NOVPUB
Chapter 180: Chapter 173: No Regrets After Splitting Up (Part 2)
Qiu Shuping looked at herself crying so hard, having said so many heartfelt words, yet her two sons were still one with their head down, the other with an expressionless face. She didn’t know what to do and turned to her old man for help.
"Old man, say something, our sons always listen to you the most."
Li Wangcai put down his wine cup. He knew what his wife was thinking. Although her intentions were somewhat misguided, he also wished to see his family reunited and happy. He looked over at his two sons.
Ever since the house was divided and the younger son moved out, his wife constantly regretted it. Firstly, she had not expected that dividing the household would also mean giving away a hundred yuan, much more than the money they used for their son’s leg treatment. Why then did she go through the trouble of dividing the house? Secondly, after the younger daughter-in-law had left, she started feeling that the younger daughter-in-law was better than the elder one.
The younger daughter-in-law cooked delicious meals. She didn’t think much of it when she was around, but after she left, none of the women in the house could replicate the younger daughter-in-law’s cooking—the eldest daughter-in-law’s cooking was even analogous to pig feed. The younger daughter-in-law was also generous with money. During her four-day stay at home, they had meat for three days, and most importantly, without his wife having to spend any money. The elder daughter-in-law was so stingy that she could split a penny into sixteen pieces. Normally, let alone buying meat, she would begrudge even coming to gnaw on the bones of the elderly couple. The younger daughter-in-law had a good temper; even if her mother-in-law occasionally scolded her, she would never talk back. The elder daughter-in-law was okay before the division, always sweet-talking, but since they divided the house, she had turned into a real shrew. If her mother-in-law dared to scold her, she was capable of turning around and gobbling her up.
In short, not long after the division of the household, his wife began to think it through and regretted it. If they hadn’t divided, the younger daughter-in-law would have been there to take care of her, making her life much more enjoyable.
"Your mother regretted the division of the house ever since it happened. We’re all one family, all your mother’s own children. There was no need for things to reach the point of splitting the household."
"It’s all because the elder daughter-in-law stirred up trouble. If she hadn’t kept saying those things, I wouldn’t have thought about dividing the house." Qiu Shuping hurriedly brought out Wang Dan, indicating that she was innocent and hadn’t wanted to divide the house.
"Mom, you can’t just blame others like this. You keep saying I stirred up trouble; what trouble did I stir? Explain it to me. Plus, if you didn’t have the idea yourself, no matter how much I said, you wouldn’t have been swayed. It’s still your own desire at heart. Now that you regret it, you’re trying to push everything onto me. I’m not that easygoing. And let’s say, do you think this is child’s play? You say divide the house, so we divide; you say you regret it, so now you want to pull us back together. Why don’t you just keep your sons in your pocket and take them wherever you go?" Wang Dan said with sarcasm.
Shen Yunfang nodded in agreement from the side.
Li Wangcai’s face flushed with the stabbing remarks from his daughter-in-law and found it difficult to continue.
Qiu Shuping didn’t care about all that, but she also knew she couldn’t win an argument with the elder daughter-in-law now, so she still looked at her younger son, "Hongjun, your dad has spoken, and your mom regrets it too. Why don’t you just move back in?" she pleaded pitifully.
Shen Yunfang realized she couldn’t keep quiet any longer; if she did, they might actually have to move back here. 𝓃𝓸𝓋𝓅𝓾𝒷.𝒸ℴ𝓂
"Mom, we already discussed it when the house was divided: the elder brother got two rooms, and I got two. If we were to move back, where would we stay?"
"Weren’t you living just fine in that wing room?" Qiu Shuping was already displeased with her daughter-in-law. What, did she think that just because she wanted her son to return she could demand it? No way.
"Dad, do you think the same?" Shen Yunfang ignored Qiu Shuping and turned to Li Wangcai for his opinion.
Li Wangcai smoked silently.
