With Lin Shuya, the main attraction, gone, the villagers who had gathered to watch the excitement gradually dispersed as well.
The Lu family’s little spectacle was enough to keep them talking for the next two or three days.
Li Chunhua had lost both face and dignity. After venting her anger with a few indirect curses, she flicked her sleeve and returned to her room, not coming out again until mealtime.
At the dinner table, Li Chunhua was still unable to swallow her anger. She instructed, “The few of you should go out over the next couple of days and find out who encouraged Lin Shuya to come after me for money.
“And Third Daughter-in-law, what exactly happened with your admission notice? How did it end up in Lin Shuya’s hands?”
Ye Qing nudged Lu Chaoxi’s knee with her elbow and blinked at him, signaling for him to speak.
Lu Chaoxi gave her a reassuring look. “When the mailman delivered the admission notice to the village the day before yesterday, Ye Qing was not home, so Lin Shuya collected it instead. Now she has money on the brain and is demanding sixty yuan. If we do not pay her, she refuses to return the notice.”
Li Chunhua slammed her hand against the table in anger, making the bowls and chopsticks jump. “She has some nerve. Who gave her the courage to demand such an outrageous amount?”
Wu Lixia was feeding her child. She quickly gave the child a few more bites, sent the child outside, and only then spoke.
“This whole mess started because of the admission notice. The third brother and his wife publicly embarrassed Lin Shuya. In the heat of the moment, Zhao Quande revealed that Second Brother had been sending money home.”
According to the village’s old customs, the eldest son was responsible for supporting his parents in their old age. Li Chunhua would live with their family in the future.
The money in Li Chunhua’s hands was essentially Wu Lixia’s family’s money. Watching Lin Shuya take away two hundred yuan today felt no different from watching someone take it directly out of her own pocket.
If Ye Qing had not been so greedy and tried to scheme against Lu Chaonan, she would never have provoked Lin Shuya, nor would the family have lost so much money.
Wu Lixia had put this entire debt on the shoulders of Lu Chaoxi and Ye Qing.
Lu Chaoxi had a sweet tongue and often coaxed Li Chunhua into giving him money.
One or two yuan at a time was not much, but the amounts added up after so many occasions.
Wu Lixia had long found it unpleasant to watch, and today was the perfect opportunity to say something.
She continued to stir things up in front of Li Chunhua.
“This is what Tian Shufen said. Third Sister-in-law wanted Second Brother to pay for her university education, so she came up with this plan.
“She used the teaching position at the village primary school as bait to persuade Tian Shufen to work with her. They set a trap and encouraged Lin Shuya to hide the admission notice. Once the truth came out, they could use the matter to pressure Second Brother.
“Who would have expected Second Sister-in-law to come prepared today? She had already joined forces with Tian Shufen and turned the tables beautifully.
“In the end, not only did they fail to get the money, but the admission notice was also left in someone else’s hands.
“Shuya only came up with this idea because she could not stand seeing Second Brother’s money being spent on our entire family. If that money was taken back, it was all because of the trouble caused by the third brother and his wife.”
Wu Lixia poured out everything she knew in one breath, leaving Ye Qing no opportunity to interrupt.
Li Chunhua remembered that Lin Shuya had mentioned this matter as soon as she entered the house.
At the time, she had only thought that Lin Shuya was narrow-minded and wanted to control her husband’s money, unwilling to let Second Brother continue supporting the family. She had not expected there to be so much more behind it.
Her eyes swept toward Ye Qing as she demanded sternly, “Ye Qing, is what your eldest sister-in-law said true?”
Ye Qing glanced sideways at Wu Lixia and silently cursed her for meddling in things that were none of her business.
Under the table, she poked Lu Chaoxi twice, signaling for him to speak on her behalf.
Lu Chaoxi moved his stool closer to Li Chunhua and admitted to his scheme first.
“Eldest Sister-in-law is right. It was my idea. At first, I really did intend to scheme against Lin Shuya.”
Seeing Li Chunhua glare at him, Lu Chaoxi immediately changed his tone.
