My Beloved Super Fierce Wife-Chapter 244: That person appeared with malice.

"I know the bitterness in your heart, but you’ve also seen that Qingya is on good terms with Aiguo and Blue Mountain,"

"If anything were to happen to Qingya and Xiaojing, they wouldn’t just sit back and ignore it, so why are you worrying?"

After Li Xiuli finished speaking, Gao Ping continued:

"Xiuli is right, a daughter is like a mother’s cotton-padded jacket. Xiaojing is both diligent and filial. In a couple of years, once she’s married off, she’ll belong to another family, and you won’t be able to see her every day even if you want to..."

A daughter’s destiny to spend day and night together with her mother is at most just a dozen or twenty years long, short indeed!

When Lin Family’s third daughter-in-law used to be cold to Xiaojing, they had advised and scolded her.

But Hongyan was like a bull with its horns stuck in a corner, and no force could pull her back.

Now that Lin Family’s third daughter-in-law realized her mistakes, Gao Ping, as the eldest sister-in-law, wanted to persuade her more.

Compared to Tangtang, who was pampered by the second oldest Lin and his wife, Xiaojing’s life was indeed much harder.

Upon hearing these words, Zhang Hongyan’s nose became sour, and tears almost fell.

"...I understand."

"I was delirious..." her voice trembled faintly.

Thinking of what the eldest sister-in-law said about her daughter becoming part of another family, her heart ached with regret and guilt.

Zhang Hongyan’s maternal family was not close to the Shuangshan Brigade.

But Gao Ping inquired about her family and knew she had it tough, feeling much compassion for this sister-in-law.

Zhang Hongyan lost her father when she was just born.

Her mother struggled to raise her and her elder sister.

When Zhang Hongyan was ten years old, her mother fell ill from overwork and never got up again.

Within a month after the death of the adults, the land belonging to their family was forcibly seized by the local bully.

Later, the sisterly duo, orphaned and without support, endured humiliation and abuse in the village.

They made tremendous efforts to grow up.

For reasons unknown, Zhang Hongyan’s sister hung herself at the entrance of the village.

From then on, Zhang Hongyan seldom smiled.

She even developed a psychological issue.

This mental issue became more severe with each passing day after she gave birth to Lin Xiaojing and learned that her health was ruined, and she could no longer have children.

It eventually led to her emotional abuse of Lin Xiaojing.

As Zhang Hongyan recalled her memories with her daughter, she realized they were pitifully scarce.

Her memories were more about Xiaojing speaking to her in a timid voice while she responded with impatience.

The more she thought about it, the tighter her heart felt.

That suffocating feeling was like a hand squeezing her heart.

"...Eldest sister-in-law, second sister-in-law, there are some things I’ve always been afraid to speak about for fear of idle gossip, and I’ve never mentioned them before,"

"Today I have the time, and I’d like to talk about them. It’s been pent up in my heart for over a decade, and it’s extremely upsetting..."

Gao Ping was startled, then she reproachfully said, "We sisters-in-law should be able to talk about anything. Just say whatever’s on your mind. Why fear being laughed at? Who would laugh at you?"

With so many people in the Lin family, who would dare to speak ill? If they did, she would make sure it didn’t go unpunished!

It was at this moment that Li Xiuli went to the neighboring kitchen to fetch some snacks and made a bowl of brown sugar water for each of them.

While setting things down, she said, "Just speak up! We’re listening."

Zhang Hongyan rubbed her dry eyes and gave a wry smile.

"Eldest sister-in-law, second sister-in-law, you must have heard about my reputation for bringing bad luck to my relatives," she said, her voice hoarse.

"What bad luck? We don’t believe in such things, and you shouldn’t overthink it," Gao Ping said with a frown.

If the third daughter-in-law was truly a curse, would they still be alive?

Such talk of bad luck was utter nonsense.

Li Xiuli also didn’t believe it and said, "Why speak of such things? They’re just rumors spread by people with nothing better to do and have nothing to do with you."

