Hearing Zhou Yu’s words, the three of them immediately nodded.
“Fine. We’ll search right now!”
Zhou Yu stepped aside and dropped all pretenses.
“Go ahead and search yourselves. I’ll stand right here and won’t touch a thing. Otherwise, you’ll just accuse me of hiding the receipt later.”
The three of them also suspected that Zhou Yu might try to conceal the receipt right under their noses, so they readily agreed and immediately began searching the room.
Zhao Yunzheng’s room was very bare.
He rarely came home over the years, and aside from a bed, table, chairs, and a cabinet, there was practically nothing in the room.
Only after Zhou Yu moved in had a few additional items been added, making the room feel somewhat lived-in.
Even so, there wasn’t much to search.
Before long, the three of them had turned the room upside down, but there was still no sign of the money order receipt.
Zhao Ziming’s expression changed.
“How can it not be here?”
Zhou Yu had been watching their every move.
Seeing this, she mocked him.
“Well, Third Brother? Since you couldn’t find it, are you still going to insist that I took it?”
Zhao Changdong and Wang Hongmei looked embarrassed.
Zhao Changdong turned to Zhao Ziming.
“Third Son, since the eldest daughter-in-law doesn’t have it, hurry and look outside. Maybe it fell somewhere on the road and someone picked it up…”
“No!”
Zhao Ziming interrupted him.
An inexplicable sense of panic gripped his heart.
For some reason, he had a strong feeling that if they couldn’t find it here, he would lose that money forever.
Looking around the room, his gaze suddenly landed on Zhao Yunzheng, who was lying in bed.
“There’s still one place we haven’t searched. Big Brother’s bed. Maybe it’s hidden under the mattress.”
Zhao Changdong and Wang Hongmei froze for a moment before looking over as well.
Zhou Yu’s heart tightened.
Angrily, she said,
“Zhao Ziming, don’t go too far! I let you search because the receipt is important, but Big Brother Zhao is your own flesh and blood. How can you say something like that?”
But Zhao Ziming mistook her reaction for guilt.
“If it’s not there, then what are you afraid of?”
Zhou Yu stared at him coldly.
“And what if you don’t find it?”
Without hesitation, Zhao Ziming replied,
“Then I’ll bow my head and apologize to you.”
With that, he turned to Zhao Changdong and Wang Hongmei.
“Dad, Mom, help move Big Brother aside. I’ll check under the mattress.”
The couple had always favored their youngest son.
Without hesitation, they stepped forward.
Lying there, Zhao Yunzheng felt a sharp pain in his chest.
He could hardly believe those words had come from the younger brother he had doted on since childhood.
Even worse, his parents had agreed.
“Wait!”
Seeing she couldn’t stop them, Zhou Yu’s eyes darted about before she spoke up.
“You don’t need to do it. I’ll move Big Brother Zhao myself.”
None of them objected.
Zhao Yunzheng was tall and heavy.
They had no desire to exert themselves.
Zhou Yu walked to the bedside and carefully helped Zhao Yunzheng sit up.
She subtly checked the place where she had hidden the money order receipt, making sure everything was secure.
Then she supported the man against her chest and carefully shifted him aside.
Zhao Ziming eagerly stepped forward and lifted the mattress.
He searched again and again.
Even Zhao Changdong and Wang Hongmei joined in.
Yet no matter how thoroughly they searched, they found nothing.
The expressions of all three immediately changed.
So Zhou Yu really hadn’t stolen it?
Only then did Zhou Yu finally relax completely.
She said coldly,
“Well? Are you still going to keep searching? Or are you finally going to apologize?”
She looked directly at Zhao Ziming.
His face darkened.
Apologize to Zhou Yu?
Not in this lifetime.
Ignoring her, he turned to Zhao Changdong and Wang Hongmei.
“Dad, Mom, I’ll go to the neighboring village and find the mail carrier. Maybe he forgot to deliver the receipt. You two search outside and see if it fell somewhere.”
