Lin Sufen had always believed that the person who would marry Yi Yang would be her. Unexpectedly, after some sort of falling-out with Xu Feng, Li Tingyun suddenly agreed to marry Yi Yang instead.
The duck that had practically landed in her hands had flown away just like that. Naturally, Lin Sufen was unwilling to accept it, and from then on she constantly mocked and ridiculed Li Tingyun, both openly and indirectly.
As for Li Tingyun, no one knew whether she simply hadn’t understood the insults or just didn’t care. Either way, she rarely reacted to Lin Sufen’s words.
Yi Yang earned a decent salary, and Li Tingyun also had money left behind by her parents. In the village, she could practically be considered wealthy.
Back in the city, Lin Sufen had always lived better than Li Tingyun. Yet after coming to the countryside, Li Tingyun seemed to have stumbled into outrageous luck and ended up living an incredibly comfortable life.
Lin Sufen had secretly envied her for a long time, burning with jealousy.
Then everything suddenly changed. Yi Yang died during a mission.
He left behind three young children crying for food, along with Li Tingyun, a woman with no strength to even truss a chicken. In the future, she probably wouldn’t even have water to drink.
Thinking of this, Lin Sufen secretly felt fortunate. Luckily, she hadn’t been the one to marry Yi Yang back then, or else the widow today would have been her.
She had assumed her sarcastic remark today would once again receive no response.
Unexpectedly, Li Tingyun actually answered.
“Why wouldn’t I be in the mood for a walk?” Li Tingyun asked in return. Unlike the original owner, she had no intention of quietly swallowing insults. With a faint smile, she said, “My children are all by my side. Unlike you, Sufen… you’ve been drinking medicine for three years already, haven’t you? Still no movement in your belly?”
Not having children was Lin Sufen’s fatal weakness.
After Li Tingyun married Yi Yang, Lin Sufen soon afterward married the eldest son of the Zhao family.
Yet three years had passed, and there was still no sign of pregnancy.
At first, her in-laws hadn’t minded much. But as gossip in the village grew louder and louder, her husband’s family became increasingly dissatisfied with her.
On top of that, the Zhao family’s second and third sons had both gotten married too. The women who married into the family after Lin Sufen were already pregnant, and the third daughter-in-law was even expecting her second child. Meanwhile, Lin Sufen’s stomach remained stubbornly silent.
Not only did her parents-in-law look down on her, even her two younger sisters-in-law mocked her openly and secretly.
Her inability to have children had completely become her breaking point.
Lin Sufen never expected that today Li Tingyun wouldn’t simply smile and let the insults pass like before. Her words were sharp and piercing, leaving Lin Sufen almost unable to breathe.
“Li Tingyun!” Lin Sufen glared angrily at her. “What nonsense are you talking about?”
Holding Third Baby upright in her arms, Li Tingyun sneered. “I’m saying, Sufen, not only is your stomach not working, but your ears are having problems too? I’m standing this close and you still couldn’t hear what I said?”
Lin Sufen’s breathing suddenly grew heavy, fury nearly bursting from her eyes.
What was wrong with Li Tingyun today?
Could it be that Yi Yang’s death had stimulated her so badly that she now spoke with thorns in every sentence?
Though still furious that Li Tingyun dared to talk back to her, Lin Sufen thought of what she actually came for and forced down the anger in her chest.
Grinding her teeth, she tossed aside the unpleasantness from moments ago and put on a flattering smile.
“Alright, Ah Yun, don’t be angry. I just spoke too quickly earlier.”
Li Tingyun merely glanced at her indifferently and continued walking forward without saying anything.
Lin Sufen quickly followed behind her and said cheerfully, “Ah Yun, I heard the supply and marketing cooperative in town got a new batch of malted milk essence. I want to buy some, but there’s nothing left at home.”
The original owner had always been soft-hearted. Money she couldn’t bear to spend on herself or even on her children had all been squeezed away by Lin Sufen.
Using the excuse that she was “borrowing and would definitely repay it later,” Lin Sufen had borrowed money from the original owner countless times—but never once paid it back.
Because she heard malted milk essence was highly nutritious, and because she desperately wanted a child, Lin Sufen drank almost one can every two months.
That treatment was practically luxurious, even by city standards.
As for the original owner, she had always found malted milk essence too expensive and had never bought any for herself.
Every single time Lin Sufen bought malted milk essence, the money came from the original owner. Judging from today’s conversation, she clearly intended to get more money again.
The original owner may have agreed.
But Li Tingyun certainly would not.
Without even looking at her, Li Tingyun said lightly, “If you want to buy it, then go buy it. Why are you telling me?”
“Ah, Ah Yun, don’t you know already?” Lin Sufen rubbed her hands together and said, “I don’t have money on me. Unlike you, who’s rich. Don’t I need to borrow from you before I can buy it?”
“If you don’t have money, then don’t drink it. Such an expensive thing—even my children and I have never had it,” Li Tingyun said. Then after a pause, she continued, “Speaking of which, you still haven’t repaid the money you borrowed from me for all that malted milk essence. I’ll give you a few days. Three days from now, you’d better return the money.”
Lin Sufen froze.
She had never expected that not only would Li Tingyun refuse to lend her money, she would even demand repayment.
But the money she earned through work points each year had all been handed over to her mother-in-law. She didn’t have a single cent on her. Where was she supposed to find money to repay her?
“Ah Yun, are you joking?” Lin Sufen stared at her strangely. “You know my difficulties. What am I supposed to use to repay you?”
“You have difficulties, and I don’t?” Li Tingyun raised an eyebrow. “I have three children to raise, and my husband is gone. The person living the hardest life should be me. How do you still have the nerve to borrow money from me?”
Lin Sufen looked utterly disbelieving. “But besides the compensation money, don’t you still have the money your parents left you?”
Li Tingyun turned toward her expressionlessly. “That’s my money. What does it have to do with you how I spend it? In any case, you must repay me in three days. Otherwise, I’ll report you to the Public Security Bureau.”
After saying that, Li Tingyun carried Third Baby and walked away.
Lin Sufen stopped in place. Only after a long moment did she finally shout after her retreating figure from afar:
“Then what about my malted milk essence? I’ll finish the current can tomorrow! If I don’t continue drinking it, my nutrition won’t keep up!”
Hearing the panic in Lin Sufen’s voice, Li Tingyun didn’t even bother turning around. She rolled her eyes dramatically.
Instead of thinking about how to repay the money, Lin Sufen was still counting on squeezing more money out of her to buy malted milk essence.
Why should she care whether someone like that got enough nutrition or not?
Turning a corner, Li Tingyun spotted Eldest Baby and Second Baby standing among a crowd of children, like stars surrounded by admirers. They stood out immediately.
Their clothes were simply far better than those of the surrounding children.
Before she even got close, she heard Eldest Baby’s voice.
“Second Baby and I ate dumplings this morning! The meat inside was so tender—it was really delicious.”
“Mom also gave us sweet water to drink. It smelled good and tasted sweet too.”
The two children vividly described everything, making the surrounding children stare wide-eyed and unconsciously swallow their saliva.
“My mom even said we won’t have to cut pig grass anymore in the future. My mom is so nice!”