Chapter 26 Apology

Despite the burning pain on her face, Shen Hongmei forced a smile: "Mother, I was wrong. I will never interfere in my little sister's marriage again, and I will not accept any gifts from others!"

Zhang Xiuying, however, had no intention of letting her off easily, and said coldly, "You just agreed to my request, and now you've caused me such a huge mess. How can I trust you?"

Shen Hongmei panicked, knelt down with a thud, and slapped herself twice across the face: "Mother, I really know I was wrong!"

Zhang Xiuying remained unmoved, coldly snorted, and turned her head away.

Shen Hongmei could only look to Liu Zhixia for help: "Little sister... it's my fault, I will never dare to do it again."

Liu Zhixia didn't even look at her, and said directly to Liu Xiangyang, "Brother, this is a matter between you two, and I respect your choice."

After saying that, she picked up the kitchen knife, turned around, and went back to the kitchen.

Liu Xiangyang stood in the courtyard for a long time before finally forcing himself to speak to Zhang Xiuying: "Mother... Hongmei knows she was wrong, let's give her another chance. If she does it again... we'll move out ourselves!"

Zhang Xiuying nodded: "Okay, for Da Bao's sake, I respect your choice. But we can't just let it go with an apology; she needs to learn her lesson."

“Mother, please tell us, we will listen!” Liu Xiangyang said quickly.

“This time, she almost ruined my daughter’s reputation. Here’s what we’ll do: you take out five yuan to apologize to Zhixia, and we’ll call it even.”

"Five yuan?!" Shen Hongmei exclaimed in surprise.

Zhang Xiuying looked at her mockingly: "What? You usually skimp on the profits from buying groceries, you must have made a lot from that chicken alone, right? Now you're reluctant to give me a little bit back to apologize to my daughter?"

"We're willing! We're willing!" Liu Xiangyang quickly pressed his wife down. "We'll get the money right now! Thank you, Mother!"

He was afraid that Shen Hongmei would say something wrong again, so he dragged her back into the house.

Zhang Xiuying sneered at their retreating figures, "You're lucky you didn't vomit it all out."

Soon, Shen Hongmei reluctantly took out five yuan and handed it to Liu Zhixia: "Little sister, it's my fault, I've really learned my lesson."

Liu Zhixia accepted the money: "Okay, I hope you keep your word."

Zhang Xiuying then softened her tone and added, "Zhixia can keep this money for herself; she doesn't need to hand it over."

Shen Hongmei watched as the five yuan went into Liu Zhixia's pocket, her eyes welling up with tears of grievance, but she didn't dare to say a word.

We had just finished dealing with this when another group of people arrived outside the yard.

"What are you here for?" Zhang Xiuying didn't give the Lu family members a friendly look as soon as she saw their faces.

Liu Shouren also went over and stopped them: "Captain Lu, what are you trying to do now? We've already broken off the engagement, so don't try anything with my daughter."

Lu Jianping forced a fawning smile: "Father-in-law... no, Brother Liu, we've come to apologize!"

"Get out! We won't accept this!" Zhang Xiuying waved her hand dismissively. "Don't bring anything with you, lest you go around spreading rumors!"

Li Xuemei quickly said, "This time is different! We invited Sister-in-law Zhou to be our witness. We are here to sincerely apologize, and it has nothing to do with the wedding!"

At this moment, Aunt Zhou came out from the side, pulled the Liu couple aside, and said in a troubled voice, "Liu family, I'm here to mediate today. Lu Jianping is our relative, and my son Xiao Kai is about to be promoted to battalion commander. At this critical moment, this family trouble has happened, and he won't pass the political review. All his years of hard work will be in vain!"

Upon hearing this, Zhang Xiuying was also somewhat moved: "Xiao Kai is indeed a good child..."

“Okay. We’ll accept the things.” Liu Zhixia came out of the kitchen and said calmly, “Mom, Brother Kai has helped us a lot. Comrade Shen, whom he brought back last time, also saved my life. We haven’t repaid that kindness yet. This time, for Brother Kai’s sake, let’s forgive them this time.”

The Lu Jianping family breathed a sigh of relief.

“However…” Liu Zhixia changed the subject.

Lu Jianping's heart jumped again: "But what?"

“Verbal promises won’t do; it has to be written down in black and white.” Liu Zhixia looked at him sharply. “Write down clearly why you’re apologizing to us, what gifts you’re giving us, and finally, have the whole family put their fingerprints on it.”

"Is it really necessary?" Li Xuemei muttered irritably.

Aunt Zhou immediately glared at her: "Is it really necessary? Of course it is! It's just writing a character, what's so difficult about it? Do you want Zhixia to report it to the commune? Your husband still has to write the report!"

“Okay! I’ll write it! I’ll write it right now!” Lu Jianping hurriedly ran back to get paper and pen.

Lu Jianping apologized to Liu Zhixia in the name of the head of the Lu family.

The list of the chicken, two pieces of meat, a basket of eggs, and two pounds of flour that were delivered was also written down.

He then stamped his handprint on it and respectfully handed it to Liu Zhixia.

Liu Zhixia was illiterate, so she handed the book to Liu Xuejun to check.

After Liu Xuejun finished his inspection, he nodded to her, and she said with satisfaction, "Alright, Captain Lu, I'll let you off this time for Aunt Zhou's sake. Go back and discipline your son properly, and don't mess with me again. Next time, even Aunt Zhou won't be able to do anything."

Lu Jianping nodded repeatedly, this time he really had no temper at all.

Aunt Zhou finally felt relieved. She gratefully took Liu Zhixia's hand and thanked her repeatedly, "Thank you, my dear. You were wronged this time. I feel bad too. Come to my house for a meal after the busy farming season!"

"It's alright, you're too kind. Anyway, they did offer quite a generous apology this time. And they should have learned their lesson this time."

Liu Zhixia glanced at them, and the Lu family members immediately shrank back, feeling uneasy.

Aunt Zhou grew increasingly fond of Liu Zhixia, observing her composed yet assertive demeanor and how she seemed to have the Lu family firmly under her thumb. This girl could stand up for herself even when wronged; how wonderful it would be if she could become her daughter-in-law…

After the Lu family members left, Shen Hongmei happily looked at the things in the yard.

"Dad, Mom, can we have an extra meal today?"

Zhang Xiuying didn't even glance at her. She directly gathered all the apologies together and said to Liu Zhixia, "Daughter, these are all for you. Keep them safe."

Then, in front of everyone, she made a major decision:

"Tomorrow you and Xuejun take these things to town to sell and get money. From now on, all the grocery shopping will be handled by the two of you."

Upon hearing this, Shen Hongmei's smile instantly froze.

"Mother, have all of these... been sold?" she asked in a low voice, unwilling to give up.

Zhang Xiuying then gave her a cold glance: "This is the Lu family's apology to my daughter, what's it to you?"

With just one sentence, all of Shen Hongmei's hopes were dashed. She muttered a few words indignantly, but dared not say anything more. She could only watch helplessly as those things were moved into Liu Zhixia's room one by one.

Liu Xiangyang glared at his wife warningly, then turned to his sister-in-law and said solemnly, "Come on, let's go inside. I'll tell you about the ins and outs of shopping in town."