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Chapter 783: Chapter 773: Win Over
Under the barrage of Li Laotou’s twisted logic, Qiu Shuping was actually convinced, sharing the same thought as Li Laotou, she needed to take good care of the Zheng mother and daughter and couldn’t allow her daughter-in-law to run off.
Although her daughter-in-law might not bear children, the girl’s father had capabilities, and with her son coming out of prison like this, they really needed her father-in-law to lend a hand.
The Zheng matriarch leaned against the door listening to the conversation around the corner, and when she returned to her own room, she couldn’t contain her laughter, which brought tears to her eyes.
"Mom, what’s wrong with you?" Zheng Huilan asked, puzzled.
"Huilan, it’s just so funny, let me tell you," the Zheng mother recounted what she had just overheard to her daughter.
Zheng Huilan listened with an expressionless face, and it was not clear what she was feeling inside.
In the end, the Zheng mother couldn’t keep laughing and instead let out a sigh, "Huilan, let me tell you the truth, if it wasn’t for your dad being a good-for-nothing, we wouldn’t even have a place to settle down. No matter what, I can’t let you come back to the Li Family." Her son-in-law had no future prospects, and if she wanted what’s best for her daughter, she should take advantage of her youth and promptly have her divorce Li Hongqi. Then they could move to a far off place, where nobody knew them, and find a good family for her daughter to marry into.
"Mom, I know, but if I divorce Hongqi and find someone else, then what’s the difference between me and dad?" Zheng Huilan said slowly.
Zheng mother was left at a loss for words by her response. The subject ended there, with neither convincing the other.
The next day, after having breakfast, Qiu Shuping headed over to the eldest son’s house next door.
She was so mad yesterday after hearing all about how her eldest son didn’t pick her up that she could hardly wait to give them a piece of her mind to show them her mettle. However, after getting busy upon returning home and not finding the time to do so, and after lying down at night, she gave the matter further thought and decided that it wouldn’t be wise to handle things this way.
With her youngest son not at home and her second son living far away, she was left to rely on her eldest, so she couldn’t afford to fall out with him. She had to find a way to improve relations with her eldest, so in the future, if anything came up, she’d have someone to stand up for her. This was the knack she’d picked up in prison, knowing that when one is incapable, one must find a capable backer to lead a good life.
Although Qiu Shuping didn’t think she was incapable, it would certainly be better to win over a son. So after thinking it through the night, she had already pinned yesterday’s fault on the eldest daughter-in-law. It was definitely the eldest daughter-in-law’s fault for being unfilial. Her own sons were good; their disobedience and unfilial behavior were all instigated by the daughter-in-law. Therefore, she had to stop by and make an appearance, letting her son see his mother, reminding him of her, and gradually, over time, draw her son’s heart back to her side.
But she couldn’t even enter the eldest son’s house. Nobody was at home; it was the spring planting season, and everyone in the eldest son’s house who could work was out in the fields, while those who couldn’t were at school. Naturally, no one stayed behind especially to wait for the old lady’s visit.
Qiu Shuping didn’t get discouraged; she cursed under her breath as she walked back to her own home, planning to try again at noon.
Right now, she didn’t dare to wander around the village. Although she was shameless, being scolded a few times by neighbors was still unpleasant, so right after coming back, she decided to keep a low profile like a quail for a while. When people stopped caring, then she would go out for a walk.
As for Wang Dan, she made sure to send the old and young of her family out the door at the right time in the morning; she just didn’t want to see her mother-in-law. Of course, not wanting to see her didn’t mean she could avoid it with their homes being so close. She simply didn’t want that old thing to come back and disgusting her right away, so she planned to go out and try to delay their meeting as much as possible.
After working in the fields all morning, the couple packed up their things and prepared to head home to cook. Walking on the road, Wang Dan’s eyes darted around, and she took her husband by the arm to make a detour to the brigade. She wanted to make a phone call to Yunfang.
Shen Yunfang was making food at home when she received a call from her sister-in-law. She had anticipated this, so it wasn’t a surprise. On the phone, her sister-in-law rambled on about the recent happenings at the old house. Yunfang didn’t say a word, just listened. She accepted the overture of niceness from her sister-in-law, exchanged a few indifferent pleasantries, and hung up.
It wasn’t that she didn’t want to express any opinions, but mainly that she didn’t have the right to. The family had already split, and they were thousands of miles away from the old house. Even if the old lady caused trouble at home every day, she, as a daughter-in-law, had no right to question. So regarding these matters, as a daughter-in-law, she just listened for amusement, stayed alert, and that was that.
"You two hurry up and come eat, your dad will be home tonight, and if anyone is disobedient, Mom will let Dad take care of you with family discipline." On her return, she heard that Li Hongjun’s group had already returned from their assignment, they just had to report to their superiors first, so he was sure to be home tonight.
"Dad’s coming back, that’s great." Manman was shining with excitement at the news of her father’s return.
Pangpang touched the scar on his head, contemplating how to tell the story that evening to get even more sympathy from his dad.
Well, this household had a tender father but a strict mother, and the kids were all looking forward to their dad coming back to stand up for them; Mom was too domineering.
Having hung up the phone, Wang Dan and her husband continued their walk home. On the way, she kept talking about how well Li Hongqi’s family was doing. She figured she had to maintain a good relationship with Li Hongqi’s wife so that in the future, when Erdan and Sandan were old enough, she could send them to work at their aunt’s and earn enough money to build houses and marry wives after a few years.
Qiu Shuping had been wandering around the courtyard for several turns when she finally heard some movement from Li Hongxing’s house next door. She quickly walked over there.
"Hongxing, oh Hongxing, Mom’s here, I’ve missed you to death." Qiu Shuping’s voice choked up as she spoke; it wasn’t an act, her emotions were genuine.
Wang Dan hadn’t even lit the fire in the stove when she heard her mother-in-law’s all-too-familiar shout.
"We’re in the back yard, stop yelling." She thought to herself, there’s no son of yours here, who are you yelling to? At such an old age, aren’t you ashamed?
Qiu Shuping was in a dilemma whether to cry or not, and after an awkward moment, she glared at her daughter-in-law before hurrying toward the backyard. 𝙣𝙤𝒗𝙥𝒖𝒃.𝒄𝒐𝒎
Once Wang Dan got the fire going, feeling a bit uneasy, she walked to the side of the house and peeked into the backyard. She saw the old mother-in-law hugging her husband, talking about who knows what, while her husband stood there looking embarrassed, unsure of what to do.
Wang Dan chuckled. The old lady, no matter how old, still played coy, she thought. Who knows who taught her these tricks? Can you imagine how it looks, with a face full of wrinkles acting coquettish with her son? The outcome was predictable.
No sooner had Wang Dan started boiling water for the meal than Li Hongxing came over from the backyard looking like he was fleeing disaster, followed by an old lady clutching his clothing. Wang Dan laughed unabashedly.
Li Hongxing, embarrassed by his wife’s laughter, kept tugging his clothes forward, trying to wrestle them from his mother’s grip. Qiu Shuping’s face was clouded with dark expression as she looked at her daughter-in-law with eyes venomous as spit.
