Chapter 16: The Fu Family
But Fu Tinghua was already married. In this era, being a homewrecker would get one's entire family shamed and unable to hold their heads up.
Besides, Fu Tinghua spent most of his time in the city for work, so there was no chance for village women to get close to him anyway.
Thus, everyone turned their attention to Liu Yi, which made Auntie Liu feel her son was outstanding and take great pride in him.
However, with Fu Tinghua always overshadowing him in the village, Liu Yi had been constantly outshone, leaving Auntie Liu seething with resentment.
Who knew why these village women cared so much?
But the truth was, since Fu Tinghua and Liu Yi were around the same age, both handsome and likeable, they were often compared side by side in the village.
When they were younger, Fu Tinghua hadn't seemed that much more exceptional than Liu Yi. But after Fu Tinghua went to university, everything changed.
So when Fu Tinghua demeaned himself by marrying Su He, Auntie Liu was overjoyed and had secretly badmouthed the Fu family many times behind their backs.
Liu Yi frowned as he looked at the chubby woman before him and Wu Yanhua standing beside her. "How did my mother offend you? Why did you hit her? If you don't give me an explanation today, none of you are leaving."
Hearing this, Su He couldn't help but sneer.
"Wow, listen to you. How did your mother offend me? Right in front of me and my children, she called me an ugly wife, said the Fu family was a disgrace, and swore she'd gouge my eyes out.
If her mouth is so foul, she should go eat shit. No matter how ugly I am, I'm still prettier than her, right? She's even fatter than me, yet she dares to call me fat." Su He's filthy mouth left everyone present stunned.
What Su He thought was: the original owner may have wronged her birth parents, her two children, and the Fu family, but she had done nothing to these irrelevant people. Why should she let them bully her?
So she went off on them—she wasn't afraid of anything.
Liu Yi's ears turned red from her words, but it was true that his mother had instigated it first.
He had warned her many times at home not to stick her nose in others' business, but she never listened. Now she had finally messed with the wrong person.
"But that doesn't justify hitting her!"
"Ask everyone here who actually threw the first hit. I was only protecting myself.
Even if the police came, this would count as self-defense. Should I just stand there and let someone threaten to gouge my eyes out without fighting back?" Su He asked with a smirk.
Honestly, her demeanor now was completely different from her previous gloomy self.
Though she was chubby, she wasn't ugly by any means.
"Liu Yi, this time it really was your mother who instigated it. If she wanted to talk trash, she should've done it behind someone's back. Saying it to their face is no different from slapping them in public," Wu Yanhua cut in pointedly.
Feeling ashamed, Liu Yi slunk off with Auntie Liu.
This battle was a total win for Su He.
She was done being walked over, and from now on, her two children wouldn't either.
Wu Yanhua glanced at Su He's figure, which she found disgusting, and said coldly, "Why are you just standing there? Aren't you coming home with me?"
Then she walked up to the two children and said flatly, "Come on, let's go home with Grandma."
The children ignored Wu Yanhua and instead looked at Su He.
Su He quickly pasted on a smile and said, "Do as Grandma says."
Wu Yanhua finally felt somewhat relieved.
Walking back with Wu Yanhua to the Fu family's doorstep, they saw Zhang Xiaohua, the wife of Fu Tinghua's eldest brother, standing at the gate, glancing around.
As soon as she spotted them, she immediately greeted, "Mom, sister-in-law, how are things? Everything alright?"
Wu Yanhua had really been busy having children—four sons and one daughter. The eldest was named Fu Guoqing, the second son Fu Ziyao, the third Fu Derong, the fourth daughter Fu Yanju, and the youngest son Fu Tinghua.
Because the children were born in quick succession, the age gaps between them weren't very large—only six years separated the eldest and youngest sons.
To be honest, Su He quite admired Wu Yanhua—she'd really been busy having children.
Currently, all of Fu's sons and daughter were married, and none had moved out yet, except for Su He, who was the only one who'd been made to live separately.
It couldn't be helped—Wu Yanhua refused to live with Su He, worried it would aggravate her. She wanted to live a few more years.
"Big sister-in-law, thank you for your concern. I'm fine," Su He said with a smile to Zhang Xiaohua.
"Zai Zai, Niu Niu, this is your big aunt," Su He leaned down and told the two children.
The kids just gazed curiously at Zhang Xiaohua without saying a word.
This wasn't surprising. Su He had never taught them to greet others before, so the children would typically shrink back shyly when meeting people.
Their mother, Su He, had also been cold and indifferent, never offering any guidance, which led many to talk behind their backs that the children were ill-mannered.
"Say, 'Hello, Auntie,'" Su He prompted again.
After a moment, the two children said in unison, "Hello, Auntie."
"Oh, Zai Zai and Niu Niu are so well-behaved now," Zhang Xiaohua praised.
No matter how much their mother-in-law disliked Su He, as fellow daughters-in-law, they couldn't openly slight her, could they? After all, she was Fu Tinghua's wife.
Fu Tinghua was the only educated member in the family, and he even worked as a doctor in the city. If he ever wanted to change his residency to the city, he'd become a city dweller.
In this era, city residency was more desirable.
By now, the women working in the fields were coming home in groups, and the Fu family was no exception.
When they heard how vicious the village gossip had become, Fu Tinghua's sisters-in-law all said that once their husbands returned, they'd have it out with Auntie Liu.
No matter what, the Fu family wouldn't let outsiders bully their own.
Looking at Su He now, she seemed transformed.
She spoke more kindly, and—whether it was their imagination or not—she even seemed to have lost some weight.
"Sister-in-law, have you lost a bit of weight?" Second sister-in-law He Fangfang asked, studying Su He.
"Ah? I'm not sure, but I have been trying to lose weight recently," Su He replied with some embarrassment.
Lose weight? That was a term rarely heard in this era.
Most people didn't even have enough fat in their diets—they'd eat whatever they could to fill their stomachs.
But looking at Su He, they couldn't help but think she really ought to slim down.
Hearing Su He mention weight loss, Wu Yanhua's eyes lit up.
What did she despise most about Su He? Wasn't it her weight, which she felt made her unworthy of her son? If she could actually slim down...
"Lose it! And stick with it, understand?" Wu Yanhua cut in.
"Mom, I know. Besides, being too heavy isn't good for health. For my own sake, I have to lose it," Su He said with a smile.