"What’s the use of asking your dad about this, Li Family is already divided, are you still looking for a settlement?" Qiu Shuping, afraid that the Li patriarch would say something, quickly cut in.
"Mom, aren’t you contradicting yourself? You just said you regretted the division, and you wanted us to come back and live here. Now, you’re telling me everything is settled, and there’s no room for us. Do you want us to come back or not? Do you want to divide the family or not?" Shen Yunfang gave her whimsical mother-in-law a sharp look.
Actually, she understood what her mother-in-law was thinking. She felt sorry for her child but even more for herself. She wanted to return to her previous life where she could call the shots, and didn’t want to deeply offend her eldest daughter-in-law. So, she wanted them to concede, to reel Li Hongjun back in with familial affection and have her daughter-in-law serve her. The house had already been given to the eldest and youngest son, changing her mind would make everyone hate her. So she just wanted them to keep living in the side rooms, which would make everyone happy.
"Mom, actually, I’ve been wanting to ask you for some time, is Hongjun really the child you and dad had?" Before the two old folks could recover from the color draining from their faces, Shen Yunfang let out what she’d been holding back, "I’ve heard Hongjun say that, back when elder brother got married despite how difficult times were, you both insisted on building our house, so the elder brother would have a new room for his marriage. Now the little brother is not even of age, and you’re already planning to leave two rooms for him to marry and have children in the future. But how come you never considered your second son? When your second son got married, you made him marry into an uninhabitable side room. Why are you so biased? You always say ’flesh of my flesh’ but do you feel guilt at all? Li Hongjun must have been picked up from the outside." Shen Yunfang had been holding back her frustration these days. She thought the family division was settled, and she had already accepted her losses. Speaking her mind seemed futile, but not speaking didn’t mean she didn’t know what’s good for her. She wasn’t silly or foolish; this bullying just never ended.
This outburst stunned the old couple of Li Family, but Qiu Shuping quickly lay on the kang bed, kicking and scratching wildly and crying, "Oh my mother, I’ve been wronged to death. My son came from my very own intestines, even without food, I must feed you. How can you hurt me like this? I don’t want to live."
Her antics knocked over the kang table, and the dishes and bowls fell onto the kang, scattering food everywhere. Li Hongjun reacted quickly, pulling his wife off the kang in time to avoid getting anything on themselves, but the others weren’t so lucky.
Wang Dan dodged backward but still got splashed with a bowl of porridge, staining her front and trousers, grumbling under her breath with what seemed to be curses at her mother-in-law, probably considering the situation, she didn’t dare to curse loudly.
Shen Yunfang curled her lip, the old lady was always good at this act.
"My son, your wife is trying to drive a wedge between you and your mother. You mustn’t fall for her tricks. You home-wrecker, let’s see if I don’t beat you to death today." Qiu Shuping seemed to go into a frenzy, sitting up on the kang and lunging at Shen Yunfang.
Shen Yunfang didn’t move; Li Hongjun was in front of her, after all.
Li Hongjun, as the son, wouldn’t lay a hand on his own mother, so he grabbed Shen Yunfang and turned to walk towards the door.
"Mom, there’s no homewrecker here. Even if she truly stirred trouble, it would only be in our small home, and couldn’t possibly bother you. Dad, as you see, mom and my wife probably cannot mix well. Rather than bickering every day, it’s indeed better for us to live far away, out of sight, out of mind for you. You should take care of yourselves. I’ll be returning to the army soon, and I’ll see you when I come back for a visit."
Li Hongjun had already helped his wife out of the house by the time he finished speaking.
"Hongjun, your mother, she doesn’t have any ill intentions, you can’t hold a grudge. Ah, we’re all family of the Li’s, how did we end up like this?" Li old master glanced at Shen Yunfang.
Shen Yunfang happened to look back and saw it; she raised an eyebrow. The old man didn’t think this was all her doing, did he? He couldn’t believe that she was genuinely stirring things up from behind, could he?
