Liang Xiu was furious. This slap had been delivered with full force, making Su Manxiang wince in pain.
"Auntie, how can an adult hit a child? What's wrong with you hitting her?" Wang Xianghua chimed in.
"Exactly. Today you only hit our family's child. If you had hit someone else's, and they had a bad temper, they wouldn't stop at breaking your legs," Qi Liangying added in agreement.
Su Xiaotian was well-behaved and the only girl in the family; they all doted on her.
Since they couldn't physically help her fight back, speaking up for her was the least they could do.
Su Manxiang, having been wronged and then provoked, immediately started to argue, appearing as though she wouldn't rest until she retaliated.
Grandpa Su couldn't stand it any longer and snapped, "If you want to make a scene, go home and do it!"
"Dad, how can you treat me like this? I'm the one who was hit!" Su Manxiang looked at her own father in disbelief, covering her face.
"You deserved it. If your sister-in-law hadn't hit you, I would have done it myself!" Grandpa Su said, disappointment evident.
"I'm your biological daughter!"
"Precisely because you are my biological daughter, we've indulged you too much over the years. Su Manxiang, think with a clear conscience. These past few years, no matter how difficult our family's life has been, we've helped you as much as we could. But how have you repaid your family?" Grandpa Su said with disappointment.
"From now on, don't come here unless it's necessary. Go back and tell Kang Rende to stop thinking about getting something for nothing! Life is built with one's own hands!"
As he spoke these words, Grandpa Su visibly aged.
After all, she was his daughter whom he had doted on for many years. If he hadn't been too disappointed, Grandpa Su would never have said such things.
Everyone present was shocked, looking at Grandpa Su with disbelief.
Su Manxiang hadn't expected her father to say such a thing. What did he mean? Was he disowning her?
She was stunned into silence for a long time.
Was her father going to sever ties?
That wouldn't do!
The Kang family already looked down on her for being a village girl, and her mother-in-law and sisters-in-law had often belittled her.
It was thanks to her maiden family's annual subsidies that she could hold her head high in her husband's home.
If ties were severed and her maiden family no longer supported her, how would she live her life?
With a thousand thoughts racing through her mind, Su Manxiang immediately sat on the ground and began to throw a tantrum.
"Su Manxiang, if you don't want to be thrown out, then leave!" Grandpa Su's words were devoid of their usual kindness, filled instead with sternness.
Su Manxiang saw that her father was truly angry. Recalling how her father had her nephew throw her out during the Dragon Boat Festival, she dared not cause further trouble.
However, she was unwilling to leave so dejectedly.
"Dad, how can you treat me like this? Just for that brat Su Xiaotian, you can be so heartless to your own daughter?"
Hearing Su Manxiang bring up her youngest daughter again, Liang Xiu became angry. With red eyes, she rushed in front of Su Manxiang.
"Su Manxiang, haven't you had enough of being beaten? I'm telling you, as long as I, Liang Xiu, am here, you'd better not set foot in this house. If you do, I'll beat you every time I see you!"
Although Grandma Su wasn't entirely pleased with her daughter-in-law speaking like this, considering what her daughter had done, she didn't speak up for her.
Seeing Liang Xiu's protective stance, Su Manxiang backed down.
She stood before Grandpa Su, sobbing and putting on a show of being deeply wronged, hoping her parents would pity her.
But no matter how pitifully she cried, Grandpa Su and Grandma Su did not soften.
Liang Xiu pressed on, looking as if she would resort to violence at the slightest disagreement.
The brothers, who had been alerted, blocked the doorway to the main hall, their eyes fixed on Su Manxiang.
Su Manxiang had been thrown out by her nephews once before. Now, seeing the wolf-like gazes of these young men, she could only retreat step by step along the wall.
Kang Meihua bit her lip, looking resentful, but being just a child, she didn't dare to lay a hand on the adults.
However, Kang Meihua, having been taught by Su Manxiang, felt she was from the town and looked down on everyone in her maternal grandfather's family.
"What, you're still not leaving?" Su Ciliang asked when he saw Kang Meihua still standing in the main hall.
Kang Meihua grabbed the still crying Kang Zhonghua and said resentfully, "Even if you beg us, we won't come again! And don't come to us for help either."
"Don't worry, we wouldn't come to your house even if we were begging!" Su Ciliang said with a cold smile.
This aunt was heartless and not worth being kind to! Her cousins weren't good either; it was best to avoid them!
Su Manxiang and her two children were escorted by the Su family members to the main entrance.
With the situation irrecoverable, Su Manxiang, filled with resentment, ran off crying as if her parents had died.
It was almost time for work, and there were many people on the road. Su Manxiang seized the opportunity, crying so that everyone would know that Liang Xiu couldn't tolerate her and had hit her.
The people of Hongxin Brigade were generally kind-hearted and had fewer disputes than people from other villages.
They didn't believe Liang Xiu would hit someone without reason, but the slap marks on Su Manxiang's face were undeniable. For a moment, they didn't know whom to believe.
Kang Meihua's eyes seemed to be filled with poison, wishing she could devour Su Xiaotian alive.
She also felt that it was her mother's incompetence that had caused her to suffer such grievances.
This mother and daughter pair transferred all their dissatisfaction to Su Xiaotian.
"From now on, Third, don't go to town to buy things anymore. It only leads to trouble!" Grandpa Su said with a frown as he watched them leave.
This daughter was becoming more and more troublesome. How could her son-in-law, a man with a job, be so useless and short-sighted?
"I understand, old man. From now on, we'll let Third go to the county town when he has time," Grandma Su replied.
After this incident, they couldn't go to the supply and marketing cooperative in town anymore. They didn't know what else Kang Rende might come up with.
When the Su family went out to work, many people from the brigade asked what had happened at home.
It was a family shame, so Grandma Su gave a perfunctory answer and changed the subject, managing to gloss over it.
"Did you hear? It seems like more people are coming to our village."
"Who?"
"I heard they are also people who made mistakes. The team leader has gone to pick them up. Alas! With one more person, there's one more mouth to feed. I don't know if we'll have enough to eat this year."
Those who heard this were all worried.
The village had only so much land, and the yield was limited. One more person meant one more burden!
Life was not easy!
Su Xiaotian didn't know what the adults were thinking. She only wanted to diligently guide her brothers in their studies so they could achieve something in the future.
With this thought in mind, after the adults in the family had left, Su Xiaotian began to tutor her brothers.
The brothers had initially thought that their little sister, having just been wronged, would be a reluctant teacher. They decided to play the role of students according to her wishes.
They certainly didn't believe that such a little girl could truly be a teacher.