“But we were not doing it for ourselves. We were doing it for this family. Ye Qing used to teach at the village primary school, and every month her work points were calculated according to the rate for a strong laborer. She also received certain benefits during the holidays.
“Now that she has been admitted to university, she can no longer continue working as a teacher. That means our family will lose the work points of one person. There are so many people in this family, and with fewer work points, we will receive less grain when autumn comes.
“I wanted to contribute money to support the family, but I do not have Second Brother’s abilities and cannot find a good job that pays every month.
“Ever since Second Brother got married, he has grown distant from the family. It is only a matter of time before he stops giving us money entirely.
“You are his mother. It is only right for Lu Chaonan to provide money and support you. If he abandons his own mother for the sake of his wife, then he would be completely heartless.
“I thought I would play the villain and use the admission notice as bait to make Lin Shuya do something wrong, so she would understand who truly calls the shots in this family.
“Then Second Brother would also be in the wrong and could no longer blindly favor his wife. From then on, all his money would be handed over to you.”
Lu Chaoxi truly had a silver tongue. He could twist black into white and white into red.
In just a few words, he had spoken directly to Li Chunhua’s heart.
Lu Chaonan’s money belonged to the Lu family, while Lin Shuya, after marrying into the family, was merely another person who wanted a share of it. Trying to take someone else’s money was practically a crime.
Li Chunhua had always wanted to put Lin Shuya in her place, but unfortunately, Lin Shuya had always had confidence and support of her own.
Knowing that Li Chunhua had never approved of the marriage, Lin Shuya had continued living with the Lin family after getting married. Li Chunhua rarely even saw her, let alone had the opportunity to put on the airs of a mother-in-law.
Lu Chaoxi had only wanted to vent her anger for her, and his intentions had been good. He was simply too young, and his methods were not as clever as Lin Shuya’s.
“You are all still too young. You did not think things through carefully and ended up being outmaneuvered by Lin Shuya.
“Your second brother is not home, and now that she has no parents left to keep her in line, she has grown bolder and bolder. She even dares to bully me now.
“This matter cannot end like this. If I do not get this anger out of my system, your mother will not be able to sleep at night.”
Li Chunhua set the tone with those words, placing all the blame for the incident squarely on Lin Shuya.
Since her attempt to turn Li Chunhua against Ye Qing had failed, Wu Lixia fell silent.
Seeing this, Lu Chaodong spoke up with a suggestion for Li Chunhua.
“I came back late, and by the time I entered the house, everyone had already dispersed. But I heard someone mention that Second Sister-in-law is now insisting on getting a divorce?”
Li Chunhua gave a cold snort. “She has no parents to rely on. If she divorces Second Brother, what decent family could she possibly marry into?”
Ye Qing finally found an opportunity to speak.
“Based on what I know about her, she is only saying it. What she really wants is to see Second Brother, but she has no way to do so herself, so she wants to force us to interfere and bring him back.”
“She has gone crazy missing a man,” Li Chunhua cursed angrily.
Lu Chaodong offered another suggestion. “I think it would be appropriate to have Second Brother come back for a visit. He left the day after getting married, so he was probably dissatisfied with Lin Shuya and had wanted a divorce for a long time.
“If Lin Shuya truly wants a divorce, then having Second Brother come back to finalize it would be a good thing. With his abilities, he could marry a girl from a big city, and she could support our family even better in the future.
“But if Lin Shuya is only using divorce as a bluff to scare us, then this is also a good opportunity to teach her who is really in charge of this family and give her a lesson, so she will stop causing trouble in the village.”
Li Chunhua’s eyes lit up.
She had previously been worried that a divorce would damage Lu Chaonan’s reputation and affect his future prospects.
However, Lu Chaodong had made an excellent point. For Lu Chaonan, getting divorced might actually be a good thing. If he married a girl from the City, preferably one whose family had some influence, then the entire Lu family could benefit from the connection.
With that thought, Li Chunhua made the decision.
“Third Daughter-in-law, after dinner, write a letter and tell your Second Brother to come back. Tell him to get a divorce.”