Madam Wang even bragged about her "parenting wisdom" to Xiao Zhang after the soup incident.
To prove her point, she even showed Xiao Zhang the video of her butchering the pheasant.
Xiao Zhang broke down on the spot. She tried to slap Madam Wang, but slipped, fell, and had a miscarriage right there on the floor.
Of course, when Madam Wang spread the story, it became:
"Xiao Zhang was pregnant, but threw a tantrum over my soup and flung herself into a miscarriage. So ungrateful!"
The second daughter-in-law, Xiao Li, came from a single-parent family, no dad.
Madam Wang seized on this "weakness," pretending to care while actually PUA-ing her to bits.
She'd say things like, "You know, Zhou Fan really minds that you don't have a father. That's why you keep making mistakes, no one to teach you right from wrong."
Anytime Xiao Li did something less than perfect, Madam Wang would sigh, "If only you'd had a father, you'd know better."
After months of this, Xiao Li became so obedient she could have won a gold medal in "Yes, Mother."
Even Zhou Fan started siding with her sometimes, which Madam Wang did NOT like.
So she went nuclear:
She picked some random "good thing" Xiao Li had done and announced she'd throw her a celebration.
But she scheduled it for the anniversary of Xiao Li's father's death, and dragged her to a KTV to sing "Today Is a Good Day," dropping hints about her missing dad the whole time.
Xiao Li finally snapped and cursed Madam Wang out, "You're disgusting!"
But after the divorce, the story became:
"I tried to celebrate for Xiao Li, but she just wanted a gold bracelet. She called me an animal because she thought the party was too cheap!"
The third daughter-in-law, Xiao Wang, was the most tragic of all.
Madam Wang pretended to be her best friend, promising, "Let's not be just in-laws, let's be real friends!"
She'd have heart-to-heart talks with Xiao Wang, who was so naïve she actually believed her.
Xiao Wang confided her biggest secret:
She'd been bullied in school for gaining weight from medication, forced to drink toilet water by mean classmates.
She was finally starting to move on, until Madam Wang spilled the whole story to everyone:
Zhou Fan's relatives, Xiao Wang's coworkers, even her friends.
Xiao Wang's social life imploded, her depression came back, and Madam Wang would still bring up the bullying just to twist the knife.
Once, Xiao Wang couldn't take it anymore and picked up a knife in front of Madam Wang—but pointed it at herself, not her mother-in-law.
After the divorce, the story became:
"Xiao Wang tried to murder me! I barely escaped with my life!"
Listening to these three horror stories, I was so angry I almost regretted going easy on Madam Wang before.
Especially the pheasant soup trick—one of my own ex-mothers-in-law tried that on me with my pet rabbit.
She made spicy rabbit stew out of my beloved bunny and only told me after I'd finished eating.
I didn't get mad—I just quietly bought another identical rabbit.
That night, when she got up to use the bathroom, I let the rabbit loose in the hallway.
Her scream was so loud, half the neighborhood thought there was a murder.
But I wasn't done.
She couldn't sleep at night, so she'd nap during the day.
I'd wait until she was snoring, then gently place the rabbit on her chest.
She'd wake up feeling something heavy, open her eyes, and come face-to-face with a giant bunny.
She was so scared she couldn't even scream - just fainted dead away.
After that, she was convinced the house was haunted and hired a whole squad of Taoist priests.
She lost ten pounds in two weeks.
From then on, I swore I'd be karma for every evil mother-in-law I met.
Not a single one would escape.
Suddenly, Madam Wang's wrinkled face lunged right into mine, making me jump so hard I nearly fell off the couch.
She bared her teeth, eyes wild, and hissed, "Xu Xiaoyan, don't think you've won. You have no idea what I'm capable of!"
I leaned back, giving her my best innocent blink.
"Oh, but Mom, I'm just learning from the best. You're my inspiration!"
She stomped her foot, practically foaming at the mouth, and stormed off to her room, muttering curses that would make a sailor blush.
I stretched out on the sofa, grinning ear to ear.
Let her plan her next move, I was ready to serve up poetic justice, with a side of square-dance speakers and a full audience.
Stay tuned, Madam Wang.
The real show is just getting started.