Chapter 30

Sh*t!

The baby is coming!

Liu Guimei was terrified. She shouted for Madam Song who was in the kitchen, “Mother, Guihua is about to give birth. Come out quickly!”

“What?! She was alright just now! What happened?” Madam Song responded as she ran out hurriedly.

The more one was afraid of something, the more likely it would happen.

They couldn’t let her give birth at her parents’ home. That would be culturally inauspicious for everyone.

“Guimei, what are you waiting for? Hurry up and help me to move Guihua back to her in-laws’ house.”

Fortunately, that was a short walking distance away.

The two of them quickly sent Liu Guihua back to her in-laws’ house.

Her in-laws were midwives, so she felt extremely at ease for her daughter to be there.

On the way back.

Madam Song looked worried.

God, please bless us!

Please let this one be a son.

Otherwise, she would suffer even more at her in-laws’ house in the future.

Liu Guimei was watching the commotion go on like a gossipy onlooker. She suddenly blurted out, “Mother, do you think it’s possible that Guihua will have another daughter?”

“Ouch! That hurts!”

She got an immediate smack from Madam Song.

“Pfft, pfft, pfft! You jinx. Don’t say that. You know how difficult it has been for Guihua at her in-laws’ place. Can’t you hope for better things to happen to her?” Madam Song was so livid that she wanted to sew her mouth shut.

Biological sisters were supposed to take care and be considerate of each other, but they were always stabbing each other on the back.

Both wished that the other would live a life that was worse than hers.

“Mother, I was just speaking the truth, alright?” Liu Guimei didn’t think that she had said anything wrong and continued. “Of your four daughters, everyone except for me had given birth to only daughters. Our family is destined to never have a son. Only my situation is special.”

The truth was right there.

The more she spoke, the more confident she became. “Look at Guihua’s belly. It’s the same shape as my mother-in-law’s when she was pregnant. Both also liked spicy food. I really do think that it would very likely be a daughter.

“Nobody will forget you have a mouth if you don’t use it all the time!” Madam Song shouted. She was so furious that her heart was aching.

Can’t she say something nice?

A white lie would be good too.

Can’t she let her feel at ease just for a little while?

Liu Guimei shut her mouth resentfully.

In any case, she was absolutely sure that it would be a daughter again.

Fortunately, she was very clever back then. She knew that the Fu family had always had sons, and hence did everything she could to marry over.

Otherwise, she would have ended up like her mother and her three sisters. To be despised upon and have no status at all in their in-laws’ families.

They constantly had the risk of being kicked out of the family at any time.

“Granny!” Just as they were walking, the cries of Liu Guihua’s three daughters came from behind them.

The three of them ran over and cried like pitiful, unwanted little kittens. “Why did the three of you come out?”

Liu Guimei felt irritated looking at her nieces.

She really did not like them one bit.

“Why are you here? Has your mother given birth?” Madam Song was also puzzled.

The water was already broken. By right, the baby should be born very soon.

“Yes.” The eldest girl nodded with a withered look.

“Boy or girl?”

Madam Song and Liu Guimei asked in unison.

Madam Song looked worried, while Liu Guimei looked like she was enjoying a drama.

The girl pursed her lips and lowered her head in silence.

“Why aren’t you saying anything?” Madam Song was extremely anxious and probed further.

Liu Guimei immediately guessed the answer.

“Mother, there’s no need to ask further. Guihua gave birth to another daughter.”

She knew it.

Her acumen was excellent; there was no way she could be mistaken.

Sigh!

Poor me; why can’t I have a daughter?

Madam Song was so nervous that her throat was about to fall out. She asked her eldest granddaughter, “Is that true?”

The girl nodded and said, “Yes, I have gained another little sister.”

Madam Song felt a wave of dizziness and took a few steps back.

“What sort of destiny is this?! Why is God punishing us?!”

Madam Song was so enraged that she pounded hard on her chest.

Guihua would continue to be at the bottom of the hierarchy at her in-laws’ place. She would have to continue to try for another son.

“Mother, there’s no use feeling upset. It’s an unchangeable fact.”

She should just accept the reality.

