Chapter 389: Chapter 389: Don’t Be Nervous
"That Zhang Weimin certainly had it coming. Never mind him fooling around with Widow Tian—he was always beating and cursing his wife, the one from the Liu Family. He wouldn’t even get a doctor for her when she was sick. He even took the money she’d worked so hard to save for their son’s schooling and used it to buy fabric for his mistress’s clothes, claiming it wouldn’t be too late for the boy to start in another two years. Is that something a human being would do?
But Cuicui is her daughter, after all. To do something like that...
The people here in our village know the whole story, so we won’t say anything, but no one will dare play matchmaker for her anymore. As for people from other villages who don’t know the inside story, they’ll just say she’s crazy enough to attack her own father. Who would dare marry a woman like that?"
Widow Xie shook her head as she spoke, her face full of regret.
’It’s true. Swinging that knife was satisfying for Zhang Cuicui, no doubt, but the consequences were immeasurable.’
’But in life, how can you always think through the consequences of everything you say and do?’
’There are always times of indignation and unfairness, and always times when your blood runs hot.’
"If you ignore her reputation and whether she’ll be able to marry, and just consider her as a daughter, Aunt Xie, who would you rather have: someone like Du Caizhu, or someone like Zhang Cuicui?"
Widow Xie answered without a moment’s hesitation. "One like Cuicui, of course."
Zhang Cuicui might be a bit boisterous, but the girl is sincere. Most importantly, she knows how to cherish her mother.
Zhang Weimin is lazy and greedy by nature. His wife from the Liu Family is a good woman. In all the years since she married into the Zhang Family, she’s tilled the fields and woven cloth, cared for the old and raised the young. With her husband not sharing any of the burden, how could she not be worked to the bone?
Thankfully, her two children were raised right and are on her side. Otherwise, her suffering would be too bitter to describe.
The woman from the Liu Family was used to enduring it. Even though she knew Zhang Weimin and Widow Tian had gotten together, she was afraid of bringing shame upon her children, so she could only swallow her grievances and suffer in silence.
That wretched couple knew this and took advantage of her, becoming more and more brazen. If Zhang Cuicui hadn’t caused such a scene, the wife from the Liu Family would have been hounded to death.
It was reckless, yes, a bit reckless, but she genuinely stood up for her mother. Of course, that might not be what the woman from the Liu Family wanted—she certainly wouldn’t wish for Zhang Cuicui to do it at the cost of being unmarriageable.
But in her heart, she must have felt gratified.
This feeling that ’my child has grown up and can now shelter me from the storms,’ every mother understands.
On the other hand, look at Du Caizhu. You can’t really say she did anything wrong. Her mother is her mother, but her father is also her father. She was caught in the middle, in a difficult position, so she didn’t help either side. Outsiders can’t really criticize her for that.
But is she really beyond reproach?
After that farce at the Ji Family’s home, the Du Family’s affairs were no longer a secret. The villagers even found out more details.
Du Caizhu’s mother only had one daughter in her whole life, and she cherished her like the apple of her eye. From childhood on, every single stitch of her shoes, socks, and clothes was made by her mother’s own hands.
Old Du doted on her as well, but his affection was conditional and liable to shift depending on the circumstances.
Cuizhi was one such circumstance.
Once you have a stepmother, your own father becomes a stepfather too. That saying isn’t always true, but there are few exceptions.
Now that Old Du had his charming concubine and a new son, he would look at Du Caizhu—who had become obese after years of binge-eating since being rejected by Ji the Fourth—and find her less and less lovely.
And what about Du Caizhu? She didn’t think her father was in the wrong at all. According to people from West Village, she even got along quite well with Cuizhi. It was Cuizhi who helped connect her with the Ji Family again, and it was Du Caizhu who pestered and pleaded with Old Du until he agreed.
Because her own mother disapproved of her marrying Ji Liantang, Du Caizhu ended up resenting her for it. On her wedding day, it’s said she didn’t even go to kowtow to her mother.
Apparently, for Du Caizhu, the offense that was killing her mother’s spirit was no big deal, as long as she could marry Ji Liantang.
For a daughter you’ve so carefully nurtured to turn out like this, how could a mother not die of a broken heart?
Widow Xie suspected that the sudden collapse of Old Du’s wife’s health was mostly due to the anger she felt toward Du Caizhu.
After all, she had lived for most of her life and had learned to accept things. The pain a young concubine could inflict was nothing compared to the hurt caused by one’s own flesh and blood.
Widow Xie shook her head. "If all daughters turned out like Du Caizhu, it would be better not to have any at all."
