“My dear grandmother, don’t go accusing me of things I never said.” Zhou Yuwei replied while still clutching Zhang Lihua’s braid.
She couldn’t help it. This woman was a real shrew. If she let go, Zhang Lihua would immediately turn around and try to scratch her—especially her face. Had she seen how long and filthy those fingernails were? If she got scratched, she’d be disfigured. The vicious woman was obviously trying to ruin her looks.
“Listen to yourself!” Grandma Xu immediately shot back. “You were the one saying you wanted to die. Yuwei only said she’d go with you. You’re the one who’s always making a scene instead of appreciating the good life you’ve got.”
Everyone in the courtyard lived together.
Normally, outsiders shouldn’t interfere in another family’s affairs.
But this had gone too far.
Just look at the Zhou family.
Zhou Kun was an experienced factory worker with a decent salary, yet his family lived worse than anyone else in the entire courtyard.
“This is our family’s business. We don’t need you people sticking your noses into it.” Old Madam Zhou looked at everyone in the courtyard with obvious disdain.
What are they so proud of?
They all thought they were superior just because they lived in the city. Every time she came, they looked down on her.
So what if they were city people?
Did that make them so special?
Did it give them the right to look down on country folk?
Without farmers growing grain, what would these city people even have to eat?
“How can you say something like that?” someone protested.
“What did I say wrong? This is my son’s home. Do I need your permission to come here? What a joke! You’re all just a bunch of busybodies.”
That’s exactly why the country needed reform, she thought. People like these city folks needed to be taught a lesson.
“Mother… what brings you here this time?” Seeing another argument about to erupt, Lin Hongmei hurriedly changed the subject.
Her family still had to live in this courtyard.
Old Madam Zhou could stir up trouble and then dust off her hands and leave without a care, but they would be the ones left dealing with the neighbors afterward.
“Where’s Kunzi?”
“He’s still at work.”
“Go get him. I want to ask him exactly how he raised such a wonderful daughter. She actually dared lay hands on her elders—and even wished this old woman dead!”
Lin Hongmei had always been afraid of her mother-in-law.
Because she hadn’t given birth to a son, Old Madam Zhou had never liked her.
On top of that, her family background had once been politically problematic.
Although those classifications no longer mattered, years of keeping her head down had become second nature.
She simply didn’t dare offend anyone.
“Yuwei, how could you say something like that? Hurry up and apologize to your grandmother.”
Lin Hongmei walked over, trying to pry her daughter’s hand away.
“Mother, why don’t you sit down first? I’ll make something for you to eat. She’s still just a child. Please don’t take it to heart.”
“Yuwei, be a good girl.”
Only then did Zhou Yuwei release her grip.
The moment Zhang Lihua was free, she shoved Lin Hongmei hard to the ground.
“Mom!”
Zhou Yuwei quickly helped her mother back to her feet and was about to go after Zhang Lihua again.
“Yuwei, don’t.”
There were too many people watching.
If her youngest daughter became known for being so fierce, it wouldn’t be good for her future.
“Aha! I was wondering who taught this girl to be so bold.” Old Madam Zhou sneered. “Lin Hongmei, your true colors have finally come out. Today she dared hit her Third Aunt. Next time, is she going to hit me too? Before, I thought it was just because you didn’t know how to raise children. Now look how spoiled she’s become.”
“I think the lot of you should stop living in the city. Pack your things today and come back to the countryside with me.”
Old Madam Zhou had finally revealed her true purpose.
Today, she was determined to make her second son hand over his factory job to her eldest grandson, Zhou Jinshui.
The family had found Jinshui a marriage prospect—the daughter of the neighboring village’s Party secretary.
The girl’s family had made one thing very clear.
They wanted a son-in-law with a city job.
Jinshui was already twenty-five.
After finally finding such an excellent match, they absolutely couldn’t let this opportunity slip away.
“Our family has contracted several mu of farmland from the production brigade. We need you all to come back and help. Your second brother isn’t young anymore anyway. He can hand his factory job over to his nephew. Lin Hongmei, you should also give your job to your future niece-in-law. Then the two of you can come back and help us farm.”
At last, Old Madam Zhou openly stated why she’d come.
Everyone present was utterly dumbfounded by her shamelessness.
Just look at her.
Every time she came, she caused trouble.
But this time she had gone even further.
She had actually come to demand their jobs.
Seeing that the soft-hearted Lin Hongmei remained silent, Zhou Yuwei couldn’t hold back any longer.
She had seen shameless people before.
But never anyone this shameless.
“Old Madam, have you completely lost your mind? Do you think the furniture factory belongs to your family? You think you can replace whoever you want? If you don’t have the ability, don’t bite off more than you can chew.”
“As for Zhou Jinshui, what exactly can he do? Does he know how to make furniture? What qualifications does he have to take over my father’s job?”
Zhang Lihua immediately became anxious.
What was going on?
Her mother-in-law was far too crafty.
Hadn’t they agreed that the job would go to her own son, Zhou Wei?
How had it suddenly become Jinshui’s instead?
“Mother, I don’t think that’s a good idea either. If the job goes to Jinshui, then what about Zhou Wei?”
She had dreamed of moving to the city for years.
“Stay out of this. This doesn’t concern you.”
Zhang Lihua unwillingly stepped aside.
