The north-south Yi River meanders along Jinghai County, and a tributary flows slowly through Zhaojia Village, dividing Zhaojia Village into two parts: the east and west of the village.

Zhao Yongzhong drove a mule cart slowly through the wheat field and came to the entrance of the village located directly east of Zhaojia Village. Lao Zhao's family is in the west of the village, and on the way home, he has to pass a small bridge in the middle of the village. On the west side of the bridge is the threshing floor of the village, there is an old locust tree on the side of the field, the trunk is very thick, it takes three or four adults to barely hold it, the broad canopy supports a large area of green shade, and many daughters-in-law sit under the shade of the tree on weekdays while doing work and chatting.

The mule cart alarmed these people who were chatting, and someone asked loudly: "Yongzhong daughter-in-law, how is your little girl?" ”

Jiang replied with a smile.

After Zhao Yongzhong left in the mule cart, the daughter-in-law next to him asked Zhao Yongjiang's daughter-in-law Cheng, who had just talked to Jiang, "Whose daughter-in-law is that?" What's wrong with her little girl? ”

Cheng replied: "That's Zhao Yongzhong, the third son of the old man Zhao in the west of the village, and his daughter-in-law, Jiang Su'e, a first-class diligent person in our village. Her little girl fell into the water a few days ago, and she had a high fever, and she didn't wait until yesterday to invite Langzhong, and Li Langzhong in the village said that she couldn't save it, and she was sent to the town to pick up her life. ”

Another informed daughter-in-law interjected: "Zhao Yongzhong's mother refuses to pay for the treatment of her granddaughter, Li Langzhong was invited by Zhao Yongzhong first and then played, and the diagnosis fee was only taken out after Mr. Zhao spoke!" ”

The daughter-in-law who asked the question earlier said: "My granddaughter is so sick that she is dying, and she refuses to pay?" ”

Cheng said: "You just married into our village, I'm afraid you don't know yet, Zhao Yongzhong and his mother are the hardest!" I heard that yesterday Zhao Yongzhong took his daughter to the town to see a doctor, and he had no money to give medicine, so he knelt and begged his father and mother to pay to save people, but the old couple didn't blink their eyes, and they didn't take a child out! ”

The daughter-in-law who had been holding her head down and the soles of her shoes heard this, and said, "Won't it?" I see that Old Man Zhao is an understanding person, it shouldn't be like this! ”

Cheng said: "Why not, my brother-in-law lives next door to his house, I went to visit the door yesterday, this is what I heard with my own ears!" ”

For a while, everyone was talking.

The mule cart continued to move forward, and it was almost to Lao Zhao's house, Zhao Yongzhong jumped out of the car, pulled the mule's halter, and walked towards Zhao Yongfang's house.

The vast majority of people living in Zhao's village are surnamed Zhao, and many of them are relatives, and the old man Zhao and Zhao Yongfang's father are cousins.

Zhao Yongfang and his wife saw that Zhao Yongzhong and his wife came back with Zhao Siniang, and hurriedly asked about Zhao Siniang's condition, and heard that she was no longer in the way, as long as she recuperated for a few days, they were relieved.

After chatting for a while, because Zhao Siniang's body was still relatively weak, Zhao Yongzhong's family said goodbye and left, and Zhao Yongfang and his wife were inconvenient to stay longer, so they were busy sending guests out.

Who knew that before Zhao Yongzhong's family of six walked out of the gate of Zhao Yongfang's house, they heard Zhao Qiao's earth-shattering scolding from the courtyard next door.

Zhao Shilang muttered in a low voice: "Grandma is scolding the eldest aunt again." ”

Zhao Yongzhong realized that although the two of them were separated by a wall, Zhao Qiao's scolding in the courtyard next door could be heard clearly, and his face couldn't help but blush, and he sneered at Zhao Yongfang: "Second brother Zhao, my mother is ...... her" His mother was completely looking for trouble, and he tortured his sister-in-law Song when he had the opportunity, he really didn't know what to say. I thought in my heart, people don't know how long they have been watching their own jokes, and his mother is going to make a fuss almost every two days.

