Liu Meiling took a deep breath. “Li Baoqing, you’re already 19 this year. By law, my obligation as your mother is complete.”
Li Baoqing was shocked.
What did her mother mean? Just because she had complained a little, was Liu Meiling saying she no longer wanted to take care of her?
“Mom… what do you mean by that?”
Liu Meiling spoke again, her eyes cold, not a trace of warmth: “It means that starting tomorrow, I will not pay a single cent for your schooling.”
Li Baoqing couldn’t process this. Not pay a single cent?
She naturally blurted out: “Mom, what nonsense are you saying? You’re my mother! How can you just stop caring for me? I’m in the middle of my final year of high school! If you don’t pay, how am I supposed to get money for school?
Besides, when my eldest brother was in school, you didn’t ask for money.
My second brother and youngest brother were in school too. Why is it that I’m the only one you won’t support?”
Liu Meiling nodded in apparent agreement. “You make a fair point. Starting today, the eldest son will give me half his monthly salary. That job you have now is one I paid for. From now on, half of all your wages must go to me. Otherwise, I’ll sell that job again.
The second and third sons are still in school. The second one is already an adult; he told me recently he didn’t want to study anymore, and I agreed.
As for you and the third, you have me, your mother. And your father isn’t dead either.
If you want to earn your own money, then earn it. Or you can persuade your father to pay for your schooling—it’s up to you.”
The second son scratched his head, feeling dazed. He remembered telling his mother he didn’t want to continue school recently. At the time, she had reacted dramatically, giving him the impression that if he didn’t study, he might as well die. That had scared him from saying anything further.
But now, he was okay with it.
Li Baojia grinned with all eight teeth visible: “Mom, don’t worry. Once I start earning money, I’ll support you!”
As soon as he mentioned earning money, Liu Meiling fell silent.
In her previous life, she had pushed the second son through university. That fool couldn’t even read properly, let alone manage money. He spent his days sleeping.
Later, when he stopped studying, she had tried to place him in a state-run restaurant. He couldn’t cook a proper dish and almost burned someone’s house down.
He went south to do business with some thugs, but made no money and came back with broken legs. The surgery cost thirty thousand yuan.
At that time, the family had no money. Zhan Hongmei had suffered a hemorrhage during childbirth, and famine had struck. Liu Meiling had only 300 yuan in hand. Her eldest brother’s son got into trouble and took 100 yuan from her.
Somehow, the second son found out about this and turned it into the story that she had deliberately given money to her nephew while refusing to pay for his treatment. Since then, the second son had never looked at her kindly.
The old man constantly reminded her she shouldn’t have lent money to her nephew…
Considering that the second son had defended her even after death, she wouldn’t let him become a cripple.
Li Baoguo hadn’t expected his mother to pull his salary into this argument over braised pork. He immediately felt unhappy: “Mom, I’m just a temporary worker. My monthly wage is barely anything. You didn’t pay my bride price, the marriage is messed up, and now you want my wages too? You really don’t want me to get married, do you?”
Get married?
Liu Meiling wanted to spit at him. He wasn’t her son—she didn’t care whether he got married.
But to squeeze more money out of the old man, she endured: “Eldest son, listen to your mother. If Hongmei truly loves you, she wouldn’t let you suffer.
Besides, if worst comes to worst, there’s your father!
I’ve calculated how much he’s earned over the years. Even if he spent lavishly, he still has at least this amount!”
Liu Meiling slapped the table. The three spoiled brats’ eyes lit up.
Li Baoqing couldn’t wait to ask: “Mom, really? Five thousand?”
Five thousand yuan—perfect. Each of the siblings could get a thousand, enough for her dowry of eight thousand. Mother Minglang wouldn’t have to worry about the surgery fees!
Li Baoguo swallowed hard. His mother was always practical—she wouldn’t lie to them.
Five thousand yuan. Recently, the canned food factory had been dividing housing. One set cost about two thousand. Five thousand would be enough to get a wife, buy a house, and still have some left over.
The youngest son, Li Baohuai, was already thinking about this money. He had no interest in finishing high school. A classmate had gone south to wholesale goods, earning at least 20 yuan a day. If he could do small business like that, wouldn’t it be better than school?
Li Baohuai chuckled, but when he saw the lunch box was empty, he was frustrated: “Mom, next time you eat braised pork, can you leave a piece for me?”
Liu Meiling’s good mood was completely ruined by the youngest son. She couldn’t help but scold: “All you do is eat! Besides eating, what else do you know? You laze around all day, sleeping. Even pigs would be insulted if compared to you! What are you still standing here for? Go to sleep immediately!”
Li Baoqing rubbed her stomach and pouted: “Mom, I haven’t eaten all day. Can’t you make me something?”
Liu Meiling rolled her eyes, spitting in her face: “Don’t think I don’t know what you’ve been up to today! Went picking up trash with that muck worker boy again, didn’t you? Smell yourself! That stench could reach someone from far away. Worked all day and didn’t even eat?!”
Li Baoqing instinctively raised her hand and sniffed—an acrid smell nearly made her vomit.
Still, she defended Tao Minglang: “Mom, why are you speaking so harshly? I haven’t eaten all day. Isn’t it normal to ask you to make me something? Don’t call him a muck worker boy—he has a name: Tao Minglang. And you know the situation with Minglang’s mother. He’s so young but has to support the household. I can’t add to his burden!”
Liu Meiling sneered, tired of arguing: “Yes, he’s not easy, his mother’s not easy, his father’s not easy. But of all people in the world, your mother is the easiest! Want to eat? Go wash the dishes in the kitchen, and I’ll cook for you!”
Li Baoqing laughed incredulously: “Mom, you can’t bear to make me work? Stop kidding! I’m starving! Just cook me something!”
Liu Meiling spat in her face: “You think I can’t bear it? You’re just running around working for others, eating my food and drinking my water, with an arm stuck out like a crutch. Not even married yet, already acting like you belong to another family! Don’t wash? Then go hungry, you spoiled brat!”
Liu Meiling ignored her and shut the door, turning to calculate her finances. In a couple of days, she would go to the factory to sell her job. As a Level 2 female worker at the textile mill, with a monthly salary over 50 yuan, she could sell it for 1,800 yuan.
By then, she would have 5,700 yuan.
Renting a shop would be no problem.
Once she had squeezed all the money out of the old man, she would divorce!
She would raise the second son and Bao Mei alone. As for the ungrateful brats from her previous life, she would take none of them.