Li Xiangqin retorted, walked past several wooden stakes, and sat down on a chair in the living room, hiding the expression in her eyes.
What a great feeling to have an agile body!
"Noise, noise, noise! A bunch of heartless things. Your father was just buried, his bones haven't even cooled, and you're already plotting. Aren't you afraid that if your old man knows underground, he won't be able to hold down his Coffin Lid?"
The few of them stiffened at the Old Mother's rebuke, their expressions a bit unnatural, but this didn't stop them from holding onto their own ideas.
The Third Brother stood in the corner and muttered discontentedly, "This is the New Society. Once a person dies, the lamp goes out. Superstitious feudalism should not be adopted."
Li Xiangqin turned her head to look at the Third Brother. Before she could speak, the Second Brother rubbed his face and stood in front of her, smiling ingratiatingly.
"Mom, I know you're sad that Dad is gone, but the matter of taking over Dad's Job needs to be settled quickly. If it drags on, things might change. I am the Second Brother in the family, and according to seniority, Dad's Job should go to me."
"Nonsense! We are all Dad's sons, why should it go to you?"
The Third Brother immediately became displeased.
"I don't agree with Second Brother taking over. All of us brothers have a better life than me. Meijuan's Job hasn't been settled yet, and I rely on myself to support the family. Mom, you can't just stand by and do nothing."
Looking at the two sons refusing to yield to each other, Li Xiangqin glanced at the Eldest Son and his Wife standing by, watching coldly. Their eyes only saw money; they didn't care who got the old man's Job.
The remaining Fourth Child and Fifth Child were daughters. Perhaps knowing that the Job wouldn't fall to them, they tacitly shrank into the corner, remaining Silent.
As for the youngest son, Lao Liu, he was only fifteen years old. He held a Comic book, looking down as he flipped through the pages, still in the state of being full but not hungry.
"I don't give a damn about your Grandmother! You still have the nerve to fart in front of this Old Mother? You suffer because you deserve it. You wanted to push this Old Mother to death just to marry your wife, and now you come to me complaining? It's too late."
From the perspective of a Mother-in-law, she disliked Zhao Meijuan's sickly appearance, but the Third Brother insisted on marrying no one else. After a long stalemate, unable to persuade him, she had to grit her teeth and agree.
Zhao Meijuan, relying on having the Third Brother completely under her thumb, decided on the wedding day, to show off, that she and her mother would spontaneously demand an extra one hundred yuan for both the dowry gift and the formal address fee, or she wouldn't get out of the car.
This marriage was agreed to under duress, and she had been holding onto her anger ever since.
In contrast, the Third Brother stood before her, pushing his "Er Ba Da Gang" Bicycle, looking delighted, eagerly waiting for her to hand out a Red Envelope, letting his Mother-in-law and Wife make things difficult for her.
To this day, she couldn't forget how Zhao Meijuan, sitting on the back seat, had triumphantly shown off to her.
The Wife hadn't even entered the door, yet she already wanted to ride over the Mother-in-law. How could she possibly agree?
Anger surged through her, and she slapped her son across the face, angry that he had embarrassed her on his own happy day.
Unexpectedly, Zhao Meijuan, trying to protect the Third Brother, jumped off the Bicycle and shoved her, causing her to hit the corner of the wall at the entrance of the Family Courtyard, drawing blood immediately.
Fortunately, her Biological Mother's younger brother came to attend the wedding and ran into the situation. He immediately brought his nephews to back her up. Seeing the situation turn sour, the Third Brother's Mother-in-law quickly stepped in to smooth things over.
She said all sorts of things like, "No one argues during the first three days of marriage," and "Don't be angry," and then made the Third Brother kowtow and apologize to her.
The wedding had reached this point, only needing the final push. She didn't want to ruin her son's wedding either, so she gritted her teeth and endured it.
Thinking back now, she must have seemed like a complete pushover and victim in the eyes of the Zhao Family.
"Stop putting on a pitiful face for this Old Mother. She hasn't been without a Job just today; you knew that when you married her. Now you realize how hard it is to earn money alone? Someone like you, you couldn't even catch the hot leftovers if you tried.
