Northeast: My Absurd Woman

Chapter 109 The True Words of a Dying Man

Reminded by Yang Wuni's words, Zhang Shuhua remembered that the culprit was Hu Xiaoniang, and began searching the house.

Seeing the cloth strips of cloth binding the willow branches with Hu Xiao, he went up and untied them, then took them in his hand.

Ignoring the fact that he hadn't fully recovered, he staggered outside.

Just as she raised the strip of cloth, about to wrap it around Hu Xiaoniang's neck...

"Auntie, look, Hu Xiaoniang's arm is still bleeding."

If we don't do something, she'll bleed to death.

Yang Wuni followed, intending to stop Zhang Shuhua.

She squatted down and lifted Hu Xiaoniang's arm to show Zhang Shuhua.

"Serves her right, it's good that she's dead. With her dead, I have no one left to hate."

Zhang Shuhua spoke harshly, but her hand reached into her own shirt pocket.

He took out a yellow square handkerchief and handed it to Yang Wuni.

Then he pinched Hu Xiaoniang hard in the armpit.

"Ah!" Hu Xiaoniang woke up because of the pain from being pinched.

"It's you? Zhang Shuhua, how have you been these past few years?"

Hu Xiaoniang opened her eyes and surprisingly asked this question with a smile.

"Thanks to you, I'm still alive!" Zhang Shuhua paused for a moment, then replied coldly.

"Zhang Shuhua, if I had known earlier that my dead son wouldn't live long, I wouldn't have argued with you in the first place."

She fought tooth and nail to get him, only to end up a widow for half her life because of him.

I'm sorry, I told your family's old beast to beat you.

He won't hit you when he gets home, but I won't let him touch my body.

In the end, in order to maintain our relationship, he threatened me with my son's life.

I had no choice but to send him to prison so that my son and I could live in peace.

With a smile, Hu Xiaoniang confided her innermost thoughts to Zhang Shuhua.

"Gu Xiuer, I didn't win against you, I've already admitted defeat and married someone else, why do you still want to take revenge on me?"

The man I married was so awful, how could you bring yourself to do that to him?

"If I had known you two had this kind of relationship, I would have given him to you immediately."

Zhang Shuhua pointed at Hu Xiaoniang through gritted teeth and asked her in confusion.

"I hate you. I hate that you didn't continue to fight with me back then."

If you take my dead husband away, you'll be the one left widowed, not me.

I married Hu Zhi and became pregnant with three children, all of whom died in my womb.

Hu Zhi said I had ulterior motives and used the child to take him away.

He said this was God punishing me, making sure that a woman like me would never have peace for the rest of my life.

Even after Hu Xiao was born, his health deteriorated day by day, but he still thought about you.

Her last words before she died were, "Zhang Shuhua, I'm sorry."

Do you think I should hate you? Should I hate you for the rest of my life?

I stole your man, but he tormented me for the rest of my life.

I'm going to find Hu Zhi right now and tell him that you're living a better life than me.

"You...you...you really...really treat him better than me..."

Hu Xiaoniang finished speaking her mind to Zhang Shuhua in fits and starts.

With a slight upturn of her lips and a hint of self-contempt, she left this world she loathed.

"You silly woman, I haven't had enough of fighting with you yet! Why are you leaving first?"

You caused my daughter to miscarry, and now I'm going to strangle you?

You better come back to life so I can give you a good scolding.

You vicious woman, you stole my Hu Zhi, yet you don't know how to cherish him.

You prevented us lovers from being together, and in the end, you're left with a belly full of grievances.

If I had known earlier that he still had feelings for me, I would have risked my life to prevent you from succeeding.

Hu Zhi... Hu Zhi... Can you hear me?

In the next life... and the life after that... I'll wait for you. No matter how big a mistake you make, I won't hold a grudge against you.

I've thought about you my whole life, and I've hated you my whole life.

