Chapter 28: Chapter 28 Can’t Live Anymore
The day was just beginning to dawn, and Old Lady Mo, accustomed to rising early, dressed in her bulky clothes, stood in the courtyard with her hands on her hips, yelling furiously, “Mo Xiuzhi, you little wench, I didn’t beat you last night, and today you dare to steal so many of my eggs and cured meat. Are you tired of living?”
Old Lady Mo, who made it a habit to open the cupboard and count the eggs and cured meat every day, immediately noticed something amiss upon unlocking it this morning; a significant amount of eggs and cured meat were missing, which made her fly into a rage and start causing a commotion in the courtyard.
Upon hearing the screaming, Madam Ruan, who didn’t even have time to comb her hair, rushed out of the house in disarray, her face filled with shock…
“Mother-in-law, Mother-in-law, what’s going on? Why are you scolding Xiuzhi again?”
Xiuzhi had hidden outside until late the previous night, waiting until Old Lady Mo was asleep before daring to sneak back to sleep; Madam Ruan’s heart ached when she saw her daughter’s face, red from the cold.
Who would have known that she was barely awake this early morning when she heard Old Lady Mo scolding Xiuzhi again, scaring her terribly.
“Madam Ruan, you wretched woman, don’t think I won’t discipline you just because you gave birth to a boy. The daughter you raised is a thief.”
“Mother-in-law, didn’t you already beat her last night? Why are you scolding her again this early in the morning?” Madam Ruan, clueless about the situation, was at a complete loss.
“Hmph! Scolding her is the least of it. Wait until later, I will beat her too. Hurry up and call that wretched girl out to me.”
“Mother-in-law, it’s not right for you to be so biased. After all, Xiuzhi is your own granddaughter, what’s it to you if she ate a bit of cured meat? She hasn’t had meat for half a year, yet you, old lady, get to eat meat every day.”
Madam Ruan couldn’t hold back her anger; she blurted out, all the pent-up words in her heart spilling out uncontrollably.
“My, my, so the wretched woman has issues with me now, the old maid, because she thinks she’s got a better life, is that it?”
Old Lady Mo, already fuming with nowhere to vent her rage, glared at Madam Ruan with her sharp, triangular eyes, with a look that seemed murderous.
A shiver ran down Madam Ruan’s spine as the piercing cold wind blew by, snapping her to attention; she quickly rephrased her words: “No, no, Mother-in-law, I meant Xiuzhi hasn’t had meat for a long time; please be generous and forgive her this once. I promise she won’t dare to do it again.”
“Hmph! Once a thief, always a thief—that saying is true. What now? You want your daughter to steal for a third time?” Old Lady Mo glared menacingly at Madam Ruan.
“Mother-in-law, what do you mean by that? I don’t understand what you’re saying.” The more Madam Ruan listened, the more she felt something was off.
“Stop playing dumb. Call that wretched girl Xiuzhi out to me, she stole so many of my eggs and cured meat last night; I will break her hands to see if she ever dares to steal again.” Old Lady Mo gritted her teeth, her face full of fierce determination.
That cured meat and those eggs were her lifeblood; their loss was akin to taking her life. Now, she was in pain in every organ in her body.
“Old Maid, what’s with all this fuss and noise early in the morning? Aren’t you going to let people sleep?” Old Master Mo emerged leisurely from the house, a tobacco pipe dangling from his mouth.
“Old man, you’ve come out just in time. Our house has been robbed; if you don’t deal with it, the Mo family will be ruined.” Upon seeing Old Master Mo, Old Lady Mo exaggeratedly wailed her complaint.
“Is it really that serious? It’s just a few pieces of cured meat. Old woman, you’re making such a fuss early in the morning; aren’t you afraid the neighbors will hear and laugh at us?” Old Master Mo spoke with visible disapproval.
The Mo family wasn’t the wealthiest in Mo Family Village, but they were still considered prosperous, and bickering over a few pieces of cured meat and some eggs made it hard for him to hold his head high in the village from then on.
“Oh, you foolish old man! I am thinking of the future generations of our Mo family, and yet you criticize me. I can’t live ; I can’t go on.” Offended by her husband’s words, Old Lady Mo sat on the ground with a flop, slapped her thighs, and began to wail bitterly.