A Good Country Wife-Chapter 22 - Being Bullied_1
Chapter 22: Chapter 22 Being Bullied_1
Chapter 22: Chapter 22 Being Bullied_1
“I still need to dig for bamboo shoots, it’s hot…” Lin Yue began to argue, but the moment she sensed the anger in Zhao Erhu’s words, she immediately behaved and let Zhao Erhu put the jacket on her. However, her gaze remained fixed on the bamboo shoots, and even though Zhao Erhu scolded her harshly, she couldn’t hide the smile on her face, which left Zhao Erhu utterly helpless.
When they returned home in the evening, the harvest was abundant, including a basket full of bamboo shoots and a wild rabbit. Lin Yue, holding the rabbit excitedly, walked in front, but upon entering the house, she realized something was off. The children were pitifully squatting in the kitchen with red-rimmed eyes and their clothes and hair in disarray, looking very miserable. Dalang even had a bright red slap mark on his face, and half of his face was swollen. Lin Yue felt a tightness in her heart— who could be so cruel as to hit a child like that?
“What happened, who hit you like this?” Lin Yue asked fiercely as she hugged the stubbornly pouting Dalang squatting on the ground into her arms. Dalang, despite normally being tough and acting like an adult, was just a child of a little over seven years. He had held back earlier to avoid worrying his big brother and two younger brothers, but now he couldn’t help crying in Lin Yue’s arms, finally relaxing. Not knowing the reason or how to comfort Dalang properly, Lin Yue silently patted his back, allowing him to vent his feelings.
“San-niang, sob sob~~” Lin Yue treated the children well, and over the days they had formed a bond with her. Seeing Lin Yue’s return, Sanlang and Silang ran to her side and clung to her, crying. Dalang, being older, felt embarrassed to cry in front of his young stepmother like his younger brothers, and just stood silently next to Lin Yue, though his face showed no less grievance.
“What’s going on, why are you all crying like this, alright, alright, don’t cry now.” One child not yet comforted and two more came along, leaving Lin Yue at her wit’s end, not knowing what to do. Erhu placed the bamboo he had dragged back from the mountain in the courtyard and frowned as he walked into the kitchen and saw this scene.
“Stop crying all of you, men shed blood not tears. You’re all supposed to be men and yet you’re crying like unweaned babies, what kind of behavior is that?” Erhu believed boys should not be coddled like girls, having grown up tough without the love of parents. He especially could not stand seeing his sons like this, appearing so pathetic, and believed in disciplining them first, whatever the reason.
“The children are already so aggrieved, why are you scolding them? Don’t you see they’ve been bullied? What kind of father are you?” Lin Yue was furious and scolded Erhu. She seemed to understand why Erhu liked to scold her so much— it turned out he was used to scolding his sons. After rolling her eyes at Erhu, Lin Yue continued to console the children.
“Okay, my good ones, stop crying. Tell San-niang what happened, who bullied you. San-niang will certainly stand up for you.”
Sanlang and Silang were most afraid of their father. Having been disciplined by Erhu before, they didn’t dare to keep crying. The moment Erhu reprimanded them, they immediately quieted down and stood up obediently. Erhu, having vented, also calmed down and embarrassedly emerged from Lin Yue’s embrace. His ears turned slightly red, and he didn’t understand why he had lost control and cried in front of his stepmother. That detestable woman must be laughing at him in her heart, Erhu thought maliciously, unwilling to believe that his stepmother could truly be kind to him.
“Stop crying now, stepmom will wipe away your tears for you,” Lin Yue noticed Dalang’s awkwardness and discomfort, aware that he still had some reservations about his stepmother, yet she wasn’t discouraged. She pulled out a handkerchief and dried the tears on Dalang’s face. Dalang looked at Lin Yue and for a moment was a bit dazed, the gentle and comforting voice in his ears filled with a touch of affection, resembling the voice of his mother from his memories, stirring a warmth in his heart.
Once the children calmed down, upon asking, the cause of the commotion was revealed. It turned out that Zhao Lan, Erhu’s aunt, had come to the house to ask for handouts, and the kids had staunchly refused to let her take everything from the house, leading to the mess. While Erhu was infuriated upon hearing this, he couldn’t lash out. Lin Yue, on the other hand, was curious about the aunt the children mentioned, this person who so boldly came to take things without asking and even resorted to hitting the children.
“Aunt took all the rice and even wanted to take the wheat flour. Dalang said the flour was bought by dad to nourish stepmom and wouldn’t let aunt take it. Aunt got angry and slapped Dalang, and then Dalang fought with aunt. Dalang couldn’t defeat aunt, and even when we went to help, aunt beat us too,” wept Sanlang, whose young age didn’t reflect his eloquence as he tattled to Lin Yue.
Lin Yue felt both gratified and indignant upon hearing this. Gratified because Dalang seemed to dislike her, but unexpectedly, he defended her behind her back. Fortunately, she hadn’t mistreated Dalang in return, or else she wouldn’t have been able to live with herself, Lin Yue thought in this manner. But this was all a misunderstanding; Dalang didn’t want the aunt to take the food home and had simply used that as an excuse. The food had been taken by the aunt in the end. Yet, as Sanlang told the story, Lin Yue was moved, and hence, she felt even more indignant about the so-called aunt’s actions.
Lin Yue could not hold back her anger and wanted Erhu to seek justice from the children’s aunt, but Erhu was unwilling. “Why not? Your own son has been beaten up like this, don’t you feel pity as a father? Plus, all the household’s grain was taken by your elder sister, leaving not a single grain. What will we eat tonight?”
The sourc𝗲 of this content is frёeωebɳovel.com.
“The elder sister is an elder, and it’s not good for us juniors to argue with her. It’s just a small loss for the children; after all, nothing serious happened. I’ll find a way for the grain; just leave it be,” Erhu said, suppressing his anger, planning to borrow some grain from Wu Qiang’s house.
Lin Yue had always thought Erhu was a strong and responsible man, but she hadn’t expected him to be so useless this time. “You may respect her as an elder, but she surely hasn’t considered the children as her juniors. Dalang’s face is swollen from the beating. What kind of elder would do such a shameless thing? The bullying has reached our doorstep, and yet you still want to keep the peace—Erhu, are you even a man! Fine, if you won’t deal with it, then so be it. Dalang at least calls me stepmom, and since I am his mother, I can’t let him be bullied like this. If you won’t go, I will!”
“Niuniu, don’t make a fuss, I know what I’m doing,” Erhu wasn’t the pushover Lin Yue imagined. It was just that Zhao Lan was a truly audacious and shameless woman; even if confronted, she wouldn’t reason with you. Relying on her status as an elder, she’d use all sorts of shrewish and shameless tactics. Erhu couldn’t lay a hand on her and truly had no way to respond. Incidents like today’s had occurred not just once or twice before. At first, Erhu did go to argue, but not only did he fail to retrieve anything, he also got scratched by Zhao Lan, ending up in a humiliating state. He could only swallow his pride. As long as the house had nothing to take, the elder sister wouldn’t come over. This time, she probably came because she’d heard something; after all, everybody had seen how much stuff they’d brought home on the ox cart last time.
