In Gude County, Xiangzhou, Liu Laoshi returned home in a depressed mood.
Just as the door was closing, Liu's sharp voice rang out from inside: "You're back so late, did you go to visit some whore, or did you go to see your unlucky mother?"
Liu Laoshi held the bolt tightly with his right hand, his fingers almost twisted. After five breaths, he slowly let go of his hand, turned around, glanced at his wife, and slowly walked towards the west room.
"Why don't you dare to speak?" Liu crossed her arms and looked at her husband with contempt.
Liu Laoshi had a gloomy face and ignored his wife.
Liu was furious and said, "Stop! What do you think of me? I gave you two cents today. Do you still have it? Show it to me!"
Liu Laoshi stopped at the door of the west room and said helplessly: "I bought some buns to eat."
"Which buns are these from? What's the filling?"
"Of course it's from Zhang Baopu. You know I like eating their buns." Liu Laoshi said impatiently.
"Ha, what a joke! I went to the market today to ask you, and you didn't buy any steamed buns. Instead, you bought four big steamed buns! You're a big eater. You ate four steamed buns in one lunch, and they weren't even vegetables. Did you eat them with grass on the roadside?"
Liu Laoshi's face flushed, and he turned around and asked, "Are you still stalking people on the street?"
Liu sneered, "Today I saw that you were like a lost soul. You asked this and that before leaving the house. I was relieved to hear that you were not going to the north. Aren't you going to the north to see your mother? What is there to be afraid of? I was really unlucky to marry you. I didn't have a good life for a few days. You gave all your spare money to your mother, and you didn't even send any to our family."
Liu Laoshi was so angry that his face turned red. He hammered the door frame and said, "You are the one who goes to collect the money from the workshop. If you don't go, I won't get a penny. You only give me two cents a day. Apart from food, what can I give to my mother? What can I give to your mother's family? Whenever something broke in your mother's family, I went to fix it. Don't blame me for nothing."
Liu smiled coldly and said, "Then let me ask you, what's the matter with the money you owe Baoyuetang for medicine?"
"Don't go too far!" Liu Laoshi growled and stepped into the house.
Liu's eyes glared, she rushed into the west room, pointed at Liu Laoshi and cursed: "I went too far? You try to curse me again? I can't tear your stinky mouth apart! I'm so unlucky to marry into your family. There's not much dowry, not much benefits, and all the money in the family is used to support that old man! If I hadn't driven her to the old house two years ago, our family would have become a ruined family long ago!"
"Stop talking." Liu Laoshi's voice suddenly became low.
When Mrs. Liu heard that Liu Laoshi had given in, she said smugly, "Stop talking. You know you're in the wrong, don't you? Calculate how much of our money has been wasted by your mother? Calculate it yourself! Doctors and pharmacies all over the city are so amiable that they treat you like the God of Wealth. Which doctor or pharmacy doesn't know you? I don't know what good deeds that old man had in his previous life. He has tried all kinds of medicines, but I can't even smell them! That old man is half dead all day long, but he can live longer than anyone else. You're pretty amazing too. You gave me two cents a day, and you kept that old man alive for two years. You even let the pharmacy sell you medicine on credit. You two are really close. From tomorrow on, I'll only give you one cent."
"You dare!" Liu Laoshi turned around abruptly and glared at Liu.
Liu smiled nonchalantly, "Why shouldn't I be afraid? I have a wife and children but I don't know how to take care of them. I'm miserable all day long, and I only know how to take care of them. Why shouldn't I be afraid?"
Liu Laoshi's eyes were filled with anger and sadness, and he cursed loudly, "How shameless are you! Since you married me, when have you ever suffered? From the second month after we got married, you have been in charge of the monthly wages. You said that it was not easy for your parents to raise you, and you deducted half of the money every month for them. You also bought meat, cloth, and fruit for them during the New Year and other festivals. You never missed a New Year. You went back to your parents' home 300 days out of 365 days a year! Of the remaining money, you divided it into three parts, saying that you saved one part, but I haven't seen where you saved it until now! You said you would use one part yourself, and the rest was kept at home. How much could you use to treat my mother's illness? You spent less than half of the money on my mother. Do you still have a conscience?"
"What did you say? Say it again!" Liu was furious, with his hands on his waist, looking like a tiger or wolf.
"I've told you! I'll say it again and it's still the same. What can you do to me? I've had enough. I'm going to bring my mother back today. If you dare to beat or scold her again, I'll divorce you!" After saying this, Liu Laoshi quickly rushed out.
Liu was so angry that she felt dizzy and cursed loudly: "You have no conscience! If you really bring that old man back, I will die in front of your house!"
Liu Laoshi disappeared out the door without even looking back.
The sky was overcast with lightning and thunder, and there was wind but no rain.
Soon, Liu Laoshi carried an old woman on his back into the gate. After walking around the screen wall, he saw Liu sitting by the well.
Liu stood up in a hurry and cursed: "You old fool, you have done enough harm to our family, how dare you come back? Our good family has been messed up by you, why don't you just die! If you don't die, our family will never be well! At first, my husband listened to me in everything, but since you got sick and kept stirring up trouble, he no longer has me in his eyes! You old fool!"
After saying this, Liu rushed forward and tried to scratch Liu's mother.
Liu's mother had dry and sparse hair, her face was covered with brown spots, and her breathing was weak. When she saw her daughter-in-law rushing towards her, she was scared to death.
"roll!"
Liu Laoshi raised his leg and kicked his wife in the stomach.
Mrs. Liu never expected that her husband would kick her. She was caught off guard and fell backwards, falling heavily to the ground.
Liu Laoshi was stunned for a moment, slowly put his mother down, watched his mother stand up, and rushed over to support his wife.
Liu stupidly let her husband help her up. After a while, she suddenly scratched Liu Laoshi's face desperately, crying as she did so.
"You beast! You actually beat your wife! You have no conscience, you actually beat me! I work so hard for this family, and you actually beat me!"
Liu Laoshi hurriedly covered his face with his arms and kept retreating into the inner room.
Liu Laoshi retreated into the inner room. Liu Shi panted and held onto the door frame. With red eyes, she said, "Carry that old woman back now. Let's pretend that what happened today never happened! If you dare to let her come back again, I will never let you enter this house again!"
Liu Laoshi hid in the house, his face covered with scars, and he said nothing.
"Are you a man or not? I'll ask you one last question. Will you choose me and the child, or that old man? If you don't choose today, I'll die in front of you!"
Liu Laoshi found the bronze mirror and looked carefully at the wound on his face. He touched it from time to time and made a hissing sound from his mouth.
Looking at himself in the mirror, Liu Laoshi's eyes became increasingly sad. No matter how his wife yelled outside, he turned a deaf ear to her.
Just then, a plop sounded in the yard.
.