NOVPUB
Chapter 94: Chapter 90 Upheaval (3rd Update)
"What? Did she really say that?" Qiu Shuping, the old Mrs. Li, asked in disbelief.
"Yep, that’s exactly what she said." Li Hongxing didn’t manage to get any grain from his future sister-in-law in Gaijiatun, and he was holding back his anger all the way home. When he arrived, he saw his mother waiting in the yard and hurriedly told her everything.
He felt wronged too. Which big brother has ever been treated like him? He went to his future sister-in-law’s house, wasn’t even let in the door, wasn’t offered a drink of water, and was just sent packing.
"Oh my goodness, the world has turned upside down..." Qiu Shuping immediately threw down the corn cob she was holding and slapped her thighs.
When Li Hongxing returned, Qiu Shuping was sitting in the courtyard with the young girl Li Xianghe and the elder daughter-in-law Wang Dan, shelling corn.
Before she could finish her sentence, Li Hongxing stopped her, "Shh, mother, keep your voice down. If Dad hears about it, I’m done for." If his father found out he had gone to Gaijiatun again, the smoking pipe would surely be greeting him.
Qiu Shuping’s impending curse stopped abruptly.
Just over two months ago, the elder daughter-in-law gave the Li Family another grandson. The child was still young, so the older women were outside shelling corn, while Li Wangcai watched over the sleeping child inside.
"She’s a penniless orphan, acting all high and mighty. She really thinks she’s something," Qiu Shuping muttered under her breath, careful not to be too loud and let her husband hear.
"Why can’t they be something? With my second brother protecting her, she gets whatever she needs sent to her, money and goods alike. What can you do about it?" Li Xianghe, displeased, threw down the corn cob in her hand, venting her inner discontent.
Last time her second brother returned, he didn’t give her the money to buy a scarf she wanted, and she bore a grudge. Of course, although she blamed her second brother, the one she hated the most was Shen Yunfang. Why should her second brother’s hard-earned money go to Shen Yunfang every month, but not to his own sister? She was his real sister, after all.
"Mother, this really won’t do. The future sister-in-law doesn’t take you seriously even before she’s married into the family. If she truly becomes part of the family, she’ll end up walking all over you. Not to mention it, just look at second uncle’s stubborn character. If the future sister-in-law starts to whisper in his ear, who knows who will be in charge of the house then." The elder daughter-in-law Wang Dan had been listening all along, and though disappointed that the men hadn’t brought anything back, she quickly found a way to open the old woman’s eyes to her future daughter-in-law.
"Don’t talk nonsense. My son would never betray his family for an outsider." Qiu Shuping disliked this kind of talk. Her sons were her flesh and blood; if they didn’t listen to her, who would they listen to?
"Hmph, that was before he had a wife. Look at my second brother – he used to be so good. But look at him these past two years. He wouldn’t buy me a scarf I wanted. He’s become so stingy, all at the instigation of that woman Shen Yunfang. Mother, mark my words, if my second brother really marries that woman, she won’t be getting any kindness from me." Li Xianghe furiously picked up two corn cobs and started shelling them with force.
Wang Dan pursed her lips, inwardly dismissing her mother-in-law’s self-deception, "Mother, Xianghe’s not entirely wrong. Think about it. Second uncle finally came back for a visit during the New Year, but after only staying a couple of days, he went to see Shen Yunfang. Then he wired her thirty-seven bucks all at once – mailed away the money that was meant for you. I don’t believe Shen Yunfang didn’t play any tricks. Mother, second uncle’s been working for so many years, since his salary started, he never failed to mail ten bucks a month to honor you. But this year, for three consecutive months, there’s been no money mailed home. Has second uncle been giving your money to that girl in Gaijiatun? Oh, second uncle has never wired you so much money in one shot before."
The second son had been in the military for six or seven years. Back in his compulsory service days, he only received an eight-dollar allowance per month, hardly enough for his own expenses, let alone sending money home. Later, when he showed promise and remained in the military, he started to earn a salary. Wang Dan didn’t know exactly how much, but she assumed it was around twenty or thirty bucks. He mailed ten bucks home each month, kept a little for his living expenses, and also mailed five to Shen Yunfang every month. Add it all up, and that’s quite close to twenty or thirty bucks.