Zhao Yongfang didn't want to embarrass Zhao Yongzhong, and said with a smile: "Auntie's body is hard!" ”

Zhao Yongzhong laughed dryly twice, hurriedly said goodbye to Zhao Yongfang, and led his wife and children home.

In the courtyard, Zhao Qiaoshi was scolding at the Song family: "Okay, you lazy woman, let you wash your clothes, and you haven't washed them until now!" ”

To say that this Song family is really a hard-working person.

More than ten years ago, there was a great drought in Youzhou, and the life of the old Zhao family was in trouble. As a last resort, Zhao Yongzhong's eldest brother Zhao Yongye left his hometown to do business, wanting to make a living. Who knew that he left and never came back. At that time, there were many displaced people, and the plague was rampant, but I was afraid that there would be more luck and less luck.

If Zhao Yongye hadn't started a family yet, it wouldn't matter if he left, but a year before he left home, he had just married the eldest daughter of the Song family in the neighboring village Gaodian Village, and the daughter born to him by the Song family was still in infancy. This made the mother and daughter miserable, and the mother and son looked forward to him returning home day and night, but Zhao Yongye never heard from him. The Song family is also loyal, although she waited for Zhao Yongye not to return, she still silently guarded for him for 18 years, her mother's family did not know how many times she persuaded her to remarry, but she was stunned and did not agree, and continued to stay in the old Zhao family to serve her in-laws and raise her daughter. There is no one in the neighborhood who does not respect her.

It stands to reason that such a good daughter-in-law can't be begged for by other people's families, but she encountered a lonely temper like Zhao Qiao's: she felt that her son's departure from home was completely due to Song's unvirtuous and fateful Kefu; The little girl born by the Song family is even more ominous, and she hits Ke's father. So he was angry with the mother and son at every turn, and scolded him unreasonably for three days.

Let's take today, Zhao Yongzhong's family went to the town, and the only people left in the old Zhao family who could do housework were Zhao Qiao's, Zhao Chengqing and Song's mother and daughter. Zhao Qiao's family is a person who is only willing to move his mouth, and Zhao Chengqing is even more fingers that do not touch the spring water, and the work of the whole family is pressed on the Song family's mother and son. Before dawn, the mother and son got up to boil water for cooking, chopping wood and feeding the pigs, and they were so busy that they didn't even have time to drink saliva. Rao is like this, Zhao Qiaoshi is still full of dissatisfaction, seeing that the mother and son are busy, she doesn't go to help, just sits on the side and stares coldly, and picks bones in eggs from time to time. No, Zhao Qiaoshi suddenly found that the dirty clothes he had changed were still in the basin, so he grabbed Song, who was carrying pig food to feed the pigs, and scolded him.

Although Song is often scolded for no reason, he does not complain, and always obeys and works hard. It's the same today, Song didn't argue, lowered his head softly, and said in a low voice: "Mother, it's me who is not good, I will wash the pig after feeding." ”

Zhao Qiao's eyes were more and more arrogant when he saw Song's low eyebrows, and he was about to scold again, when he suddenly saw Zhao Yongzhong's family coming back, he couldn't help but stiffen, and he was a little weak-hearted, so he stopped scolding again.

But when Zhao Qiaoshi took a closer look, he found that Zhao Siniang was standing there in a good manner, and then he was confident, glared at Jiang and scolded: "It's okay to take a little girl piece as a cover, run to the town and be at ease, see that the sky is not home, and leave a bunch of work for the old woman and me to do!" ”

Seeing this, Jiang Shi hurriedly smiled at Zhao Qiao's and said, "Mother, you have worked hard for the past two days, you are so resting, I will go to wash clothes." As he spoke, he bent down to fetch the laundry tub on the floor.

Hearing a bang, Zhao Qiaoshi kicked the laundry tub open. Jiang, who was bowing his head to take the basin, was stunned for a while, and hurriedly raised his head to look at Zhao Qiaoshi, but she pointed his nose and scolded: "Now in this world, black and white are reversed, mother-in-law is a slave, and daughter-in-law is an ancestor. Let the mother-in-law have to ask for three times to wash the clothes, and I really regard myself as an ancestor! ”

Is Zhao Qiao's unreasonable? Jiang had already started to wash the clothes, but it was Zhao Qiaoshi who kicked the basin away, and now he is still wronged Jiang for refusing to work. Although Zhao Siniang already knew that Zhao Qiaoshi was a mean old lady through the memory of the original body, she was mentally prepared. But when she saw Zhao Qiao's nonsense, she still felt angry and felt aggrieved for Jiang's.

