Perhaps because she'd been so tense on her first night in the novel, He Xiaoman fell asleep as soon as her head hit the pillow.
The next morning, the clatter of iron pots in the kitchen mixed with Liu Cuifen's scolding woke her up.
When she opened her eyes, she saw a little head lying at the foot of the bed. Jiang Xingci was propped up on his elbows, his round eyes fixed on her like he was guarding a treasure that might run away.
"Mommy, you're awake!" Jiang Xingci immediately broke into a grin, his baby voice sticky and sweet. "Me and big brother got up a long time ago."
He Xiaoman ruffled his hair, and out of the corner of her eye, she noticed Jiang Xingheng standing on his tiptoes trying to pull up his pants, his little face flushed red but not making a sound. She smiled and praised him, "Wow, big brother is so capable? You can get dressed all by yourself."
Jiang Xingheng's ears turned bright red in an instant, and he frantically tugged his pant legs straight.
Seeing that Mommy had praised his brother, Jiang Xingci also squeezed in with his milky voice, seeking approval: "Mommy, I even went to the bathroom by myself just now. I didn't wet my pants!"
"Our Xingci is amazing too!" He Xiaoman pinched his little nose. "Come on, let's get up and go eat breakfast."
By the time she finished dressing the younger one, Jiang Xingheng had already tidied himself up completely, standing straight as a little soldier with a neatness that seemed beyond his years.
When they came out of the room, Liu Cuifen and the others were already seated around the table in the main hall.
He Xiaoman raised an eyebrow as she walked over, her tone carrying a hint of mockery: "Why didn't you call us to eat? Don't tell me you didn't make enough for the three of us?"
Seeing her approach, Liu Cuifen stiffened, clearly still remembering the table being flipped last night. She quickly said, "We made it, we made it. It's all kept warm in the pot. Go ahead and serve yourselves."
He Xiaoman glanced at the breakfast on the table—it was plain noodles in watery soup, with nothing but a few wilted yellow vegetable leaves, not even a drop of oil in sight.
This was Liu Cuifen's usual move. Whenever the three of them ate at home, this was what they got. At least today there were noodles, which was already decent.
He Xiaoman didn't say anything, thinking she'd wait until she got the money from Liu Cuifen and then treat herself and the kids to a proper meal as compensation.
She added a bit of soy sauce to the kids' noodles for flavor and ate with them in the room to make do.
After breakfast, He Xiaoman sent the two children outside to play and went straight to Liu Cuifen to demand the money.
Liu Cuifen had thought she was just talking last night, but now she realized He Xiaoman was serious. "What money? We haven't divided the family yet. What does a woman like you need so much money for?"
He Xiaoman knew she would try to weasel out of it. She only let out a cold laugh. "If Auntie Liu wants to put it that way, then I'll go fetch the brigade captain right now and we'll divide the family today!"
She couldn't even be bothered to call her "Mom" anymore. Liu Cuifen's face instantly turned as black as the bottom of a pot. "Divide the family? Your father and I aren't dead yet, and Hongxia hasn't married either. What family are you dividing?"
"Then hurry up and die already." He Xiaoman's expression turned cold as well. "If you two don't die and Jiang Hongxia doesn't get married, then our eldest branch has to be your beasts of burden?"
"You—you—" Liu Cuifen was choked speechless, her finger shaking as she pointed at He Xiaoman. "How dare you curse us to die?"
Li Chunyan, who was standing nearby, quickly tried to smooth things over, though her words carried a hint of stirring the pot: "Sister-in-law, that's too vicious of you. Aren't you afraid of being struck by lightning?"
He Xiaoman swept her cold gaze over her. "Second sister-in-law, that's an interesting thing to say. You all take my husband's money and work us three like mules. If the heavens really had eyes, they'd strike down you heartless bloodsuckers first!"
Jiang Fugui, who had been silently smoking his pipe, finally couldn't hold it in anymore. He slammed the table and stood up, furious. "He Xiaoman, do you have any respect for your elders at all?"
He Xiaoman had no patience to drag this out with them. She laid her cards on the table directly: "Cut the nonsense. Are you giving me the money or not? If not, I'm going to get the brigade captain right now, and we'll divide the family today!"
Jiang Fugui was seething inside. What had gotten into He Xiaoman last night? How had she suddenly become a different person?
