The next day, as soon as dawn broke.
After Leng Hui got up and washed, she helped empty the urine bag and took care of Tang Lin by having her drink a cup of milk powder. Then, she informed Tang Lin and hurriedly headed home.
“You good-for-nothing dare come back!”
As soon as she reached the second floor, Old Lady Leng, who was sitting at the doorstep combing her hair, spotted her. Remembering the money coupons snatched from Leng Yongkang’s hands yesterday, she instantly flared up.
“This is my home—why wouldn’t I dare come back?”
In the post-apocalyptic world, some would kill and burn for a single meal. With free food at home, why wouldn’t she return?
“Why did you snatch your dad’s money yesterday? That money was meant for him to give me for food expenses. Hand it over now!”
Leng Hui inwardly cursed her bad luck. Old Lady Leng had gone to Youngest Aunt Leng’s house yesterday, and she had thought she would stay a few more days before returning. Who knew she’d be back the same day?
Perhaps Leng Hui hadn’t considered that in these times, even interactions between relatives required boundaries. For instance, when visiting relatives, one had to bring their own rations.
In an era of food rationing, no household had surplus grain.
“Did you hear me? Hand over the money!”
Old Lady Leng took off her shoe, making a show of hitting her with the sole.
When someone tried to bully her, Leng Hui fought back even fiercer. Rolling up her sleeves, she prepared to retaliate. “No money, but I’ve got my life. By the looks of it, you want to fight me?”
Old Lady Leng was bluffing. Seeing that this little girl was even fiercer than her, she began to waver inwardly. Not wanting to lose face, she didn’t know what to do next.
Fortunately, her precious son came to the rescue.
Hearing the commotion inside, Leng Yongkang didn’t dare stay in bed any longer. He quickly put on his clothes and rushed out, just in time to see Leng Hui rolling up her sleeves.
He hurriedly intervened, “Hui Hui, what are you doing rolling up your sleeves? Planning to fight your grandmother?”
This was sheer defiance of nature!
Leng Hui put her hands on her hips, feigning grievance. “I had nothing to eat at the hospital, so I came back for a meal. As soon as this old woman saw me, she demanded money. When I refused, she tried to hit me with her shoe. How could I not fight back?”
Who knew what her shoe sole had stepped on.
Faced with Leng Hui’s seemingly vulnerable stance, Leng Yongkang was momentarily speechless. “Didn’t I give you money yesterday? Wasn’t that enough for you to eat?”
“I have money but no coupons. Where am I supposed to buy food? Tell me a place, and I’ll go out to eat right now. As for the food at home, I might as well have fed it to dogs!”
The Leng Family’s early-rising “dogs”: “…”
Seeing their darkened expressions, Leng Hui felt satisfied.
“Aiyo!”
Old Lady Leng clutched her chest in anger, plopping down on a stool. “Eldest Son, go and divorce your wife today. Drive out this little wretch she gave birth to along with her. This family has no room for such an ungrateful wretch. With her in this house, I’ll be driven to my grave sooner or later!”
At these words, the most anxious weren’t Leng Yongkang and his daughter, but the second branch couple, especially Sun Xiaojuan. Without Tang Lin’s salary, the whole family might as well live on air.
Sun Xiaojuan slapped her thigh and went over to soothe Old Lady Leng. “Aiyo, Mom, how can you talk about divorce so carelessly? As the saying goes, ‘Better to destroy a temple than break up a marriage.’ Big Brother and Sister-in-Law are blessed with a marriage predestined from their previous lives. It’s not right to make them divorce.”
“Besides, what family sails through life without any bumps or clashes? Everyone’s life is full of ups and downs—you can’t just threaten divorce every time you get angry. What if Big Brother and Sister-in-law take you seriously? Do you really want Big Brother to remain a bachelor for the rest of his life?”
Old Lady Leng stubbornly refused to back down: “My son will never end up a bachelor! At worst, after they divorce, I’ll spend some money to find him a sturdy young woman with wide hips to bear him five or six sons. Let’s see how Tang Lin can still strut around in front of me then! Acting all high and mighty as if life can’t go on without her.”
