Chapter 20 Blocking the Door and Running Wild

Bai Xue Mei was cooking in the kitchen when she heard Yang Yonghua cursing in the yard, and she walked out without even untying her apron. "Sister-in-law, what's wrong? How did my An Hao offend you?"

"How did she offend me?" Yang Yonghua slapped her thigh and started crying at the top of her lungs, "It's a sin! Such a sin! Can you believe at my age, An Hao pushed me into the river? The icy, bone-chilling water! I nearly lost my life."

Hearing someone talking about his daughter in the courtyard, An Shuchao threw on a coat and went out. Seeing Yang Yonghua sitting on the ground and wailing, he felt a surge of dislike.

Yang Yonghua and his family had once made quite a fuss over a plot of land, and that old woman was incredibly fierce. Arguing back and forth got them nowhere, she grabbed a shovel and swung it at An Hao's mother.

Luckily, An Hao's mother dodged quickly, otherwise she would have been seriously injured.

"I'm saying, Yang Yonghua, if you want to throw a tantrum, don't do it at my house. You say my An Hao pushed you into the water, there must be a reason for it, my An Hao wouldn't trouble you without cause," An Shuchao now sided with his daughter.

Yang Yonghua got riled up at those words, scrambled up from the ground, "It's a disgrace, I didn't want to speak of it. But since you put it that way, I have to set the record straight! Your girl and that Wang Ersha went off into the grove together, you think people shouldn't talk about it?!"

In that era, "going off into a grove" implied something sexual had happened between a man and a woman.

In the rural areas of the 1980s, such an event involving a girl was extremely serious. She would be pointed at and branded for life, never able to hold her head up high.

After that, getting married would become difficult.

"Yang Yonghua, you're farting nonsense! You and your foul mouth! My An Hao isn't like that, and she definitely wouldn't go off into the grove with an idiot, not unless she got kicked in the head by a donkey!"

The two argued so loudly that they drew the attention of the neighbors, who gathered at the An Family's entrance to gawk.

Sensing the commotion escalating, Bai Yanjiao's mind raced with a thought. If she could use this opportunity to push An Hao out, it would be for the best.

With so many onlookers, what could An Hao do?

"Oh, woe is me!" Bai Xue Mei untied her apron and threw it on the ground, then sat down like Yang Yonghua and started to cry, "This heartless girl! She really wants to drive me to my grave! What bad karma have I accumulated? To be saddled with such a thoughtless girl who causes trouble today and tomorrow again! She finally turns eighteen, and I thought she'd grown up and learned some manners, but instead, she stirs up this mess, bringing disgrace upon our house! And I can't even talk about it or punish her, being a stepmother is so hard!"

Bai Xue Mei cried with snot and tears, making it seem to others how difficult it was to be a stepmother to her.

"Xue Mei, what are you talking about!" After all, the girl was his own flesh and blood, and even if An Hao caused embarrassment, she was still part of the An Family.

"Dad! Don't scold Mom at a time like this! Mom is genuinely worried and anxious for my sister," Bai Yanjiao came out to help Bai Xue Mei up.

The doorway was now blocked by a crowd, all pointing fingers and gossiping about An Hao's misbehavior.

An Shuchao became frantic, pushed Bai Yanjiao aside, grabbed Bai Xue Mei's arm, and started pulling her up, "Are you out of your mind? By talking like this, aren't you intentionally slinging mud at your own daughter? How is An Hao supposed to marry after this!"