Inside the Li family’s main room.
The front door was shut, cutting off the prying eyes and pointing fingers of the neighbors outside.
With the tables, chairs, and benches all gone, the already old-fashioned main room looked even more desolate and empty.
Li Zhengting carried the warm, soft body in his arms into the inner room.
He gently laid Yu Qinghuan down on the edge of the hard earthen kang.
The moment he bent over her, he felt the little hand that had been twisting his waist finally release its grip, apparently satisfied with its mischief.
Li Zhengting inhaled sharply and rubbed his waist through his clothes.
What a vicious pinch!
That girl had definitely used every ounce of her strength just now.
He turned his head, ready to expose Yu Qinghuan’s little act.
But before he could say anything, the curtain to the inner room suddenly rustled open.
Old Man Li slipped inside with a dark expression, clutching his loose trousers as he sneaked in furtively.
The moment he saw Yu Qinghuan lying on the kang, a deep look of disgust flashed through his eyes.
He quickly concealed it, however, and turned to Li Zhengting.
Clearing his throat, he assumed the imposing air of an elder.
“Zhengting, you’re finally back. You’ve seen the mess this family is in, haven’t you?”
“The thief made off with the big iron pot, emptied the cellar, and that wretched girl even kicked your eldest sister into the pig manure pit!”
“Tomorrow is the wedding ceremony, and now the house is completely bare. We don’t even have a bowl to eat from!”
“You’re an officer in the army, and you receive a pretty substantial allowance every month.”
“Quickly, take out the money and ration coupons you’ve saved over the past two years. Your father needs to go to town and buy new pots and bowls.”
“And while he’s there, he should get a few pounds of cured meat. Otherwise, the Li family will lose face in the village at tomorrow’s wedding!”
Old Man Li spoke as though he were entirely in the right.
It was as if the hard-earned money his son had risked life and limb to earn was naturally meant to fill the bottomless pit that was their family’s greed.
Li Zhengting’s gaze.
In that instant, turned completely cold.
He had spent years serving in the army, sending money home whenever he could because he wanted his family to live more comfortably.
But what had happened in the end?
His money had spoiled Li Chunhua and Old Man Li.
Meanwhile, his new bride had nearly been starved to death in a woodshed by his own mother.
Li Zhengting parted his lips, about to refuse.
However—
Before he could utter a single word, Yu Qinghuan, who was supposedly in a deep coma and barely breathing, suddenly opened her eyes!
There wasn’t the slightest trace of confusion in them.
They were as bright as two powerful searchlights that had just been switched on.
With a sudden whoosh, Yu Qinghuan shot upright from the earthen kang.
She planted both hands on her hips, widened her almond-shaped eyes, and pointed at Old Man Li’s nose like a mother hen protecting her chicks.
“WHY SHOULD HE?!”
Her voice was loud and powerful.
It practically shook the dust loose from the roof beams inside the room.
Old Man Li flinched and stumbled backward two steps, nearly tripping over his own trouser cuffs.
“You… Weren’t you unconscious?!”
“If I hadn’t fainted, you bloodsucking old parasites would have drained every last cent of the money Li Zhengting risked his life to earn in the army!”
Yu Qinghuan sneered, jumped straight off the kang, and planted herself in front of Li Zhengting.
Her slender little frame suddenly radiated an absolutely terrifying fighting spirit.
“The iron pot is gone, and the cellar is empty. The family was robbed!”
“Instead of reporting it to the public security bureau or going after Wang Ergou, that good-for-nothing hooligan, you come running to my husband to demand his military allowance?!”
“Zhengting trains until midnight every day in the army! Do you know how many injuries he’s suffered and how much blood he’s shed?”
“He’s been on the battlefield, risking his life!”
“Every single cent he earns is hard-earned blood and sweat!”
“And you parasites, sitting at home eating fine white flour and stewing cured meat, have the nerve to hold out your hands and demand his money as if you’re entitled to it?!”