So after all the fuss she’d made today, her own family wasn’t getting a single benefit.
Everything was being handed to the eldest son’s family.
Then what had she been fighting for?
She covered her burning cheek and aching scalp before glaring viciously at Zhou Yuwei.
Just wait until you’re back in the countryside. I’ll make your life miserable.
“I’m his mother,” Old Madam Zhou declared. “He has to listen to me. Jinshui may not know anything now, but once he gets into the factory, he can learn.”
“I know you’re his biological mother. If you weren’t, would our family have ended up living like this all these years?” Zhou Yuwei’s voice turned cold. “Would my older sister have been sent to the countryside as an educated youth?”
Back then, her older sister had already passed the recruitment exam to become a worker at the No. 2 Cotton Textile Factory.
But her own grandmother had forced her to give the position to Zhou Yuwei’s youngest aunt.
“Over all these years, my father has done more than enough for all of you. Today, I’ve finally seen your true colors. You never considered my father your real son, and you never treated us as your real granddaughters.”
“In that case, I don’t have to treat you as my elder anymore.”
“It’s because your mother couldn’t give birth to a son.” Old Madam Zhou snorted. “She’s nothing but a hen that can’t lay eggs. I was already being generous by not forcing your father to divorce her.”
“My mother wasn’t incapable of having a son!”
Zhou Yuwei’s voice rose.
“If my youngest aunt hadn’t pushed her, she wouldn’t have miscarried. She was already more than five months pregnant.”
“The baby had already taken shape.”
“It was a boy.”
Those words weren’t only meant for Old Madam Zhou.
She wanted her father, who had quietly arrived and was standing at the back of the crowd, to hear them as well.
She wanted him to finally see whether the people he had devoted himself to all these years were truly family—or monsters.
The Zhou family had grown used to enduring everything in silence.
Part of it was because of the difficult political climate they’d lived through.
It wasn’t that they couldn’t fight back.
They simply didn’t dare stir up trouble.
All they wanted was a peaceful life.
“Serves her right!” Old Madam Zhou sneered. “Her ancestors lacked virtue. Your father deserved it too. He simply wasn’t fated to have a son.”
Hearing those words, Lin Hongmei’s eyes turned red.
What kind of mother would say something like that to her own son?
“Yuwei, stop talking.” Zhou Kun had already been standing there for a while. Hearing his mother’s words left a deep ache in his heart.
“Go inside and rest. You’re still sick.”
“Dad…”
“Go on. Dad knows what to do.”
Zhou Yuwei raised an eyebrow.
Looks like this family can still be saved.
“Kunzi, you’re finally back.” Old Madam Zhou immediately pointed at Zhou Yuwei. “You should teach that girl a lesson! She nearly angered your mother to death today! She actually dared—”
“Mother.”
Zhou Kun cut her off.
“Giving away my job is impossible.”
“I have my own family to support.”
“If Jinshui wants a job, he can find one himself.”
“Zhou Kun! You… you actually dare speak to me like that?”
Old Madam Zhou immediately turned and slapped Lin Hongmei.
“It’s all your fault, you jinx! If you hadn’t been whispering in his ear, my son would never have disobeyed me!”
Lin Hongmei covered her face, tears filling her eyes.
Zhou Yuwei instinctively stepped forward, but her mother grabbed her arm.
“Don’t.”
“Let’s see how your father handles this.”
Zhou Yuwei glanced at her mother.
Well… Mom does have her own ideas after all.
The truth was, the rain that had drenched Zhou Yuwei unconscious the previous night had also awakened Lin Hongmei.
That night, after Yuwei had run out of the house, collapsed, and been hospitalized with a fever, Lin Hongmei had broken down in Zhou Kun’s arms.
“Old Zhou…” she sobbed. “Why has our life turned out like this? Look at our two daughters. Ever since Yulan came back, she’s been absent-minded every single day. And Yuwei nearly lost her life today.”
“We’re both factory workers. We earn decent wages.”
“So why are we living like this?”
“Wuwuwu…”
She buried herself in Zhou Kun’s arms and cried.
Zhou Kun looked at the woman he had cherished for so many years.
She had once been the famous beauty of the factory—the factory flower.
Now, she even had strands of gray hair.
Back then, countless men had pursued her.
He had loved her too.
But he had come from the countryside.
He had never dared believe he was worthy of her.
Later, because of political circumstances, the Lin family had been implicated.
Lin Hongmei had been transferred from the Finance Department to work as a kitchen helper.
Then one day, someone had tried to take advantage of her.
He had protected her.
Afterward, Lin Hongmei had said to him,
“Zhou Kun… why don’t we get married?”
If those things hadn’t happened, she would never have married him.
He had once promised that he would take care of her for the rest of her life.
Instead, he had made her endure years of hardship alongside him.
“I don’t owe my family anything anymore.”
His voice was calm.
“Over all these years, I’ve given nearly all of my wages to them.”
“It was Hongmei who supported this family.”
“That’s more than enough.”
Lin Hongmei earned only a little over twenty yuan a month.
Even so, his mother was never satisfied.
Every time she came to the city, she would take whatever she could.
And now…
She actually wanted them to return to the countryside.
She wanted Hongmei to give up her job as well—so it could be handed over to a nephew’s fiancée who hadn’t even married into the family yet.
His daughter was right.
Why should they?