Just as Li Hua started to suggest something, Old Man Lu interrupted her.
“No.”
“For the past few years, our third son hasn’t come home. His missions really are demanding, but it’s also because we’ve always told him in our letters that his wife was doing perfectly well here. That’s why he can focus on working hard out there. If you tell him his wife is doing badly, what if he comes home?”
Old Man Lu shot Li Hua an unhappy look. His wife was capable, all right, but she simply didn’t have much sense.
If they wanted their third son to stay focused on working hard outside, wouldn’t they have to keep telling him that his wife was doing well at home?
If they told him she was sick, then no matter how busy he was, he would come home at least once. After all, he hadn’t been home for three years. As long as he could squeeze out a few days and report to his unit, they would give him several days of leave to visit his family.
Li Hua only realized this now and slapped her hand against her palm.
“Look at me, I’m such an idiot. I didn’t think of that. Then what do we do?”
“Just tell him that his wife has been married into our Lu family for several years, and he’s been away this whole time without being there for her. Say we want to buy her some supplements so she can take good care of herself, so we won’t be treating his wife unfairly. If he has the money, ask him to send a little more back.”
Old Man Lu knew Lu Zheng’an’s temperament best. He might think twice about other things, but whenever it concerned his wife, he was always generous.
When Lu Zheng’an married Su Yuanyuan, he had believed that he wouldn’t be able to have children with his wife, so he felt he owed her.
Before Lu Zheng’an returned to his unit, he had never made Su Yuanyuan do even the slightest bit of work.
All they had to do was mention once or twice in their letters that they needed money to buy Su Yuanyuan some supplements, and Lu Zheng’an would definitely send it.
“Right! Let’s do that! Before, Third Brother would keep twenty yuan for himself and send eighty yuan home. If we say this to him, won’t he send all his money back? Then we won’t have to worry for the time being!”
Li Hua and Old Man Lu settled on the plan, intending to write a letter and have someone send it to Jingbei in a couple of days.
In the kitchen next door, after listening to her in-laws’ entire conversation, Su Yuanyuan sneered.
Not a single person in the Lu family had a conscience. She had already felt that way when she stayed up all night reading the novel.
Experiencing it firsthand was even more disgusting.
In the original novel, the male lead, Lu Zheng’an, had a mysterious background. He wasn’t actually the Lu family’s biological son, but their adopted son. He himself didn’t know this, and the Lu family had always claimed to outsiders that he was their biological child.
As for Lu Zheng’an’s true identity, Su Yuanyuan still didn’t know because she hadn’t read that far. She had only read the beginning, and after seeing that the original heroine shared her own name and died such a miserable death, she found it far too immersive and couldn’t continue reading.
She only remembered that the novel had described how Lu Zheng’an had never been treated well by his family all these years.
How dare this family do this?
They sucked Lu Zheng’an dry while refusing to show this youngest son even the slightest bit of affection, and even mistreated his wife and children along with him.
As long as they weren’t completely heartless, even if Lu Zheng’an wasn’t their biological son, they wouldn’t have treated him this horribly.
People always said that when you take someone’s money, you have to be soft-hearted, and when you eat someone’s food, you have to be mindful of them.
Yet these people didn’t feel guilty in the slightest.
A bunch of heartless bloodsuckers.
The two children helped gather the bowls and chopsticks, making clattering noises and failing to notice the conversation next door.
Su Yuanyuan’s gaze fell on the two children, and a trace of affection flashed through her eyes.
The two children were obedient and sensible. In a few more years, they would need to attend school. If they continued living with the Lu family, how could Li Hua and the others possibly be willing to spend money on their education?
Lu Zheng’an’s salary would soon be sent home, so she had to make plans early.
After cleaning up the kitchen, Su Yuanyuan was pulled back into the room by the two children.
She opened the wardrobe and looked inside. As expected, there were only a few shabby old sets of clothes.
She secretly sighed.
Fortunately, she had her space, as well as the more than one thousand yuan she had recovered. It would be enough to get by for a while.
When she turned around, the two children had already made the bed.
Lu Mingzhu pulled a worn cloth pouch out from inside her pillow and hurriedly opened it to check. When she saw that the money inside was still intact, she happily and carefully held it out to Su Yuanyuan.
“Luckily the money I saved wasn’t stolen. There’s ninety-three cents in total! Mommy, you take it.”
Lu Mingzhu had been worried just now that her money might have been stolen too. But the door had been open at the time, and Eldest Aunt and the others had all been outside, so she hadn’t dared look for it.
If they found out that she and her brother had secretly saved money, they would definitely snatch it away!
How could they let that happen?
There had been many times when Mommy didn’t have money to buy medicine. It was only because she and her brother pooled together the money they had secretly saved that they could buy even a little medicine for Mommy.
Looking at the crumpled loose change in the worn cloth pouch, Su Yuanyuan’s eyes grew hot.
The child had no idea how long it must have taken to save all those scattered coins.
“Mommy, you’ve gotten so thin. You should use it to buy food. We can save money again. Next time, we’ll save it to buy medicine for Mommy.”
Lu Mingzhu looked at Su Yuanyuan’s thin face and pressed her lips together unhappily.
Lu Siyuan ran to the door, opened it a crack, and peeked outside. After making sure there was no one there, he hurried back and pulled Su Yuanyuan down to sit.
“Little Sister is right. Mommy, don’t worry about money. My sister and I can earn money now. Even though it isn’t much, we’ll work hard to support you!”