’Du Caizhu’s type isn’t even the worst,’ Ji Huan thought.
’I once had a colleague whose father cheated. My colleague said he understood, and not only did he advise his mother to be magnanimous, he even treated the child from the affair like his own family.’
’When people asked him how he could do it, he’d say the child was innocent.’
’So what about his mother? Was she not innocent? Did it never occur to him that the child’s very existence was a thorn stabbing deep into his mother’s heart?’
’Ignoring it would have been one thing, but to try and persuade his mother to accept it...’
’Having a child who’s so "rational and objective" is worse than giving birth to a piece of BBQ pork.’
And then there was Du Caizhu.
’For a time, I couldn’t understand her actions. What was it about Ji Liantang that made her so obsessed?’
’But then I thought of the fangirls and sasaeng fans from my time. There were even those who bankrupted their families and drove their fathers to suicide just to chase a superstar. And then it all made sense.’
’For a moment, I actually felt a little sorry for Ji the Fourth.’
’To Du Caizhu, he was just a tool. The more obsessed she was, the deeper her "love" for him, the harder his life would probably be.’
’But in a way, the two of them were a perfect match. It was better for them to stay together, so they wouldn’t go and ruin anyone else’s life.’
"What happened then?"
"Zhang Weimin was scared out of his wits by a furious Zhang Cuicui and ran straight to the logging camp... He was chased all over the village while naked, so he won’t have the face to come back any time soon. And speaking of the logging camp, that Zhang Weimin hasn’t shown a shred of ambition for years. The one time he finally does, it’s to earn money for his mistress. It serves him right!"
"But he’ll have to come back eventually. Will Aunt Liu still stay with him?"
"What else can she do? Her children are already grown. She can only continue to put up with it."
Ji Huan knew that for women of this era, words like "divorce" or "repudiation" were akin to the sky falling.
’But... why bother?’
’The wife from the Liu Family has managed everything both inside and outside the home for years. Zhang Weimin is nothing more than a giant rat in the house. What’s the point of holding on to a useless, cheating, abusive man like that?’
’Marriage isn’t easy and should be cherished, but cherishing it one-sidedly is either foolish or just plain stupid. How can you be happy for the rest of your life with a fishbone stuck in your throat?’
"There’s no man who doesn’t get crooked ideas. If he doesn’t, it’s because he has no money in his pockets, nine times out of ten. Zhang Weimin isn’t rich either, but he couldn’t resist Tian Jinlian throwing herself at him. How many men can resist a woman who comes knocking on their door like that? There’s a wealthy man in our town, old as the hills, who’s still bringing young concubines into his home. His old wife has to call a girl younger than her own granddaughter a ’sister.’ Tell me, what kind of world is this!"
’Other families can do as they please,’ Widow Xie thought to herself, ’but I have to keep a tight rein on my own son. Even if he makes money, he can’t get carried away and do such filthy things. Sooner or later, he’ll face a terrible fate.’
Ji Huan spread her hands. "That’s easy to solve. If a man finds a few ’sisters’ for his wife, then the wife can find a few ’brothers’ for her husband."
Widow Xie glared at her. "You’re just saying that out of anger."
"I just think... women can endure so much. Having someone who betrayed you hanging around in front of your eyes all day—isn’t it disgusting? Doesn’t it make your skin crawl? If a man were cheated on, the idea that his wife could just hope to patch things up and move on would be a complete fantasy."
"Any farmer who harvests a couple extra bushels of grain starts thinking about taking a concubine. What can you do? To put it bluntly, if you ever run into a situation like that..."
Ji Huan slammed her hand on the table. "Castrate him!"
Widow Xie moved to slap her again, but Ji Huan dodged it.
"I’m just kidding, Aunt Xie! If I castrated him, I’d end up in jail. I’m not that stupid, am I? You just kick a scumbag to the curb. When you have money and looks, what kind of man can’t you find? Chop down one crooked, worm-eaten tree, and you can have the whole forest. How awesome is that?"
Widow Xie really wanted to pry open Ji Huan’s head and see what on earth was inside it.
"It’s a good thing your husband isn’t here. If Guan Shan heard this..."
Widow Xie suddenly trailed off, her expression awkward.
Ji Huan turned her head and saw Guan Shan standing at the door of the east room. She had no idea when he’d arrived.
His face was a little dark; he must have heard quite a bit.
Ji Huan waved a hand to reassure him. "I wasn’t talking about you, don’t be nervous." She had been talking about a future husband.
Guan Shan’s face grew even darker.