Huahua is ten years old and Xiaocao is eight years old.
But the two little girls were severely malnourished, their hair was dry and yellow, and they were obviously much shorter than children of the same age.
However, the two sisters were very well-behaved and helped Wu Yueying share a lot of housework at home.
"Mom, you really dug up so many wild vegetables?" Huahua said happily, "Oh, I can eat wild vegetables tonight!"
The so-called wild vegetable dumplings are dumplings made of wild vegetables mixed with rice bran and a small amount of corn. They are not delicious, but they are filling.
Xiaocao was also very excited, "Mom, you are really amazing! Grandma said this morning that it would be impossible for you to dig up wild vegetables!"
Wu Yueying smiled and took out two persimmons from the basket. "Eat these persimmons. Keep your voice down so your dad and grandma don't know."
The two little girls were shocked. "Mom, where did you get the persimmons?"
"Don't ask, just eat it." Wu Yueying felt a little sad. The two children had never eaten anything good since they were little. They looked shocked when they saw the persimmons. She felt very uncomfortable.
The two sisters took the persimmons and were a little nervous. Just as they were about to start eating, a frightening voice sounded from behind them, "You two money-losing bastards, why are you eating good things without telling me?"
Immediately afterwards, a ferocious old woman walked out of the house, scaring the two sisters so much that they trembled.
"Mom, it's nothing, it's just..."
"Ask you?"
The old lady of the Wang family glanced coldly at her daughter-in-law, snatched the thing from the child's hand, and then her eyes lit up with joy, "Persimmon, where did you get these persimmons?"
Seeing their grandmother's increasingly fierce eyes, the two sisters were too scared to say a word.
Wu Yueying was also helpless, "Mom, I picked this up from outside."
"Picked them up?" The old lady from the Wang family sneered, "Do you think I'm stupid? Besides, you only picked up two?"
Wu Yueying didn't want to argue with her. "Mom, give the persimmons to the children. They haven't tasted what persimmons taste like yet."
"What are these two money-losing guys going to eat? The elders haven't eaten yet, so why is it their turn?" The voice of the old woman from the Wang family attracted the two men in the house out.
"Mother, what's wrong?"
"Mom, what happened?"
The old woman of the Wang family angrily recounted the incident, "Dazhi, your wife is eating delicious food behind our backs, and you don't want to discipline her? If she continues like this, will we still be able to rely on her when we are old?"
The old man from the Wang family also had an ugly expression on his face. "I told you at the beginning that she had two hearts. I didn't expect that after so many years of marriage, she's still turning her elbows outward. Dazhi, this woman is disobedient and deserves a beating."
Wang Dazhi grew angrier as he listened. He rushed over, grabbed Wu Yueying by the hair, and slapped her across the face. "Tell me, where did you get those persimmons? Did some wild man give them to you?"
Yesterday, Wu Yueying came back with the corn, and she refused to say who had lent it to him.
In Wang Dazhi's opinion, there was nothing to hide, but Wu Yueying just refused to say anything.
That means there must be something wrong with the person who borrowed the rice.
"You stinky bitch, you dare to cheat on me, I'll beat you to death!"
Slaps fell on Wu Yueying's face again and again, making her dizzy and dazed.
The two children also pulled their father and kept crying, "Dad, stop hitting Mom!"
Wu Yueying was already exhausted after a long day, and hadn't even had a sip of water when she got home. How could she withstand Wang Dazhi's slap? She immediately begged, "Stop hitting me, I really didn't cheat on you. This persimmon was given to me by Xiao'e's father-in-law!"
Wang Dazhi's hand was suspended in mid-air. "Zhao Laosan, why did he give you persimmons?"
"Could it be that Zhao Laosan also lent you the corn yesterday?" Mrs. Wang said angrily. "Well, so you're hooking up with Zhao Laosan. How can you be so shameless?"
The old man of the Wang family was also furious. "When Zhao Laosan was young, he was not a good person. He even fought with me. You can't steal from anyone else but an old man like Zhao Laosan."
Wang Dazhi was also very angry. He had always suspected Wu Yueying. When he heard what his parents said, his eyes turned red. "You shameless woman, you want this old man too? I'll beat you to death..."
The couple not only did not dissuade him, but instead fanned the flames, saying, "Good fight..."
The crying and shouting attracted the attention of the surrounding neighbors.
An old lady couldn't stand it any longer and said, "Dazhi, that's your wife, you can't beat her to death."
"Old woman, I beat my wife, it's natural and it's none of your business!" Wang Dazhi cursed back.
The old woman shook her head and said nothing.
After listening for a while, the people around them all looked down on this family.
"Yueying is such a good woman. She's filial to her parents-in-law and serves her husband at home, but works hard outside to earn money and food, and she's always smiling at everyone. This Wang family is such a jerk."
"Even if you're beating an animal, you can't do that, let alone your own wife."
"Just because Yueying can't give birth to a son... you can't accuse her of adultery. How could Zhao Laosan have committed adultery when he has a health problem?"
Many people around began to speak up for Wu Yueying.
Wang Dazhi was also a little hesitant.
Yes, everyone knows that Zhao Laosan has health problems, otherwise he wouldn't have picked up the child and raised him.
But he certainly wouldn't admit his mistake. "Do you know you're wrong?"
Wu Yueying was beaten black and blue, and said, "I know I was wrong."
She knew that if she didn't admit her mistake, she would continue to be beaten.
There are many women who have been beaten in the village. Others will at most say a few words to help, but will never intervene.
"Remember, if you have any good things at home, you must first give them to your parents-in-law. This is filial piety, don't you understand?"
Wang Dazhi seemed to be standing on the moral high ground, and he became taller.
He let go of her hand and waved to the people around him, "Alright, alright, everyone, go away. Outsiders, don't interfere in our family affairs."
When everyone saw that there was nothing exciting to watch, they dispersed.
"Dad, Mom, you two should eat the persimmons." Wang Dazhi said.
Just as Mrs. Wang was about to stuff the food into her mouth, her husband snatched it away from her. "You old woman, what are you eating? The men in the family aren't eating, so why is it your turn?"
Then he handed a persimmon to Wang Dazhi and said, "Dazhi, eat it. Your mother doesn't like persimmons."
At home, the two men are the most important.
Wang Dazhi was not polite either. He bit into the persimmon and said, "Dad, it's so sweet!"
Mrs. Wang was a little unhappy, but she didn't dare to talk back. She was also a daughter-in-law. She rolled her eyes and walked up to Wu Yueying. "You said that these persimmons were given to you by Zhao Laosan. Then where did he get the persimmons from, and why did he give them to you?"
Wu Yueying naturally wouldn't tell her that Zhao Zheng had found a persimmon tree. Instead, she said, "I took Xiao'e to dig wild vegetables, and he thanked me by giving me two persimmons. As for where these persimmons came from, how could he possibly tell me?"
The old lady from the Wang family snorted coldly. She glanced at the wild vegetables in the basket and immediately said angrily,
"You spendthrift woman! Wild vegetables are so valuable these days, and you actually took outsiders to dig for them without me? What are you thinking?"