“I’ll go to the village committee and see if we can report it to the police station. We’ve lost so many things from the house; we can’t just let this go. We have to catch the thief!” Old Man Lu snorted and went back inside to change clothes.
Li Hua hurried into the room and grabbed him. “You really want to report it to the police station? That won’t do! What if those two good-for-nothing boys did something stupid? What kind of sense would it make to send our own sons to the police station over this?”
Li Hua was heartbroken over the lost money, but she absolutely didn’t want her sons ending up in jail because of it.
Old Man Lu glared at his foolish wife. “Our house is only so big. The kitchen was cleaned out completely. If it really was those two, where would they hide all that stuff? I think our family was probably targeted by someone seeking revenge.”
Li Hua froze for a moment.
That was true. Forget the money and the gold locks—there had been so much food in the kitchen. Where could they possibly hide it all?
The thought of a thief silently sneaking into their house and making off with so many things, possibly even someone who had come to take revenge, sent a chill through Li Hua.
“Then hurry and go to the village committee. See what the village chief says. Come back quickly afterward. We still have to work in the fields today.”
As soon as Li Hua finished speaking, two children began crying and fussing outside.
They were the eldest grandson, Gouwa, and the younger grandson, A Niu.
Lu Zhengning and Lu Zhenggang had each only had one son after marrying their wives.
These were the Lu family’s precious heirs, and Li Hua doted on them dearly. Naturally, the two fathers also treated their sons like the apples of their eyes.
As a result, the two children had become spoiled and unruly, constantly causing trouble.
For example, breakfast was normally prepared and brought straight to them half an hour earlier. Today, it was late, and they immediately began crying and making a scene.
“I want millet porridge today! Grandma promised to make me millet porridge!”
“I want potstickers! And roasted sweet potatoes! Grandma promised me! Why aren’t there any? Did those two burdens eat them?!”
When the two little tyrants started crying, it was practically a disaster.
Their shrill voices stabbed at people’s ears like needles, giving everyone a headache.
Sitting inside the room, Su Yuanyuan listened coldly to the children’s crying and fussing outside.
Through the crack in the door, she could even see the two children rolling around on the ground, throwing tantrums. Their bodies were covered in dirt, looking absolutely filthy.
Children wouldn’t come up with such words on their own. Their deep hostility toward Lu Siyuan and Lu Mingzhu had been learned from the “example” their parents had set for them every day.
Hearing them cry and scream, Su Yuanyuan actually felt relieved for a moment.
Good.
Every single one of them was so detestable that she no longer had even the slightest bit of sympathy left.
What was there to feel guilty about?
Originally, she had still felt somewhat reluctant to take away all their food, since those two children would have to go hungry too. After all, children were innocent.
But now, looking at them, they weren’t exactly innocent little angels.
Let them starve.
Let them all starve.
The two children had been spoiled rotten. Whenever they didn’t get what they wanted, they threw a tantrum.
Seeing that breakfast still hadn’t been brought to them, they cried even louder.
Li Hua couldn’t bear to see her precious grandsons suffer. She picked them up one after another, patted the yellow dirt off their clothes, then turned around and yelled at Wang Xiujian.
“Are you dead?! Can’t you hear that the children are hungry? Hurry up and go borrow some grain from the neighbors. Make something for the children to eat first!”
Wang Xiujian felt a lump of anger lodged in her chest.
Wang Chunhua hadn’t done anything either, so why was she the one being yelled at?
“It’s easy for you to say. Everyone already knows our house was robbed. Do you think the neighbors are going to lend us grain that easily?”
She was the one being forced to swallow her pride and beg others for food. But when there was something good to be gained, it would all go to the eldest son’s family.
“You bunch of debt collectors! Just tell them we’ll repay it as soon as possible! It’s autumn harvest season right now, and we’ll have grain soon. Are you afraid we won’t be able to pay it back?”
Li Hua cursed and grumbled as she coaxed the two children toward the side to play. She clearly wasn’t happy with Wang Xiujian.
Wang Xiujian took a deep breath and glanced at her husband.
Lu Zhenggang handed her a wooden ladle and waved impatiently. “Just go. The children are hungry. Mom isn’t wrong. Don’t argue with her.”
Wang Xiujian was so angry she almost laughed.
But thinking about the children, she swallowed her anger, took the wooden ladle, and went next door to borrow some grain.
After the commotion that morning, practically half the village knew what had happened to the Lu family.
When Wang Xiujian went around borrowing grain, Aunt Zhang made a few sarcastic remarks, but she still lent them some.
After all, they were neighbors. There was no need to make things too ugly. Besides, she quite liked Su Yuanyuan and her two children.
