"Jingde, my youngest son, boohoo, don't you want your mother anymore? Huh? Don't you want the toys, the little wooden cars, and the pretty clothes your mother bought for you? Huh?"
Gao Fengjuan wailed and cried, hugging Gao Jingde and shaking him desperately. "My youngest son, speak, speak to me, boohoo..."
This ungrateful wretch didn't know how to cherish his mother at all.
When couples divorced, most children stayed with their mothers. But he was the opposite.
"Oh, Mother!" Gao Jingde pushed her away. "No matter who I'm with, you'll always be my mother. I'll come to see you..."
If she shook him any longer, he'd fall apart.
Gao Mantang was also reluctant to part with his grandson, but what could he do? Even if he went to court, he wouldn't get any justice.
After all, the child was determined to stay with his father, and they couldn't snatch him away.
The father and daughter walked out of the Yun family's house in a daze.
Gao Fengjuan felt as if she were dreaming, her steps unsteady. "Dad, I... I've really been divorced? Am I a widow now? After being with him for so many years, I can't even keep the child?"
Gao Mantang remained silent.
He was finding Gao Fengjuan more and more displeasing.
She was useless at everything and ate without end.
He felt a bit guilty. If he had been more diligent over the years, helping Sanman more with the shop's affairs, perhaps Sanman wouldn't have been pushed to this point...
What good could come of having a live-in son-in-law and treating him like a donkey or an ox?
"Stop crying and wailing. Get into the carriage. Go back and pack Sanman and Jingde's things, and send them over when you have time!" Gao Mantang reprimanded.
Gao Fengjuan glanced back at the plaque above the Yun family's door. The four golden characters, 'House of Glorious Lineage,' gleamed in the moonlight...
This plaque had been hung up just a few days ago when Siman was home.
Upon hearing that his sister was so accomplished, he was overjoyed.
Gao Fengjuan spat fiercely. "Pah! What House of Glorious Lineage? I think it's a wife-cursing house! Cui Rong was kicked out, Huai Hua and Xi'er were also driven away, and now they're causing trouble for me. All the men in your Yun family curse their wives!"
Gao Mantang: "..."
Things happen because people make them happen. If she hadn't caused trouble, would they have kicked their daughter-in-law out?
He felt that his daughter was quite like Liu Cui Rong. From morning to night, she was always showing off without any sense. It was no wonder the elder Yun couple drove them out.
Gao Fengjuan climbed into the carriage, still grumbling, "Hmph, I used to think Tian Baobao was quite something, capable and cute. But now that I look at it, she's nothing special. Her own sister-in-law was divorced, and she didn't say a word for justice, pretending to be deaf and mute. I suspect that brat is instigating Sanman's sudden change of heart..."
No one in this Yun family was good.
"No, can you stop chattering nonsense? What does little Tian Bao have to do with this? Aren't you afraid of your mouth getting rotten!"
Gao Mantang retorted, then waved his whip and drove the carriage away.
As the night deepened, the old Yun family retired to their rooms after dinner.
Du Tieshan was washing dishes in the kitchen and preparing the dough for steamed buns for the next morning...
Yun Erman came in carrying a kettle. Seeing Du Tieshan busy, he said, "Shanshan, rest for a while. Soak your feet."
Du Tieshan glanced back at him and then collected the dried tofu strips drying on the windowsill into a sieve. "I'm not tired. You go to sleep first. If there's not enough hot water for your feet, I'll boil another pot later!"
"It's enough, it's enough!" Yun Erman placed the kettle on the small stove and suddenly reached out to hug Du Tieshan's waist. "Shanshan, I..."
"What are you doing?" Du Tieshan was startled and quickly took a step back. "We haven't even had our wedding ceremony yet!"
Touching her like this, what was it supposed to be?
Yun Erman scratched his head. "I, I know. You've been here for a while, but, but we haven't even kissed yet, so, so..."
Du Tieshan couldn't help but laugh. She beckoned to Yun Erman with her finger. "Want a kiss? Okay, come here!"
Yun Erman was overjoyed and trotted over.
This woman was so much better than Liu Cui Rong. That clumsy girl wanted to kiss after eating leek pancakes, and Yun Erman couldn't stand the smell...
Unexpectedly, as soon as Yun Erman ran over, Du Tieshan bent down, opened the cage by her feet, and handed a fat rabbit to Yun Erman. "You can kiss the rabbit. We're not married yet, so we can't do such things!"
The rabbit was sent by Du Laosan yesterday. As autumn arrived, rabbits in the mountains became a plague, often raiding the fields and damaging crops.
Du Laosan set several traps and caught quite a few, sending two to the Yun family...
Yun Erman looked at the heavy white rabbit in his arms, feeling a little disappointed.
"Mom and Dad said we'll get married next month. Dad even wants to have a grand ceremony!" Yun Erman put the large white rabbit back into the cage and sat on the doorstep.
Du Tieshan hummed and sighed softly. "After Hanlu comes Frost Descent. Before we get married, I want to go back to the village to pay respects to our ancestors and burn some paper. You can accompany me then..."
"Okay, anyway, there won't be much work at home then. I'll go with you!" Yun Erman readily agreed.
In the main room.
Old Man Yun sat cross-legged on the kang, puffing on his pipe.
Gu Shi folded Xiaoxi Tian's clothes and took a sip from her teacup. "Old man, what are you thinking about?"
Old Man Yun came back to his senses, dumped the ash from his pipe into the urine bucket, and said, "Old woman, what do you think Sanman will do from now on? With a son, it will be difficult to find a wife..."
If he were a single young man, literate, good at calculations, and not unattractive, finding a wife wouldn't be so hard.
But he was divorced and had a seven-year-old son. What girl would be willing to marry him?
How many daughters-in-law as satisfactory as Shanshan were there in this world?
Gu Shi smiled upon hearing this. "It might be a bit difficult to find a girl who has never been married, but there are still quite a few divorced or widowed women. The daughter of Zhao Laogen from the neighboring village was divorced the other day. You can go and ask Sanman about it when you have time..."
"That won't do!" Old Man Yun picked up a pillow, shook it, and smoothed out the buckwheat husks inside, stacking it on the first pillow, making it high like a wall.
He wasn't used to sleeping on low pillows.
"That girl was definitely divorced for a reason. Our family can't bring in such things from now on!" Old Man Yun refused.
He didn't want to bother with it.
Gu Shi pursed her lips and smiled, saying nothing.
Just as the old couple was about to doze off, shouting was heard from outside the main gate again...