novelraw Chapter 541 - 532: The Stepmother Who Refuses to Be a Stepping Stone 20
Chapter 541 - 532: The Stepmother Who Refuses to Be a Stepping Stone 20
"I don’t want to see you ever again."
Zhang Fengfeng had just caught her breath when she waved her hand at Zhang Erfeng: "I am no longer your sister either. Once Yuanzi’s widowhood rites are over, I won’t care about your family’s matters anymore."
"Sis..."
Zhang Erfeng cried miserably: "You can’t just ignore me. When our mother died, she held your hand and asked you to take care of me, and you agreed."
Zhang Fengfeng’s face was full of disappointment and sorrow: "I did agree, that’s true. But over these years, haven’t I taken care of you? I looked after you since we were young, and now look at my age. In a few more years, my grandson will be marrying. How do you expect me to care for you then? Are you still a child? When I had Yuanzi, you kneeled on the ground and said these things to me. You used our mother’s memory to coerce me into giving my child to you. That, that was like cutting flesh from my heart."
Anning quickly steadied Zhang Fengfeng, and while pressing on her back, a wave of Spiritual Power circulated through her body to prevent any problems from her being too agitated.
"Second Aunt, my mother is a bit upset right now. You should leave for the time being, and we can talk about whatever matters later, alright?"
Zhang Erfeng glanced at Anning and sneered: "Can this matter be discussed later? It’s pressing right in front of us."
After thinking it over, she said to Zhang Fengfeng: "If you can’t bear to be parted from your grandson, I remember the two boys brought over by the Fourth Family are not that young either. Perhaps they could come over."
Zhang Fengfeng grabbed a pillow and hurled it at Zhang Erfeng: "Get out, just get out! Are you even human?"
Not just Zhang Fengfeng, but several sisters-in-law like Sun Xiumei also glared at Zhang Erfeng with anger.
What kind of human language was she speaking? Her words were simply inciting discord between Anning and Zhang Fengfeng’s mother-in-law relationship. If Anning were the type to get obsessed over trivial matters and had a petty character, who knows what she would think of Zhang Fengfeng upon hearing this.
Of course, she would think about it. Zhang Fengfeng must have said such words to her sister before, surely saying something like she doesn’t need to care about children not of her own flesh. There’s no guarantee she wouldn’t take issue with Zhang Fengfeng.
Heaven forbid, Sun Xiumei and the sisters-in-law all knew that Zhang Fengfeng really did not have such intentions.
Zhang Fengfeng had told them all before, since the children were brought here, they should be treated like family. These children were pitiable, having lost their father at such a young age and suffering a lot along with their mother. In the future, they should be treated well, and when they grow up, there should not be much difference between them and her own children.
But the words from Zhang Erfeng’s mouth just sounded inhumane.
Anning was also quite angry.
She glared angrily at Zhang Erfeng: "I call you Second Aunt out of respect for my mother’s face, because you are her sister. That is the only reason I show you any respect. Otherwise, who do I know you to be? If a stranger said this to my mother, I would have slapped them already."
After confronting Zhang Erfeng, Anning turned her head and spoke gently to Zhang Fengfeng: "Mom, don’t be angry. Our family doesn’t have any fools, and I’m not the kind to listen to idle gossip. I know what kind of person you are, Mom. I won’t be led astray by this outsider’s words."
Zhang Fengfeng felt somewhat relieved, then scolded Zhang Erfeng: "How can you be so vile and rotten-hearted? I’ve taken care of you all my life, and this is the thanks I get. You fail to get your way once, and this is how you set me up. Zhang Erfeng, you’re not my sister, you’re just a debt collector."
An Jinling jumped off the kang and began dragging Zhang Erfeng outside: "My mother is not feeling well. It’s better you don’t stay here and upset her any further. If you think our presence irks you, we can leave right now. Who even wants to stay in a place like this? Is there nothing else to do at home? Each of us left a pile of work to come here and help. Knowing it’d turn out like this, we wouldn’t have bothered coming at all."
