In the first three years, Xie Jiayan settled down in her in-law's house according to customs and habits, and the relationship between her in-laws was also intimate.

Kuzhu Pass is in the hinterland of Damu Mountain, the village is surrounded by mountains on all sides, the mountain is long with bamboo trees, because the bitter bamboo group surrounds the village, and gets this place name. Leaning on the mountain to eat the mountain, the mountain people sell bamboo wood, bamboo shoots, mushrooms, fungus and charcoal-based, especially the bamboo shoot products are famous all over the world, the bamboo shoots are divided into large bamboo shoots, and small bamboo shoots, the bamboo shoots are large, the bitter bamboo shoots are small, the bamboo shoots can be eaten fresh, can also be dried, can also be pickled up, into four seasons food, but also can be made into bagged bamboo shoots, or canned bamboo shoots, sold to the city.

Because of the high mountains and low valleys, the TV set could not receive the signal at all, and became a precious ornament, and because there was no running water, the washing machine also became a valuable ornament, a crooked gravel road, up the mountain and circling seven miles, down the mountain and eight miles, no one dared to ride the motorcycle. Despite the 20 years of reform and opening up, the village is still the same old face, with dilapidated mud brick and black tile houses, kitchens surrounded by tree tubes, toilets surrounded by bamboo tubes, thatched grass on the roofs covered by thatched poles, and tigers and wolves come in and out to drag pigs and cattle in the middle of the night, and wild boars bite the crops in groups.

Just like the local spread of the smooth mouth, the surrounding mountains are high and steep, the smoke kiln in the middle burns the tree pocket, the back of the charcoal goes out a foot flat, the north wind roars and breaks cold sweat, the stone stumbles and steps on the wrong foot, there are nine people mourned in ten years, there are women who marry in the mountains, the bitter water tea and rice knife cut the throat, there is no happiness in a lifetime, and the suffering goes to heaven.

As long as you are willing to bear hardships and stand hard work, the wild bamboo trees all over the mountains have also fed generations of mountain people. Men can sell logs and bamboos for money, and make money by processing bamboo timber, bamboo timber, and bamboo and wood products. Women dig bamboo shoots and pinch ferns, pick mushroom fungus, pick bayberry and kiwifruit, and sell them to turn them into money. As long as you are willing to work hard, there is absolutely no problem in solving the problem of food and clothing, and you only blame yourself for being lazy when you are hungry.

Shu Zhiqiang likes to work hard, idle, the heavy burden of the family is only Xie Jiayan for him to pick, not only to cut down trees and bamboos like men, carry trees and bamboos, but also to dig bamboo shoots and pick up mushrooms with women, every autumn to be like a strong man, chopping wood, building kilns, burning charcoal, after the weather is cold, and then push to the city with a board cart to sell, start work early in the morning, finish late after dark, run a round trip a day, and have an income of 100 yuan.

Material poverty and hard work, Xie Jiayuan can barely endure it, but the spiritual tribulation can't bear it, and the biggest blow comes from the child. Shu Shilei was born, a tiger head, a big fat boy with a strong head, although his right foot is deformed, the instep is on the ground, and he is born with clubfoot, but because he is a boy, there is absolutely no problem in passing on the ancestry, and the two parents are happy.

Until the child turned two years old, Shu Shilei still couldn't speak clearly, the road was unstable, his mouth was a little crooked, his nose was a little slanted, and his saliva continued to flow for many years.

The Shu family unanimously accused Gong Magpie of harming his son and mistaking his son: Isn't it that you advocate marriage between close relatives, can you give birth to an idiot now?

Gong Magpie does not admit that it is the evil result of the marriage of close relatives: from ancient times to the present, there are many aunts and cousins, or aunts and cousins who get married. The children of my other two daughters are not idiots? A certain family is not married by close relatives, and they are all fools when they give birth to a child! A certain family still gives birth to one and dies another! What does this mean? The ancestors violated the rules of heaven, and the gods and spirits punished people according to good and evil! If you want to blame your family for doing too many sins, God is punishing them! This is called retribution in this world!

The mother of the family said, "The child was conceived in your family, and if you want to say that you have violated the rules of heaven, it is also a member of your family!"

Gong Magpie said: But the child was born in your family, at least your family's feng shui is not correct, the house is unfavorable, or the cow tramples on the ancestral grave, and the sheep gnaws the tomb tree.

My mother-in-law said, "Then my second daughter-in-law is pregnant in my family and born in my family, why don't you give birth to monsters?"

Gong Magpie said: It's not that your son hurts the heavens and harms the reason?

Xie Jiayan and Shu Zhiqiang are cousins married, close relatives married, at this time, there is no flesh and blood affection, and I don't recognize any relatives decent, Gong Magpie and in-laws are red-eyed like enemies when they see each other, blame each other, expose each other's old bottoms, and insult each other.

The mother-in-law said: Not only did you teach my son to steal and gamble, but you also occupied his son, forced him to sell long-term labor, and detained him to work as a coolie in the Xie family to support your whole family.

Gong Magpie said: You are greedy for money and want to get married, and when you see that you are selling your son, you heard that you can get back a dowry of 20,000 yuan without spending a penny, so you immediately did not object to the marriage of close relatives, and happily married my daughter into the door.

The two parents' families scolded each other and broke off their love, and finally swore to the sky that they would never get along with each other in old age.

The in-laws can not move around, but Xie Jiayan can't help but live in the Shu family.

Shu Shilei is a little older, he got polio when he was three years old, his left foot is also crooked, his right foot is tilted forward, his body is leaning forward, and then his left foot is pushed forward and out, and his body is leaning backwards, not walking upright at all, but constantly bowing to the world, who doesn't feel sad when he sees it?

Even if she knows in her heart that it is not her daughter-in-law's fault, even if the account is counted in the matter of the marriage of close relatives, she is still a victim, but the poor family is unlucky, and it is getting worse and worse, who can not be angry and have a little temper! Even if you give birth to a smart and clever man, no one can treat her daughter-in-law as a hero, and she holds and coaxes and worships her all the time!

The Shu family inevitably ridiculed and sarcastic, or teased their son to beat and kick. As the saying goes, the children of the poor are in charge early, but Xie Jiayan is a squeamish woman who is used to being poor, and a poor family raises an arrogant woman, who has been selfish and willful since she was a child, but her mother forced Shu Zhiqiang's coarse sand into her eyes, and her frustration hurt her, and she was inferior and suspicious, it seemed that everyone in the world looked down on her, bullied her for no reason, and was weak and short of breath, it seemed that the gods owed her and teased her with ulterior motives.

Whenever she thinks that she has been bullied, humiliated, she doesn't use her brain when she encounters something, and she doesn't have the strength to do things, she is beaten and scolded, she is wronged, and she is like a three-year-old child at every turn, she runs back to her parents' house to complain to her parents, and she can't say any big reason, she will only cry non-stop, it seems that everyone bullies her and treats her badly.

Every few days, the Shu family sent someone to pick her up, and Gong Magpie naturally wanted to reason with the visitor. It can be said that quarrels and earth-shaking events are nothing more than trivial family matters, and it is difficult for Qing officials to judge family matters. Gong Magpie relied on the support of a group of children, set up a full score, sprinkled everything, was brutal and tough, and tried his best to support Xie Jiayan to make trouble unreasonably, embarrassing people and making the Shu family sad.

At first, Xie Jiayan cried, made trouble, and her anger subsided, and finally borrowed the donkey from the slope to go back with the comer.