NOVPUB
Chapter 200: Chapter 193 Soft-hearted
That night, Qiu Shuping tried every trick in the book to squeeze more money out of her daughter-in-law, Shen Yunfang. She dragged Yunfang into lengthy discussions, exhausting all manner of persuasion—soft approaches, hard approaches, good arguments, and bad. Yunfang’s mouth went dry from the relentless haggling, and Qiu Shuping even gave her specialty of making a scene a small try.
"Wailing, ’My life is so miserable! When the children’s father went off to the army and never returned, I had to play the roles of both mother and father. I raised the kids all by myself, attending to every diaper change, bathing them, and eating the barest minimum, so as to leave food for my children. It was such a struggle to bring up my sons... Hongjun was the naughtiest one. When he was little, he was either chasing someone’s dog or getting into fights with other kids. His father would chase him around the village, shoe in hand, and I’d have to hold him back from hitting the boy... And now Hongjun’s grown up enough to join the military. He’s made something of himself, but how could he be so heartless as to marry and forget about his poor old mother...’ Wailing, Hongqi is your own flesh and blood, born from the same belly. How can you be so cruel? Wailing..."
Listening to her mother-in-law ramble on about the past, Shen Yunfang didn’t quite buy it. She didn’t know about Li Hongjun’s childhood antics, but she was well aware that joining the army had been entirely his own doing. At that time, aside from Li Wangcai, not many in the Li Family were supportive of Hongjun. Now, she saw her mother-in-law taking all the credit for herself.
Yet, Yunfang wasn’t completely heartless. Seeing the elderly woman in tears before her, despite the large age gap, Yunfang couldn’t help but feel some compassion. Besides, her mother-in-law was right about one thing—no matter what, she was indeed Hongjun’s birth mother, an undeniable fact, even if the Li Family had already divided their household.
As Qiu Shuping wept and talked, she said, "I’ve been worried sick about everything, running back and forth. Ever since Hongjun sent word of your pregnancy, I left your father-in-law and, bringing your sister, came to help you out. Look, isn’t it me who’s been sweeping your yard every day? You’re out all day and rarely seen. My daughter knew you’d want a hot meal upon returning, so she took it upon herself to prepare all three meals a day for you. And these days, we have worked from dawn to dusk in the fields for you. Aren’t all these things true? We, this mother and daughter, may not have earned any merits, but we certainly have put in the hard work. Now the Li Family is facing a big issue, helping your brother-in-law is the least you could do. How can your heart be so hard?"
Yunfang’s heart softened. "Well, even hiring a day laborer would require some payment. I should indeed give my mother-in-law a bit more," she thought to herself.
"Mother, don’t cry any more, I understand your meaning. The situation with Hongqi is indeed a big deal for the Li Family, and as a daughter-in-law, I don’t have a say in such important matters. It is Hongjun who makes the decisions for our home. However, Hongqi’s situation seems urgent, and it probably can’t wait for Hongjun to come back and handle it. So, I’ll offer my opinion," Shen Yunfang interrupted Qiu Shuping’s sobbing, ready to resolve the issue as quickly as possible since it was already ten at night, and she still needed to sort corn the next day. "I’m not too familiar with military issues, but since you said we need two hundred yuan to sort everything out, then two hundred it is. However, you can’t expect me to provide all of it. First, I don’t have that amount of money, and second, it shouldn’t just come from me. After all, the brother-in-law has parents, and Hongjun has siblings. You agree, don’t you, Mother?"
Seeing Qiu Shuping about to retort, Shen Yunfang hurriedly finished her point, "Two hundred yuan, Mother, you and Father should put up half. Right after the New Year, Hongjun and I gave you one hundred yuan for eldercare. If you care about Hongqi, we have no objection to using that money for him. As for the other hundred, it should be split between Hongjun’s and the eldest brother’s families."
"Your eldest brother’s family is poor; where will they find fifty yuan?" Qiu Shuping hurriedly responded, thinking to herself how she didn’t want to contribute that one hundred yuan either.
"Mother, there’s no need to worry about that. Although I don’t know the exact amount my eldest brother and his wife have saved, at the time of splitting the family property, the eldest brother and his wife received fifty yuan. Knowing my sister-in-law and how careful she is with money, they couldn’t have spent much in just a few days. So, when you return, simply ask my eldest brother for it. If he still has any consideration for you, his mother, and if he still cares that Hongqi is his blood brother, he will undoubtedly come up with the cash," Shen Yunfang analyzed the source of the two hundred yuan crisply.
To tell the truth, she was not the type to cling to money. If she had money, she would spend it. After all, what was the point of desperately earning so much money if you could neither bring it into life nor take it with you in death? But when it came to spending money, it had to be spent transparently. She was not too concerned about how much she spent, as long as she could afford it; fairness was what mattered to her. At the time of the family division, it was agreed that Hongqi would stay with the elders, and strictly speaking, now that Hongqi was in trouble, it should be the old man and the old lady who paid.
Shen Yunfang knew Qiu Shuping had money, so she insisted that Qiu Shuping contribute, even if she couldn’t pay all of it, she had to pay the lion’s share. As for them, the older brothers and sisters-in-law, all with their own families and children to raise, no one’s contribution of fifty yuan was already a significant amount. If she hadn’t had the advantage of extra space, of being from another time, and was just getting by day-to-day with the income from working the fields, she wouldn’t have been able to come up with those fifty yuan either. Therefore, given the current situation, Shen Yunfang believed her proposal was the most reasonable.
"At our age, your father and I have scrimped and saved little by little over the decades, and we’ve only managed to save up this small amount of money, do you think it was easy? This is our emergency fund," Qiu Shuping mumbled, reluctant to agree. She even hoped Shen Yunfang would put in more money. In her view, Hongjun was earning a salary in the army, and his wife had been keeping quite a few chickens and ducks at home, so they must have a fair amount of money. Their family could easily spare two hundred yuan, so why covet the little money the elderly had? Moreover, the eldest son’s family didn’t have the means that the second son’s did, so to say nothing of getting fifty yuan from the eldest daughter-in-law, even scraping together five yuan would be tough.
But Shen Yunfang didn’t care about that. She simply asked her mother-in-law whether she agreed or not. If she agreed, Shen Yunfang would immediately hand over fifty yuan. If not, then it was up to her mother-in-law to think of another solution, which meant not giving a single penny. 𝖓𝔬𝔳𝖕𝖚𝖇.𝖈𝔬𝔪
Upon hearing this, Qiu Shuping realized that getting something was better than nothing at all, so she grimaced and nodded in agreement.
Only then did Shen Yunfang actually take out a stack of money from her pocket, or rather from her extra space, and began to count it out right there on the bed.
A thought simultaneously arose in both Qiu Shuping and Li Xianghe’s minds that the daughter-in-law of the second son/brother’s family must have been secretly hoarding the family’s money.
After counting out exactly sixty-three yuan and sixty-five cents, Shen Yunfang handed fifty yuan to her mother-in-law, then, under the burning gaze of her sister-in-law, stuffed the rest of the money back into her pocket.
Then she went about her business, washing up and preparing to sleep. As for what the mother and daughter in the room were planning to discuss, she was unfazed.
