the dogs. You really push your luck if I don’t put you in your place for a single day."
Parking her bicycle, Bai Jiu walked over to Aunt Peng and supported her, gently patting her back to help her catch her breath. Bai Jiu might not know others well, but she knew exactly what kind of person this Old Mrs. Song was. She had definitely given Aunt Peng a lot of grief.
"Captain, I’m here to collect my family’s meat." Bai Jiu didn’t even spare Old Mrs. Song a glance, speaking directly to the brigade captain.
To be honest, the captain breathed a sigh of relief when he saw the rightful owner arrive. Although he disliked Bai Jiu and found her troublesome, he despised Old Mrs. Song even more.
"Since you’re back, take your allocated meat home. If you don’t want it, you can exchange it for money. Of course, if you want to buy more, you’ll have to wait," the captain explained. No matter how annoyed he felt, it was his duty as the captain to lay out the options for her.
Exchange it for money? She wasn’t lacking that little bit of cash. The weather was cold enough that the meat would keep, so she didn’t mind taking it back to eat. Buy more? There was no need for that either; buying meat from the Xiang Family was much more convenient. These two catties of meat were the original owner’s hard-earned reward for a year of labor. She wouldn’t trade it for money; taking it back for the kids to eat was perfectly fine.
"There’s no need, Captain. I’ll just take this," she replied.
At this moment, the Gao Family decided to make their presence known.
"Bai Jiu, no matter what, Mother is still your mother-in-law. It’s not right for you to speak to her like that," the seemingly successful Gao Laoer spoke up.
"None of your damn business," Bai Jiu retorted directly, her mouth moving faster than her brain.
However, memories soon tumbled out in her mind. Upon realizing who this person was, a mocking expression surfaced on her face.
"Heh, I was wondering what kind of stray dog was barking. Turns out it’s someone from the Gao family. What, did you come back this time planning to take more grain and meat home? I’m surprised you haven’t eaten yourself to death."
Bai Jiu looked down on Gao Laoer with absolute disdain. It was one thing for him to always take advantage of the family, but he always acted like a victim while doing so. He would constantly complain about how hard and tiring city life was, whining every time he came back about how unwelcome a rural person like him was in the outside world, and how much his in-laws looked down on him. The two daughters-in-law of the Gao family were fools, genuinely believing that Gao Laoer was having a hard time out there. They would let him take away plenty of grain and meat from the house every single time.
What they didn’t know was that Old Man Gao and his wife secretly subsidized this son a great deal. Year-round, if they didn’t give him five or six hundred, they gave him at least two or three hundred. They were truly adorably foolish.
Being publicly scolded in front of so many outsiders infuriated the arrogant Gao Laoer. He was half-dead from anger.
"Bai Jiu!" he yelled.
"What are you screaming for? I’m not deaf. If you damage my hearing, you’ll have to pay for it." She scoffed. He wanted to intimidate her, but he didn’t even look at his own pathetic state. "Was I wrong? Are you telling me you didn’t come back this time to take grain and meat, but instead finally grew a conscience and came to bring money and grain to the family?"
In this day and age, everyone was struggling. Having a single bite of fine grain was harder than climbing into heaven.
Gao Laoer was usually quite articulate outside, but arguing with a woman was truly difficult for him.
"That’s none of your concern," he said. "Gao Zhijun is gone, so you should honor our parents on his behalf. Aren’t you afraid of being ridiculed for what you’re doing right now?
"Stirring up trouble to divide the family, clamoring to sever ties... none of these are things a proper daughter-in-law should do."
He really had no idea what he was talking about. Bai Jiu handed her meat to Aunt Peng and planted her hands firmly on her hips.
"Then why don’t you ask what shameful things your parents have done? It’s not like I can’t honor Gao Zhijun’s parents on his behalf, but has he given me a single cent all these years? Has he given me a single ration coupon? On what grounds should I honor them for him?
"Besides, have you honored your parents? You only point fingers at others, so why don’t you talk about yourself?
"Over the years, Gao Zhijun hasn’t been home. I earned the work points, and I raised the children. I am just a woman, yet I earn the work points of a strong man every day. What, is that not filial enough?
"Hmph, but look at you! You earn a high salary, yet you come back every month to take things to subsidize your own life. Why don’t we see you showing more filial piety to your parents?"
Bai Jiu’s words completely ripped away Gao Laoer’s hypocritical mask, exposing him bloody and raw for everyone to see.
Gao Zhiguo was so furious he nearly had a stroke. But a shameless person naturally had thick skin. "You! How have I not honored my parents? Do I have to show you the things I give them?"
To save face, he began to lie. One look at his guilty demeanor was enough to tell that his words held no truth. Not to mention Lin Guihua, who stood off to the side with a constant look of disdain on her face. True or false, the villagers were not fools.
"Tch, since you said we can’t see it, it means it doesn’t exist. You yourself, as a son, don’t even honor your parents, yet you expect a daughter-in-law to do it? In your dreams!" Bai Jiu’s face was filled with utter contempt, her expression mirroring Lin Guihua’s perfectly.
"Exactly. Everyone says Gao Laoer works a government job out there, but we’ve never actually seen him send anything back home. It was Gao Laosan who mailed his allowance back every single time."
"Right? I even heard that this job was originally meant for Gao Zhishan, but somehow it ended up going to Gao Zhiguo."
"Oh, you don’t know about that? I know the whole story."
"Tell us about it..."
In no time at all, the surrounding crowd began gossiping about the past events. Gao Laoer was so angry he could have died.
Gao Zhishan didn’t think much of it, but Lin Guihua felt incredibly bitter. If that job had gone to her husband back then, she would be the one living in the city right now. Instead, this ungrateful wretch of a second brother had reaped all the benefits. Back then, they had agreed that half of his salary would go to Jiao Da’s branch, but over all these years, she hadn’t seen a single dime.
"Enough! What are you all arguing about? Let’s go home," Old Man Gao barked. He didn’t want his family’s reputation stripped bare in public and only wanted to leave as quickly as possible.