Back home, Zhao Dezhu’s eyes couldn’t hide his jealousy when he saw Jun Jiuli’s new clothes. Despite his pleas that morning, his father insisted on sending his wife off. Now, he was spending his money to buy clothes for the unprofitable daughter.
He rushed forward and pointed at Jun Jiuli’s nose, scolding, “Are you crazy, buying so many new clothes? Hurry up and take them back down the mountain to return them, or I’ll make sure you can’t stay in this house.”
Jun Jiuli glanced casually at Father Zhao. Father Zhao immediately understood.
He grabbed the broom propped against the wall and swung it at Zhao Dezhu. “You unfilial son! How many times have I told you to be polite to your sister? If you dare to curse your sister like this again, I’ll throw you out first, you good-for-nothing.”
The father and son chased each other, putting on a grand show of filial piety and paternal love in the courtyard.
Jun Jiuli brought over a small stool, grabbed a handful of sunflower seeds from the stove, and cracked them as she shouted, “Alas, you missed. A bit higher, lower, yes, put your strength there. If he tries to dodge, sweep across, yes, just like that.”
Father Zhao’s hands moved uncontrollably to the rhythm of Jun Jiuli’s instructions. Zhao Dezhu was beaten, crying and wailing.
“Dad, why do you have to listen to that unprofitable daughter for everything? I’m your son.”
“You fool, shut up! See if I don’t beat you to death today.”
Mother Zhao, standing next to Jun Jiuli, trembled. The old man was too abnormal. He usually doted on Dezhu the most, but today he was willing to listen to this girl and strike her so hard.
“Mom, don’t just stand there. I want to eat meat. I won’t eat yesterday’s leftovers. Go catch that big rooster and slaughter it. Otherwise…”
“You child, why are you so greedy? Yesterday’s dishes can just be heated up and eaten.”
“Dad, Mom won’t kill the chicken for me,” Jun Jiuli shouted loudly, deliberately.
“Wicked woman, why aren’t you going quickly? Are you ignoring my words from yesterday? From now on, our Da Ya calls the shots.”
Seeing Mother Zhao still standing there, Father Zhao angrily took off the cloth shoes he was wearing and threw them at Mother Zhao. The aim was good, hitting her right on the head.
Mother Zhao dared not say anything more and ran to the chicken coop to catch a rooster for slaughter. She was heartbroken, as this chicken was saved for the Dragon Boat Festival.
Jun Jiuli was like the “darling of the family” in the Zhao household. The crops in the field had already been tended to once. It had been raining recently, and most of the meat at home had been eaten.
One day, the rain stopped and the sky cleared. Jun Jiuli decided to let the Zhao family out for a stroll.
“Dad, we’ve eaten too much meat these past few days and need to change our taste. I want to eat chicken mushrooms. Can you go find some in the mountains for me?”
Father Zhao looked very reluctant. The family only had four or five mu of land. After finishing farm work, he usually wandered around and didn’t bother with anything else. He tested the waters, saying,
“Da Ya, chicken mushrooms usually only appear after the Dragon Boat Festival. Where am I supposed to find them for you now?”
Jun Jiuli showed her displeasure. Father Zhao immediately grabbed a bamboo basket, called Mother Zhao and Zhao Dezhu, and went up the mountain to look for mushrooms. If they couldn’t find chicken mushrooms, they would pick some others. He didn’t want to be with this monster for another moment.
“Uncle, why are you taking your family up the mountain? It just rained, and the mountain is wet and slippery. If there’s no urgent matter, it’s better to go home and rest.”
Father Zhao remembered Jun Jiuli’s words and dared not speak carelessly. “Haha, my Da Ya is craving mushrooms, so I’m going up the mountain to look for them. Ya Tou is still young, and we parents will do our best to satisfy her every wish.”
The man curiously clicked his tongue and shook his head. This Uncle Zhao’s family was notoriously known for abusing their daughter, so something must have gone wrong.
“Why spoil a girl so much? It’s good enough to have something to eat. And she’s so picky. If she wants something, she should find it herself. It’s troubling you elders, truly shameless.”
“Nephew, don’t talk nonsense. My family has only this one girl, and I’m happy to spoil her. I won’t chat with you anymore, we’re leaving now.”
The family toiled on the mountain for three hours, only finding some common mushrooms, not enough for even one stir-fry. Fortunately, they discovered a patch of wild yam.
The family grunted and dug them out, preparing to take them back to stew with preserved ribs. When they returned, Jun Jiuli didn’t see any chicken mushrooms, and her face fell dramatically.
“Useless. So many people and you couldn’t even find a chicken mushroom.”
After several weeks of beatings, Zhao Dezhu had become timid and obedient, no longer daring to argue.
Jun Jiuli suddenly recalled that the original owner had also washed wild yams before. Zhao Dezhu had forbidden the original owner from wearing gloves, and her hands became red and itchy from the wild yams, not recovering for hours. Zhao Dezhu sat by, laughing heartily.
Mother Zhao had just scraped the skin off the wild yams. The cloudy, sticky water had not yet been poured away.
“Brother, don’t you see Mom is busy and hasn’t poured the water? Hurry up and help.”
Zhao Dezhu obediently walked over. As he was about to take the wild yams, he lost his footing and fell flat on his face, his face directly submerged in the basin of dirty water.
Struggling to get up, the water flowed all over him from his neck. The entire front of his body was covered in yam slime. He couldn’t care less and rushed back to his room to shower.
At dinner, he sat there and fidgeted constantly. He wanted to scratch but dared not, rubbing himself through his clothes. Father Zhao and Mother Zhao were heartbroken, while Jun Jiuli watched the show with amusement.
“Brother, can you stop fidgeting? What a grown man, acting like this. Truly unlucky, it’s ruining my appetite.”
Father Zhao immediately reprimanded, “Go back to your room and scratch, don’t be an eyesore here.”
Zhao Dezhu’s eyes welled up with tears. He got up dejectedly. His father was truly too biased. He had never suffered so much since he was little. Once his father returned to normal, he would make sure that unprofitable daughter paid.
Before, Zhao Dezhu used to hang out with his good-for-nothing friends whenever he had free time. Now, he had absolutely no time. The family’s daily chores were all meticulously arranged by Jun Jiuli.
Carrying bags of corn under the scorching sun, the leaves of the corn were scratchy. The powdery pollen sprinkled on people caused intense itching. The feeling of sweat dripping into his eyes was something he had never experienced in his 26 years of life.
Carrying over a hundred catties of corn on narrow paths back home, climbing the wooden stairs was enough to exhaust him to death, and he had to do it more than once. After finally drying the corn, they had to manually thresh it. His hands were so rough they were almost bald.
After painstakingly packing it into sacks, the money earned was all handed over to Jun Jiuli, who had not contributed any effort. Many nights, he would weep into his pillow thinking about it.
After storing the crops, they had to cut the corn stalks. In the spring, they had to dig out all the corn roots. The land was then loosened for sowing to begin the next planting cycle.
The Zhao family was truly suffering. Every day, they returned home exhausted and had to cook and serve Jun Jiuli. Mother Zhao and Zhao Dezhu had also tried to act behind her back.
They added poisonous mushrooms to the soup and dichlorvos to Jun Jiuli’s food. However, every attempt was discovered, followed by a severe beating from Father Zhao. Now, no one dared to make any rash moves.
Jun Jiuli’s position as the darling of the family was firmly established. She spent two happy years with the Zhao family.