"Where are you going? I'm preparing dinner!" Zhao Hong said.
"We'll stay at a relative's house for a while and will come back after a few days. You can stay at home and take care of mother." With that, Sun Ying briskly walked out of the Li family house with Li Xiong.
Along the way, she did not show Li Xiong any nice expression.
Sun Ying knew that someone had used that telegram to trick them into coming back so that they could help to take care of the old lady. Why would they want to support a disabled person who had incontinence!
Old Madam Li had done all kinds of evil! Her current condition was retribution for her past deeds!
There was a reason why Sun Ying hated her so much. It was winter when Sun Ying married into the family. It was said to be the coldest winter within those past 10 years. The snow fell heavily and covered the roads so thickly that even the bridal sedan that welcomed her could not be carried into the village.
Wearing her thin wedding dress, she had to trudge through the snow with the matchmaker and the rest of the bridal party to reach the Li family house. She did not expect that there was not even a red lantern hanging at the entrance of the Li family house or the word for "happiness" pasted on the door! There was no hint that the family was celebrating as joyous an occasion as a wedding at all!
Even at the wedding banquet, the number of people who attended was pitifully few. This was the first time she had seen a family holding a wedding like this.
She was even asked to kneel down outdoors to pay respects to the ancestors even when it was so cold. She had to bow again and again as they were named one by one. She was told that that this was the Li family's custom but it was all a lie.
What rubbish custom!
It was all just an excuse to torture her!
Later on, she had secretly asked Zhao Hong about it. When Zhao Hong married into the family, she did not hear of such customs!
She fell ill from that episode and suffered from the lingering effects from then on. When she gave birth to Li Le, she almost died in the delivery room. Until now, she could not touch cold water, otherwise she would have diarrhea and headaches. Was it too much for her to hate Old Madam Li?
A shrew like Old Madam Li deserved to die! Leaving such a scourge alive in the world would just cause even more people to suffer!
"Wife, when you get to Li Juan's place, don't give her any nasty attitude. Li Juan is a very particular person. If you treat her shabbily, she will remember it for the rest of her life!" Li Xiong said.
"I know! I know! I know that your youngest sister is capable! She married a rich man! I'll be more careful with my words!" Sun Ying said impatiently.
Li Juan did not have a happy marriage, but in the eyes of outsiders, she had married very well. This was also all thanks to Old Madam Li.
Li Juan was a beautiful girl, even more good-looking than Li Gui. Not only was she a good cook, but she also knew how to make shoes and clothes. She had a childhood sweetheart, a young man from the same village, and the two of them had made a pact to get married when they grew up. However, Old Madam Li looked down on that young man's family for being poor, and felt that it would be better for her daughter to marry someone rich.
Many matchmakers came to look for Old Madam Li to propose a match for her youngest daughter. In the end, Old Madam Li acted unconscionably and chose an older man who was 23 years older than Li Juan!
It was all because that person was willing to give their family a color television and a betrothal gift of 600 dollars, an offer which no one else could better. The whole fiasco made Li Juan seem like a commodity that was being auctioned off.
Whoever offered the highest price would get Li Juan.
In the first few years, Li Juan even wanted to commit suicide. Later on, she gradually came to terms with her situation.
Among Old Madam Li's children, only Li Dong had quite a good life and was never harmed by Old Madam Li. The betrothal gifts which the family received for marrying off Li Gui and Li Juan all went into Li Dong's pocket.
When Sun Ying married into the Li family, they only gave her family a betrothal gift of 100 dollars.
Old Madam Li had told Sun Ying to take it or leave it! She said that the Li family did not lack a daughter-in-law!
"Do you think your mother was really driven crazy by your third sister? Can she be pretending?" Sun Ying asked.
"It can't be an act. Look at the mess she made in the house. How can it be fake? If she's just pretending, she won't be able to stand having all that feces and urine on her." Li Xiong felt disgusted just thinking about what he saw.
Even though they did not enter the house to take a look at Old Madam Li, the smell had assaulted their senses. Old Madam Li was not dead yet, but they felt as if they were already dead from the stench!
"How long until we reach Li Juan's house? I'm so tired," Sun Ying said.
Li Xiong pointed at the door in front and said, "We're here. This is her in-law's house."
"Wow… It seems that the person your sister married is really rich. Look at these bricks. One look and you can tell that they're not cheap," Sun Ying said enviously.
In the countryside, most families had wooden fences and timber doors that looked like they could fall off at any moment. It was a symbol of wealth for someone to build a solid wall with bricks and install a metal door with patterns on it.