Chen Guihua

Biodata

Appearance

• Chen Guihua has a heavy build; when Ye Chen pushes her over while defending Ye Yun, the narration explicitly describes her as fat 15.

Personality

Chen Guihua is vindictive and controlling, using Ye Chen’s vulnerability to keep Ye Yun obedient. She punishes the younger brother when Ye Yun returns late and retaliates against Ye Yun if Ye Chen escapes a beating. Her outbursts are not limited to perceived disobedience: she also treats both brothers as outlets for unrelated frustrations 4 13.

She openly favors her own children, especially Ye Yao. She refuses to believe reports of his gambling and theft, secretly gives him money when her husband refuses, and hopes he will eventually provide her with a comfortable life in town. Her affection for Ye Bao proves conditional: when the family needs money for Ye Yao’s debts, she prioritizes her son over her daughter’s wishes 13 22.

Chen Guihua values wealth and status over appearance in marriage prospects. She dismisses Rong Zheng as an impoverished farmer despite Ye Bao’s attraction to him, insisting that her daughter should marry into at least a landlord’s family. In public disputes, she presents herself as a wronged benefactor and uses accusations, wailing, and tantrums to resist criticism 11 15 16.

History

Abuse of Ye Yun and Ye Chen

After the deaths of Ye Yun and Ye Chen’s parents, the brothers entered Ye Liqiang’s household. The family took control of their inheritance—thirty taels of silver and ten mu of farmland—while Chen Guihua imposed exhausting work on both children. Ye Yun handled fieldwork, firewood gathering, cooking, laundry, and cleaning; Ye Chen was made to feed livestock when he was only a little over four 4 14.

Chen Guihua denied the brothers places at the main dining table and generally fed them leftovers. They slept in a small, drafty storage shed rather than the main house, using wooden boards covered with straw as bedding. She nevertheless repeatedly claimed that they were living at her family’s expense 4 11 14.

Two incidents illustrate the severity of her treatment:

• Hot-water incident: After Ye Yun returned late from work, she ordered Ye Chen to move a pot of hot water. When he spilled it and burned himself, she whipped him with a rattan switch rather than tending his injuries 4.
• Longevity-lock incident: Ye Yao and Ye Bao attacked Ye Chen while trying to take his keepsake from his deceased parents. Believing their false accusation that he had hurt Ye Yao, Chen Guihua whipped him until he bled. Neighbors intervened to stop her 13.

The abuse prompted Ye Yun to study medicinal herbs secretly and save money so that he could eventually leave with Ye Chen 13.

Attempted Forced Marriage

When Ye Yao revealed an eighty-tael gambling debt, Ye Bao suggested obtaining betrothal money by marrying off Ye Yun. Chen Guihua agreed to force the arrangement and consulted Matchmaker Zhang 14 15.

She accepted twenty taels from Gu Tie, a widower in his forties, on the condition that seventeen-year-old Ye Yun be sent to him that same day. Gu Tie was notorious for beating his previous husbands until they fled, but Chen Guihua portrayed him as a suitable older partner 15.

When Ye Yun refused, she slapped him. Ye Chen defended his brother, pushed her down, and bit her arm hard enough to draw blood. Chen Guihua called Ye Yao to intervene, encouraged him to beat Ye Chen, and struck Ye Yun with a wooden stick while threatening to kill him if he rejected the marriage. Villagers gathered and pulled the attackers away 15.

Household Separation

Chen Guihua tried to strike Ye Yun again when he demanded to leave the household and recover the brothers’ land. Rong Zheng stopped the blow and threw her aside by wrenching the stick from her grasp. He then publicly proposed to Ye Yun and threatened to take the family’s abuse to the authorities 16.

Village Chief Ye oversaw the separation, with Third Granduncle Ye as witness. Chen Guihua protested the return of the inheritance and rolled on the ground accusing the village chief of favoritism. She stopped only after Third Granduncle threatened to have Ye Liqiang divorce her 16.

Debt Collection and Ye Bao’s Marriage

After the brothers left, Chen Guihua began directing her frustrations at Ye Bao. When debt collectors arrived, she shouted that the family had no money and shut the door. They broke through the gate, shoved her down, and beat Ye Yao. She was restrained while trying to protect him and demanded that her husband pay 22.

Ye Liqiang paid forty taels and promised to raise the balance. To help cover the remaining debt, the parents accepted twenty-five taels to make Ye Bao a concubine in the landlord’s household. Chen Guihua told her daughter that the arrangement was already settled. When Ye Bao cursed Ye Yao, Chen Guihua slapped her, and the two began fighting 22.

Later Family Breakdown

By Chapter 33, Ye Bao had entered the landlord’s household and wanted no further contact with her parents. Ye Yao’s injured leg left him limping and unable to perform heavy work. Villagers openly condemned the family’s treatment of both their nephews and their daughter 33.

Chen Guihua and Ye Liqiang blamed one another for their circumstances. She accused him of eagerly taking the brothers’ inheritance, silently permitting their abuse, and delaying payment until Ye Yao’s leg was injured. Their arguments repeatedly became physical fights, sometimes drawing Ye Yao into the violence when he tried to intervene 33.

Relationships

• Ye Liqiang / Eldest Uncle Ye — Husband. He leaves much of the household’s overt cruelty to her while benefiting from it; their partnership later deteriorates into mutual accusations and frequent violence 4 14 33.
• Ye Yao — Favored son. She finances him secretly, defends him against criticism, and sacrifices other family members’ interests to address his gambling debt 13 14 22.
• Ye Bao — Daughter. Initially pampered and spared household labor, she is later forced into a concubine marriage and becomes estranged from her parents 11 22 33.
• Ye Yun — Nephew by marriage and target of forced labor, beatings, and an attempted forced marriage. He ultimately leaves her household with Rong Zheng’s support 4 15 16.
• Ye Chen — Younger nephew by marriage. She exploits his dependence to control Ye Yun; he eventually fights back to protect his brother 4 13 15.
• Rong Zheng — Opponent in the household-separation dispute. He physically stops her attack on Ye Yun and uses the threat of legal action to secure the brothers’ release 16.