The driver's real name was Xu Shuai. He was already in his early forties. His wife, Zhang Xiaofan, was only twenty-nine this year. She had given birth to a son for him two years ago. As an older husband with a younger wife, Xu Shuai doted on her and always did as she said. He was well-known in the neighborhood for being henpecked.
Xu Shuai didn't care about others' looks of disdain. He was content as long as he was happy.
While he was happy, for Granny Xu, who had raised him since childhood, the nightmare was just beginning.
Zhang Xiaofan was a girl from another place. She claimed to be pregnant with Xu Shuai's child just one month after they met. Xu Shuai was overjoyed and immediately proposed to her.
Zhang Xiaofan didn't hesitate and readily agreed.
As soon as Zhang Xiaofan married into the Xu family, the first thing she proposed was to sell Granny Xu's house.
Originally, this house was left by Granny Xu's late husband for her to spend her remaining years in.
When Xu Shuai married Zhang Xiaofan, Granny Xu had taken out all her savings to let them buy an 80- or 90-square-meter apartment in the city.
However, Zhang Xiaofan said that after deducting the public area, there would be little space left in such a big apartment.
So she began to coax Xu Shuai into persuading his mother to sell the house.
They could use the money from selling the house to buy a bigger one.
At first, Granny Xu didn't want to sell the house. After all, it was the place where she and her late husband had lived their whole lives.
But she couldn't stand their pestering.
At that time, Zhang Xiaofan seemed quite understanding and could talk a good talk.
She told Granny Xu that the purpose of buying a big house was not for herself.
She said that after the decoration was finished, she would take Granny Xu to the city to enjoy a comfortable life.
There would be floor heating in winter, so Granny Xu didn't need to chop wood for a fire. In this way, she could also show filial piety on behalf of Xu Shuai.
The three of them would live together. In the future, when the child was born, Granny Xu could enjoy the pleasure of playing with her grandchild.
Three generations living under the same roof would be a happy and harmonious family.
Granny Xu was well-known in the village for being kind-hearted and easily influenced.
She was not only kind but also always ready to help others.
She had lived in the village all her life and had only dealt with simple rural people. She never thought that her son was filial and his wife was so reasonable.
Without much thought, she agreed.
As soon as the house was sold, they used the money to buy a new house.
Granny Xu used the little money left to rent a small house in the countryside. She didn't even prepare the firewood for winter.
She planned to save the money to buy some supplements for her daughter-in-law.
She was looking forward to her son and daughter-in-law taking her to the city for the winter with great joy.
Xu Shuai was an honest man. After the old house was sold, the decoration of the new house was almost finished in winter.
He proposed to Zhang Xiaofan that they should take Granny Xu over to live with them.
However, Zhang Xiaofan was not happy to hear this.
The new house hadn't been lived in for a single day, and now bringing an old woman in to live there was just too inauspicious.
At that time, Zhang Xiaofan was already more than seven months pregnant.
When Xu Shuai wanted to say something more, Zhang Xiaofan began to threaten him with the baby.
Xu Shuai had no choice but to tell Granny Xu that it was not convenient at the moment.
After getting his salary, he secretly saved some money and transferred it to Granny Xu. He made an excuse that they couldn't take her there this year and told her to buy some firewood.
Granny Xu didn't say anything and didn't accept the money.
She just told them to live a good life.
Xu Shuai didn't return the money either. He thought it would be good to have some private savings.
Somehow, this matter reached Zhang Xiaofan's ears.
She was furious. While Xu Shuai was out, she brought a group of people to Granny Xu's house. She insisted that Granny Xu was pretending to be miserable and trying to extort money from her son in disguise.
Now she didn't even have the money for prenatal check-ups at the hospital.
After this incident, not only did Granny Xu not get the money from her son, but the money she had saved for buying firewood was also snatched away by Zhang Xiaofan.
After taking the money, just as Zhang Xiaofan was about to leave the door, the big black cat raised by Granny Xu suddenly rushed out.
