The Fortunate Lady and Her Mountain Man

Chapter 139: Chapter 139: Divorce Me

"Mom! Do you have any idea what you’re saying?!"

Ji Mingfang shot to his feet, shouting angrily at Yang.

Yang stammered, "I... I don’t have a choice..."

Ji Xuelan held the swaddled baby out to Yang. Tears were already streaming down her face before she could even speak.

"Mom, look at Sanyang... She just came into this world. Her eyes aren’t even open yet, and her grandmother wants to drown her... And you’re telling me to go back? She’s your granddaughter!"

Yang started to cry sadly as well.

"I know how hard it is for you. I know. I love Sanyang too, but she’s a Sun, after all. She has the Sun family’s blood. How could her grandmother really drown her? Maybe she was just trying to scare you..."

"No! She wasn’t trying to scare me, she wasn’t! She wants to kill Sanyang!"

Ji Xuelan pushed Yang away and clutched Sanyang tightly.

Rage and terror warred on her face. She couldn’t stop trembling, as if she were reliving what had happened three days ago.

The moment Sanyang was born and let out her first cry, Granny Sun had burst through the curtain and snatched the baby from the midwife’s arms.

After pulling back the small blanket, her face fell.

She shot a sinister glance at Ji Xuelan, who was still recovering on the kang bed, and without another word, carried Sanyang out of the room.

Ji Xuelan had just given birth and felt completely drained of strength, but her mother-in-law’s glance gave her a terrible feeling. She struggled to get off the kang bed and, with the midwife’s help, stumbled out after them.

She was afraid her mother-in-law would abandon Sanyang, but the reality was far more brutal than she had imagined.

Granny Sun hurried to the backyard and threw the newborn baby directly into a chamber pot!

Ji Xuelan rounded the corner just in time to see this, and her blood ran cold.

She let out a cry, broke free from the midwife, and with a sudden burst of strength, sprinted over to pull Sanyang out.

Granny Sun grabbed her by the hair, blocking her and cursing that she and her daughters were a waste of food and all deserved to die.

In that moment, Ji Xuelan was like a madwoman. She couldn’t see or hear anything. All she could think about was her Sanyang, and Granny Sun was just a hideous old hag trying to stop her from saving her own daughter.

An iron shovel happened to be leaning against the wall. In the struggle, she grabbed it and swung it backward!

Granny Sun howled in pain and kicked Ji Xuelan in the waist.

Ji Xuelan fell to the ground, but ignoring her own pain, she kicked the chamber pot over.

Pungent, yellow urine spilled all over the ground. She scrambled forward, scooped up Sanyang, and ran for the front yard. She didn’t stop until she was back in her room, where she slid the bolt shut with trembling hands.

In weather so cold that water froze the moment it dripped, even an adult couldn’t stand being soaked. Sanyang, a newborn baby, was already turning blue and purple.

Tears streamed down Ji Xuelan’s face. She was afraid her little daughter wouldn’t make it.

’If only there were a doctor in the village. But even if there were, Granny Sun would never pay for one.’

’What do I do? What do I do...’

’I can only rely on myself.’

Sanyang smelled awful, but Ji Xuelan didn’t care. She found something to hastily wipe her down with, then climbed onto the kang bed, unbuttoned her clothes, and pressed Sanyang against her chest, using her own body heat to warm the baby’s frozen little body.

Helpless and desperate, all she could do was beg the heavens over and over again to let her Sanyang live.

But would Granny Sun, having been hit, simply let the matter rest?

She returned with Sun Shou, furiously kicking the door and screaming for them to hand Sanyang over.

It slowly dawned on Ji Xuelan what a disaster she had caused. ’I actually hit my mother-in-law!’

She trembled in fear and held Sanyang even tighter.

’I can’t give her up. If I give her up, she’ll die!’

Daya and Erya watched the door shudder from the kicks, their little faces filled with terror as they heard the vicious shouts of their father and grandmother.

They scrambled onto the kang bed and hugged Ji Xuelan, one on each side.

"Mom, I’m scared..."

"Grandma’s going to sell us again..."

Ji Xuelan was scared too, but she had to act strong in front of her daughters.

Freeing one hand, she wiped their tears away and coaxed in a trembling voice, "Don’t be scared, don’t be scared. Mommy’s here. No one is going to sell you."

