“If others overhear this, it’ll cause trouble.”
“Mom, I’m not stupid. Of course I know that. We’re at home, aren’t we? Can’t we even speak freely in our own house?”
Nephew Yangyang didn’t care what the adults were talking about at all. He was over the moon about the meat they’d eaten that night.“Auntie, Auntie! Can we eat meat again tomorrow night? The meat was so delicious. I haven’t had meat in such a long time—it was amazing!”
Little Yangyang even climbed onto Lu Wanqing’s lap, looking for a hug.
Seeing the grimy little kid, Lu Wanqing immediately put on a look of disgust.
“Brat! Look how dirty you are. You’re getting a bath later. We may live in the countryside, but we still need to keep ourselves clean, understand?”
“Auntie, can you help me wash? Mom scrubs way too hard—she’s not gentle at all.”
Li Yuehong shot her ungrateful son a fierce glare.
“Little brat, I’m already doing you a favor by washing you. I work all day and still have to scrub you and wash your clothes, and you dare complain about me? Such an ungrateful thing. Fine—I won’t wash you anymore.”
Yangyang lowered his head, lips pouting.
Xu Mengyi spoke up,“Eldest daughter-in-law, if you’re talking to a child, then talk properly. Don’t snap every three sentences. If you speak like this all the time, won’t the child learn from you? When they grow up and talk to you the same way, won’t you feel upset? And when you feel upset, won’t you hit them? Children remember these things. One day they’ll resent you.”
“I don’t usually say much about this. I know you all think I favor my daughter, so you’re unhappy with me.”
“But let me tell you—she’s my daughter. Of course I’ll dote on her. If you can’t stand it, then close your eyes. Don’t pull this nonsense with me again. If it happens again, we’ll split the family. You can live however you want.”
“Mom, I didn’t mean it that way,” Li Yuehong replied stiffly.
“Who you dote on is your business. As a daughter-in-law, I can’t control that. But can’t I discipline my own kid? If I don’t, won’t he grow up completely spoiled? He doesn’t do anything all day and still wants to eat the best food. He doesn’t have that kind of fate.”
Anyone could hear the sarcasm in her words.
Xu Mengyi’s face darkened.“If you don’t know how to speak, then shut your mouth. Who are you being sarcastic for? Even meat can’t stop your mouth. I saw you eating more than anyone just now. What—now that you’re full, you want to stir up trouble? Or do you think you’re the one running this household now?”
“Mom, Mom, calm down, please,” Lu Yunzhou hurried to smooth things over.
“My wife is in the wrong—I’ll apologize on her behalf. Everyone had meat tonight and ate their fill. We should be happy.”
Meanwhile, the neighbors suffered.
The smell drifted all the way to Lin Daqiang’s house.
Xu Xiuying sniffed like a hunting dog.
“Which cursed family is eating meat? It’s not a holiday, not a festival—and they’re eating meat? Don’t they want to live anymore?”
Lin Yuxia sniffed too.
“Mom, doesn’t it smell like the Lu family? How could they have meat? Did they kill one of their chickens?”
“Brother, look how greedy they are—killing even their own chickens. If you marry a sister-in-law like that, will our family have any good days left? No matter how much savings we have, she’ll ruin it all. I still think Sister Xiaowei is better. She’s an educated youth, cultured, reasonable, pretty—and she has money.”
“Maybe we could even benefit from her and go to the city someday. What’s so great about Lu Wanqing? I don’t like her at all. I don’t want her as my sister-in-law.”
“Let’s go tomorrow and cancel the engagement. Make her stay far away from you so she doesn’t interfere with you and Sister Xiaowei dating.”
“If she doesn’t know what’s good for her, I’ll teach her a lesson myself. She’s shameless. Brother, with your excellent conditions—you’re a high school graduate. City leaders will be lining up to recruit you. If you marry a rural woman, aren’t you afraid people will laugh at you?”
The rest of the words barely registered—but “going to the city” and “leaders” stuck firmly in everyone’s ears.
Xu Xiuying turned to her husband.“So how do we break off this engagement? What about the hundred jin of grain? We can’t take that much grain out right now. It’s not harvest season—where would we get it?”
“This engagement must be broken. That Lu Wanqing was already held by that boy from the Chu family.”
“How could someone like that be worthy of my son? My son’s future wife can’t be so shameless. I can’t afford to lose face like that. I don’t want people pointing fingers at me behind my back.”
Lin Daqiang said calmly,“Go talk to the Lu family properly. See if this can be handled privately. If they agree to cancel the engagement, as for the grain—if we have it later, we’ll return it.”
“Don’t make things too public. Our son still has to marry in the future, and our daughters still need to marry.”
“Some things don’t need to be done out in the open. You understand what I mean, right?”
Xu Xiuying nodded.“Yes. With you saying that, I know exactly what to do.”
So this was the truly sinister one—the quietest, yet the worst.
Trying to have it both ways.
Not wanting to return the hundred jin of grain.
Not wanting his son to marry the girl.
And still wanting to shove all the blame onto her.
Even pigs weren’t as calculating as him—his abacus beads were practically flying into other people’s faces.
But as the saying goes, birds of a feather flock together.
No wonder they were all cut from the same cloth.
The Lu family was also discussing what to do about this matter.
Xu Mengyi understood her daughter’s personality.
If she didn’t want to marry the Lin boy now, no one could force her.
But once the engagement was broken, her daughter would be pointed at and gossiped about in the village.
If she wanted to find someone else later, it wouldn’t be easy.
Lu Wanqing saw the look in her mother’s eyes and knew exactly what she was thinking.
Sigh. Parents always worry too much.
Lu Wanqing grabbed Xu Mengyi’s arm and shook it gently, acting spoiled.
“Mom. I know what you’re worried about. But this problem doesn’t exist for me at all.”
“If I really can’t get married, then I just won’t. If a man refuses to marry me over something like this, then he has no sense of responsibility. Even if I married him, I wouldn’t be happy.”
“What I want is someone who will stand by me when I need him. Someone who trusts me and supports me. Not someone who doubts me, schemes against me, or resorts to violence.”
“And Lin Yuchuan is exactly the latter. You don’t know this yet, but he’s been involved with that educated youth for a long time. They even have a child already.”
“If you don’t believe me, let’s make a bet. They’ll come tomorrow to talk about breaking off the engagement— and shamelessly push all the blame onto me.”