At this time, Zhao Siniang caught a glimpse of Zhao Sanniang's angry face, and wanted to rush forward to reason with Zhao Qiao's family, so she hurriedly reached out and grabbed her, and shook her head.

It is already evening, and the villagers who have been working in the fields are returning home one after another, and the daughter-in-law who is staying outside also has to go home to cook, and from time to time someone passes in front of Lao Zhao's house. Hearing the noise inside, several people had already stopped and stood in the doorway to see what was going on inside.

This matter is indeed Zhao Qiao's unreasonableness, but outsiders may not be clear. Zhao Qiao's scolding his daughter-in-law is not a big deal, but her granddaughter stepped forward to compare with her grandmother, and it is not a good reputation if it spreads.

Zhao Yongzhong saw that Jiang was wronged, and he couldn't look past it, so he couldn't help but argue for Jiang: "In the past few days, for Siniang's illness, I have indeed neglected the work of the family, but the child and his mother are not ......."

Zhao Qiaoshi saw that his son did not help him, but stood up for the Jiang family, and his anger soared, and he scolded loudly: "Wow, I forgot my mother when I married my daughter-in-law!" After that, he grabbed Zhao Yongzhong, hit his son's chest with his head, and scolded while bumping: "You are an unfilial son!" ”

Jiang and the children hurriedly stepped forward to pull Zhao Qiao's when they saw it, and finally pulled it away, but before they could breathe a sigh of relief, they saw Zhao Qiao's simply sitting on the ground, crying and making trouble, and shouting: "I gave birth to an unfilial son!" ”

At this time, Zhao Chengqing, who had been sleeping in the room, rushed out, pushed away Jiang who wanted to help Zhao Qiao's get up, pushed Jiang staggered, and almost fell.

Zhao Chengqing yelled at his brother and sister-in-law: "What are you doing? Do you want to force our mother to death? ”

When Zhao Qiaoshi saw her daughter come out to help her, she became more and more energetic, and she was about to hit her head on the ground, and shouted loudly: "I'm not alive anymore, I gave birth to such an unfilial son, it's better to die!" ”

Seeing that there was a lot of trouble, and more and more people gathered at the door, Zhao Yongzhong and Jiang glanced at each other, and both knelt down helplessly for Zhao Qiaoshi, and begged: "Mother, it's our mistake, you can dissipate your anger!" The couple knew very well that Zhao Qiao's family was like this, just because they went to invite Lang Zhong behind Zhao Qiao's back yesterday, and took it upon themselves to send Zhao Siniang to the town to see a doctor. Now only by kneeling down to Zhao Qiaoshi to admit her mistakes, being a little low, and letting Zhao Qiaoshi hold herself, can her anger disappear.

Zhao Sanlang and Zhao Shilang saw their father and mother kneeling, although they were reluctant, they still knelt down.

And Zhao Sanniang has been in the house since she entered the house, and she couldn't help but rush up to reason with Zhao Qiao's several times, but she was stopped by Zhao Siniang. Now that she is forced by the situation, she actually wants to kneel down to make amends to Zhao Qiao's family, how can Zhao Sanniang stand it? I felt that my heart, liver and lungs hurt with anger, my hands trembled with anger, and my eyes were blood-red.

At this time, I saw Zhao Chengqing's eyes squinting, with infinite provocation, as if to say: Let you be strong, in the end, it is not to kneel down for me to admit my mistakes. Zhao Chengqing still remembered that Zhao Sanniang looked at her with that kind of contempt yesterday, but she didn't expect that she would have the opportunity to take revenge so soon. The brother and sister-in-law knelt down for Zhao Qiao's family, but Zhao Chengqing didn't avoid it, so he stayed by Zhao Qiao's side and accepted it calmly.

Zhao Siniang kept holding Zhao Sanniang's hand, she could feel Zhao Sanniang's anger, and when she saw her family kneeling together, she was even more sad and indignant in her heart.