And it was autumn harvest season. The grain would be repaid soon enough. Lending them some to tide them over could simply be considered doing a good deed.
They managed to borrow some grain, but breakfast was still pitifully meager.
They used cornmeal to make several corn cakes.
The men still needed to do hard physical labor in the fields, so each man got two. The women could only have one each, while the children got half a cake.
Su Yuanyuan and her two children were given only one corn cake.
The three of them were supposed to split one corn cake between them.
Su Yuanyuan was practically furious enough to laugh.
No normal person could possibly do something this heartless.
“Why do we only have one cake? How is that enough?” Lu Siyuan had a steady temperament and plenty of courage. The moment the cake was brought over, he dared to voice his dissatisfaction.
Wang Xiujian was already holding in a bellyful of anger and had been looking for somewhere to vent it. She shoved Lu Siyuan hard.
Su Yuanyuan hadn’t expected her to actually hit a child.
Fortunately, she reacted quickly and caught him before he fell.
“Go, go, go! You’re acting like a beggar. It’s already good enough that you have something to eat! You don’t do anything and still expect food? Dream on! If you’re so capable, go borrow grain from someone yourself!”
Wang Xiujian rolled her eyes and deliberately ate her own corn cake right in front of them.
Lu Siyuan’s little face flushed red as he clutched the cake in his hands. Lu Mingzhu glared at Wang Xiujian and helped her brother back to his feet.
In this family, everyone except Mom was a bad person!
Su Yuanyuan sighed and split the cake between herself and the two children.
She put on the appearance of a timid punching bag, looking so weak and submissive that she didn’t even dare say a word in defense of her own children.
Lu Siyuan and Lu Mingzhu lowered their heads, both feeling miserable.
It only strengthened their determination to find more work and save money so they could take their mother away from this place.
Once they grew up, they would earn money and buy Mom all kinds of delicious food.
No one would ever be allowed to bully the three of them again!
After breakfast, everyone tossed their bowls and chopsticks into the pot and left, leaving Su Yuanyuan to wash them.
Li Hua glanced at Su Yuanyuan before pulling Old Man Lu back into their room.
Su Yuanyuan said nothing.
She had the two children wait obediently nearby while she first washed the large pot on the stove.
Before long, she heard Li Hua and Old Man Lu talking in the room next door.
Su Yuanyuan continued washing the pots and bowls without changing expression.
She had deliberately stayed behind to clean up.
She had been waiting for this.
The kitchen was right beside Li Hua and Old Man Lu’s room. Su Yuanyuan had good hearing, and if she paid attention, she could hear what they were saying next door.
“There are only about two weeks left. The third son’s allowance will be sent next month. What do you plan to do?”
Li Hua stood with her hands tucked into her sleeves, looking at Old Man Lu sitting on the kang.
Now that the family had no money and the kitchen had been completely emptied, the only thing they could count on was Lu Zheng’an’s salary.
As for the crops in the fields, even if they sold the entire harvest, they would only get a little over a hundred yuan—and that was the harvest from an entire season.
How could that compare with Lu Zheng’an’s salary?
The crop yield wasn’t necessarily insufficient to feed the family, but it would have to cover all their living expenses for the next several months.
That meant cutting back on everything and going back to the hard, frugal life they had lived before.
Li Hua didn’t want that.
None of the Lu family wanted it.
If there was easy money available, why wouldn’t they take it?
“Before, things were good at home. We could give her ten or twenty yuan, and she wouldn’t dare do anything. But that ungrateful woman actually wanted to complain to the third son. She’s becoming disobedient, so we have to keep a closer eye on her.”
Li Hua paced around the room, glancing at the place where her precious dowry had once been kept, now completely empty. Her heart ached at the sight.
“Now that our house has been robbed and we don’t have anything to eat, it wouldn’t be unreasonable for us to take all of the third son’s salary. The family is having a hard time, so everyone has to contribute. His entire salary should naturally be used to support the family.”
Li Hua’s little calculations were crystal clear to Old Man Lu.
Birds of a feather flock together.
The two husband and wife understood each other’s thoughts perfectly.
Old Man Lu took a puff from his water pipe without saying anything.
After a long while, he finally said meaningfully, “There are too many people in this family. How are we supposed to support everyone?”
Just that one sentence was enough for Li Hua to understand.
Her husband agreed with her.
Thinking of Su Yuanyuan and her two children, Li Hua’s face darkened as she sat down on the kang.
“Exactly. The third son went off to join the army, casually leaving for three years, and left behind a sick wife and two burdens. They’ve dragged us down enough. How about this? We write to the third son and tell him that his wife is sick…”