Liu Fen had said she wouldn’t return to the Xia family and as it happened, the Xia family was currently discussing the mother and daughter.

There were more than a dozen people in the Xia household. They had plenty of land, but not enough labor. The three Xia brothers had just finished repairing the river embankment after days and nights of nonstop work, and the moment they returned home they were thrown straight into the busy farming season without a moment’s rest.

Even bodies made of iron couldn’t withstand that kind of strain.

On top of that, Liu Fen. The old workhorse who worked the hardest yet ate the least, was gone.

Even Zhang Cui, who hadn’t done much fieldwork for years, had to go out to the fields. Wang Jinguì from the third brother’s household no longer had any excuse to slack off either. Old Madam Xia and Xia Hongxia stayed home cooking and looking after the children.

The entire family worked themselves to the bone before finally getting all the harvested rice stored away.

Everyone felt that this year’s harvest season had been especially exhausting.

Xia Ziyu had taken the family’s savings with her, and the money the three Xia brothers earned from repairing the river embankment had also been sent to her. The family account was practically empty.

During the autumn harvest there was barely any meat on the table, without even a little oil in their stomachs, people simply didn’t have the strength to work. At long last, once the grain was safely stored away, the Xia family finally gathered together for a family meeting to discuss Liu Fen and Xia Xiaolan.

“Dajun, what do you think? That mother and daughter have been staying with the Liu family for so long. They didn’t even come back during the busy harvest season. If they don’t treat themselves as part of the Xia family, how can this marriage continue?”

Old Madam Xia looked deeply troubled. She possessed her own kind of worldly wisdom. With different people, she wore different faces.
 

In front of her beloved granddaughter Xia Ziyu, she was a kind and generous grandmother. Of course, she hadn’t always doted on Ziyu like that. With her traditional rural mindset of favoring sons over daughters, the ones she loved most were originally her three grandsons.

But after finishing junior high, Ziyu suddenly seemed to mature. Everything she said and did struck right at Old Madam Xia’s heart. She was also good at studying and had a bright future ahead of her. Gradually, Old Madam Xia’s heart tilted more and more toward her. Once Ziyu was confirmed to have been admitted to university, even the grandsons ranked behind her in Old Madam Xia’s heart.

But in front of her second daughter-in-law, who couldn’t give birth to a son, and the disgraceful Xia Xiaolan, she became a harsh, venomous old woman.
If she didn’t squeeze people like Liu Fen, the lowest-ranking member of the Xia household, how could she establish her unquestioned authority?

In front of her sons, especially her strong but somewhat simple-minded second son, Old Madam Xia was a thoughtful, caring mother. She wasn’t exactly a saint, but no matter what harsh things she did, she could always justify them as being for Xia Dajun’s good, or for the good of the entire Xia family.

In her heart, she worried that Xia Dajun had no son to carry on the family line. She worried that the delicate and frivolous Xia Xiaolan wouldn’t be able to marry well. That was why she told Xia Dajun to treat Xia Ziyu, who had such a promising future better.

That was why Liu Fen, who couldn’t bear a son, should work harder and contribute more for the Xia family. Only then, in the future, would the nephews show filial respect to Xia Dajun and his wife. At least, that was the image Old Madam Xia maintained in Xia Dajun’s mind.

It wasn’t that Xia Dajun didn’t know about the grievances Liu Fen suffered at home. But he himself had long grown used to it, and thought Liu Fen could simply endure it. He also felt the family had gone a little too far by refusing to send Xiaolan to the hospital that time. But the truth was that the family really had no money…

Besides, that girl was too headstrong. Whenever she saw something good she wanted to grab it. She had ruined her own reputation by acting recklessly, couldn’t the family even say a few words about it?

The more magnanimous Ziyu was, the more Xiaolan ought to show a proper attitude of apology.

Those were Xia Dajun’s thoughts.

But that day, when Xia Xiaolan pressed scissors to her own throat just to leave the Xia family, and Liu Fen had fiercely shoved him aside for the first time, Xia Dajun couldn’t help but wonder whether he had done something wrong.

The rush to harvest the rice had left him utterly exhausted. Now, at this family meeting after the grain was stored away, he found himself unable to speak. When Old Madam Xia asked whether the marriage could still continue, Xia Dajun felt as though his dignity had been trampled underfoot.

He had no son, and people in the village mocked him for having no heir.

