They've all separated, so what does it matter to me if they get poorer and poorer?

Chapter 111 Visiting Second Sister

"You! You guys!"

Aunt Lou couldn't win an argument, nor did she dare to hit her, but she dared to bully her own people. She raised her hand and slapped Zeng Xiaojuan across the face, sneering triumphantly, "My daughter-in-law, I can teach her a lesson whenever I want, so what?"

This was so sudden that everyone was stunned.

Zeng Xiaojuan cried out and covered her face, and Qiao'er, whose crying had just subsided, burst into tears again.

Zeng Xiaoyan was furious.

Even a lazy, easygoing person like Liang Mingliang was so angry he could hardly breathe. Was this old woman even human?
Zeng Xiaoyan grabbed Zeng Xiaojuan's hand and sneered, "Second sister, take Qiao'er with you. Our oxcart is still parked outside. I'll go into town with you to find Father. You can tell him what kind of life you've been living in the Lou family and ask him if he cares!"

Zeng Xiaojuan was taken aback, "I—"

Aunt Lou was both anxious and afraid, but she wouldn't back down. She stubbornly retorted, "Go ahead and try if you dare! Humph, don't come back if you dare. If you do come back, you'll be back to your old ways! Now that you've married into the Lou family, you're a member of the Lou family. As your mother-in-law, am I not allowed to discipline you? What kind of logic is that!"

Zeng Xiaoyan sneered, "I'm not easily intimidated, you can't scare me. So you're saying that if my father stands up for my second sister, you'll bully her even more severely afterward? Humph, then I'll tell my father again and make him intervene! Even if my sister and I are illegitimate daughters, he can't let his family bully us like this. If you have the guts to torture someone to death, then go to jail! You beat a Zeng family daughter to death, let's see if the Zeng family will want you in jail!"

"you--"

Aunt Lou was furious.

She was already quite arrogant, but she never expected to run into someone even more arrogant.

Zeng Xiaoyan pulled Zeng Xiaojuan: "Second sister, let's go!"

"Zeng Xiaojuan!" Aunt Lou was truly anxious this time, gritting her teeth as she warned, "Don't forget you're our Lou family's daughter-in-law. As a mother, you can't be so selfish, not thinking about yourself or Qiao'er?"

Zeng Xiaojuan froze.

She finally slowly withdrew her hand from Zeng Xiaoyan's, feeling sad, guilty, uneasy, and desperate.

Zeng Xiaoyan's heart sank, "Second Sister!"

Zeng Xiaojuan forced a smile: "Xiaoyan, it's okay, you don't need to worry about me."

"But--"

"Really, I can do it."

Zeng Xiaoyan's eyes stung with tears. What kind of situation is this?

Zeng Xiaoyan pulled her aside: "I want to talk to you alone."

"Can--"

"What? I've come all this way, can't we sisters have a private chat?"

How could it be bad? Zeng Xiaojuan couldn't be happier. But she was afraid of her mother-in-law.

Zeng Xiaoyan picked up Qiao'er and left without saying a word. Zeng Xiaojuan had no choice but to hurry after her, calling out, "Xiaoyan!"

Aunt Lou panicked, "Hey—"

"Hey, hey, hey what?" Liang Mingliang really disliked this old woman and stopped her rudely: "What's wrong with the sisters having a private chat? Do you want to eavesdrop? That's not appropriate."

Aunt Lou was furious. "What eavesdropping! Is it something I can't hear what they're saying?"

That third young lady of the Zeng family is a real scoundrel. She insists on meddling in other people's business. We're not even sisters born of the same mother, so what business is it of hers?

Aunt Lou was already imagining how Zeng Xiaoyan would instigate, coax, deceive, and even bribe her honest daughter-in-law, and she was extremely anxious.

But Liang Mingliang wouldn't allow her to get involved, and she couldn't fight with him, so she could only desperately try to find a way to get past him.