And what about your Soap Factory Job? Your father and I spent money, pulled strings, and used every Favor to get you that spot, and you were only a year away from becoming a Formal Employee. What more are you unsatisfied with?"
At that time, to secure the Soap Factory spot for the Third Brother, besides cigarettes and alcohol, they spent six hundred yuan in Cash alone, plus two animal hides your father had been hoarding.
Being looked down upon by her Mother-in-law and publicly accused of being a freeloader without a Job, Zhao Meijuan was so angry her complexion turned pale. She pursed her lips, glanced at the Third Brother, her eyes red-rimmed.
"Mom has always looked down on me; I've been a burden to you."
The Third Brother immediately pulled her behind him, his face dark as he stared angrily at his Biological Mother.
Mom never approved of me when we were dating, and even after getting married, she keeps a cold face, making my wife give him the cold shoulder and get upset every time they... intimacy occurs.
"Why are you always targeting my Wife? We are talking about taking over Dad's Job right now. Besides, can the benefits at the Soap Factory compare to the Machinery Factory?"
Li Xiangqin looked at the Third Brother's protective stance, jumped up, and slapped him twice across the face.
*Slap, slap*~
"Screw your Mother-in-law's crotch! You're eating from the bowl while eyeing the pot! This Old Mother really wants to slap you, you bastard, to death."
Shameless freeloader! All these years, the food you ate only made your body grow, not your brain. A few soft words from Zhao Meijuan, and you immediately get confused and lose your bearings.
After two slaps, the room instantly fell silent.
In his entire life, this was the first time Mom had been so volatile, cursing as soon as she opened her mouth and hitting as soon as she raised her hand.
"Mom, how could you hit someone?"
Zhao Meijuan's eyes widened in shock. Looking at the Third Brother's flushed face, tears of Heartache welled up.
"This Old Mother is disciplining her own unfilial son; what right do you have to interrupt? You should be grateful you didn't crawl out of this Old Mother's intestines, or based on your sharp tongue, your mouth would have been swollen from slaps long ago."
Humiliated by her Mother-in-law in front of everyone, Zhao Meijuan's face flushed red, and her tears burst forth uncontrollably.
"How can you humiliate someone like this? I don't want to live anymore..."
"Pah! Those two drops of cat tears only work on the Third Brother; this Old Mother doesn't fall for your tricks. You didn't even cry when your Father-in-law was buried, and now you're putting on a show? Get out, don't be an eyesore to this Old Mother."
"Waaah... Your Zhang Family bullies people." Zhao Meijuan covered her face and ran out the door.
"Wife~" The Third Brother chased after her without a second thought, the door slamming shut with a deafening bang.
Li Xiangqin narrowed her eyes. After cursing one pair away, she finally felt a bit more Comfortable.
She glanced sideways at the Second Brother, her gaze icy cold, which made the Second Brother subconsciously take a step back. Mom was too fierce today.
"You're also coveting the Machinery Factory Job?"
Thinking about how the Third Brother and his Wife had fled after being scolded by Mom, the Second Brother swallowed hard. Still unwilling to give up, he spoke dryly.
"Mom~, my situation is different from the Third Brother's. As of now, I'm still just a Temporary Worker..."
Before the Second Brother could finish, Li Xiangqin interrupted him violently.
"Who do you blame for ending up as a Temporary Worker? When you first finished school, your father and I spent Favors to bring you to the Machinery Factory as an Apprentice so you wouldn't have to Suffer in the countryside. But what did you do? You skipped work every day and disappeared!
You secretly befriended a group of Bad companions, and after a few words of instigation from others, you dared to secretly go to the countryside behind our backs, claiming you wanted to temper your physique through labor and become a successor of the New Society... Ptooey! Who doesn't Know you guys were going there for the female Educated Youth?"
When the Neighborhood Committee's letter of Praise arrived at home, they finally learned what happened. The thought of it still gave her a painful ache in her liver.
New story starting, welcome to read!