The cannon fodder female supporting role stirs up trouble in period literature

Zhang Yun's face was long, "Son-in-law, are you saying this because you think our Meihua asked for too many things when she married you?"

Just as Peng Jun waved his hand to indicate no, the eldest brother Zhou Xiwang rushed over, stood in front of Zhou Meihua, pointed at Peng Jun and asked: "What's the matter? Do you think my sister wants too much? Just tell me, have you brought all those back to your Peng family?"

Peng Jun nodded helplessly, "I brought it back."

Zhou Xiwang said again: "What nonsense is that? Why are you so uncomfortable coming to our house during the New Year? You dare to bully my sister, I will slap you!"

As he said this, he rolled up his sleeves and slapped Peng Jun. Peng Jun was afraid of hurting his daughter in his arms, so he did not dare to resist. He just turned his back hastily and avoided being slapped in the face by his powerful slap.

But the slap still landed solidly on his back. Even though he was wearing a thick cotton-padded jacket in winter, Peng Jun's chest still shook violently. He felt like there was a fishy smell rising up in his throat. He had to suppress it again and again before he could breathe a sigh of relief.

However, when Zhou Xiwang saw that his brother-in-law didn't say anything, he thought that he was afraid of him, so he raised his hand to slap Peng Jun again. In the end, Zhou Laifu grabbed his hand and prevented Peng Jun from being beaten again.

The people in the first house watched coldly throughout the whole process, and no one spoke up to ask Zhou Xiwang not to do it. But Zhou Laicai, who was usually quiet, finally said, "Son-in-law, it's New Year's Day, what are you doing?"

What's the fuss? Peng Jun felt that he had died unjustly. It was Zhou Meihua who had been finding fault with their family since they entered the house, and then his brother-in-law who wanted to support her slapped him in the face. Now he was the one who was making a fuss.

Peng Jun was not good at speaking, especially when he was extremely angry, he could not utter a word, but his face was red and his neck was thick, the veins on his head were popping out, and the knuckles of his hands, which were tightly holding his daughter, were white, and it was obvious that he was resentful of Zhou's family.

Grandma Zhou was also shocked when she saw the smug look on the faces of the eldest wife's family, as if they were praising Zhou Xiwang for being such a man. She felt deeply disappointed: the eldest son's family, even her own son, were corrupted by Zhang Yun. Did they really think that others were afraid of them and didn't dare to fight with them?

Looking at Zhou Meihua again, her husband was almost beaten by the eldest brother, but not only did she not protect him, she also raised her chin towards Peng Jun with a smug look on her face, as if she was proud that she had her family protecting her.

Isn’t she afraid that her brother’s slap might not be good enough and might hurt her daughter?

Grandma Zhou couldn't stand it anymore, and she didn't want a real fight to break out during the New Year. Even if she wanted to fight, she had to wait until they returned to Beijing.

He said to Peng Jun, "Jun, bring the child over to me so I can see him."

Peng Jun saw his wife's grandmother handing him a ladder, so he quickly climbed down the ladder and put the child on the kang. "Xiaoyan has been saying that she misses her great-grandmother, and she said she wanted to come over early this morning."

Grandma Zhou really liked her great-grandson and didn't care why Peng Jun said he would come over early in the morning but only came at this time. It was probably because Zhou Meihua was making trouble at home again.

She pulled Xiaoyan, who was already scared to tears, into her arms, took out a handful of shrimp cakes and stuffed them into the child's pocket. When the child blinked, tears slid down her cheeks. The old lady felt so distressed, but she still smiled and teased, "What's wrong? Don't you recognize your great-grandmother? Why don't you call for help?"

Xiaoyan pursed her lips for a long while and said in a baby voice, "Grandma has become more beautiful." After that, she threw herself into Grandma Zhou's arms and sobbed softly.

Grandma Zhou then remembered that she had indeed become younger, and the wrinkles on her face had become smoother. No wonder the child was unrecognizable to her. But the child's cat-like cry was so pitiful that Grandma Zhou almost cried too.

In order to make Xiaoyan forget her sadness, Grandma Zhou stuffed a handful of shrimp cakes into Xiaoyan's pocket and said, "Good girl, don't cry. I'll give you a big red envelope."

As he said this, he carried Xiaoyan to the piano cabinet, opened the cabinet door, took out a piece of red paper, wrapped ten yuan in it, and stuffed it into Xiaoyan's pocket, "Keep it for yourself when you go back to buy delicious food."

Zhou Meihua was so unwilling to see that the matter she had started was so easily taken away by her grandmother. She wanted to say something more and let her family judge for the matter, but she heard her grandmother Zhou warn her: "It's New Year's Day, go back to your own family to discuss your own affairs. Otherwise, wait until we return to Beijing, and then come back to talk to your mother. Don't make trouble here during New Year's Day!"

Zhou Meihua felt aggrieved, but since her grandmother had said so much, she didn't dare mention how the Peng family had treated her unfairly.

It was supposed to be a sumptuous reunion dinner, but it became extremely unpleasant because of this incident. The old couple, the Hua family, Zhou Laifu's family, and Peng Jun hardly touched their chopsticks. But Zhou Laicai's family devoured the food like crazy. Everyone had a full belly. Some of them were so full that they untied the ropes around their waists.

Zhang Yun didn't dare to untie his belt in front of his parents-in-law, but he loosened it under the pretext of going to the toilet.

After dinner, Zhang Yun looked at the chicken brought by Zhou Meihua and her husband and started to get angry again, "Meihua, you went back to your parents' home during the Chinese New Year, and your in-laws only brought you this chicken?"

Zhou Meihua sneered, "Having a chicken is good enough. On New Year's Eve, we ate wild vegetable dumplings and only fried two dishes, one cabbage and one pickled vegetable. Mom, I've had enough of this poor life."

"My poor daughter, why did you marry into such a family? If I had known their family was like this, I would have let you stay at home for a few more years instead of marrying you to suffer."

Zhang Yun's singing, reciting, acting and fighting made Peng Jun's face even gloomier. If Hua Jianshe had not stopped him, he would have walked away several times.

The mother and daughter seemed to want to deliberately provoke him. They complained in a veiled way that the Peng family was having a hard time and that there was not a single good person in the Peng family!

In the end, Hua Jianshe called Peng Jun out and asked him to walk up the mountain with him, which made Peng Jun's back less stiff.

But this move naturally earned Zhang Yun's complaints: "Dad, Mom, brother-in-law, what do you mean by this? Don't you want to listen to me? My own daughter has been bullied, and we don't even have the qualifications to defend her?"

Grandma Zhou didn't want to pay attention to her and was already planning to return to Beijing tomorrow.

Grandpa Zhou, who usually didn't like to meddle in other people's affairs, was not happy to hear this. "How can a couple live together and trample on their son-in-law's face like you do? Although the Peng family had a hard time in the past, they were not so poor that they could only eat pickles during the New Year. If Meihua hadn't asked for so much betrothal gifts, wouldn't they have to suffer a famine and have their second son borrow money to marry a wife? If you want to live well, go back to your parents' home less often. If you don't want to, divorce as soon as possible and let Peng Jun find a stepmother who is less troublesome for your child."

Zhou Meihua never thought that her grandfather, who was already so old, would persuade her to divorce one day and even wanted to find a stepmother for her daughter. In the past, the Peng family had a hard time. Although she complained, it was not like today. But this year, seeing that the life in her mother's village was getting better and better, she felt unbalanced.

If she had married in the village, would she have lived a good life? If she could go to Beijing with her grandparents, would she have become a city dweller?