Chapter 148

Chapter 148

As the frozen ground thawed in April, the first thing Kaoshan Village did was slaughter the remaining pigs in the pig farm.

The large pots at the drying field were put to use again. The villagers, who had been cooped up for several months during the winter, gathered together to celebrate the arrival of spring by feasting on pork dishes.

The four wild boars and several domestic pigs that remained after delivering the year-end quota had, under the careful care of Ye Qing and a few others, now exceeded 400 pounds in weight, making them ideal for slaughter.

Each family not only enjoyed a meal of pork but also received one or two pounds of meat. After months of sparse meals, these few feasts helped replenish their bodies with necessary nutrients and also satisfied their cravings.

Thus, everyone was very happy and excited about the arrival of spring, unlike previous years when they were reluctant.

This was thanks to Ye Qing's scientific breeding plan, which had brought new hope and vitality to the entire Kaoshan Village, and this year's prospects would be entirely different from previous years.

Soon, everyone in the village began to get busy.

Soaking seeds, plowing fields, irrigating, fertilizing, sowing seeds, and covering with plastic sheeting—men, women, and children in every household quickly got into the rhythm, with no one falling behind.

In previous years, competition between production teams was fierce, especially with the nearby Chou Song Gou, where they often fought for the priority of irrigating farmland.

However, the changes in Kaoshan Village last year were most evident to the production teams of the Red Flag Commune. Now, these production teams lagged far behind Kaoshan Village. Moreover, they relied on Kaoshan Village's technology and experience sharing and hoped that the Kaoshan Village health station might give some preferential treatment to the surrounding villagers. Therefore, none of the production teams dared to offend Kaoshan Village.

As a result, this spring plowing season, the nearby production teams did not dare to compete with Kaoshan Village and tried to avoid conflicts.

It was also at this time that Ye Qing learned that at the end of last year, Chou Song Gou held a full village meeting, and everyone opposed Liu Yongquan's continued position as the production team captain. With the intervention of the commune, Liu Yongquan was removed from his position, and after a village-wide election, a new production team captain was chosen.

The matter was handled smoothly, much to the disbelief of everyone in Chou Song Gou.

After all, before this, not only in Chou Song Gou but also in other surrounding production teams, who hadn't heard of the Liu family's reputation? There were rumors of the Liu family's connections in the neighboring military farm, the town's police station, and the revolutionary committee. Their background was considered strong.

Yet, this time, despite the prolonged drama of Liu Yongquan being removed from his position, no leader or official came forward to support the Liu family.

At this point, the people of Chou Song Gou realized they had been deceived.

The Liu family likely fabricated stories about having relatives in the military farm, police station, and revolutionary committee to intimidate others. The Liu family had created the identities of several relatives to make the people of Chou Song Gou and other production teams fear them, allowing them to benefit. However, those fabricated people likely didn't exist, or if they did, they were unaware of the Liu family's claims of kinship and publicizing.

After this incident, the people of Chou Song Gou finally realized that the Liu family was essentially a paper tiger. Yet, this paper tiger had lorded over Chou Song Gou for more than a decade, becoming a tyrant in Chou Song Gou and even the entire Red Flag Commune, which was both laughable and infuriating.

Having angered the public, the Liu family couldn't expect any good treatment in Chou Song Gou. In winter, the eldest son of the Liu family was selected to work on river reclamation projects, doing the hardest labor. As soon as the spring plowing began, each family was assigned tasks, and the Liu family was sent to plow the hardest and most difficult cornfields. They were given defective farming tools and closely watched by the scorekeeper. If they showed any signs of slacking, they were scolded, reprimanded, or had their work points deducted.

Within a few days, the Liu family was exhausted, unable to stand straight, and their hands were barely their own. The entire family was miserable and dared not complain.

Clearly, the Liu family realized that their previous lies had been exposed and that they were now shunned and isolated by the entire village. If they didn't change the current situation, their lives would remain miserable for many years to come.

How could the Liu family endure this? Especially the eldest and second daughters-in-law, upon realizing that staying with their in-laws might mean a lifetime of hardship, immediately started arguing with their husbands, demanding to separate and cut ties with Liu Yongquan and his wife.

