Chapter 9: It is natural for a woman to serve a man. Lian Po is old...

"What?" Li Tianci turned around and asked hurriedly, "What happened to my dad?"

On weekdays, his father often corrects homework at school and comes back late at night. Sometimes he also tutors a large class of college entrance examination candidates. Those students don’t have time to leave, so they simply sleep in the teacher’s office at school.

As the college entrance examination was approaching, Li Jianye often went to tutoring classes until eight or nine o'clock before returning to the village, so when Li Jianye was not there during dinner just now, the family didn't think much of it.

"Something big happened!" The uncle who came running was out of breath and gasped several times. Li Tianci was so anxious that he kept asking questions.

"Your father was walking on a mountain road tonight and was robbed by a thief! His head was hit! If he hadn't been discovered by passers-by, he would have fainted in the mountains!" shouted the uncle in the village.

Li Tianci cried out in shock, "Ah!" and then hurried back to the Li family to report the news.

Shi Meilan was eating at the table at the time. When she heard this, she slowly raised her face.

That face, as bright as the full moon, was filled with a hint of sarcasm and disdain. He raised his voice and asked, "Little thief? Are there any in our Lijia Village?"

Li Mao, the current village chief of Lijia Village, has a hot temper and is a relative of the old Li family. Li Jianye has to call Li Mao "Big Brother".

Li Mao was a man of few talents except that he was ruthless. When several villages were fighting for land, the old man of the Li family retired due to a leg injury. Li Mao took up a hoe and went in, fighting his way to the position of village chief one hoe at a time.

Such a person later took control of the largest piece of land in Lijia Village and intimidated the surrounding areas.

Although we are now living in a society ruled by law, the word "rule of law" is too far away from them. They were born in the mountains and grew up by the streams, and have developed their own set of rural rules. Village rules take care of places where the law cannot reach, and village chiefs come every day to places where the police cannot come. The more backward the place is, the more they advocate violence.

There were indeed petty thieves who committed crimes on the run. It was not safe for them in those days, but Li Mao was ruthless. He would beat people if he caught them, and would also ask the families of these petty thieves to bring money to redeem them, otherwise he would keep them locked up and would not return the money even if they starved to death. Over time, those petty thieves did not dare to come to Lijia Village.

It would be better for those petty thieves to be caught by Li Mao than by the town police.

"Yes! A little thief beat up my dad! I don't know where he came from!" Li Tianci panicked: "Mom, let's go find Dad!"

Li Tianfu also stood up hurriedly.

Only Shi Meilan calmly put down her bowl and chopsticks and said slowly, "Go ahead."

The three of them, two in a hurry and one in a slow pace, went out among the crowd.

As soon as the three of them left the house, the door of Mr. Li's house next door opened.

Zhao Erjie, who had just been to the town with Shi Meilan today and returned early, heard the noise and came out with her bowl to watch the fun. When she heard that Li Jianye was robbed by a petty thief, she ran back into the house crying out loud. In less than ten seconds, Old Mrs. Li followed her out in a hurry.

Old Mrs. Li, Li Jianye's biological mother and the mother-in-law of Shi Meilan and Zhao Erjie, is even more difficult to deal with than Zhao Erjie.

Zhao Erjie's problem is that she likes to brag, take advantage of others, be lazy, always order others to do work, and gossip. Occasionally she will show a beastly face, but most of the time she is also a human being. Shi Meilan can understand why this person turned against her, and also understands where her bottom line is.

But Shi Meilan couldn't understand what Old Mrs. Li was thinking.

Old Mrs. Li has a particularly strong possessiveness towards her two sons. Since her eldest son goes out to drive a sports car and is not at home for more than ten days a month, all her possessiveness falls on her youngest son, Li Jianye.

It is said that before Li Jianye got married, Mrs. Li always slept with Li Jianye at night.

Later, when Shi Meilan just got married to Li Jianye, as soon as the two of them entered the house at night, Mrs. Li would find an excuse to come in, knocking every ten minutes or so, and even listening to the noise inside from outside the door. If the noise inside was a little louder, Mrs. Li would cough outside. In the early morning, before Shi Meilan and Li Jianye woke up, Mrs. Li would push the door open and come in, saying that she wanted to call Li Jianye out for dinner.

This behavior made Shi Meilan feel incredible.

She didn't understand what her mother-in-law was trying to do!

