Grandma Wu was a very astute old lady. She knew Wu Jinshu might not accept the abrupt news, so she needed to lay some groundwork first.
Wu Jinshu’s patience was nearly worn out by Grandma Wu. "What exactly is the happy occasion? Just say it."
Grandma Wu suddenly stopped her weeping, "I’ve found a match for Yanyun."
Wu Jinshu was shocked, his face turned pale, and he stood up from the table, "What!"
"Jinshu, don’t worry. Although I’m not Yanyun’s biological grandmother, I am no different from one. The family I found for Yanyun has very good conditions, and they even promised to give us a small Western-style house!"
Wu Jinshu seemed to suddenly realize something, "So, these things you’ve bought in recent days... they weren’t with your own money?"
Grandma Wu didn’t speak, which was as good as an admission.
Wu Jinshu’s voice grew loud with anger, "So the fine cuts of meat I’ve been eating these days were bought with the money from selling off my daughter!"
Grandma Wu corrected him: "It’s the betrothal gift, not money from selling off a daughter. You’re making it sound too ugly!"
"No way! I don’t agree with this! Go and return the money to them immediately!"
"It can’t be returned now." At this point, Grandma Wu became calm and composed.
"Why not?" Wu Jinshu asked.
"It just can’t be returned!" Grandma Wu was very firm in her attitude. "I just can’t understand why you care so much about a girl who was picked up from the streets. Is she more important than your own son?"
Outside the door, when Yan Erju heard these words, she turned pale. She walked to the front room, trying to act as though nothing had happened, and said to Wu Yanyun, "Xiaoyun, take Dalong and Erlong out to play on the street, and by the way, buy three pounds of salt and some soy sauce."
"Okay, sure." Wu Yanyun nodded.
Yan Erju handed Wu Yanyun two yuan, "Split the remaining money among the three of you and buy some candy."
Wu Dalong was overjoyed to hear they could buy candy.
Seeing Wu Yanyun leaving the house with the two kids, Yan Erju’s expression instantly turned cold. She rushed to the kitchen, grabbed a kitchen knife, and headed to Grandma Wu’s room.
Yan Erju, accustomed to physical labor, kicked open the rickety door with one foot.
Both Grandma Wu and Wu Jinshu inside were startled.
Yan Erju slammed the kitchen knife onto the table, "If anyone dares sell my daughter today, I will fight them to the end!"
Yan Erju was a straightforward person, a respectful daughter-in-law. Throughout her years of marriage to Wu Jinshu, she had never argued with Grandma Wu. Today was a first.
Grandma Wu was initially stunned, then sat down on the ground, starting to throw a tantrum, weeping, "Oh my god! What sins have I committed? Now, my own daughter-in-law is wielding a knife to kill me! When I was young, I lost my husband, and now even my daughter-in-law is turning against me, threatening to kill me! I struggled so hard to raise two children, what for? Had I known this, I wouldn’t have bothered raising them! Oh god! Why is my life so miserable, why don’t I just die? Lord, so many people are dying outside, why don’t you take me too? You’re leaving me here to suffer... to suffer..."
In terms of being unreasonable and shameless, how could Yan Erju outdo Grandma Wu?
The fact that Grandma Wu had managed to bring up two children alone during the great famine indicated she was no ordinary person.
Yan Erju also sat down on the ground and began to cry loudly, "No one can sell my daughter!"
Grandma Wu cried even louder, "How pitiful, I’m so pitiful. When I was young, I lost my husband, the son I raised is useless, and now the unfilial daughter-in-law has joined forces to bully me, a lonely old widow! Go ahead and kill! Go ahead and kill! If you don’t kill me today, you’re not Yan Erju!"
As she spoke, Grandma Wu picked up the kitchen knife from the table and moved toward Yan Erju.
Caught between his mother and his wife, Wu Jinshu was distraught to tears, fearing an actual loss of life; how would he resolve this?
"Mom, please don’t do this! Erju doesn’t mean that!"
"Get out of my way! You’re worthless! I’m not your mother! I don’t have a spineless waste of a son like you!" Grandma Wu kicked Wu Jinshu away, "I tell you, today it’s either her or me! She thinks she’s tough? She wants to kill? Let her do it!"