Chapter 300: Chapter 300: Every Family Has Its Own Troubles
That bastard hadn’t shown her a shred of decency. She absolutely could not tolerate this; she couldn’t just swallow this insult.
She chased after him, grabbed his shirt, and began pummeling him with her fists and feet. After a moment of shock, the man retaliated by slapping her twice across the face.
Once he started hitting back, the enraged man lost all restraint, a constant stream of profanities spewing from his mouth.
"Fuck... you shrew! You dare hit me? Have I been too good to you? See if I don’t beat you to death."
Zhou Mei was beaten like a ragdoll, with no strength to fight back, and she collapsed onto the ground.
Mrs. Zhou and Zhou Ling rushed forward to break up the fight, but the enraged man showed no mercy, hitting anyone who got in his way.
Zhou Ling was young and was knocked to the ground by one blow from her brother-in-law. She lost the courage to get involved again.
Mrs. Zhou was shoved by her son-in-law, staggering and nearly falling. She could see he had gone completely mad.
She grabbed a rolling pin and started beating her son-in-law furiously. "Xiao Wang, how is my Meizi not good enough for you? How dare you hit her in our own home?"
The Zhou family’s son-in-law dodged the blows while airing his grievances. "Ma, I didn’t want to hit her! Didn’t you see that she’s the one who threw a bowl and hit me first?
"She acts like a queen in our home, constantly humiliating me, my mother, and my sister.
"First thing in the morning, my mom makes breakfast and waits for her, and she just whines and complains that the food isn’t to her liking.
"At dinner, she’s cursing and complaining that the food isn’t good enough. All day long, she wears this sullen expression and says that even a dog wouldn’t eat this crap.
"My whole family can’t even sleep well because of her! You know my family isn’t as well-off as yours. To marry her, I had to scrape together money from all over just for the bride price.
"Zhou Mei, do you really think you’re made of gold? I borrowed hundreds of yuan to marry a damn empress, only for my entire family to suffer because of her.
"If you don’t want to be married, then let’s get a divorce! Give back the bride price so I can pay off my debts. I’d rather be a bachelor my whole life than put up with you."
Xiao Wang radiated a menacing aura, his expression utterly ferocious, as if he were the one who had been grievously wronged.
Zhou Mei’s face was black and blue, with blood trickling from the corner of her mouth. She cursed at him in a harsh tone.
"You worthless bastard, how dare you hit me! A divorce is fine by me! The hundred-yuan bride price can cover my medical bills. Now get the hell back to your home."
"Not a chance in hell are we divorcing if you don’t return the bride price. Besides, we’ve only been married a short time. I’m not done with you yet.
"You’d better give me a healthy baby boy before you even think about a divorce. But I’m telling you, from now on, I’m done indulging you.
"If you so much as whine at my mother and sister again, I’ll beat you the moment I get home."
"You bastard Wang, you’re not human, you’re an animal!" Zhou Mei screamed hysterically.
"Who’s the real animal here? Ever since you married into my family, you haven’t lifted a finger. My mother is your elder. She works from dawn till dusk cooking for you, and you still find fault with everything, saying her cooking is pig slop."
Zhou Ling, still sitting on the floor, listened to her sister and brother-in-law air each other’s dirty laundry. She no longer knew whose side to take.
’That was just the kind of person her sister was; she never did any housework at home, either.
She would claim that chores would make her hands rough. Her sister always had this self-righteous way of dumping the work on her and their mother.
She wasn’t nearly as delicate as she claimed, but she always acted like some pampered young miss or a wealthy man’s wife.
But her brother-in-law wasn’t a good person either. Not only was his family poor, but he also had a violent temper and hit his wife.
If she hadn’t been caught peeking at Brother Su next door while he was bathing, their father wouldn’t have married her off in such a hurry.
If their father had been given time to choose carefully, he surely would have found a more suitable husband for her sister.
People had introduced several good candidates before, but her sister had looked down on all of them. She only had eyes for Brother Su next door.
But Brother Su already had a wife; her older sister was just completely clueless.