However, Shen Yunfang later found out that her second uncle had sent thirty-seven yuan to someone in one go. She did some quick math in her head and realized that the second uncle’s salary was definitely more than just twenty or thirty yuan—it had to be over forty. 𝔫𝖔𝔳𝔭𝔲𝔟.𝖈𝔬𝔪
"This second uncle is really crafty," Wang Dan passed her judgment on Li Hongjun.
Of course from this, she could also tell that her future sister-in-law was no ordinary person.
Having thought through her second uncle and his wife, Wang Dan turned her thoughts to her own family and felt even worse. If it had been her own son, Hongxing, who had enlisted, she wondered whether she would have some money to spend now.
She hadn’t considered that back when they were recruiting soldiers, her son Li Hongxing was already married to her with a child, and wasn’t eligible to be conscripted. Now all she could think about was how her family had drawn the short straw, how after years of hard work, she had hardly any money in her hands, and whatever little they distributed at the end of the year was clenched tight in her mother-in-law’s fist.
The more she thought about it, the angrier she got. She gave her husband a look—it was time to play their card, when else if not now? They had to step up immediately. But Li Hongxing was a honest man and found it difficult to understand the signals from his wife, so he just lowered his head in embarrassment.
Wang Dan was so frustrated she could almost itch – how could such a sharp woman like her marry such a useless man? He was someone who could never stand up for himself, she always had to fight for everything herself.
The news of Li Hongjun sending thirty-seven yuan to Shen Yunfang had already spread from Gaijiatun to Taoshu Village. Upon hearing this, the old lady wanted to take the money back right away. Why should her son’s hard-earned money go to some outsider and not to his own mother? She didn’t even consider that the two weren’t even married yet, and even if they were, as long as the family hadn’t split, that money should not end up in the hands of the daughter-in-law. But just as she had made her plans with her eldest daughter-in-law and was about to go and demand the money, her husband, Li Wangcai, scolded her. Although she didn’t take the rantings of Qiu Shuping seriously, she still had to listen to her husband, and so the matter was dropped. However, she couldn’t stop thinking about it—it was on the minds of several people in the family.
Qiu Shuping felt as if she were being cut by a knife knowing that the money that should have been hers was being held by that outsider, and furthermore, a woman.
Seeing that her mother-in-law was almost fuming with rage, Wang Dan gave her husband another meaningful look. Li Hongxing touched his nose and discreetly went inside the house.
This infuriated Wang Dan, and she glared fiercely at Li Hongxing’s retreating back before turning around with a worried expression on her face and said, "Mother, I’m not kidding, the one that second brother picked has quite the independent streak. Never mind everything else, we haven’t even split the family yet, and you’re the one who calls the shots in our home, right? She’s already so difficult to deal with now; if we don’t find a way to keep her in line, once she marries into the family, she’ll turn everything upside down just as you said. I mean, I don’t really care since I’m just the sister-in-law. Even if she doesn’t take me seriously, I can just ignore her, but poor you, you’ve worked so hard to raise Hongjun and the rest, only to end up being bossed around by a daughter-in-law."
"She wouldn’t dare," Qiu Shuping blustered. She had been the one calling the shots in this house for many years now, holding all the money in her hands, and nobody dared to disobey her.
"How could she not dare? She already refuses to give you grain, isn’t that treating you like you don’t matter?" Li Xianghe said with a cold laugh.
"Well, I just don’t believe it. I’m going myself to demand the grain tomorrow, I’d like to see her dare to refuse," Shuping was spurred on by her daughter and daughter-in-law’s provocation, feeling her anger rising.
"What if she just refuses to give it to you?" Li Xianghe asked.
"Refuse? Refuse? If she refuses, then she can forget about becoming a member of the Li Family. That’s right, if she doesn’t give it, I’ll have your second brother break off the engagement," retorted Shuping forcefully.