But if he really let the brigade captain come over to divide the family, everything in the house would have to be inventoried. When the accounts were checked, the money they'd secretly stashed away wouldn't be able to stay hidden.
And if they divided the family, then in the future, the money his son sent back probably wouldn't even leave twenty yuan in their hands.
So they couldn't divide the family!
Jiang Fugui swallowed the anger that had risen to his throat and shot Liu Cuifen a look. "Go get the money and give it to her."
Liu Cuifen was extremely reluctant. She dawdled back into the inner room and came out carrying a rusty iron box, slamming it down on the table with a clatter. "Take it and get out of here! Don't be an eyesore!"
He Xiaoman opened the iron box and counted twice. In total, there was only one hundred and sixty-six yuan.
She was shocked, her sharp gaze sweeping over Jiang Fugui and Liu Cuifen. "My husband sends fifty yuan home every month. That's six hundred a year. After five years, this is all that's left?"
"Do we eat meat at every meal or buy liquor every day? How come I never knew about that?"
"What do you mean by that?" Liu Cuifen exploded instantly. "Firewood, rice, oil, salt, farm tools, gifts for occasions—everything costs money! It's already good that this much is left. How much do you want?"
He Xiaoman watched her throw a tantrum and sneered inwardly.
These two old folks clearly intended to pocket the money for themselves.
That works—she was just worrying about how to find an excuse to get them to agree to accompany him to the army, and now, here was a ready-made opportunity.
Holding the iron box, she immediately ran into the courtyard and shouted, "Neighbors, come out and judge for yourselves! My husband bleeds and sweats in the army, and the money he sends back is all being withheld by his parents! I've done every dirty and tiring job for two kids, yet we can't even eat our fill at every meal, and they're still hiding money away to subsidize the younger brother and sister-in-law. I can't go on like this!"
With that, she plopped herself down on the ground and burst into loud wails.
This move left the Jiang family utterly stunned.
Nothing in this world draws people in quite like the prospect of a good spectacle, and within moments, neighbors began drifting over in twos and threes, eyes wide as saucers, peering into the Jiang family's courtyard.
Seeing this, Liu Cuifen panicked and rushed out to cover her mouth. "What nonsense are you spouting?!"
"Nonsense?" He Xiaoman immediately stood up, pointing at the iron box in her hand, her eyes brimming with tears. "My husband sends six hundred yuan a year, and after five years, there's only one hundred and sixty-six left! Isn't that you two pocketing it?"
At this, the crowd's eyes went wide.
Jiang Yanchuan sent that much every year? And now there's only a little over a hundred left? Were the Jiangs eating gold every day?
Everyone turned to Liu Cuifen and asked—
"Cuifen, where did you spend all that money? I haven't seen you buy anything nice for Yanchuan's kids."
"Surely you didn't really use it all to subsidize Changlin and Hongxia, did you?"
"I think that's exactly it—didn't you see how skinny Xingheng and Xingci look?"
"You should give some money to Xiaoman now—she's Yanchuan's wife, after all."
These words stabbed into Liu Cuifen's heart like needles, and for a moment she was at a loss for words, her face flushing a deep liver-red.
Jiang Fugui hadn't expected He Xiaoman to make such a scene like a shrew. Watching the neighbors gather in growing numbers, cold sweat beaded on his forehead, and he could only grit his teeth and ask, "Then what exactly do you want?!"
"Give me back all the money you've withheld over the years," He Xiaoman said bluntly, looking straight at the two of them. "Otherwise, we split the family—I'll take the kids and live on my own, not mixed up with you black-hearted lot!"
These words struck the Jiang family right where it hurt. Liu Cuifen stamped her foot, turned, and rushed into the inner room. After a while, she came back out with an envelope and shoved it at her. "Here's five hundred yuan—that's everything. There's no more to give. If you keep making a fuss, then I won't go on living either!"
He Xiaoman immediately took out the money and counted it—indeed, five hundred yuan.
She knew the money Jiang Yanchuan sent must have been more than just this, but her goal in making a scene wasn't mainly to split the family and take the cash.
It was to let everyone know that Liu Cuifen had not only withheld Jiang Yanchuan's money all these years but also hadn't given a single cent to his wife. That way, when she emptied the Jiang household tonight and took all the money, others would only suspect Liu Cuifen had done it.
Tsk tsk.
She was quite clever.