Liang Mingliang stared intently at her, insisting on stopping her: "What are you doing? It's wrong to eavesdrop on other girls' conversation. I'm telling you, you're already so old, don't you understand such a simple principle?"

"What eavesdropping? I'm Zeng Xiaojuan's mother-in-law!"

"That's still eavesdropping."

"Nonsense! I'm an elder, what can't I listen to?" "It's just not okay."

"You! Get out of my way."

"That won't work!"

"."

Aunt Lou was furious. What a scoundrel! This couple is a perfect match. Why do they both love to meddle in other people's business?
Zeng Xiaoyan was so angry that she wanted to scold her weak second sister, but what wrong had her weak second sister done? She had her own reasons.

Besides, that's just her personality; she's been like this since she was little.

Zeng Xiaoyan choked up: "Second sister, when she hit you, didn't it hurt?"

Zeng Xiaojuan felt a burning sensation on her back and body. It hurt, how could it not hurt? But she had to protect her daughter.

"It's just a minor scratch, it'll be fine in a couple of days, nothing to worry about."

"How could nothing be wrong! Second sister, what are you going to do in the future? You can't go on like this forever."

Zeng Xiaojuan had also thought about this problem. At first, she would feel worried, anxious, and desperate. Now, she has become numb.

"I will protect Qiao'er, as long as I protect Qiao'er, that's enough."

“But,” Zeng Xiaoyan thought of the cane that Aunt Lou had lashed out at her and the vulgar curses that she had hurled at her, and couldn’t help but ask, “Your mother-in-law is so fierce and doesn’t like Qiao’er at all. Can you really protect Qiao’er?”

Zeng Xiaojuan's face suddenly changed color, as if she had fallen into an ice cellar.

Can she?
She felt that as long as she wasn't afraid of being beaten or scolded, she could protect Qiao'er. But could she really?

Zeng Xiaoyan sighed inwardly, "Second sister, if there's ever anything you can't handle, you must come to Liangjia Village to find me."

Zeng Xiaojuan looked up at her and nodded gently: "Mm."

"I remember, definitely! Please don't feel like you're causing me trouble. My parents-in-law and husband wouldn't think that way."

"Ah."

"You must protect yourself first before you can protect Qiao'er. Second sister, please take care."

Zeng Xiaojuan burst into tears: "I...I understand, thank you, Xiaoyan."

"Why are we sisters talking about this?" Zeng Xiaoyan forced a smile, squatted down and put her hands on Qiao'er's thin shoulders: "Qiao'er is so pretty, so beautiful! I am your aunt, your mother's sister, Qiao'er, quickly call me aunt."

Qiao'er will only turn three at the end of the year, but she has been forced to mature much earlier in the Lou family. No one in the family likes her except her mother; they only beat and scold her mother and her. Children are most sensitive to kindness. Although it was the first time she had met this aunt, Qiao'er liked her very much.

Hearing her aunt's praise, Qiao'er's eyes lit up with joy, and a smile appeared on her tear-streaked face. "Auntie!"

"Hey, you're so good."

"Is Qiao'er really pretty?"

"Of course, otherwise why would Mother and Auntie like Qiao'er so much?"

"But Dad and Grandma don't like Qiao'er."

"Because they have no taste. Whether they like it or not doesn't matter. Qiao'er just needs to remember that her mother and aunt like it. When Qiao'er grows up, there will be many more people with good taste who will like her."

"Mmm!" The little girl nodded, her eyes crinkling with a smile, a slight glint in them.

Zeng Xiaojuan smiled and gently stroked her daughter's head.

Zeng Xiaoyan carried Qiao'er and returned to the Lou family courtyard with her second sister.

Aunt Lou was still frantically trying to break through Liang Mingliang's encirclement, like an eagle catching a chick, but to no avail.

Seeing them return, Aunt Lou glared at Zeng Xiaojuan and was about to start scolding her—

(End of this chapter)