Wang Haiyang and Zhou Chunxia were already uneasy. They still remembered when they first returned home and told Mother about their marriage—the old lady shot to her feet instantly, pointing at them and cursing with such foul language that the two still felt lingering fear.
Now, facing the old lady directly, Zhou Chunxia couldn’t help her legs from trembling.
Wang Haiyang, having served in the military, reacted quickly. Hearing Su Qing’s words, he promptly stood up.
“Mother, I didn’t think things through clearly. I originally planned to send a letter home, but the army was busy, and I didn’t have time to write. Plus, the matter of my retirement got delayed. Mother, it’s my fault.”
“Now that you’re retired, how did the army arrange things?”
“Mother, I have a retirement settlement allowance. I was lucky—my superior pulled some strings to get me a job in the town’s security team, with a monthly salary of thirty-five yuan. Tiezhu is a martyr’s orphan, so the army will take care of him. He won’t be a burden on the family.”
Su Qing coldly scrutinized her fine son—this sly, cunning fellow, whose mind was as full of schemes as a hornet’s nest. When he returned home carrying two large bags, he only mentioned his retirement, without a word about the retirement settlement allowance or the job. He clearly intended to keep it quiet and negotiate terms with the old lady!
Seeing the old lady remain silent, Zhou Chunxia shakily stood up.
“Mother, my previous husband passed away early. My superior introduced me to Haiyang, so I am now a member of the Wang family. Don’t worry, Tiezhu and I won’t freeload. Haiyang’s salary and settlement allowance will all be handed over to you. My superior said that once I’m settled, I should write to him, and he might even arrange a job for me. From now on, I will live steadily and honestly at home with Tiezhu, and take good care of you.”
The two of them sang in harmony, trying to fool this old rural woman who knew nothing about national policies!
Fu Tiezhu was a martyr’s orphan and would receive a pension every month. Besides, she couldn’t possibly take all of their salary.
With pocket money and the pension, the three of them would have more than enough to live on!
As for why they didn’t want to split the household—well, wasn’t it obvious? They were planning to settle the mother and son’s household registration first, and then slowly figure out what to do next.
“Old Seventh, your wife says she’ll hand over all the salary to me. What do you think?”
“Of course, we’ll listen to you, Mother. You’re still the head of this family.”
The other Wang family members, who had been watching the drama unfold, now stared with eyes as bright as searchlights upon hearing that Wang Haiyang and Zhou Chunxia were willing to hand over the settlement allowance and salary. Their gazes nearly blinded her cloudy, aged eyes.
When Su Qing looked up at Wang Haiyang again, her eyes were slightly red, her voice trembling, and she glared at him with unspoken words and deep resentment.
“Hmph, Wang Haiyang, your words sound sweet, but I know exactly what you’re thinking. You believe your mother only cares about your money, that as long as there’s money involved, she’ll agree to any foolish thing you do, right? You’re the most accomplished son in this family—how could I not wish you well? Your father passed away early, and I raised all of you alone, suffering no shortage of bullying. With so many children, I couldn’t attend to your feelings, working day and night without rest. Now that you’ve finally grown up and made something of yourselves, is this how you see your old mother?”
After speaking, Su Qing turned and entered the room. When she came out, she fiercely threw a savings pass she was clutching onto Wang Haiyang’s body—there was no other way, as he was too tall for her to reach his face.
“Take a look. All the subsidies we’ve been writing to urge you to send over the years—except for necessary medical expenses when family members fell ill—are recorded here. From when you were just an ordinary soldier till now. Wang Haiyang, your mother isn’t unaware of the hardships of military life. I know how hard it is for you to save any money, so I’ve been putting it aside for you. Except for Old Ninth, all your older brothers are married with children, so you don’t need to worry about their retirement.”
At this point, Su Qing heaved a long sigh. “If you were injured or disabled, this money could still support you in old age. But I never expected—never expected—that while I was treating you with sincerity, you’d play mind games with me. Since you didn’t tell me when you got married, there’s even less need to do so now. Take the deposit slip, and leave with your wife and child. The Wang family has no place for you!”
Wang Haiyang stared incredulously at the deposit slip on the ground, his entire body trembling. Since childhood, he had never received much attention. With many children in the family, what little came his way was even less. He grew up underfed and poorly clothed. Finally, when he grew up and left home to join the army, the letters demanding subsidies came one after another, almost suffocating him.
Yet he never thought that the very reason he once resented would years later come back like a boomerang, striking him right between the eyes.
“Mom, Mom, please don’t abandon me. I was wrong, I was really wrong. I didn’t know, I truly didn’t know. Mom, I was just afraid you wouldn’t accept Chunxia and Tiezhu. Mom, I was really wrong.”
The Wang family members all stared wide-eyed at the slightly stooped old woman. No one had expected that such a stingy person would be holding onto so much money, and even have a day when she’d give it away.
Wang Yongqiang was so anxious he was scratching his head and ears. Li Chunmei and Wang Haifeng were busy calculating in their minds, while Wang Weidong and Liu Aijun stared fixedly at the deposit slip clutched in Wang Haiyang’s hand.
Everyone wanted to speak up and persuade the old woman, but no one dared to open their mouths.
Without even looking back, Su Qing knew exactly what expressions they wore. She was now grateful that the old woman was like a pixiu—only taking in and never giving out—otherwise she wouldn’t have been able to pull off this scene.
“Mom, Haiyang is your son. How can there be lasting grudges between mother and child? He didn’t know about your plans for him. Please don’t be angry. All the fault is mine. Please forgive Haiyang. He didn’t mean it that way—he was just afraid that my child and I wouldn’t be accepted. He often tells me how hard you worked raising him and his siblings, and was worried the family would look down on me for being a widow. Mom, I’m sorry, truly sorry.”
The couple knelt on the ground, with Wang Haiyang even crawling on his knees to Su Qing’s feet, hugging her legs and sobbing. There wasn’t a trace of pretense in his actions now.
He himself couldn’t distinguish why he was crying—whether it was mostly grievance or mostly fear.
Su Qing sighed, sniffled a couple of times, and patted Wang Haiyang’s head.
“Get up. A grown man like you, crying in front of your brothers, sisters-in-law, nephews and nieces—aren’t you ashamed?”
After this round of admonishment and heart-to-heart, not only did she secure the deposit slip and Wang Haiyang’s 3,000 yuan settlement allowance, but also secured an agreement for him to hand over twenty-eight yuan of his salary every month.
Su Qing felt quite pleased with herself. Shortly after returning to her room, a notification came from her space: a plot of farmland and a baked pancake stall had been activated on Dream Town’s street.
She was overjoyed. Happily entering her space, she clicked on the blue panel, used gold coins to purchase some vegetable seeds and melon seedlings, clicked to plant them, and soon tender green sprouts emerged from the field.
In the other room, Wang Haiyang remained seated in silence for a long while. Zhou Chunxia paused briefly before taking his hand. Others might not have noticed, but she could tell at a glance that her husband deeply cared about his mother’s opinion of him.
“Actually, Mother has been quite good to you. All these years while you were away serving in the army, she probably never had a peaceful night’s sleep.”
Had this been said in the past, Wang Haiyang wouldn’t have believed it for anything. But now, he felt a warmth spreading through his heart. Many of his fellow soldiers who were also pressured to send back their allowances had parents who used the money to build houses or pay betrothal gifts for their other children’s weddings.
When he received the savings deposit slip today, mixed emotions welled up inside him. After all, Mother still held him in her thoughts.