At this moment, the last rays of the sunset spread across the sky, painting a beautiful and splendid scene.

Gao Ping and Li Xiuli looked determined, without a shred of doubt.

This gaze gradually soothed the lingering pain that Zhang Hongyan had harbored in her heart over the years.

"Yes, thank you, eldest sister-in-law and second sister-in-law, but please let me finish," she said.

Gao Ping and Li Xiuli exchanged a glance and nodded.

As Zhang Hongyan thought about the vile bully who stopped her to demand money a few days ago, hatred surged within her.

She bit the inside of her cheek to calm herself down.

Then she slowly began to tell her past story.

"Eldest sister-in-law, second sister-in-law, you must have heard that I was born without a father, lost my mother at the age of ten, and afterward, lived with my sister to fend for ourselves. I thought life couldn’t get any harder, but little did I know, the toughest days were still to come..."

The two girls struggled through life, facing ever-present malice in the world.

They would get knocks on the door in the middle of the night.

When they stepped outside, men would block their way and whistle lewdly at them.

After suffering molestation and embraces by local ruffians, they would seek help from the brigade, but the so-called officials would just tell them to reflect upon themselves.

They worked hard, but year after year, they received the least amount of grain.

They lived without sufficient food or clothing, constantly on guard against the evil at the core of some people in the village.

...

The injustices were too numerous to count.

As Zhang Hongyan detailed her story, Li Xiuli and the other listener felt an aching sorrow.

Alas!

No wonder Hongyan turned out this way.

She actually handled it well, considering.

Enduring days so dark that one might lose their sight; it was already good that she hadn’t lost her mind.

Zhang Hongyan, with her head lowered, had a fierce glint in her eyes.

"In my seventeenth year, my sister was harassed by the village ruffians...

The village officials didn’t want to get involved; not a single person was willing to help, and that night, my sister hung herself at the village entrance..."

"I had worked hard all day and was also feverish that night. I didn’t notice when my sister went out. By the time I learned the news, her body had already stiffened..."

The village of the Zhang sisters was even more remote, and its people more ignorant.

The village officials acted like little emperors, skilled in bullying the weak and fearing the strong.

They didn’t want the incident to be known, so nobody dared to spread the word.

Gao Ping and Li Xiuli were hearing about this for the first time.

The looks on the sisters-in-law’s faces changed dramatically.

"None of your village officials did anything?" Gao Ping said in utter shock.

Li Xiuli, who despised injustice, could hardly breathe upon hearing that a good girl had been destroyed. "What happened next?"

Zhang Hongyan, always proud, now let tears fall.

"There was no after. My sister was buried hastily. The ruffian’s family paid me with two pounds of sweet potatoes, and the village officials had my house repaired, pushing the whole incident under the rug..."

The life of a woman was worthless!

That’s why she thought of having several sons.

When the second child turned out to be a daughter, and she could no longer bear children, it felt as though her heart was stuffed with cotton.

She was afraid...

Hearing this, Li Xiuli and the others clenched their fists.

The Shuangshan Brigade had never witnessed anything so outrageous.

The outlook of the brigade members was fundamentally upright; right was right, wrong was wrong. They wouldn’t blindly shield the wicked, let alone humiliate an orphaned girl.

"Did you report it to the police?" Li Xiuli asked with difficulty.

"Where haven’t I?" Zhang Hongyan shook her head. "The wrongdoers wouldn’t admit to it, the villagers would cover for them, no evidence could be found by the police, and I was the only one left in my family. I couldn’t even seek justice..."

That’s why she hadn’t gone back since getting married.

She dreaded encountering the disgusting faces of the villagers, wishing she could pull out a pair of scissors and stab them to death, one by one.

In the blink of an eye, over two decades had passed. Zhang Hongyan had originally intended to keep these matters buried in her heart.

But—

That ruffian reappeared, exuding an aura of pure malice.