Chapter 1The Grandma from Hell Meets Her Match

When I was three months pregnant, my husband’s grandmother showed up at our door to lay down the law.

She deliberately killed the dog I had raised for three years and made a stew out of him just to disgust me.

At the dinner table, she showed off smugly:

“The meat of a little beast raised on expensive dog food sure is tender~”

After the meal, she made me bow down and acknowledge the turtle she had kept for forty years as my “god-grandmother.”

I obediently did as I was told.

She just didn't know that acknowledging a god-grandmother is easy, but getting rid of one is hard!

* * *

My grandmother is a contrarian, and my mother is a fierce woman. The two have fought their whole lives; they clash the moment they meet.

Influenced by these two, I became well-versed in the dynamics of mother-in-law and daughter-in-law relationships at a young age.

People feared me; dogs ran from me.

But unluckily, I married into a family of honest, simple people, so all my skills had nowhere to be used.

Life was smooth sailing, and I gained a few pounds.

I went to a traditional Chinese medicine clinic to ask for some weight-loss tips, and only after the doctor checked my pulse did I find out I was pregnant.

The doctor said the first three months of pregnancy are crucial.

My in-laws treated me with extreme caution, terrified I’d bump into something and have an accident.

When I was in my third month of pregnancy, an old lady suddenly appeared in our house.

The moment our eyes met, I knew the vibe was right.

The universally despised troublemaker had arrived!

The way the old lady looked at me was exactly the same as how my grandmother looked at my mother—wishing she could find fault with everything!

My usually cheerful mother-in-law was pale, kneeling on the floor, wiping it inch by inch with a paper towel.

My reasonable father-in-law was trembling like a little quail, not even daring to breathe loudly, brewing tea and pouring water for her.

My husband blankly called out:

"Grandma!"

Then he dragged me back to our room.

"Honey, pack your bags. We're going to stay at a hotel for a few days. You're pregnant; you can't be stressed!"

My phone received a notification: an extra three thousand dollars transferred from my in-laws.

Their intention was very clear: they wanted us to stay outside for now.

I could only move back when his grandmother went back to her hometown.

"Is she that scary?"

"More than scary! She's a nightmare!"

My husband briefly recounted the old lady's dark history.

When he was six, the old lady stewed the rabbit he had raised for two years and tricked him into eating the meat.

After he finished eating, she took him to see the pile of bloody rabbit skin.

My husband cried his eyes out. The old lady ate sunflower seeds while spitting the shells at his face:

"It’s just an animal. It died, so what? Is it worth crying like this?

"You have no masculinity at all! Don't tell anyone outside that you're my, Martha's, grandson!

"You little brat, remember this: an animal is an animal. Even if you've raised it for two years, or twenty years, it's still an animal. It will never be more important than your family!"

My mother-in-law came over to comfort my husband, but the old lady kicked her instead.

"You jinx! Always pulling a long face and teaching my grandson useless things. It's just a dead rabbit. Are you trying to kill me, this old lady?"

That kick caused my mother-in-law to miscarry.

It was a three-month-old female fetus. My mother-in-law wept uncontrollably in the hospital.

The old lady smoked her pipe at home, speaking self-righteously:

"A money-losing girl. She's gone, so she's gone. Is it worth crying like that?"

My father-in-law was furious and confronted her:

"That was your own granddaughter!"

The old lady sneered:

"What own granddaughter? She didn't even have all her hair, she wasn't even born, and you dare call her my granddaughter?

"So what if she was a granddaughter? A granddaughter is just a money-loser! With that one kick, do you know how much money I saved you? You don't even know how to be grateful, and you're here demanding an explanation from me? I see you really are an ungrateful wretch, forgetting your mother once you have a wife!"

My father-in-law was so angry he wanted to take my mother-in-law and my husband away, refusing to live with the old lady anymore.

The matter was brought to the village head.

The older generation values filial piety above all else.

My father-in-law was clumsy with words and didn't know how to speak well.