When the Liu family had been dominant in the village, the daughters-in-law had enjoyed the benefits and flaunted their status, seeing no problem with the family's bullying behavior. But now that the Liu family had lost power, they wanted to distance themselves from their in-laws, thinking that by doing so, they could gain the village's understanding and forgiveness and return to a normal life.

This was clearly a delusion. The people in the village and surrounding production teams who had been wronged by the Liu family would not let them forget the past. The Liu family's two sons and daughters-in-law had reaped significant benefits over the years, and now that trouble had come, they thought they could simply sever ties and move on? How could that be possible?

Realizing that this approach was futile, the Liu family had to think of other ways. Thus, Wang Chunhua, who had been driven out of the family, causing mother-son separation and being hated by the Liu family, re-entered their vision and became the Liu family's only lifeline.

Wang Chunhua was now Ye Qing's apprentice. Since conducting artificial insemination training for several production teams, she had gradually gained prominence in the Red Flag Commune. Everyone knew that Wang Chunhua was the daughter-in-law who had been expelled by the Liu family.

When Wang Chunhua had been tormented by the Liu family, many neighbors had witnessed it and spoken ill of her. But now that Wang Chunhua had mastered the medical skills taught by Ye Qing, she had become the envy of villagers within a radius of ten miles.

The ridicule that had once been directed at Wang Chunhua was now turned on the Liu family. People mocked them for being blind, treating their useless daughters-in-law as treasures while driving away the truly valuable daughter-in-law. How foolish they had been.

Naturally, the elderly couple Liu Yongquan and his wife could not help but hear the mocking from their neighbors. Faced with their eldest and youngest sons and daughters-in-law, who were now demanding and aggressive, the elderly couple finally began to feel regret. They realized that driving away their most filial and easiest-to-manage daughter-in-law had been too harsh.

Of course, it wasn’t that they felt they had wronged Wang Chunhua, but that they had realized they were getting old. Without the authority that came with the position of production team leader, they were no different from the ordinary elderly people in the village. Soon, they would need to rely on their sons and daughters-in-law to support them in their old age.

After losing Wang Chunhua, who had been so obedient and easy to manage, the remaining two daughters-in-law were beyond their control. If they really split up with their two sons and daughters-in-law, it was uncertain whether anyone would take care of them in their old age, and their situation could become extremely difficult.

Realizing this, Liu Yongquan and Liu Pozi felt deep regret. They decided that persuading Wang Chunhua to return was their best option.

If nothing else, the fact that Wang Chunhua was now working at the health station was enough to benefit the couple. As people aged, various ailments followed, and having a daughter-in-law with medical training meant they wouldn’t have to worry about illness. Wang Chunhua could treat them without costing a dime.

Although Wang Chunhua had been expelled from the Liu family, they had heard about the situation at the Kaoshan Village health station. It was said that the city-educated Ye Qing, who had remarkably high medical skills, drew patients from nearby villages, causing a surge of patients to Kaoshan Village. The health station only offered eighty appointments daily, leading to a supply-demand imbalance. As a result, the locals profited greatly from selling these appointments, making a fortune.

Since Wang Chunhua was Ye Qing’s apprentice and worked at the health station, she would definitely be able to secure several appointments each day.

Thus, Liu Yongquan and his wife began to feel greedy again. They thought that if they could persuade Wang Chunhua to return, she could provide them with several appointments daily. They could then resell these appointments and earn money from home. With money in hand, wouldn’t their two separated sons and daughters-in-law be filial?

The couple’s plan was quite clever, and they didn’t think it was a wild fantasy at all.

After all, Wang Chunhua’s image of being a workhorse and easy to control during her years in the Liu family had been deeply ingrained in people’s minds. This daughter-in-law had no support from her natal family, so a little kindness from them would surely make her eager to return and take care of them.

Moreover, the son Wang Chunhua had given birth to at great risk was still in their hands. Even if Wang Chunhua didn’t want to stay with her in-laws, could she really leave her son behind?

After all, just a few months after being expelled, Wang Chunhua had come begging to see her son before the New Year, which gave Liu Yongquan and his wife confidence that persuading her back wouldn’t be difficult.