Outside, Granny Sun and Sun Shou shouted and cursed for a long time before they grew tired and stopped.

But Ji Xuelan didn’t dare to relax for a second. She forced her eyes open all night, and just as dawn was breaking, Sanyang began to cry again in her arms.

Ji Xuelan cried too, but her tears were of joy.

Daya and Erya, not knowing why, also began to wail.

"What’s all this wailing for so early in the morning?! Is someone dead?"

Granny Sun thought the little money-pit hadn’t survived the night, and she felt a sliver of satisfaction.

However, the matter of Ji Xuelan hitting her on the head with an iron shovel was not something she could easily forgive, even if it had only broken the skin.

She had her two sons grab a log and ram it against the door. Soon, the decaying wooden door crashed down, and Ji Xuelan was dragged from the kang bed into the yard by her hair.

Granny Sun slapped her hard across the face twice. "This is outrageous! A wife who dares to strike her mother-in-law! Son, teach her a good lesson!"

Without a word, Sun Shou started punching and kicking her.

How could Ji Xuelan, who had just given birth, withstand such a brutal beating? She rolled on the ground in agony, but bit her lip and didn’t dare make a sound, hoping they would spare Sanyang once they had vented their anger.

Daya and Erya, holding their little sister, cried and screamed from the side, "Don’t hit our mom! Don’t hit our mom! Please, stop hitting our mom..."

As they cried, Sanyang, in their arms, also let out a faint whimper.

Only then did Granny Sun realize the little money-pit wasn’t dead yet.

"This little bastard, she’s a tough one! Let’s see if I don’t..."

Daya was quick-witted. Seeing her grandmother coming to snatch the baby, she hugged her little sister and ran out of the yard.

Granny Sun tried to give chase, but Ji Xuelan grabbed the cuff of her pants.

She was already beaten black and blue, her face unrecognizable. She had lost two molars and her mouth was full of blood.

Forcing herself to her knees, she began to kowtow to Granny Sun, her head hitting the ground, THUD, THUD, THUD.

"Mom, I’m begging you, please spare Sanyang! She’s your own granddaughter... Please, let her live..."

Granny Sun was completely unmoved by her tearful pleas.

"If I let her live, who’s going to let the Sun family live? In all the years since you married in, you’ve done nothing but eat our food and not lay any eggs. And you treat the few money-pits you’ve birthed like treasures, refusing to sell them no matter what. Fine, don’t sell them. It’s not like they’d fetch much money anyway. Drowning them is cleaner!"

"That’s right, sister-in-law. You know how bad this blizzard is. We’re almost out of food. The adults can barely eat their fill, and now here comes another debt collector..." Sister-in-law Du chimed in with a cutting remark.

Erya, her eyes brimming with tears, said, "Auntie, my sister and I can eat less and give some to our little sister! When she can walk, I’ll take her to gather firewood. We won’t be freeloaders..."

Sister-in-law Du rolled her eyes. "What good are a bunch of girls? All you can do is gather firewood and pig feed. Feeding you even a single grain of rice feels like a waste!"

Hearing Erya’s words and her sorrowful cries, Ji Xuelan felt as if a knife were twisting in her heart.

’Why?’

’Since I married into this family, I’ve always been accommodating to my sisters-in-law and filial to my parents-in-law.’

’I’ve worked from dawn till dusk in this house, doing more than anyone else.’

’But my daughters can’t even get a full meal!’

’All these years, I’ve endured and yielded time and again. So why? Why do they keep hounding me like this?!’

’This entire family doesn’t see me as a person, and they don’t see my Daya and Erya as people either.’

’All because I can’t give them a son...’

Granny Sun delivered her ultimatum.

"Let me tell you, Sanyang cannot stay! This has been a disastrous and unlucky year. We can’t afford to feed so many mouths. After spring comes, Daya and Erya will have to be sold too! It’s best if you agree. If you don’t, I’ll have my son divorce you! Hmph. If you know what’s good for you, you’ll hurry up and give our Sun family a grandson..."

"Then divorce me..." Ji Xuelan murmured.

"What? What did you say?" Granny Sun thought she had misheard. "Say that again?"

Ji Xuelan stopped her humble begging, her expression now wooden.

"I said, you should divorce me."

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