Leng Yongkang pleaded helplessly, “Mom, I’m begging you, please stop talking like this. Our child is already so grown up—what’s the point of divorce? How would I even show my face in public? The teacher said women hold up half the sky—your mindset is outdated. Let’s not bring this up again.”
After several rounds of persuasion from everyone, Old Lady Leng finally softened her stance and dropped the divorce talk.
But when they turned to look for Leng Hui, they found their little troublemaker had already served herself a bowl of porridge from the pot and was happily eating it with pickles.
Leng Mei glanced admiringly at the unflappable Leng Hui, then cautiously shrank back upon seeing Old Lady Leng and the others’ livid expressions, trying to make herself as inconspicuous as possible.
Leng Hui finished her last mouthful of sweet potato sorghum porridge, put down her bowl and wiped her mouth. “Have you all reached a decision? If so, please let me know. Since my mom’s in the hospital, I can handle the divorce paperwork on her behalf.”
“Look at this! Just look at this vile creature you raised!” Old Lady Leng trembled with rage.
“Leng Hui!” Leng Yongkang was furious with his impossible child. “Are you really so eager for your mother and me to divorce? What good would come of it for you? Talking such nonsense—you’re just asking for a beating!”
Leng Yongkang angrily scanned the room for something suitable to hit her with.
Leng Mei quietly picked up the broom leaning in the corner and handed it to Leng Yongkang.
Leng Hui burst out laughing at this sight—so much for the female lead’s kindness! Well, she’d finished eating anyway—now was the perfect time to make her escape.
“Don’t get too cocky—you all played your part in pushing my parents toward divorce. Let me make this clear: if they do divorce, you’ll have to vacate this house. After all, it was assigned to my mom by her work unit.”
With these words, Leng Hui vanished from the doorway, leaving only the rapid “thump thump thump” of footsteps descending the stairs.
Sun Xiaojuan watched as Leng Yongkang stood frozen with the broom still raised, and quickly comforted her mother-in-law: “Mom, becoming husband and wife takes several lifetimes of accumulated karma—you can’t just talk about divorce so lightly. We know you’re worried about the children, but others might think you’re being too hard on the younger generation. Let’s not mention this again—we should work together as a family to live well.”
“Right, Mom,” Leng Yongxing chimed in. “This chaotic life gives me a headache. If we’re going to live together, let’s do it properly without all this internal conflict.” He then gave Sun Xiaojuan a sharp nudge. “Go serve Mom her meal! Big Brother and I need to get to work after breakfast, and the two younger ones have school. Let’s not be late.”
Sun Xiaojuan shot Leng Yongxing a glare, suppressing the anger in her heart, then turned and slapped Leng Mei. “What are you sitting here foolishly for, waiting for me to serve you? Hurry up and go get the bowls and chopsticks. For someone so grown-up, you have no sense of awareness at all. All those years of eating have been wasted.”
Leng Mei clutched her stinging arm and hurried to the kitchen with her head lowered to fetch the bowls and chopsticks.
As for how she felt inside at that moment, it seemed no one cared.
Old Lady Leng took the congee handed to her by her daughter-in-law and cast a sharp glance at everyone. “I’ll be the bad guy, and you can all play the good ones. Who was I standing up for earlier? It was all for your sake. If I hadn’t kept the eldest daughter-in-law in check all these years, do you think you’d be living so well, with enough money to eat your fill? The daily expenses of this big family—don’t you have any sense of it? The moment something happens, you all know how to blame me. Is this how sons and daughters-in-law should behave?”
The brothers stared wide-eyed at each other, but neither spoke.
In the end, it was Sun Xiaojuan who picked up the conversation: “Mom, we were just trying to lighten the mood earlier. Otherwise, given Huihui’s temperament, she would’ve made sure the whole Family Compound knew about it, and then we’d be the ones losing face.”
“Bunch of black-hearted, rotten-hearted scoundrels!”
Old Lady Leng cursed, then lowered her head to drink her congee. It was unclear whether she was cursing someone specific or everyone present.
Changed the cover—thanks to my editor Lulu~ Never have to worry about covers~ Covering mouth to chuckle secretly~