As soon as these words were spoken, everyone in the hospital room except Yang Yiyang gasped in shock.
Eldest Sister-in-law Jiang was so furious she felt like her soul was leaving her body, her chest heaving with rage.
How could anyone say such shameless things?
In the end, she didn’t even bother pretending anymore. She threw the towel on the floor and said, “Who wants your worthless junk? I wouldn’t take it even if you gave it to me.”
Then, turning to Mother Jiang, she added, “Father Jiang said you should go back once you wake up. Aren’t you ashamed of continuing to waste the family’s money here?”
Yang Yiyang said, “Oh, so Eldest Sister-in-law, you mean you’ve brought the family’s money to pay for Mother’s and my hospital bills?”
“And here I was, thinking it hurt like cutting my own flesh to use my dowry money for the hospital stay. Why didn’t you say so earlier?”
“Eldest Sister-in-law, how much have you paid? And how much more did you bring? Just give it all to me. If it’s not enough, I’ll go pay the rest myself.”
Eldest Sister-in-law Jiang’s face flushed red with anger. Was this person out of their mind?
Couldn’t they understand sarcasm or straightforward words?
And to think they spent a thousand yuan to marry such a person!
She couldn’t bear to think about it. The thought of that thousand yuan made her heart ache even more, fueling her hatred for the person before her.
How much had her own wedding dowry cost?
Nearly spitting blood from rage, Eldest Sister-in-law Jiang glared fiercely at the three people in the room with a murderous look before storming off in a huff.
When her gaze fell on Yang Yiyang, Yang Yiyang responded with a bright, angelic smile.
Watching her leave in such a rage,
Yang Yiyang called after her, “Eldest Sister-in-law, remember to pay the medical bills! Don’t secretly pocket the money and not pay!”
Eldest Sister-in-law Jiang nearly stumbled and fell outside the door.
Yang Yiyang turned around to see Mother Jiang and Zihao staring at her, their mouths agape as if they could fit an egg inside.
They were dumbfounded, staring at her in disbelief.
“What’s wrong? Have you both gone stupid? Don’t worship me too much—I have plenty of talents.”
At that moment, Jiang Zihao snapped out of his daze. “Wife, you’re two years younger than me. Besides, Mother is an elder.”
Yang Yiyang rolled her eyes skyward, deciding not to argue with fools.
Just this brief exchange had exhausted her. She took out two liang of meat coupons and fifty cents,
“Here, make sure everyone gets some meat for lunch today.”
With that, she lay down on the bed to rest.
Mother Jiang immediately protested, “Meat is so expensive. I’m already halfway into the grave—wouldn’t eating meat be a waste?”
“I don’t need it. A steamed bun is enough for me. Save the meat for you all, especially Yiyang. She needs to eat well to recover and give birth to a healthy, chubby baby soon.”
Yang Yiyang felt utterly exasperated. These three people in front of her could barely make ends meet, yet they were already talking about bringing another life into the world.
Their thought processes were so flawed, each in its own unique way.
No wonder such genetics produced such a foolish son.
Yang Yiyang closed her eyes. “Have you two figured out how you’re going to survive?”
Mother and son immediately changed expressions. Yes, both she and her son were living off their daughter-in-law’s dowry money.
Besides, she still didn’t know how to face the Jiang Family when she returned.
Jiang Zihao thought to himself, “Could it be that my wife looks down on me and wants to leave, which is why she doesn’t want to have a child with me?”
Then he reconsidered, “No, that can’t be. We’ve already registered our marriage—we’re truly husband and wife now. I shouldn’t scare myself like this.”
Yang Yiyang paid no further attention to the two people whose minds were clearly elsewhere and fell into a deep sleep.
When Eldest Sister-in-law Jiang returned to the Jiang Family, she threw another tantrum.
Even while cooking, she slammed pots and pans around angrily.
When the three men of the family returned home for dinner, she added fuel to the fire with her exaggerated account.
That old hag dared to steal money from the family—the family’s money belonged to their eldest branch, the branch with the eldest son and grandson.
"Dad, Mom said the money she’s using for the hospital now is her daughter-in-law’s dowry money, so it’s not under your control."
That damned bastard, daring to give her attitude at the hospital—just wait until he comes back, let’s see if he can still act tough. If he does, she’ll take his surname.
