NOVPUB
Chapter 261: Chapter 251 Son, You Must Stand Up for Me
The next day, before dawn had even broken, Li Hongjun climbed out of bed. He took the five pounds of frozen pork his wife had retrieved from their storage space yesterday, two hens that had been properly slaughtered by the comrades of the Revolutionary Committee back then, a small jar of white liquor brewed by Shen Yunfang himself, and an additional ten pounds of rice. In total, there were four kinds of gifts, which were considered quite generous for the time of year.
Li Hongjun packed everything into his carrying basket, easily shouldered it, and informed his wife. After planting a kiss on his eldest son, he then shut the door and set off.
Li Hongjun moved at a brisk pace and arrived at Taoshu Village by a little past nine in the morning.
It was the twenty-ninth day of the twelfth lunar month; tomorrow would be the thirtieth. So, whether rich or poor, everyone in the village tried their best to add a festive touch to both the inside and outside of their homes, creating an atmosphere befitting the New Year—after all, the children looked forward to this celebration all year round.
After entering the village, Li Hongjun encountered several uncles and aunts who greeted him warmly. Although their questions were largely repetitive, Li Hongjun responded earnestly to each inquiry. The delay meant that by the time he reached his own doorstep, it was almost ten o’clock.
Li Hongjun frowned as he stood at the gate of the Li Family house; the courtyard door was tightly shut, and there wasn’t a sound to be heard from within, which was quite peculiar. It shouldn’t be like this—the children of his eldest brother had nearly turned the house upside down last year during the New Year’s festivities. Why were they so quiet this year?
He knocked on the door, and after what felt like ages, someone finally came to open it.
"Second brother, you’re back!" Li Xianghe exclaimed with a surprised delight upon seeing her second brother outside. "Dad, Mom, my second brother is back!"
Immediately, Qiu Shuping’s shrill and unique voice rang out from inside, "Is it Hongjun? Oh, how I’ve missed you, Hongjun, come inside quickly, let your mother have a look at you."
"Come on, second brother, hurry inside. Dad and mom have been expecting you for days. They said you might be able to make it home this year, and look, they were right." Li Xianghe said cheerfully as she helped her second brother take the carrying basket off his back. She sneakily lifted the cloth covering the top and smiled even more broadly at what she saw.
"Xianghe, take care of these things for me. I’m going inside to see our parents," Li Hongjun said.
Li Hongjun had already seen his mother coming out to greet him. He hastened over to her, supporting her back to the house. She had come out wearing so little in such cold weather; if she caught a chill, it would be troublesome.
"My son, I’m so glad you’ve finally returned. If you had come back just a few days later, you might not have been able to see your mother anymore," Qiu Shuping lamented, pulling her son along towards the house.
"Enough with that talk, old woman. During the New Year’s you shouldn’t speak of such unlucky things. What do you mean I wouldn’t be able to see you? Aren’t you perfectly fine?" The elder Mr. Li chided his wife from inside the house upon hearing her start complaining again.
For goodness’ sake, their second son had barely returned, and here she was, bringing up such inauspicious matters right at the doorstep.
"Fine? I’m fine, my behind. I’m about to be worn down by you Li Family daughters-in-law. All of you, so eager to see me die sooner rather than later!" Qiu Shuping was not giving up, her voice raised in protest against her husband inside.
Li Hongjun didn’t know the details, but he was familiar with his mother’s temperament—a molehill could easily turn into a mountain when recounted by her. Thus, he didn’t take everything she said at face value. He supported his mother all the way back into the house, ensuring she was comfortably seated on the heated brick bed before letting go.
"Dad." He greeted the old man, who was smoking on the kang.
"Ah, you’re back? When did you get home?" The elder Mr. Li asked amiably. His son had married and would naturally first visit the Gaijiatun side of the family.
"Got back yesterday," Li Hongjun settled down on the bench at the side of the kang.
"Oh, my son has gotten thinner," Qiu Shuping suddenly lunged towards her second son, attempting to touch his face, which Li Hongjun deftly avoided. "Have you been eating properly in the army? Do you have enough money for expenses? It’s not that your meager salary has been pinched off by your wife, is it? I said, I told you..."
"Will you shut it? He’s barely walked through the door and you’re starting with this. Let them figure out their married life. Quit meddling," the elder Mr. Li interjected before Qiu Shuping could finish.
"I’m only looking out for my son’s best interests," Qiu Shuping clung to Li Hongjun, continuing her tirade, "Son, you must be more careful. Don’t end up like your elder brother, so wrapped up in his wife that he can’t see straight, letting her hold the purse strings. The things he does, I can’t even bear to speak of them—they’re simply mortifying. You can’t be like your brother; don’t send your entire salary to your wife. Keep some for yourself. If you don’t have a place for it, give it to your mother. I’ll save it for you until later..."