She slipped and fell flat on her face.
Fortunately, her belly didn't hit the ground.
In a fit of anger, she told the people she brought to catch the black cat and kill it at all costs.
This cat had been with Granny Xu since her husband passed away. They had been together for more than a decade.
Xu Shuai worked away from home all year round, and Granny Xu lived alone. To put it more seriously, this cat was like half of her partner.
She would talk to it whenever she was unhappy. They were dependent on each other.
The old black cat had bumped into Zhang Xiaofan, but it wasn't enough to make her lose the baby.
Seeing this, Granny Xu quickly pleaded with them to let the old black cat go.
However, no matter how much she begged, Zhang Xiaofan still resolutely ordered the cat to be hanged on the doorpost.
After the old cat died, Zhang Xiaofan and her group left swaggeringly.
Granny Xu was so sad that combined with the cold wind getting into her body, the once healthy old woman suddenly fell ill.
After Xu Shuai learned what had happened, he had a big fight with Zhang Xiaofan and then rushed back to the countryside to take care of Granny Xu.
But after only a few days, he received a call from Zhang Xiaofan's mother saying that Xiaofan showed signs of premature birth and asking him to come back to take care of his wife.
At this time, Granny Xu's health had just improved a little, and she could get out of bed and walk around.
She advised Xu Shuai to go back to take care of his wife. "A couple for a day means kindness for a hundred days," she said. For the sake of the child, he should go back.
However, Xu Shuai refused. He said that if he was to go back, he must take his mother with him.
Seeing that Xu Shuai was determined, Zhang Xiaofan's family had no choice but to agree.
Xu Shuai's house was more than 100 square meters and had two south-facing bedrooms.
He arranged for Granny Xu to recuperate in the south-facing bedroom.
After Zhang Xiaofan gave birth to the baby in the hospital and came back, she lived in the other south-facing bedroom.
Zhang Xiaofan's mother came to take care of her during the confinement period, so she was temporarily arranged to live in the north-facing bedroom.
Actually, in winter in the Northeast, although the north-facing bedroom didn't get sunlight, it was not cold because of the heating.
It was okay when Xu Shuai was at home. But when he was out, the mother and daughter would sneer at Granny Xu.
They said that the old woman just ate without doing any work and was just taking up space.
To avoid making her son embarrassed, Granny Xu voluntarily gave up the south-facing bedroom.
She moved into the north-facing bedroom and took on the job of a nanny.
She endured humiliation all winter long. She worked hard but didn't get any appreciation.
Finally, after the Beginning of Spring, she made an excuse to go back to the countryside.
Zhang Xiaofan began to make sarcastic remarks and asked her for the rent for the past few months.
Granny Xu didn't want to argue with her and gave her the remaining money from renting out the land.
That night, Granny Xu told Xu Shuai that she planned to go back to her hometown.
Xu Shuai was not stupid. He knew that his mother was not happy here. But his son was still young, and he couldn't fall out with Zhang Xiaofan.
What if she refused to take care of the child after they fell out?
So he also agreed to Granny Xu's request to go back to her hometown.
The next day, Xu Shuai accompanied Granny Xu to the street to buy some things, and then he went to borrow a car from a friend to take Granny Xu back to the countryside. They were separated for just over an hour.
However, when he got home again, Granny Xu was lying dead on the bed in the north room.
Zhang Xiaofan was pretending to cry on her knees.
Xu Shuai couldn't believe his eyes. His mother was still chatting and laughing with him just an hour ago, and now she was suddenly dead. He immediately threw himself on her and cried loudly.
Zhang Xiaofan's mother came to help him up and pretended to console him. "The dead cannot be brought back to life. Don't be so sad," she said.
At the same time, the sudden crying of the baby came from another room.
Hearing this, Zhang Xiaofan quickly got up to check on her son.
As soon as she opened the door, something suddenly jumped out of the bedroom and scared her into screaming.