Zhang Lanhua, who hadn’t slept well all night either, followed along to take a look.
In her hands she carried a freshly caught old hen and a basket of free-range eggs, which she set to the side.
“Momo, it was Auntie’s fault yesterday. I said the wrong things. Take these back with you they’re good for your health.”
Su Mo had originally wanted to lose her temper, but when she saw Zhang Lanhua’s ingratiating expression, she forced herself to swallow her anger.
Lin Yuyi took the bag from her hands and apologized gently.
“Momo, don’t take it to heart with my mom. People of her generation just believe in being frugal and thrifty. Actually, my mom really does care about you.”
“Look at these free-range eggs can you even buy real ones on the market? Even if you can, they’re fake.”
“My mom doesn’t dislike you at all. Otherwise, when she’s alone at home, how could she bear to eat meat?”
Last night, because of her arrival, the table had been full of meat dishes.
Su Mo had received a good upbringing since childhood, and when it came to filial piety, she was very soft-hearted.
With Lin Yuyi’s explanation and change of perspective, more than half of last night’s grievance immediately faded.
Zhang Lanhua even took a large red envelope out of her coat pocket and stuffed it into Su Mo’s hand.
“Momo, Auntie doesn’t know the customs where you’re from, but the customs here still have to be followed, so you must take this.”
“Consider it Auntie apologizing for last night.”
Su Mo couldn’t refuse. She didn’t truly want to break up, so she let Zhang Lanhua put the red envelope into her pocket.
When she returned to Shencheng and fully back to her own home
Her mother, Qin Hui, scolded Su Mo for being inconsiderate while opening Zhang Lanhua’s red envelope.
“You child going to meet Yuyi’s parents and not even telling us. You didn’t bring them anything, did you?”
“And you even dared accept their red envelope. Let’s see how much they gave so we can return one to Yuyi.”
Sitting nearby, Su’s father, Su Zhengshan, had just put down his newspaper and taken off his glasses when he saw the thin stack of one hundred yuan in Qin Hui’s hand
With one extra yuan tucked inside.
That made one hundred and one yuan.
The smile on Qin Hui’s face instantly disappeared. She widened her eyes and flipped through the now-empty envelope.
“Hey wait… this can’t be right.”
“What does the Lin family mean by this?”
“Are they looking down on our Momo? Isn’t this humiliating?”
“Su Zhengshan, come here quickly.”
Su Zhengshan’s face turned cold. After all, he was a respected university professor when had he ever been treated like this?
“Momo, when you went to the Lin family this time, did you do something wrong?”
Qin Hui lightly smacked Su Zhengshan. “Listen to yourself. Your daughter’s been bullied and you’re blaming her? Do you have any sense of responsibility as a father?”
Su Mo herself was completely stunned. She hadn’t expected Zhang Lanhua to give only 101 yuan.
“Mom, you know Yuyi’s family situation. Maybe Auntie didn’t mean it.”
“Maybe it’s just their local custom?”
“Momo, you may be foolish, but I’m not. No custom anywhere works like this.”
Qin Hui had only this one daughter she would not swallow such silent humiliation.
“Besides, when have I ever looked down on their family? But what they did here is simply wrong.”
“Even if they couldn’t give ten thousand, couldn’t they give one thousand?”
“Momo, I’m telling you forget about you and Yuyi.”
“That future mother-in-law of yours is no good. If you marry into that family, you’ll definitely suffer.”
Su Mo had just bottled up a bellyful of grievances at Zhang Lanhua’s place yesterday, and now with Qin Hui nagging like this, she grew impatient.
“Enough, Mom, stop talking!”
“I’ll be living with Yuyi in the future, not with his mother. Why do you have to hold this against him?”
Qin Hui could no longer sit still. Someone had bullied her daughter, and yet her daughter was just accepting it.
“Momo, that boy has completely bewitched you. Is marriage just about two people?”
“Marriage is about two families. If you don’t listen to me now, later you’ll have to swallow broken teeth into your stomach.”
Su Mo covered her ears, unable to listen at all.
“Even if I have to swallow it, I’ll do it willingly. That’s my business.”
“Are you still my daughter, Qin Hui’s daughter? Where’s your backbone!”
“Enough! I don’t want to hear it. Anyway, the day after tomorrow his mom is coming to Shencheng.”
“If you’re unhappy with the red envelope she gave, then talk to her properly when she arrives.”
“Su Mo!”
Qin Hui had always had a quick temper. If Su Zhengshan hadn’t pulled her back, the mother and daughter might have started fighting.
But Qin Hui wasn’t someone who would just let things go. The very next second, she directly told Lin Yuyi about the matter and even asked politely:
“Your family’s customs are really… special.”
Now it was Lin Yuyi’s turn to be stunned. He had clearly given Zhang Lanhua ten thousand yuan so she could present it to Su Mo
To let Su Mo know she was the one-in-ten-thousand daughter-in-law of the Lin family.
Now not only had he offended his girlfriend, but his future mother-in-law was unhappy too.
Lin Yuyi immediately called Zhang Lanhua.
“Mom, where’s the money I gave you?”
On the phone, Zhang Lanhua stammered, unable to explain clearly.
“Son, I did it for your own good. Anyway, Momo is going to marry into our Lin family.”
“Whether that money is given or not doesn’t matter. And that ‘one-in-ten-thousand’ talk of yours is just empty words.”
“Isn’t ‘one in a hundred’ still very good?”
“Mom, you’ve gone too far. How am I supposed to explain this to Momo and her family? Hurry and tell me where did the money go?”
“That money… I can’t explain it clearly. Xiaoqing is coming later to take me to the train station.”
“Wasn’t your ticket for tomorrow? You changed it?”
Zhang Lanhua packed her luggage big and small bags along with homegrown white radishes and freshly made sweet-potato noodles, planning to bring them along.
“Alright, I’m not talking anymore. Xiaoqing is about to arrive.”
Lin Yuyi stared at the disconnected call. Just then, a WeChat message from Su Mo popped up.
It showed a very angry emoji along with a line of text:
“Does your mom have a problem with me?!”
Lin Yuyi had no mood to reply. He took a taxi straight to Su Mo’s apartment complex, only to be stopped downstairs by security.
His phone kept buzzing with messages. Holding the gifts he had just bought, he patiently explained to the guard:
“Brother, I’m really not a bad person. Do bad people bring gifts like this?”
The guard wasn’t convinced. “Then tell me what unit are you going to?”
“1603. I’m going to see my girlfriend.”
“1603, right? Wait here.”
The guard quickly dialed 1603, and soon the call connected to Su Mo’s home.
Qin Hui pressed the answer button. “Hello, who is this?”
“Hello, resident. Do you know this person? He’s been acting suspicious downstairs.”
On the screen appeared Lin Yuyi’s smiling, apologetic face, sweating as he held large bags of gifts.
Qin Hui immediately hung up. “Don’t know him. Might really be a thief.”