“Sorry for the trouble, Aunt Tian,” Shen Wei said, feeling a bit embarrassed.
“What trouble is that?” Tian Fang replied. Afraid the girl might feel awkward, she set down the lunchbox and prepared to leave. “We don’t live far from each other. How about I stew some bone soup for you at noon? You know eat what you lack, and you’ll recover faster.”
“No need, Aunt,” Shen Wei waved her hand. “My foot isn’t anything serious. I can cook for myself.”
“I don’t have a daughter, so I treat you like one. Don’t be so polite with me.”
Aunt Tian patted the back of her hand and then left.
Ever since she learned about her son’s feelings, she felt much closer to Shen Wei.
Before, she was just the child of an old acquaintance but now, it felt more like family.
Not long after Tian Fang left, Li Na arrived.
Seeing Shen Wei eating an egg pancake, she reached out and grabbed a piece. “Sprained your ankle? I’m telling you, you missed a huge scene today by not going to your stall.”
Shen Wei had already guessed what it might be about.
But to indulge her friend’s excitement, she still asked, “What happened?”
“That fat woman who was copying your business her stall got smashed today!”
“A bunch of old men and women went off on her. The scene wow! Anyway, all those ‘boy urine eggs’ she made got smashed to pieces.”
“The whole intersection at the market stinks like urine. Rotten eggs were thrown everywhere. Even the market authorities showed up, confiscated her stall, and said she didn’t have a license and was suspected of false advertising. It was so satisfying to watch!”
Shen Wei felt pleased hearing this too. The market needed fair competition.
That fat woman had clearly been copying her, yet every chance she got, she would roll her eyes at her.
Hopefully, after this punishment, she would behave herself.
That morning, Lu Cheng had also gone to the market, intending to check on Shen Wei’s bun stall and also confront the vendor who sold those “urine eggs” to his mother.
Unexpectedly, he didn’t see Shen Wei but he did see the wrecked breakfast stall.
He even joined in smashing things for a while.
Shouting for the fat woman to compensate them his father was still lying in the hospital.
Every day required money for IV drips, making their already poor family situation even worse.
Of course, the fat woman refused to pay. In between arguing with others, she even spat at him.
It made Lu Cheng furious.
After hearing that Lu’s father had been hospitalized, Liu Qingqing planned to visit the hospital.
She wasn’t sure if ACheng’s family had enough money, so she brought all her pocket savings.
“Stop right there!” Liu’s father sternly called out to his daughter. “Are you going to see that Lu Cheng again? How many times do I have to tell you I will never agree to you marrying him. You keep running to him like this you’re bringing shame to our family!”
Liu’s mother tried to persuade gently from the side, “Don’t always lose your temper. Talk to her properly.”
Liu’s father shoved her aside. “She turned out like this because you spoiled her. Be quiet!”
“That Lu Cheng he has nothing, and his family is full of burdens. What exactly do you see in him?” Liu’s father truly couldn’t understand. “Not to mention anything else just among the sons of our colleagues, which one isn’t a hundred times better than him?”
Liu Qingqing had heard these words so many times her ears were almost calloused. She shook her head, not listening to a single word her father said. “You don’t understand love at all. No matter how good anyone else is, it has nothing to do with me. I only like Brother Acheng other than him, I won’t marry anyone in this lifetime!”
“Fine! If you really have backbone, then don’t get married for the rest of your life just stay at home as an old maid. I can afford to support you anyway. That’s still better than you marrying that Lu Cheng and suffering for the rest of your life!” Father Liu roared, glaring.
Liu Qingqing confronted him, “Support me for life? I’m only eighteen this year, and you’re already forty. When you die, who’s going to support me?”
At that moment, her older brother Liu Feng, who couldn’t stand it anymore, spoke up. “I’m only two years older than you. If Dad dies, I’ll support you, okay?”
Her sister-in-law moved her lips but didn’t dare say anything. In this family, the younger sister-in-law was treated like a treasure. If she dared say she was unwilling, not only would her husband argue with her, but her in-laws would also scold her.
“Little sister, don’t argue with the family anymore. Can’t you see Dad is worried about you?” she said, bitterness filling her heart. As a woman herself, when she had reached marriageable age, her parents had simply taken the bride price and said, “A married daughter is like water poured out.” Parents who doted on their daughter like the Liu family were truly rare. “That Lu Cheng’s family is really too poor and shabby. I heard they eat coarse corn buns every day. Can you really bear that?”
“I can,” Liu Qingqing said firmly. “You’re all too snobbish you just look down on him for being poor. But I believe Brother Acheng won’t stay poor forever!”
As long as there is love, what does it matter to eat coarse buns?
The sister-in-law: …
“I think there’s something wrong with your brain!” Father Liu said. “Liu Feng, go shut the front gate and keep an eye on your little sister. Other than going to work, she’s not allowed to go anywhere!”
…
“This damn old woman what a stench!” Yu Li stood beside the hospital bed, covering her nose in disgust.
Before long, a nurse came over and urged, “Family members, hurry up and change the bedsheets. With such a strong smell, how can anyone stay in this ward? It’s not just your family here.”
With no choice, Yu Li suppressed her nausea and changed Old Madam Shen’s bedsheets. Out of anger, she even pinched her hard on the backside.
Old Madam Shen cried out in pain, sobbing indistinctly, “Wei… Weiwei…”
She didn’t want this vicious woman to take care of her she wanted Weiwei to come back and look after her.
Otherwise, she might end up dying at the hands of this vicious woman.
“Missing your granddaughter?” Yu Li’s eyes shifted. “Then I’ll send you to her later.”
Old Madam Shen nodded repeatedly.
At this point, she didn’t want anything else she only hoped to live a bit more comfortably for a while longer.
Death was simply too terrifying.
But Shen Jianguo disagreed. Now that Shen Wei had already written a letter cutting off family ties, the old lady should be cared for by them.
If they sent her away, not only would Liu Jun and his family be hard to deal with, but even the neighbors would despise him.
“If you don’t agree, then you take care of her yourself!” Yu Li threw the soiled bedsheet, still stained with feces, onto him and stormed off in anger.
Shen Jianguo sighed and could only take the dirty sheet to wash it himself. When the filth washed over his hands, he nearly broke down.
His earlier determination to care for his mother himself was washed away along with it.
How could this kind of work be something a grown man like him should do?
What his wife said wasn’t without reason. Even though Shen Wei had written a letter cutting off ties, she still had a duty to be filial to her grandmother.
Besides, they had already taken care of her for a few days it was Shen Wei’s turn now.
Although he didn’t dare bring his mother to Liu Jun’s house, wasn’t Shen Wei setting up a bun stall at the market? He could simply leave his mother beside Shen Wei’s stall.
Surely Shen Wei wouldn’t just ignore her otherwise, she wouldn’t be able to keep her business going.