Liu Guimei asked the girl gloatingly, “How did your grandmother react?”

Needless to ask, Madam Song already knew the answer.

She must have been exasperated.

She would probably drop by her house every now and then to gossip and make sarcastic remarks about Guihua.

At the mention of her grandmother, the eldest girl looked fearful. She said, “My grandmother pulled a long face instantly. She insisted on giving my baby sister to another family to be adopted, but Mother refused. In a fit of anger, Grandmother asked me to bring my two younger sisters over to Granny’s place and said that there was no one available at home to take care of us.”

She would rather stay at her granny’s house than go back. Otherwise, she would either be beaten or scolded when she returned.

“Mother, that old woman wants to take advantage of you. You can’t agree to that.”

Their family had so many people and their children were obedient. How could it be that there was nobody to take care of them? They were clearly looking for trouble.

“Granny, can we stay with you?”

Their bright eyes were wide open, and their tone was pitiful and pleading.

Madam Song couldn’t bear to see them in this state and replied, “I can’t just sit and watch them get scolded and beaten at home, or watch Guihua still working hard and not resting during her confinement period to take care of them by herself.”

She sympathized with her third daughter and her granddaughters.

“Come, let’s go home with me. With me around, you won’t starve.” She caressed their faces lovingly, her heart aching for them.

“Granny, you’re the best.”

“Granny, I’ll definitely be filial to you when I grow up.”

“Granny, I’ll buy you new clothes to wear in the future.”

They knew how to make Madam Song happy.

Liu Guimei felt goosebumps sprouting on her upon hearing their words.

Why do children nowadays like to make big promises of the future like that?

They know how to say things that are pleasing to the ears.

“Mother, if you go through with this, you’re setting a dangerous precedent. The in-laws of Guihua will never stop piling more and more responsibilities on you,” Liu Guimei warned.

Don’t be a sucker and raise their granddaughters for them. Seriously.

“Of course I know that. However, it’s Guihua’s fault for not being able to give birth to a son. We would have to endure this.”

Typically, in-laws wouldn’t be too thrilled with their daughter-in-law spending all her time at her parents’ house instead of helping out around the house or working.

So, it’s no surprise that Guihua’s in-laws weren’t too fond of her frequent visits to her parents’ place.

If they ever decided to kick her out, she could always just go back to her parents’ house.

Madam Song was prepared for the worst.

Seeing that her three nieces were going to live temporarily with her mother, Liu Guimei’s desire to return to the Fu’s grew even stronger.

It intensified even more after she walked around Madam Song’s kitchen and found nothing delicious.

She might as well go back.

Hence, she took her bag and walked out of the courtyard. Her nieces asked, “Aunt, where are we going?”

“Of course I’m going home. All of you are like starving ghosts. How can I outdo all of you?”

After bidding Madam Song goodbye, Liu Guimei returned home dejectedly.

At Liu Shan Village

A group of women gathered under a big tree—the Gossip Corner of the village, talking non-stop.

Fatty Li’s voice was the loudests.

“Fatty Li, are you serious? You lost a tael of silver?”

“How can I lie about this? I lost it yesterday and was so angry that I couldn’t sleep last night. My heart ached so much.”

At the mention of this, Fatty Li slapped her thigh in frustration.

She had retraced the path she took yesterday several times the entire morning. She fixed her gaze so hard on the ground that her eyes were almost going blind from the strain. However, no matter how hard she tried, she couldn’t find it.

Needless to say, someone must have picked it up.

“One tael of silver! That’s almost a year’s worth of my family’s living expenses. And what did you do to deserve losing such a large sum of money? Not only did you embarrass yourself, but now you’ve lost a fortune. Great job.”

Several people couldn’t help but feel a twinge of sadness in their hearts.

They knew that if she had lost that much money, her husband would probably beat her to death when she returned home.

“My luck is rotten. It’s all because of the Fu family.” Fatty Li said.

“What does it have to do with the Fu family?”

Her words were hard to understand.

At this moment, Liu Guimei happened to pass by.

With her sharp ears, she happened to hear them badmouthing about the Fu family.