Li Hongjun couldn’t stand to listen any longer, and turned to speak directly with Old Man Li, "Dad, where are my eldest brother and sister-in-law, why don’t I see them? And what about Li Hongqi?" He asked the last question with a hint of grinding his teeth. Coming home this time, the first thing was to see his parents, and the second was to ask Li Hongqi. What had his second brother done to offend him so much to do such an inhuman thing?
Old Man Li glanced at his wife and thought to himself, you see, our son definitely doesn’t like to hear what you’re saying, and you don’t believe it. You have to go on and say those useless things as soon as our son comes back, not listening to you now, huh?
Qiu Shuping indeed closed her mouth then. She wasn’t stupid, couldn’t she see what her son meant, what his attitude was? In the Li Family, she was able to be manipulative because she relied on Old Man Li’s vanity; he never reprimanded her in front of their sons. She relied on the fact that their sons were all obedient, whatever she said was the way it was. Now that her son was ignoring her, who was she putting on a show for?
"Your eldest brother and your sister-in-law took the kids back to her mother’s house, I guess they won’t be back until this afternoon. Your younger brother went to a classmate’s place and should be back before lunch," Old Man Li answered.
Li Hongjun nodded, then asked, "Dad, Mom, how have you been keeping?"
"Haha, we’re fine..."
"Fine what fine, I’m nearly pissed to death by someone, what’s there to be fine about," Qiu Shuping began to interject again from the side.
Neither Li Hongjun nor Old Man Li said anything else.
"Son, this time you really have to stand up for your mother. Your dad only knows how to smooth things over, and your big brother doesn’t bother with anything, I’m practically being worn thin by your sister-in-law."
Qiu Shuping went on and on, and she spilled all the recent conflicts she had with her eldest daughter-in-law.
In reality, it was just like the story of one monk will shoulder two buckets of water, two monks will share the load, but three monks will have no water to drink.
Originally, when the children weren’t married, Qiu Shuping had control over the family finances and there were never any problems; the family lived in harmony. After the eldest got married, the elder daughter-in-law saw the situation clearly in the Li Family. Although she wasn’t satisfied, she could bear with it, so there were some frictions but the family continued to get by.
That remained the case until this year, when Li Hongjun married Shen Yunfang, and the eldest daughter-in-law seized the opportunity to incite her mother-in-law to push for the division of the household, which eventually happened. Unexpectedly, after the division, the mother-in-law and daughter-in-law ended up on the same side.
With the finances now in her own hands, the eldest daughter-in-law naturally couldn’t regard her mother-in-law in the same way she used to. Qiu Shuping, who was accustomed to being in charge, felt quite unsettled by the sudden change. She would always bring it up, either scolding the dog or chasing chickens around the house, putting on a show for her eldest son and daughter-in-law to see. But things were different now; no one coddled her anymore, and even if she complained to the high heavens, no one paid her any mind. She felt disappointed for a while. Before she could adjust, Li Hongqi came back announcing his intention to attend university.
Everyone was happy upon hearing the news, but when it came time to talk about money, their attitudes changed.
The eldest daughter-in-law made it clear that she didn’t have a penny to contribute. Qiu Shuping, the mother-in-law, had tried all eighteen of her strategies, crying, making a scene, arguing, but none of it worked on the eldest daughter-in-law, who firmly insisted she had no money.
Left with no choice, Qiu Shuping then went to Gaijiatun to ask her second daughter-in-law for money.
Later, the eldest daughter-in-law became even more horrible. Not only did she refuse to give money for her young brother-in-law’s education, but she also constantly thought of ways to take advantage of the elderly couple. Even after the family was divided and she took her share of food, she wouldn’t cook in her own home, but rather would brazenly freeload at the old couple’s place every day.
This New Year was even more outrageous. The team divided money and grain according to public distribution, and the eldest daughter-in-law received her fair share. However, the very next day when Qiu Shuping went to borrow some, she said it was all gone, not a single penny left—it had all been lent to her mother. This really angered Qiu Shuping.
That wasn’t all; the eldest daughter-in-law had transferred all the good things her family received to her own mother’s house, then suggested celebrating the New Year with the elderly couple for a lively festivity. But she didn’t bring anything to contribute, just showed up to eat.
Qiu Shuping, who normally was quite formidable, found herself unable to handle someone even more fierce and unreasonable than she was. Crying to her son was useless since his heart had long since leaned toward his wife. Talking to Old Man Li was even less effective; could he really control his daughter-in-law? So in the end, she had no option but to smother her grievances and bear it.
Seeing her second son return this time was like finding her backbone, and she thought to let her second son be the one to make a decision for her.