Yu Qinghuan unleashed a furious torrent of words.
Every sentence cut like a knife.
She tore the mask of Old Man Li’s hypocrisy to shreds.
Old Man Li’s face turned crimson with rage, and his lips trembled.
“Yu Qinghuan! You… You have no respect for your elders!”
“I’m his father! It’s only natural for me to use my own son’s money!”
“To hell with your so-called natural right!”
Yu Qinghuan planted her hands on her hips and practically sprayed spittle into Old Man Li’s face as she shouted.
“Father? You think you deserve to be called a father?!”
“Zhengting sends home dozens of yuan every month! Have you ever given him even a single cent’s worth of affection in return?”
“Did you build him a new house? Or leave him any family savings?”
“No! You used his money to buy new clothes for Li Chunhua and let her run around sneaking into haystacks with men!”
“You even locked me in a woodshed and starved me for three days, all because you wanted to steal my job and trade it for a city resident’s registration for Li Chunhua!”
“And now, after your precious daughter’s lover robbed the entire house clean, you still have the nerve to demand money from Zhengting to cover your losses?!”
“Old Man Li, is your face welded together with railroad tracks? It’s thicker than the Great Wall!”
The more Yu Qinghuan spoke, the angrier she became.
She stepped forward and pointed toward the front door.
“Let me make this clear!”
“From now on, every single cent Zhengting earns is under my management!”
“If anyone in the Li family so much as thinks about touching his money again, I’ll take a cleaver and chop their greedy paws off!”
“Want a new pot? Go up the mountain, chop firewood, sell it, and buy one yourself!”
“Want cured meat? Go fish Li Chunhua out of the pig manure pit and sell her for meat money!”
“Now, get out! Right this instant!”
Yu Qinghuan’s verbal assault was a complete double blow, crushing Old Man Li both physically and mentally.
She was outrageously domineering.
Yet she was fiercely protective of her own.
Old Man Li had spent most of his life as the undisputed authority in his household.
Never in his wildest dreams had he imagined that a daughter-in-law who had only just entered the family would point at his nose and curse him out like this.
He trembled uncontrollably with rage.
Turning toward Li Zhengting, who stood expressionless behind Yu Qinghuan, he shouted, “Second Son! Look at the wonderful wife you’ve married! You’re just going to stand there and let her curse your own father?!”
Li Zhengting raised his head.
He looked at Yu Qinghuan’s flushed little face, puffed up with anger like a pufferfish.
Then he glanced at Old Man Li, who had been cursed until he was thoroughly humiliated.
Under Old Man Li’s hopeful gaze, Li Zhengting slowly shook his head.
“Dad, Qinghuan isn’t wrong. I’ve already handed over my money to her.”
“From now on, she’s in charge of the household.”
Old Man Li sucked in a sharp breath.
He looked at his second son, who stood as tall and solid as an iron tower, then at Yu Qinghuan, who was still clutching a large wooden stick.
He finally understood.
He could no longer count on this second son.
“You unfilial wretch… What a pair of unfilial wretches!”
Old Man Li rolled his eyes in fury, yanked up his trousers, and scrambled away, fleeing through the curtain in utter defeat.
At last, the room fell quiet.
Yu Qinghuan stood with her hands on her hips, still panting furiously.
Her long black hair had fallen messily over her shoulders.
Li Zhengting quietly watched her.
For more than twenty years, he had always been the one who gave the most in the Li family.
Everyone had taken from him.
But this was the first time in his life that someone had stood in front of him like a tigress, fiercely guarding his pockets.
Not allowing anyone to suck him dry.
The feeling was unfamiliar.
Yet a warmth he could barely suppress began spreading through his chest.
Deep in Li Zhengting’s stern eyes, a fleeting hint of tenderness quietly appeared—a smile so subtle that even he himself failed to notice it.
He took a step forward, bringing his tall, imposing frame closer to her.
Lowering his head slightly, he asked in a deep voice,
“Weren’t you unconscious?”