While Wang Chunhua and Ye Qing were busy at the military farm conducting prenatal checks for cows and making final preparations for the sow’s delivery, the Liu family arrived at their door.

When they finally returned to Kaoshan Village, Wang Chunhua was stunned to see Liu Yongquan and Liu Pozi waiting impatiently outside the yard.

Liu Laopo was accustomed to giving orders to Wang Chunhua and never saw driving her out of the family as a major issue. Now, seeing Wang Chunhua return with supplies from the military farm, her eyes brightened, and she immediately called out to her:

"What's that in your hand? Let me see!"

Wang Chunhua remained unmoved, watching the old couple coldly without saying a word.

Liu Laopo hated Wang Chunhua's unresponsive nature. When Wang Chunhua didn’t hand over the items, her face darkened, and she was on the verge of losing her temper.

But before she could start scolding, Liu Yongquan, standing next to her, pulled her back.

Liu Yongquan glared at Liu Laopo, reminding her to assess the situation and not cause a scene.

Her husband's glare brought her back to her senses. She realized they had come to fetch someone, not to argue. They now depended on this daughter-in-law for their old age care. If they mistreated her in front of others, she might refuse to return to Chousong Gully, causing trouble.

Reluctantly, Liu Laopo swallowed her anger and forced a stiff, unpleasant smile.

"Chunhua, it's been months since you left. It's time to return. You're still married to our youngest son. Even if he's gone, you're still a daughter-in-law of the Liu family. You can't just abandon the elderly and the child, can you?"

Liu Yongquan added, "Hurry and pack your things. The child has missed you."

Wang Chunhua was almost amused by the shamelessness of this family.

"Abandon the elderly and child? The Liu family is really good at twisting the truth. I was driven out, and now you claim I ran away? You're experts at distorting facts and making excuses!"

"Return? Where to? When I had a difficult birth and suffered severe bleeding, all of you chose to save the child, leaving me to barely survive thanks to my master. Just three days after giving birth, you took the baby and kicked me out, leaving me to fend for myself, not caring if I froze to death in my weakened state."

"You declared the baby belonged to the Liu family, forbade me from seeing him, and said the Liu family would have nothing to do with me, telling me never to step through your door again. I remember those words, and I'm sure the neighbors around here haven't forgotten either. So, what's changed after just a few months?"

Not expecting Wang Chunhua to refute them so thoroughly and bluntly, both Liu Yongquan and Liu Laopo were furious, their faces flushed with anger.

"Family ties run deep, even when things get tough. A small argument isn't worth getting worked up over. We've humbled ourselves to ask you to come back—what more do you want from us? Take the offer and move on—don't keep acting like you're above this. It's not right. As a younger generation, are you really going to argue with your elders over every little thing and demand an apology?"

Liu Yongquan glared at her, his face flushed with anger, clearly very dissatisfied with his daughter-in-law's lack of cooperation.

Wang Chunhua had already decided to cut all ties with the Liu family, so she wasn’t going to let Liu Yongquan, as an elder, intimidate her. "No need for an apology, and I don't need you to offer me a way out. Since the day you drove me out of the Liu family, I’ve had nothing to do with any of you. You can leave now; I will not return to the Liu family in Outhouse Gully. If we ever cross paths again, we’ll act like we don’t know each other!"

With that, Wang Chunhua was about to head back into the yard with her things.

She was no longer the timid, crying Wang Chunhua who used to run away from problems. Now, with a job and some support, she could take care of herself. Her newfound confidence made her unafraid of any storms or gossip, and she no longer feared trouble from either her in-laws or her own family.

Liu Yongquan had never expected his daughter-in-law to be so unyielding. After all, Wang Chunhua used to have no opinions of her own and was easily led by the nose by them. She was nothing like the stubborn brick wall she was now.

But Wang Chunhua's cold attitude left Liu Yongquan unsure of how to proceed.

Liu Laopo was already holding back her anger, and seeing that Wang Chunhua didn't take the opportunity to return with them, her temper flared up. She threatened in a cold tone, "Try walking away one more step. Think I won’t make sure you never see your son again?!"