The three of them were about to leave.
Zhou Yu suddenly stood up and blocked the door.
They thought they could just walk away?
Not a chance.
“You still haven’t apologized. Dad, Mom, are you really going to favor Third Brother and make me swallow this humiliation?”
She secretly pinched her thigh.
Instantly, tears welled up in her eyes.
“I’ve been taking care of Big Brother Zhao at home. I’ve even listened to Mom and worked from early morning. Yet I get accused of stealing a money order receipt, and even Big Brother Zhao gets dragged into this and tossed around because of it!”
“Where’s the justice in that? You owe me an explanation!”
Zhao Ziming’s face darkened.
“Zhou Yu, move aside. I still have to find the receipt. I don’t have time for your nonsense.”
Zhou Yu laughed in disbelief.
“This is nonsense?”
“What else would it be?”
Zhao Ziming looked at her impatiently.
“Can’t you be a little more reasonable?”
Zhao Changdong and Wang Hongmei were already biased toward their son.
Neither wanted to see him apologize.
They were also displeased by Zhou Yu’s persistence.
“Eldest daughter-in-law, losing the receipt is a huge matter. You should be helping look for it. It’s bad enough that you’re not helping. How can you be so unreasonable and waste everyone’s time?”
Zhao Changdong scolded.
Wang Hongmei immediately chimed in.
“Exactly! As for what happened earlier, we’re all family. What’s there to argue about?”
By now, Zhao Yunzheng’s consciousness was beginning to fade again.
Yet hearing those words from his family jolted him awake once more.
Anger churned violently inside him.
They were the ones who had falsely accused Zhou Yu.
They were the ones who had wronged her.
How could they still say something like that?
Meanwhile, Zhou Yu fired back immediately.
“I’m the unreasonable one? Fine. I’ll go to the production brigade right now and let everyone decide whether your accusations were justified!”
She turned and headed for the door.
This time Zhao Changdong couldn’t keep his composure.
“It’s such a small matter, and you want to bother the brigade? And you still call yourself reasonable? Fine, fine! At worst, Third Son will apologize to you!”
“Dad!”
Zhao Ziming protested unhappily.
How could he apologize to Zhou Yu?
Wang Hongmei was even more unwilling.
She had never seen a daughter-in-law dare talk back to her in-laws like this and then demand an apology from her younger brother-in-law.
Angrily, she said,
“What apology? We should just let it go!”
Zhou Yu didn’t waste another word.
She pulled open the door and started walking out.
Not wanting the family’s dirty laundry exposed, Zhao Changdong hurriedly ordered Zhao Ziming to apologize and shot a warning glare at Wang Hongmei when she tried to object.
Thinking that making a scene at the brigade would also hurt him, Zhao Ziming gritted his teeth.
“Fine. I apologize. I’m sorry.”
That perfunctory tone fooled no one.
“You call that an apology? Then I don’t accept it.”
Zhou Yu folded her arms.
Zhao Ziming grew furious.
“Don’t push your luck!”
“Then let’s go to the brigade and let everyone judge who’s pushing their luck—and who’s bullying his sister-in-law while his own elder brother lies unconscious in bed.”
The moment those words came out, both Zhao Changdong’s and Wang Hongmei’s faces changed.
If rumors like that spread, the villagers would drown them in criticism.
At last, even Wang Hongmei had no choice but to tell Zhao Ziming to apologize properly.
His face green with resentment, Zhao Ziming could only grit his teeth and apologize again.
Still, Zhou Yu remained silent, merely wiping away tears and refusing to relent.
Wanting to settle the matter, Zhao Changdong endured the pain of parting with money and said,
“You were wronged in this matter. So here’s what we’ll do. I’ll make the decision myself. We’ll compensate you with ten yuan. And all the things that Big Brother’s comrade sent—you can keep those too.”