Was it possible that even in his own home he couldn’t make decisions for his wife and daughter?

“I’ll bring them back and have them apologize to Mother.”

At this family meeting, the younger generation of the Xia family wasn’t present. Xia Hongxia was crouched outside the window, secretly eavesdropping. When she heard that her second uncle still wanted Xia Xiaolan and her mother to come back, anger made her chest ache.

What right did Xia Xiaolan have to act so arrogant? She looked improper anyway. She wasn’t even worthy of carrying her elder sister’s shoes!

If Xia Xiaolan returned to the Xia household, it would ruin Hongxia’s own marriage prospects.

Of course, Hongxia refused to admit that when she said Xia Xiaolan looked improper, it was really jealousy of Xiaolan’s beauty.

Xia Dajun’s words made the whole family fall silent.
Everyone could hear that he wanted to continue the marriage and had no intention, for the time being, of finding another wife.

Wang Jinguì grew a little anxious. She didn’t mind Liu Fen coming back, but Xia Xiaolan absolutely could not return and damage her daughter’s reputation. Just as she was about to speak, her husband Xia Hongbing shot her a warning glare.

Zhang Cui gently tugged at Xia Changzheng’s sleeve. Xia Changzheng nodded, speaking with the authority of the eldest brother.

“Families always have quarrels. Let Xiaolan come back and apologize to her grandmother, and we’ll still be one family. That girl really doesn’t know the seriousness of things.”

“Forget the rumors outside! Just look how angry she’s made her grandmother.”

Xia Dajun looked at his mother anxiously. Old Madam Xia snorted heavily through her nose.

“She doesn’t need to apologize to me. After causing such a scandal, the person she should apologize to most is Ziyu. If Ziyu doesn’t hold it against her, that’s because Ziyu is generous!” Those words sounded perfectly reasonable.

Now that Ziyu and Wang Jianhua’s relationship was public, the two of them would certainly marry after graduating from university. Family ties ran deep, could Xiaolan truly cut off contact with her sister and future brother-in-law?

She was young and ignorant, always wanting to compete with Ziyu. After doing something wrong she still stubbornly refused to admit it…

How could the family possibly like her?

Xia Dajun knew the old lady had softened her stance. His heart immediately settled, and he agreed readily.

“I’ll go to the Liu family tomorrow and bring them back. I’ll make her write a letter apologizing to Ziyu...”

“If one letter isn’t enough... then two! She’ll keep writing until Ziyu forgives her!”

Zhang Cui knew it was her turn to step in.
Unlike the loud and blunt Wang Jinguì, Xia Dajun had always respected her as his elder sister-in-law.

“Ziyu never blamed her to begin with. But with Xiaolan’s temperament… If she stays at the Liu family’s place, she might cause trouble for them too. It’s better to bring her back and keep an eye on her. She’s still young. If we teach her properly, she can still be set straight.”

Zhang Cui managed to play the good person perfectly.

Wang Jinguì was extremely dissatisfied.

“If she stays in the house, who will dare come propose marriage for my Hongxia? Or is Sister-in-law planning to have Ziyu introduce a university student to Hongxia?”

As she said the last part, Wang Jinguì’s eyes flickered with hope.

Zhang Cui’s eyelids twitched.

Introduce a university student to Xia Hongxia? Were university students really that cheap these days?

Among the Xia sisters, Hongxia was the least attractive. She hadn’t even finished junior high school and was still registered as a rural household with no chance of a factory job.

Only a blind university student would agree to date her.

“Enough nonsense.” Old Madam Xia snapped.

“Dajun wants this marriage to continue, so tomorrow he’ll go to the Liu family and bring them back!”

Liu Yong wasn’t easy to deal with. Old Madam Xia had deliberately intended for Xia Dajun to run into trouble there.

But Xia Changzheng tactlessly spoke up.
“I’ll go with Dajun tomorrow.”

Seeing the disapproval plainly written on her mother-in-law’s face, Zhang Cui hurriedly added.

“Let me go with him instead. You men speak too bluntly. It’s easy to make things worse.”

Xia Dajun looked at his sister-in-law with gratitude in his eyes.

Wang Jinguì’s eyes darted around.

“Then I’ll go too. With Sister-in-law and me together, even if we have to carry her back, we’ll bring Second Sister-in-law back to the Xia family!”