Why did you make this woman tell me all this? Is it to get revenge on me?

How am I supposed to live now? How can I ever forget you...?

Zhang Shuhua shook Hu Xiaoniang's body, refusing to forgive her.

Finally, she looked up at the sky and cried out in heart-wrenching sobs, searching for Hu Zhi, who no longer existed but remained in her heart.

"Auntie, Hu Xiaoniang is dead, shall we loosen the ropes?"

Yang Wuni sympathized with Zhang Shuhua, but even more so with Hu Xiaoniang.

She didn't dare to make a decision on her own, and only spoke to Zhang Shuhua when she was too weak to continue crying.

"Hmm!" Zhang Shuhua no longer felt hatred, but rather sympathy.

"Auntie, is her wound like this?" Yang Wuni looked up at Zhang Shuhua.

"Wait here." Zhang Shuhua went into the house and found a sewing needle with a thread attached.

Then he took a bottle of wine from Hu Xiaojia's box.

Pour the liquor into the teacup, soak the needle and thread in the liquor, and carry the teacup outside.

He picked up the needle and thread and threaded it through the two torn pieces of flesh of Hu Xiaoniang.

Since there was nothing to cut the thread, she bent down and bit the needle and thread with her teeth.

The stench of human blood made her so nauseous that she vomited several mouthfuls of stomach acid onto the ground.

"Wu Ni, don't be afraid, let's lay her down first."

"If you go into the underworld hunched over like that, you'll be bullied by the little devils."

Zhang Shuhua wiped away her tears with her sleeve, touched Yang Wuni's back, and comforted her.

Seeing a few mud bricks in Hu Xiaojia's yard, they carried them over and arranged them at intervals.

"Auntie, Wu Ni, what are you two doing?" Zhang Changyao asked, puzzled, as he drove in on a donkey cart.

"Zhang Changyao, Hu Xiaoniang is dead. My aunt and I don't know what to do."

Yang Wuni picked up a mud brick and put it down again, looking at Zhang Changyao.

"Changyao, how's your older sister? Is that bastard dead yet?"

Zhang Shuhua kicked the misplaced adobe bricks to right themselves, her words harsh, but tears still streamed down her face uncontrollably.

"Auntie, the child and my older sister are both fine. Hu Xiao is here, so don't worry!"

Zhang Changyao glanced at Hu Xiaoniang and went to the door of the outer room.

Remove the door panel and lay it flat on the stacked adobe bricks.

Zhang Shuhua wanted to come over and help, but Zhang Changyao waved her hand to stop her.

He picked up Hu Xiaoniang horizontally and put her down. A foul stench emanated from Hu Xiaoniang's mouth.

Zhang Changyao was too close and couldn't dodge in time, so he inhaled half of the gas.

Suppress your nausea, straighten Hu Xiaoniang's arms and legs, and straighten her head.

Then he suddenly turned around, jumped into the garden, and vomited up all the food he had eaten that morning.

"Zhang Changyao, what's wrong?"

Yang Wuni, unaware of the reason, followed along and peered over the wall to ask.

"Wu Ni, it's alright. You and your aunt should stay away from each other. It's best to stay outside the courtyard wall and not come in."

Zhang Changyao felt much better after vomiting and jumped over the wall.

He went into the house and found a washed bed sheet, which he then covered Hu Xiaoniang's face with.

Auntie, I'm going to say hello to the neighbors and ask them to keep an eye on things for me.

You and Wu Ni are not allowed to enter the yard. I'll come back and take you both home first.

Zhang Changyao pushed Zhang Shuhua and Yang Wuni out of the courtyard and left after closing the gate.

The neighbor was Hu Xiao's uncle, a skinny, bony fellow who was quite unruly.

Upon hearing of Hu Xiaoniang's death, he looked at Zhang Changyao with surprise.

"You lot can't leave. My aunt died under mysterious circumstances, and you have to take responsibility."