Further along the road, a hobbling woman clung to a man's arm as they inched forward. Shen Xuanqing barely glanced their way - if they'd been fellow villagers he might have stopped to offer a lift, but their hunched, unfamiliar figures clearly didn't belong to anyone he knew.
The mule cart’s approach and the lamb’s bleating made the pair glance back.
Recognizing Lu Daxiang and Du Hehua, Shen Xuanqing’s eyes darkened with displeasure.
With a sharp whistle, he cracked the whip, urging the mule faster. Soon, the cart left the two far behind.
After beating them last time and Lu Gu severing ties, he wanted no further entanglement—so long as they stayed away, he wouldn’t seek trouble.
Shen Xuanqing wasn't one to torment the helpless or trample the fallen. His expression hardened to flint as he drove past, refusing so much as a backward look—their very presence turned his stomach.
The cart rattled away, kicking up a cloud of dust behind it.
Du Hehua hadn’t expected to encounter "acquaintances." Limping along without even an ox cart to hitch a ride on, her temper flared. She shot Lu Daxiang a venomous glare, then sneered, "What a coincidence. Wasn’t that your precious son-in-law up ahead?"
Lu Daxiang's face twitched at the sight of Shen Xuanqing. Two brutal beatings in three years - one leaving him with a broken leg, the other a shattered arm, had carved fear deep into his bones. The thought of trying to claim kinship again made his bowels turn to water.
Ignoring her jab, he glared silently.
"Go on, call out to your dear son-in-law. If he won’t take me, surely he’d stop for his father-in-law?" Du Hehua’s tongue was sharp. Though she no longer dared provoke Shen Xuanqing to his face, mocking Lu Daxiang was easy.
Lu Daxiang, never her match in wit, flushed with anger. "Shameless hag! If you’ve got the guts, say it to his face!"
"You—!" Du Hehua’s eyes bulged, teeth gritted. But with her leg crippled, she relied on Lu Daxiang’s support. Swallowing her rage, she seethed in silence, her expression venomous.
Lu Daxiang, triumphant at her rare silence, pressed on. "What ‘dear son-in-law’? Isn’t your rich son-in-law the one you’re always bragging about? Why doesn’t he call you ‘Mother’? All that talk, yet has he ever visited? Just making a fool of yourself!"
In a small village like Anjia, gossip spread fast. Even Lu Daxiang had heard the whispers, burning with shame, let alone Du Hehua.
The jab struck deep. She’d once believed Lu Wen’s marriage into wealthy family would elevate her forever. Yet now, she barely saw him.
"My fault? How is it my fault? If not for me, would you have ever tasted the money and grain Wen’er sent? After all these years slaving for you and your son Lu Wu, this is my thanks?"
"You useless lout! Without me, you’d have died a beggar! And now you dare blame me? Those medicines and fabrics Wen’er sent, how many luxuries have you ever seen in your life? Heartless bastard! At home, you curse me; outside, you’re too cowardly to even fart!"
Lu Daxiang’s face purpled with rage. "You old whore!"
"Worthless scum!" Du Hehua shot back.
The argument left them fuming, but with no money left, they had no choice but to seek out Lu Wen at the Li family today.
Du Hehua’s leg, broken last winter, had mostly healed until she slipped two days ago while gathering firewood, tumbling down a slope and re-injuring the weakened limb.
When Lu Daxiang had broken his arm, he could still walk. But years ago, when he’d lain bedridden with a broken leg, Du Hehua had begrudged every coin spent on medicine, leaving him hungry for hours while she worked the fields, returning only to serve watery gruel.
She’d delayed buying his medicine, complaining of the cost, and handled his chamber pot with undisguised disgust.
Though they’d fought often, Lu Daxiang’s resentment festered.
So when Du Hehua was bedridden last year, he returned the favor—savoring the reversal.
A broken leg was no small matter. Fearing lifelong lameness, Du Hehua swallowed her pride, pleading for care. But old habits died hard, and frustration often boiled over into fights.
With only a broken arm, Lu Daxiang would storm out after each argument, leaving her helpless. Their spoiled son Lu Wu, resenting the hassle, ignored her too. The chamber pot sometimes sat for days, filling the room with stench.
No food was one thing, but no medicine terrified her. Forced to relent, she stopped provoking Lu Daxiang.
A lifelong miser, she hoarded every coin, viewing anyone who asked as an enemy. But Lu Daxiang was no pushover, when she refused funds, he simply claimed poverty, extorting her hidden savings.
Resentment festered. By now, they loathed each other. Yet at their age, Lu Daxiang dared not divorce her, becoming a lonely old man was worse.
Du Hehua, too, feared disgrace. An old, divorced woman with no home to return to would be laughed at. With Lu Wu as her only tether, she endured the marriage.
Stopping by the roadside, their faces were thunderous, breaths seething. Yet they trudged on in silence, shoulders stiff with tension.
Neither looked at the other, thoughts drifting back to Shen Xuanqing’s cart—the dwarf deer and sheep were surely worth a fortune.
News of the Shen family’s shop and townhouse in Jixing had spread even to Anjia Village, which was just three villages away from Qingxi Village.
Lu Daxiang burned with envy, inwardly cursing his past self for ruining ties with the Shen family. Had things gone differently, whether through Lu Wen or Lu Gu, he’d now be Shen Xuanqing’s father-in-law - feasting on pork, even mutton.
Du Hehua, too, regretted underestimating Shen Xuanqing’s rise.
But more than regret, she resented Lu Gu. That wealth and luck should have been Lu Wen’s and hers. Yet it had fallen into Lu Gu’s hands.
As ox and mule carts raced ahead, pedestrians lagged behind—Du Hehua’s limp made her slower still.
The midday sun beat down mercilessly, turning the road into a shimmering furnace. Sweat poured down their necks as they trudged forward, the blinding light forcing them to shield their eyes with calloused hands.
Lu Daxiang bit back curses at her snail's pace. Thinking that Lu Wen was her flesh and blood, and her pitiful state might soften him into giving more money.
Du Hehua, convinced Lu Daxiang had pocketed funds from her medical expenses, sneered silently. Today, he hadn’t even hired her an ox cart.
Her face twisted with contempt, each step a simmering grievance.
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