She said resentfully, "Fourth Son said his mother won’t come back until there’s not a single injury visible on her body."
That vixen, just because of her pretty face, she made that bastard Fourth Son have his mother steal money to marry her. She’ll have to pay for it dearly.
"When I went, Fourth Sister-in-law wasn’t there. She went out to buy things."
"She came back carrying a whole sackful. Seeing she bought so much, I said Anguo’s towel was worn out and asked her to give him one. She said she’d charge me eight mao, otherwise I couldn’t take even a thread."
This infuriated Jiang Dad so much that he threw down his chopsticks and stood up, ready to rush to the hospital and drag that damned woman up to beat her again.
If she dared not listen to him, he’d beat her until she submitted. He had to make her understand who was in charge of this family.
If she died from the beating, it would save food.
The two sons saw this and thought, this wouldn’t do. They were still waiting for those two women to come back so they could get the money and split it.
If the old man beat them again, wouldn’t they have to spend money on treatment? And wouldn’t that money come from their Old Jiang Family’s funds?
They hurriedly grabbed Jiang Dad from both sides, calming him down and making him sit.
Eldest Brother Jiang said, "Dad, you can’t go again. If you go to the hospital to beat people now, think of how bad the impact would be. When they come back, whatever you want to do behind closed doors, no outsiders will know, right?"
Second Brother Jiang added, "Dad, Brother is right. Besides, if you beat them again and they refuse to leave the hospital, how much more money would it cost our Old Jiang Family for each extra day they stay?"
Second Sister-in-law Jiang said, "Dad, I’ll go to the hospital tomorrow to visit Mom and also persuade her to come back sooner. Once she’s back, everything can be discussed."
"Our family still has to be run by you, Dad."
Jiang Dad thought it made sense. They would have to come back eventually—it wasn’t like they could fly to the heavens.
He’d settle accounts with them when they returned. If they didn’t listen to him, he’d break their legs. Who could say anything then?
Having figured it out, he sat back down and continued eating.
Eldest Sister-in-law Jiang and Second Sister-in-law Jiang exchanged a glance, understanding everything without words.
No matter how much they usually fought, they could unite against outsiders for the sake of money.
At noon, Jiang Zihao went to the hospital cafeteria and bought four meat buns and two large steamed buns.
Then, using the lunchbox Yang Yiyang had bought, he asked the kitchen chef to fill it with free noodle soup.
After bringing it back, he woke Yang Yiyang to eat.
"Wife, wake up. I bought you meat buns. Eat your fill before going back to sleep."
Yang Yiyang got up, rinsed her mouth with water, and seeing he had bought several, took a meat bun and began eating.
Jiang Zihao gave one to his mother and ate one himself. Taking a bite, it was incredibly fragrant.
It had been so long since he had eaten such delicious meat buns.
He ate with a look of satisfaction on his face.
Seeing his mother holding hers without eating, he said, "Mom, what’s wrong? It’ll get cold if you don’t eat."
Mother Jiang swallowed her saliva and handed the meat bun to her son. "Mom can just eat the steamed bun. This meat bun is for you."
Yang Yiyang paid no attention to them. She wanted to see what choice this son of hers would make.
In her view, character was always the most important thing.
Although Jiang Zihao still really wanted to eat the meat bun, he knew the doctor had said his mother was not in good health and needed to eat something nutritious.
"Mom, I have some, you eat it yourself. Besides, if you eat better, you'll recover faster. Maybe you can even leave the hospital a day earlier, and the money saved could buy so many meat buns."
After hearing this, Yang Yiyang thought this fool still had a bit of conscience and was worth saving. If someone didn’t even show filial piety to the mother who gave birth to and raised him, would you dare to be with him?
The answer was obvious.
After speaking, she poured the noodle soup from the lunchbox into the washed cups, giving each of them a small half-cup.
"I asked the kitchen for this noodle soup—it doesn’t cost anything."
Seeing that Yang Yiyang had finished two meat buns, she asked, "Do you still want the steamed bun?"
Yang Yiyang shook her head. The buns at this time were truly large, and the dough wasn’t very leavened, but they were generously filled and very filling.
Such buns would definitely not be eaten in later times—the skin was thick and a bit hard.
But here, everyone prioritized them because they were filling! What good was it if something just tasted good?
Jiang Zihao realized that sometimes he was a little afraid of his wife’s gaze—what was going on?