The little boy spoke with absolute conviction, his bright eyes shining with determination and resolve.
Then Lu Siyuan lowered his voice.
“But when you buy food, you have to do it secretly. We can eat it secretly later!”
Su Yuanyuan’s heart warmed at the two children’s attempts to comfort her. She wiped the corner of her eye and carefully accepted their affection.
The children weren’t experienced enough to know how to hide their money properly. If Wang Chunhua and the others discovered it, there would inevitably be a huge commotion.
It was better for her to keep it.
She put the money into her space, then magically produced two white, fluffy steamed buns and broke them in half to give to the two children.
The moment they saw the steamed buns in her hands, both children’s eyes widened in shock, their faces filled with disbelief.
White flour was expensive. Even at home, they rarely ate it. It was only during festivals that the family would use it to make food.
Outside, a steamed bun made from white flour cost five cents each!
Lu Siyuan licked his lips and asked in a very low voice, “Mommy, where did you get the steamed buns?”
There hadn’t been any steamed buns made at home today. Besides, all the rice and flour in the kitchen had been stolen.
The neighbors certainly wouldn’t lend them white flour.
The two little ones immediately thought of the mugwort cakes from yesterday.
Could Mommy have bought them somewhere outside?
Su Yuanyuan narrowed her eyes and smiled. After thinking for a moment, she took both children’s hands and said mysteriously, “Mommy is going to take you somewhere!”
Before the two children could ask where, the scene before their eyes suddenly changed.
A bright and spacious hall appeared before them.
“Wow! Is this magic?” Lu Mingzhu tightly clutched her half of the steamed bun and looked up in amazement.
“What a beautiful house! What is this made of? It looks just like a mirror!”
Lu Siyuan squatted down and rubbed the marble tiles beneath his feet. He had never seen such flooring before.
It was so beautiful.
The floors at home were made of yellow earth that had been trampled smooth and hard, and even the walls were made of yellow-earth bricks.
He had never seen such beautiful tiles, let alone such a huge pane of transparent glass.
“Is… is this real?”
Lu Siyuan ran over to the enormous glass window and reached out to touch it.
It was real!
He had never seen such a huge piece of glass before. It was as tall as a persimmon tree!
How amazing!
“This is called a floor-to-ceiling window. Pretty, right? Do you like this place?”
Su Yuanyuan went to the water dispenser and poured two cups of warm water for the children.
They took the cups and stared at the water dispenser on the counter in amazement, nodding repeatedly.
“Pretty! We like it!”
Even the cups they drank from were beautiful.
After Lu Siyuan and Lu Mingzhu finished their water, they immediately felt refreshed.
Even their hands, which had been a little sore from working yesterday, suddenly felt better.
Everything inside the big house was so magical.
There was a huge thing that could sweep the floor by itself, just like a beetle. Mommy said it was called a robot vacuum.
There was also a metal box that could make ice and provide drinking water. Mommy said it was a water dispenser.
The two children explored the huge villa like a pair of curious little explorers, listening to Mommy explain all the magical things inside.
Su Yuanyuan showed them around the villa without worrying at all that they might reveal the secret of the space.
Because the existence of the space was something they simply couldn’t talk about.
She had tested it before. Once someone left the space, they couldn’t say any of the key words related to it.
Even though the two children were young and might accidentally let something slip, Su Yuanyuan wasn’t worried.
They simply couldn’t say it.
After exploring about half the villa, Su Yuanyuan finally noticed that the steamed buns in their hands were still uneaten.
She smiled and rubbed both their heads.
“Looking is fine, but hurry up and eat your steamed buns. Weren’t you still hungry just now? After you finish, Mommy will take you to see something… well, some things.”
“Okay!”
The two children were very obedient and quickly finished their steamed buns.
Su Yuanyuan then took them outside the villa and pointed out the medicinal herb garden.
“Look. Those are the medicinal herbs Mommy worked hard to grow. Some of them are poisonous, so you mustn’t touch them carelessly. Remember that, okay?”
There were many different kinds of medicinal herbs growing in the garden, and some of them were toxic. If they came into contact with a wound or skin, they could cause serious problems.
The two children nodded seriously and blinked up at Su Yuanyuan together, their faces filled with admiration.
“Mommy is amazing!”
She had such a huge house, and so much land too!
Su Yuanyuan felt a little embarrassed under their adoring gazes. She took them back into the villa and smiled.
“Come on. Mommy will show you something good.”
The room on the first floor near the kitchen was a storage room, filled with all kinds of miscellaneous things.
Su Yuanyuan opened the door, and the motion-sensor light automatically turned on.
Lu Siyuan and Lu Mingzhu’s eyes grew even wider.
But after their initial amazement came pure shock.
The moment the light came on, they saw many familiar things inside the storage room.
For example, the bags of rice and flour and the jars of salt from the kitchen.
The siblings recognized them at a glance.
There were also the golden longevity locks sitting on a beautiful box, as well as the smoked cured meat placed inside a firewood basket in the corner!
“Mommy! You… you…!”
The two children stammered for a long time, yet they still couldn’t bring themselves to say, “You’re the thief!”
“Ahem.” Su Yuanyuan raised an eyebrow. “But I didn’t steal them. I’m just taking back what originally belonged to us!”
“Whether it’s the meat, the money, or the golden longevity locks, all of them were bought with your father’s salary. We have every right to take them.”