Zhou Ping from the Sixth Family also said: "Exactly, my Zhi Kang had so many jobs that weren’t finished. Missing one day’s work costs so much money. The Fourth Family’s vegetables not being tended to these past few days has resulted in how much loss?"
Due to Zhang Erfeng’s words, several daughters-in-law had ugly expressions and spoke resentfully: "This just feels like bullying because I don’t have a good daughter-in-law to support me."
In the end, An Jinling forcibly shooed Zhang Erfeng out with a push and a pull.
No sooner had Zhang Erfeng left than Xiao Yuan entered the room.
He was holding a big wooden platter with several bowls of rice on it.
He placed the rice on the kang table and said to Zhang Fengfeng and Anning, "Eat first. My mom, she’s just like that, don’t take it to heart."
When Xiao Yuan caught Zhang Fengfeng’s gaze, his eyes reddened instantly, tears circled in his eyes but he held them back: "Auntie, please don’t mind my mother...just, for my sake, let’s settle this matter. After I bury my wife, I’ll personally go to Li Jiazhuang to apologize to you. From now on, I’ll take good care of you."
As soon as Xiao Yuan finished saying this, Zhang Fengfeng couldn’t hold back and started sobbing loudly.
"My poor child!"
Anning quickly hugged and comforted Zhang Fengfeng.
Sun Xiumei and the others also felt quite distressed watching this.
It took a while for Anning to finally calm Zhang Fengfeng down, and Xiao Yuan gratefully glanced at her before continuing, "Don’t take those earlier words to heart; my mother is confused, that’s why she spoke that way. The children’s exams are important, and even if there were no exams, this weather is not suitable for them to suffer here. After all, the dead are not as important as the living."
After speaking, he became restless and walked away with the wooden platter.
But Zhang Fengfeng was upset again.
"My fine child was destroyed by her. How could she be so heartless?"
Anning and the others comforted her again for a while and convinced her to eat something, but Zhang Fengfeng could hardly eat and just took a few bites perfunctorily, insisting that Anning and the others eat first.
When the time came in the evening to burn the twilight paper, perhaps the Wang Family didn’t want to see Wang Chunliu dead without any younger relatives wearing mourning clothes, so they sent some of her older nephews and nieces to wear mourning attire.
The Wang Family arrived and started eating and drinking away. They were cold and hostile towards the Li Family.
Anning and the others went about their business without giving much attention to the Wang Family.
During the mourning ceremony, who knows who taught them, but Wang Chunliu’s nephews and nieces sat on the ground and began crying. Especially Wang Dan, Wang Chunliu’s eldest niece, cried pitifully, wailing, "My poor aunt, how could you leave us like this, what will my grandmother and grandfather do without you? If you suffered any injustice, you must not let them off even as a ghost."
Zhang Fengfeng was already feeling miserable inside the house, and when she heard this unseemly wailing, she flew into a rage.
Furious, she pushed Sun Xiumei, "Are you all dead? They’re bullying us right to our doorstep, why are you all just standing around? Go and cry, too. If anyone can out-cry that little wretch, I’ll give her a big red envelope at New Year’s."
Sun Xiumei and the others were also fuming, and coming out of the house, they sat down and started crying on the spot.
Anning couldn’t let herself down.
The original hostess was a true rural woman, who, in the two years since Liu Shan’s death, really put herself out there to protect her children. She could cry on command, laugh when needed, and was considered a capable person in the village.
If she couldn’t out-cry a mere girl, that would be too embarrassing.
Anning bit her lip, went out of the inner room, sat down on the ground, and started wailing loudly, "Oh, when King Yan wants you dead at the third watch, who dares delay until the fifth? Those who are meant to die can’t live by any means. Sister-in-law, you’re gone, free from pain and sorrow, but you’ve left my aunt’s family in shambles. You really were heartless, lacking in virtue. You left a debt that can’t be cleared even in the next life..."
Sun Xiumei and the others couldn’t be as uninhibited as Anning, nor were they as quick-witted.
They had only come out to cry, scraping their brains on how to rebut the Wang Family girl, but when Anning started crying, Sun Xiumei and the others couldn’t help but lower their heads and sneak in a laugh.