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Chapter 530: Chapter 520, you’re the dead brat, your whole family are dead brats.
"She’s still saying bad things behind my back, always scheming, and your father keeps telling me I’m wrong. When he gets back, I’m going to have a good talk with him and let him decide for himself who’s at fault—me or your second sister-in-law. It’s our own Li Family that always has trouble, why should the Liu family be making money off of us?" Qiu Shuping and Li Hongqi were on the same page: once a daughter is married off, she belongs to another family. In her eyes, it was natural for her daughter to be filial, to buy her things or give her money. However, when there were benefits to be had at the Li Family, they had nothing to do with the married daughter anymore.
"Mom, let’s not talk about that now. We can talk to my second brother when he comes back. Even if you tell your second daughter-in-law these complaints, she’s not going to listen to you." Li Hongqi didn’t care about who made the money; after all, he was a bona fide state official and couldn’t stoop to help his second sister-in-law. At the moment, he was only concerned about how to coax more money out of his mother. The things he said earlier were mainly to stir his mother’s anger.
"Hmph!" Qiu Shuping did not argue, because she knew her son was right. Although she did not want to admit it, she knew indeed that she had little sway over her second daughter-in-law, but of course she never acknowledged that. Of all three daughters-in-law, the eldest always went head-to-head with her, while the youngest was too precious to be ordered around. Now she could only exert her mother-in-law authority over the second one.
"Mom, the hospital is pressing us for payment again. Why don’t you go to my sister’s place and see if you can borrow some money? Once we have money, we’ll surely pay her back double." Li Hongqi casually made promises without backing them up. As usual, when his mother asks his eldest sister for money, she never pays back. Even if his mother had some unpleasant histories with her eldest sister, he still believed that an elder sister was an elder sister, and she would not outright ask their parents to repay her. Even if his sister lost her humanity, she’d have to ask their mother, since she’s the one who did the asking. If his sister had the guts, she’d come to their parents later for repayment.
"Last time with Jiajia’s issue, your sister still holds a grudge against me. If I just show up, I doubt she’ll lend me the money. Why don’t you try? Your sister dotes on you the most," Qiu Shuping said with a face full of difficulties.
Although Qiu Shuping could be unreasonable at times, she was no fool. Back when her eldest daughter asked to borrow money for Jiajia’s treatment, she had not treated the couple nicely and in the end didn’t lend them the money. She knew her eldest daughter and son-in-law still held a grudge against her. That’s why for the past couple of years they rarely visited home. During festivals, her son-in-law wouldn’t show up at all. It would just be her eldest daughter dropping by, leaving a small amount of money, and not even staying for a meal.
Now it was her turn to borrow money from her eldest daughter, she doubted they would give her a warm reception.
Li Hongqi quickly shook his head; that was one task he could not bring himself to do. Besides, he was now a government official, and couldn’t lower himself to borrow money from his bumpkin brother-in-law. He had his pride to consider.
"Mom, that was all in the past. When I got married, my eldest sister just took a quick look and left a few bucks, nothing more. Afterwards, Xiaolan was so angry she said she’d never seen such a sister before." Li Hongqi habitually blamed others for all the wrongdoings, "Mom, it really has to be you who approaches her. Even if my sister is angry at you, she has to acknowledge you as her mother. And if you talk to her and she really refuses, you should just cry. My sister is soft-hearted. If you cry bitterly enough, she won’t be able to bear it and will forget the past grudges."
Li Hongqi had everyone in the family’s character down pat. So when it came to getting money, he never considered asking his eldest brother or younger sister, because he knew they were selfish and wouldn’t give a penny, even if his mother cried her eyes out.
"Will this really work?" Qiu Shuping had always been domineering with her children, resorted to either making a scene or causing trouble, but never played the pity card. She didn’t know if she would be able to cry on cue when the time came.
"It will work, definitely," Li Hongqi asserted confidently. Seeing his mother still hesitant, he walked over, squatted at her feet, and looked up imploringly, "Mom, my wife is still in the hospital. Even if you don’t do it for your daughter-in-law, think about your grandson. My mother-in-law had someone calculate it, and my wife is carrying a boy in her belly. The doctor also said that if Xiaolan doesn’t carry this pregnancy to term, it’ll be hard for her to conceive and bear children in the future. Mom, this might be your son’s only chance at having a son. You have to help me."
Qiu Shuping was utterly defenseless against her youngest son’s plea. Even though she knew the task would be difficult, she still gave a reluctant nod.
The next day, Li Hongqi didn’t even go to the hospital. Early in the morning he urged his mother to hurry to his elder sister’s home, while he stayed behind waiting for good news.
Qiu Shuping glanced at her husband and, eventually, under the earnest expectation of her son, stepped out of the house.
"Hongqi, your mother talked to me yesterday. Your older sister’s life hasn’t been easy. You have to look after her family more in the future," he said earnestly after his wife left, calling over his younger son who was lying in the opposite room.
Li Hongqi inwardly disagreed, but he appeared very serious on the surface. After his father finished speaking, he nodded, "Dad, you don’t have to tell me. Even without this, she’s still my older sister. If I have the means, how could I not take care of her?"
The old Li felt reassured and nodded with satisfaction, "Ah, you’re working now, and you’ve grown up and matured. You can’t keep messing things up." He was referring to the past incident when Hongqi reported his second sister-in-law.
A flicker of embarrassment crossed Li Hongqi’s face. It was hard to feel at ease when your misdeeds were unveiled to your face and brought up from time to time. "Dad, I know all this. I was young back then. I definitely won’t do that again in the future." Now, he not only harbored ill feelings toward his second sister-in-law but also his second brother. However, he kept this to himself and never spoke it aloud.
"Good, good, as long as you understand," his father said.
Meanwhile, Qiu Shuping arrived at her eldest daughter’s home in less than half an hour.
She didn’t feel comfortable barging in, so she stood at the entrance of the courtyard and peered into the house.
Shuanzi and his buddies were running around the village when he spotted someone lurking suspiciously at his house from afar. He quickly signaled his friends to be quiet, and the group of young boys silently dashed toward the figure.
"Hey, who are you, skulking around my house like a thief?" Dashuan, not recognizing Qiu Shuping from behind, jumped out with a thick piece of firewood, ready to scare off the intruder after sneaking up with the kids.
"Oh my goodness, you scared me to death, you damned kid, what poor upbringing!" Qiu Shuping was intently looking into the courtyard, trying to see if her eldest daughter’s family had returned, when the sudden noise from behind made her shiver with fright. Without even seeing who it was, she started scolding.
"It’s you who’s the damned kid, your whole family is damned kids," Shuanzi was not one to take a loss; hearing the insult, he instinctively retorted without thinking, echoing the words he had picked up from Pangpang.
"You... Shuanzi, good for you, you little rascal, daring to curse at your grandma. You think you’ve grown bold, do you? I can tell, it’s your mother who hasn’t raised you right. Just wait, I’ll tell your mother to give you a good thrashing," Qiu Shuping, realizing the person who had startled her was her own grandson, grew even more furious and didn’t hold back with the scolding, hands on her hips.
Qiu Shuping was like this—bullying the soft and fearing the hard, and she was especially tyrannical at home. Seeing it was a family member, her bravado surged even more.