No matter how great Brother Su was, he was a married man. Besides, his wife, Gu Jiaojiao, was a hundred times better than her sister.
If she were a man, she wouldn’t choose her older sister either; she would definitely pick Gu Jiaojiao. Anyone with eyes could see that Gu Jiaojiao was the better choice.’
Just then, a couple from next door came to the Su family’s home, calling for Mr. Su and Su’s mother to come break up the fight at the Zhou family’s place. Gu Jiaojiao and Su Qinchun went along with them to the Zhou residence.
When Mrs. Zhou saw that neighbors from two different families had arrived, she worried her son-in-law might say something else that would reflect badly on her daughter.
She immediately put down the rolling pin and said sheepishly, "Today’s my birthday. The two of them came home to visit and ended up getting into a big fight over a trivial matter."
Seeing that the neighbors had arrived, the Zhou family’s son-in-law hung his head and fell silent.
Zhou Mei was covered in bruises, her hair was a mess, and her expression was dazed. She was filled with regret.
’I never should have married this man. Now everyone in the entire compound must be laughing at me, right?!
I wanted to have a better life than that sickly Gu Jiaojiao. I wanted to prove I could be happier than her, but instead, I’ve become a complete joke.
She knew that Gu Jiaojiao didn’t have to do any chores at the Su family’s home; her mother-in-law and sister-in-law would practically fight over the tasks.
That was why she refused to do any chores after she got married, assuming her mother-in-law and sister-in-law would do the same.
But who knew those two wicked women would actually try to order her around? Of course she wouldn’t do any chores. Not only did her mother-in-law and sister-in-law refuse to do the work, but they also complained about her all day long.
Her husband put up with it at first. Since his family hadn’t fully paid the promised bride price, he tried to curry favor with her and would take her side.
This made Zhou Mei feel much better, but her mother-in-law’s cooking was worse than pig slop.
Who would believe she didn’t make it that disgusting on purpose!
It was awful, so of course she had to say something. Then, on the day of their homecoming visit to her parents, her husband remarked that her mother’s cooking was no better than his mother’s.
And so, the two of them started arguing, while her mother-in-law and sister-in-law excitedly fanned the flames from the sidelines.
This made Zhou Mei feel terribly wronged. The couple fought over every trivial little thing, throwing the whole household into turmoil.’
"Hmph, I’m going home. Zhou Mei, are you coming or not?" Seeing that a crowd had gathered, the Zhou family’s son-in-law straightened his clothes and started to walk out.
Without a word to anyone, Zhou Mei followed the man out. As she passed Gu Jiaojiao, she shot her a vicious glare.
Gu Jiaojiao: ’...’ ’I just came to see if they needed help. I didn’t do anything.
Why is this woman mad at me, too?!’
Zhou Ling got up, intending to pour tea for everyone, but Su’s mother quickly declined. "Our dinner’s ready and we haven’t eaten yet. We’ll head back now."
The other couple followed them out. After a brief exchange, everyone went back to their own homes for dinner.
Back at home, Su’s mother lamented, "That son-in-law of the Zhou family is just awful, beating their daughter until she was black and blue."
"Zhou Mei isn’t a saint herself, Ma. Didn’t you hear her husband say she bullies his mother and sister?" Su Qinchun scoffed.
"Well, Zhou Mei is still a little better than her husband. That man has a terrible temper, like a psychopath. The way he acted just now was truly terrifying."
Su’s mother continued with a disgusted look, "And did you see the bruise on Zhou Ling’s neck? It must have been from her brother-in-law, don’t you think?"
Su Qinchun had never been able to stand Zhou Mei. "Her husband may be a piece of work, but Zhou Mei used to be like a mad dog at her parents’ house, lashing out at everyone."
"That’s enough, both of you. Let’s eat. Every family has its own troubles. It’s not our place to judge who’s right or wrong," Mr. Su said with a sigh.
"RING... RING... RING..." The phone in the living room rang. Su’s mother flinched, terrified it was her second daughter calling.
