NOVPUB
Chapter 782: Chapter 772 Night Talk
Qiu Shuping was thrilled for quite a while, before she carefully pushed open the courtyard door, looking around her small courtyard with a sense of nostalgia.
This was the small courtyard where she had lived for over thirty years, where every plant and blade of grass had been arranged by her and her husband. Over the years, their children were born, grew up, got married, became disobedient, but only this courtyard remained her root, the one place where she had the final say.
Qiu Shuping, thinking about her tribulations over the past two years, couldn’t help but be overwhelmed with tears again. Who would have thought that just going to the Capital City to ask her son and daughter-in-law for some money, she would get thrown into jail, nearly unable to return home.
When she thought about that venomous woman, her daughter-in-law from the second son, she felt such vitriol that she silently swore to herself that she would get her revenge, no matter what. She might not be able to do much to that woman, but she would make sure her life wouldn’t be peaceful.
As Qiu Shuping’s face twisted between joy and hatred, a voice came from the door, "Old Sister-in-law, you’re home now, why don’t you come inside? Isn’t it cold out there?"
Qiu Shuping was startled, she truly hadn’t expected to hear the voice of a strange woman in her own house. The Zheng mother hadn’t been close with the Li family, and after not hearing her voice for over two years, Qiu Shuping didn’t recognize it was the Zheng mother’s voice at once.
"What’s the matter, Old Sister-in-law? Don’t you recognize me anymore?" The Zheng mother asked, half-smiling and leaning against the doorframe with an air of entitlement, looking down on Qiu Shuping, who was in the courtyard with a face full of tears and contorted features.
Qiu Shuping was like a fighter jet among planes, encountering a creature not from her domain upon her return home, causing her to bristle immediately.
"Oh, isn’t this my mother-in-law? Look at this mess. I’m just coming home, nothing serious. Why did my mother-in-law have to go out of her way to wait for me?" That was what Qiu Shuping thought, guessing that they must have heard of her return today, and being in such straits themselves, her mother-in-law had come over to console her.
The Zheng mother snorted with laughter, thinking this old thing was still so shameless and so blind to the situation. Well, she might as well play the good person and give her a good talking to.
"Old Sister-in-law, if you want to put it that way, it’s fine. I did indeed come out to check on the noise in the courtyard. From now on, we’re neighbors, and we two sisters should look out for each other."
"What do you mean?" Qiu Shuping asked, feeling a sense of foreboding, squinting her eyes.
Just at that moment, old man Li returned from paying off the horse cart. Without bothering further, the Zheng mother said bluntly, "Father-in-law, perhaps you should explain this to the Old Sister-in-law." With that, she pushed the door open and went inside.
Old man Li knew at once he was in for a headache. When his daughter-in-law and the Zheng mother moved in, he hadn’t really thought much of it—they were relatives, after all, with a place to stay, so why not live together? But now that his wife was back, he was sure there’d be a commotion.
"What’s going on, you explain it to me clearly," demanded Qiu Shuping, staring unblinkingly at her husband.
"Let’s talk inside," old man Li said, not wanting to lose face, and walked into the house, keeping a stern expression.
While old man Li was like a spineless creature in front of Madam Xue, he could still hold his own in front of Qiu Shuping.
Qiu Shuping looked at the western room without saying anything and followed her husband into the house.
Old man Li walked around the room, his head aching at the thought of the potential quarreling. Seeing that she had come inside in her tattered clothes, he said, "Look at the state of you, I’m going to boil some water for you, so you can have a good wash."
Qiu Shuping reached out to grab someone but didn’t catch them, looked down at herself, and thought that a little delay was inconsequential since "the monk can run but the temple won’t run away"; sooner or later, he would have to make things clear to her.
In this way, after taking a bath and cooking, by the time Qiu Shuping had tidied up and finally sat cross-legged on the edge of the Kang again, it was already past six in the evening.
Old man Li was running out of excuses and had to, while puffing on his dry tobacco pipe, relay the news of the Zheng Family mother and daughter moving in once again.
Qiu Shuping exploded with expected anger upon hearing this, "What did you say? Are you out of your mind, you old fool? It’s bad enough you’re supporting a daughter-in-law who’s just loafing around, and now you’re even providing for her mother too?" Qiu Shuping glared fiercely at her own husband with bulging eyes, "Is our house built on a gold or silver mountain? Even if it were, with the way you’re causing disasters, you’d squander it all until there’s nothing left."
Old man Li didn’t appreciate hearing that, "What do you know, old lady, just nattering on and on? Isn’t this also for Hongqi’s future?"
Qiu Shuping didn’t understand and looked at Old man Li for a clear explanation.
"Your son has several years left before he gets out, as his elders, shouldn’t we help him keep an eye on his wife?" Old man Li had his considerations too.
"Nonsense, as if she would dare! What is she anyway? Just a hen that can’t lay eggs. My son being with her is the fortune of her eight lifetimes of cultivation..." Qiu Shuping instinctively cursed.
"Enough, enough, just quiet down a bit, it’s not like the old days anymore. After this ordeal, your son will certainly be jobless. He might have to spend the rest of his life cooped up in our village. Regardless, Huilan is his rightful spouse, how could she not be better than finding a widow with children?" At this moment, Old man Li had come to recognize the value of a lawful wedded wife.
"As if it makes a difference, a woman who can’t bear children, I really think those young widows might be better off," Qiu Shuping, who had rather traditional thoughts, considered the extension of the family lineage as a matter of great importance.
Initially, when her younger daughter-in-law kept having miscarriages, she was displeased, but due to the authority and the potential support of the in-laws, she put up with it, thinking it was no big deal as her son could always find another woman to bear children once he became successful. But now, things were different; her son had lost his job. What use was clinging to the Zheng Family? It might be better to divorce this barren hen quickly and find a suitable young woman for her son when he returned.
Qiu Shuping had always believed her youngest son would amount to something, thinking that even if he had been to prison and divorced, finding another young woman for him later would be easy.
"Look at you, woman, with long hair but short sightedness. Because your son is jobless, he needs to rely on the Zheng Family even more. The father-in-law is a director, with all kinds of connections. When your son gets out, he might even help him get some temporary job in the Capital, slowly making a name for himself." In Old man Li’s heart, being a worker was more promising than being a farmer.
"Didn’t the in-laws divorce?" Qiu Shuping remembered that during the trial, the father-in-law had frantically wanted a divorce.
"They divorced."
"They’re divorced, what are you still hoping for?"
"Tsk, so what if they divorced? Zheng, the director, still only has Huilan for a daughter, meaning only Hongqi for a son-in-law."
Qiu Shuping thought it over and it seemed to make sense.
"Huilan begged me, saying her mother had nowhere to live. We have space in our home, how could I refuse? If I upset the daughter-in-law and she runs off, when your son comes back, what would we use to give him a wife?"
