Inside the main room, Lu Aiguo sat upright in his chair, his weathered hand resting casually on the corner of the table. When Lin Xiyun entered, he pointed to the stool opposite him.
“Sit.”
Zhao Jinlan closed the door behind her.
Lowering his eyelids, Lu Aiguo let out a weary sigh, putting on the appearance of an exhausted old man. Lin Xiyun almost laughed at the performance.
“Since you already know, your mother and I won’t hide it from you anymore.”
“Your fifth brother-in-law just graduated from middle school and has reached the age to be sent to the countryside. After all, he’s Yanbei’s biological younger brother. As his sister-in-law, you can’t just ignore him, can you?”
As he spoke, he carefully observed her expression. Seeing that she wasn’t surprised at all, he realized she’d probably figured everything out long ago.
Lin Xiyun wasn’t stupid. Over the past few days, she’d already seen through the old couple’s scheme.
In the original story, this was indeed about the time Lu Yezhong was supposed to be sent to the countryside. But Lu Aiguo and Zhao Jinlan couldn’t bear to let their youngest son suffer there. Their third daughter, Lu Linan, had married the son of the deputy director of the Meat Processing Factory. Through her connections, they found out about an available position and, after painfully spending several hundred yuan, bought Lu Yezhong a job instead, allowing him to avoid being sent down.
But now things had changed. It was obvious the crafty old couple had shifted their target onto her.
Lin Xiyun glanced around the room.
The elderly couple occupied the main room, the largest and brightest room in the house, roughly the same size as hers. But compared to her room, it had very little furniture or valuable furnishings.
It was obvious where all their savings had gone.
“You’re absolutely right, Dad!”
Before Lu Aiguo’s smile could fully form, she flashed a bright grin and patted her chest confidently.
“Don’t worry. Yanbei and I definitely won’t ask for the twenty yuan we contribute every month back! I’m not that unreasonable.”
The smile froze halfway across Lu Aiguo’s face.
“…Ask for what back?”
How had the conversation suddenly become about that money?
He was trying to get her to contribute more.
“Aren’t you the one who said I couldn’t just stand by while my younger brother needed help?” Lin Xiyun replied earnestly. “I’m only one person. I eat very little. My husband isn’t home, and I don’t even have children. Do you really think I consume twenty yuan’ worth of food every month? Of course the remaining money should be returned to me. Otherwise, how could my eldest and second sisters-in-law, with four mouths to feed each, face me with a clear conscience?”
She sounded so sincere, as if she were genuinely thinking of everyone else’s interests.
“What kind of twisted logic is that?” Zhao Jinlan snapped. “We raised Yanbei through blood, sweat, and tears. Isn’t it only right that he supports us?”
She slapped the table, no longer bothering to pretend.
“I won’t beat around the bush anymore. You spend money like water every single day. Yanbei must be sending you a lot every month. Be sensible and hand over seven hundred yuan to buy your younger brother a job. Your father and I will remember this favor forever.”
The words poured out rapidly. She was afraid that if she hesitated, the current Lin Xiyun would somehow lead her into another trap.
Thinking about it still made Zhao Jinlan feel aggrieved.
In other families, a son’s earnings were all managed by his mother.
But her fourth son was hopeless.
Not only did he divide the money into two separate remittances, he had even gone to great lengths, making countless arrangements and repeatedly instructing the post office that Lin Xiyun’s money order had to be delivered into her hands personally.
No one else was allowed to collect it.
Otherwise, it couldn’t be withdrawn.
What? Did he think I’d abuse his wife? Was he guarding against me like I was a thief?
As a result, all Zhao Jinlan could do was guess that he probably sent Lin Xiyun twenty or thirty yuan every month—at most about the salary of a regular factory worker.
Although Lin Xiyun spent extravagantly every month, surely she’d still managed to save something. After three years, she ought to have several hundred yuan.
More importantly…
The bride price and dowry.
Zhao Jinlan ground her teeth in jealousy, cursing her fourth son all over again.
He’d married nothing more than a country girl, yet he’d prepared the full set of wedding gifts—”forty-eight legs” of furniture and the coveted “Three Rounds and One Sound.” Even that wasn’t enough. The little brat had given five hundred yuan in bride price.
She’d nearly gone blind with envy at the time.
If Lu Yanbei hadn’t stuffed the money directly into his mother-in-law’s hands, she’d have lunged forward and snatched it back herself.
Back then, the family had already agreed that an eighty-eight yuan bride price plus all those household goods would have been more than enough to make any city girl happily marry into the Lu family.
Who knew he’d completely changed his tune the moment he faced his future mother-in-law?
What a waste of raising him!
The Lin family doted on their youngest daughter too much. Zhao Jinlan refused to believe they hadn’t added a generous dowry.
So she’d concluded that her fourth son no longer had any savings.
The family’s wealth had to be in this spendthrift daughter-in-law’s hands.
Lin Xiyun almost laughed at their shameless demand.
What am I, an ATM?
Even if she weren’t practically broke right now, even if she were the richest woman in the world, she wouldn’t give these shameless old leeches a single cent.
“Haven’t you always called me a spendthrift?” she asked innocently. “Where would I get that kind of money?”
Blinking her big eyes, she deliberately tugged at the fine fabric of her clothes before touching the sky-blue ribbon tied in her soft hair.
Then she spread her hands helplessly.
Everything she wore was top quality.
And what did that prove?
It proved that all of it cost money.
Zhao Jinlan’s heart ached just looking at it.
Every penny had been earned by her son.
It should all have belonged to her.
Thinking of all the expensive things piled up in Lin Xiyun’s room—and how she regularly ate eggs and fine flour—made Zhao Jinlan’s head spin.
“You wasteful woman!”
Furious, Zhao Jinlan gasped for breath and raised her hand to slap her.
But Lin Xiyun reacted instantly, dodging aside.
Zhao Jinlan hit nothing but air.
In one swift step, Lin Xiyun circled to the other side of the table, grabbed a stool with one hand, and held it up threateningly.
“Go ahead and hit me today. Tomorrow I’ll report you to the police for assaulting a military wife. Even if I have to crawl there, I’ll make sure everyone at the Machinery Factory hears about it.”
Then she turned to the silent Lu Aiguo with a cold smile.
“After all, I’m not a factory worker. I don’t have to support a family or worry about my children’s future. My reputation is already terrible—one more stain won’t matter. Dad, don’t you agree?”
Holding the stool tightly, she stood her ground.
Zhao Jinlan was so angry her vision blurred. Her trembling finger pointed at Lin Xiyun.
“This is outrageous… absolutely outrageous!”
Yet she didn’t dare step forward.
She was genuinely afraid Lin Xiyun might smash the stool over her head.
“Enough!”
Lu Aiguo slammed the table and picked up his enamel mug for a sip of water before finally suppressing his anger.
“We’re family. If there’s a problem, talk it out. Why does everything have to end with people throwing punches?”
Only after both women fell silent did he clear his throat.
He exchanged a meaningful glance with Zhao Jinlan.
She immediately understood and changed her tone.
“You do spend a lot of money, but when you married into the Lu family, Yanbei paid your family a five hundred yuan bride price. Now that his own younger brother is in trouble, surely you can’t be so selfish.”
Their silent exchange didn’t escape Lin Xiyun’s notice.
Her arm was getting tired from holding the stool, so she set it back down with a heavy thud and dusted off her hands.
Then she replied lightly,
“My parents used it to help my older brother get married.”
“What?!”
Zhao Jinlan exploded again.
Her eyes nearly popped out of their sockets, and her voice rose so high it almost cracked.
“All that money… and they didn’t save a single cent?”