Did she break the law by sleeping with her own husband?

In daily life, Old Lady Li's requirements for Shi Meilan were quite harsh. She wanted Shi Meilan to be a good daughter-in-law and serve her son well in every way. She acted like a mother-in-law and tried every means to find fault with Shi Meilan. When she saw Shi Meilan being intimate with her son, she felt uncomfortable all over and jealousy was about to surge out of her stomach. Therefore, she disliked Shi Meilan more and more.

She loves her son so much that she can't bear to give him to another woman! She must find a perfect and obedient woman to take care of her son, so that she can feel at ease!

How could Shi Meilan stand this? She and Li Jianye were husband and wife, not master and servant. It was enough for her to do the laundry and cooking as a woman should do. Why should she be constantly accommodating to Li Jianye?

A newlywed couple, Li Jianye helping her with chores and taking care of her, isn't that normal? Li Jianye is willing to do it, so why are you, as a mother, finding fault with him?

So when she first got married, she and Old Lady Li often quarreled in those few years. Whenever the two women started fighting, Li Jianye ran to school and never came back.

Originally, the relationship between Mrs. Li and Zhao Erjie, the mother-in-law and daughter-in-law, was not very good. But after Shi Meilan got married, the mother-in-law and daughter-in-law suddenly had a common person they hated, and they became inseparable all of a sudden. They often joined forces to cause trouble for Shi Meilan.

What kind of personality did Shi Meilan have? She was the kind of person who, if bullied once, would lie awake most of the night, seeking revenge ten times over. So, they fought day and night, and only after the family split up did the Li family finally have a peaceful life.

Here's a funny story - when Shi Meilan just moved out with Li Jianye, Old Lady Li would often step on bricks from the old man's house to look into the yard of the second man's house.

She couldn't bear to leave her son!

Now, when Mrs. Li heard that her son was in trouble, she rushed out of the door. She looked thin, but when she ran, she seemed to be wrapped in a gust of wind, howling as she ran: "My son, my son!"

There was only one main road in the village. Shi Meilan was walking in front with her two sons. Old Mrs. Li caught up with them from behind. When she saw Shi Meilan, her eyes were immediately filled with anger. She screamed "Wow" and pounced on her, trying to grab Shi Meilan's hair.

"Where were you when my son was robbed by a petty thief? You were at home eating meat! My son worked so hard to earn money, and you spent it all! You have no conscience!"

Old Mrs. Li has always been like this. No matter what happens, as long as something happens to her son, it must be Shi Meilan's fault.

Don't be fooled by the fact that Old Lady Li usually looks thin and old. Whenever she talks to people, she cries and complains that her two daughters-in-law treat her badly, as if she is a poor old lady. But at this moment, she is as agile as a monkey and rushes to Shi Meilan's head!

Lian Po is old, but he can still eat a lot!

The people around only had time to let out a startled gasp and wanted to stop it, but there was no time at all.

At this moment, Shi Meilan, who was walking in front, seemed to have suddenly grown eyes on the back of her head, and she suddenly took a step to the side nimbly.

This move was a good one. The old lady Li who rushed over actually cried out "Ouch" and hit her head on the ground. She was in so much pain that she couldn't get up for a long time. Zhao Erjie, Li Tianci and Li Tianfu were so frightened that they came up to help her. Suddenly, a series of "Mom", "Grandma" and "Grandma" were heard all around.

"Mom, what are you doing?" Shi Meilan turned around in surprise, her eyes widening dramatically as she said to Old Lady Li, "Are you blaming me for Li Jianye getting robbed? Why don't you blame yourself? If you hadn't given birth to him, he wouldn't have to suffer like this."

Old Mrs. Li was in pain and angry. Her thin back was hunched and her skin and flesh were sagging, as if she had no flesh on her body. Her old face was wrinkled and twisted, and she couldn't speak at all because of the fall.

Li Tianci sighed helplessly and said, "Mom, it's too late now, stop making sarcastic remarks. Let's go find Dad—Dad has been robbed by a little thief, aren't you worried?"

Li Tianci is just like his father. Once the women in the Li family start fighting, he acts like a coward, only concerned with diverting the fire and calming things down.

Shi Meilan sneered in her heart.

At this time in her previous life, she was really anxious, so much so that when the old woman rushed over to grab her hair, she didn't even bother to fight. After pulling the person down, she continued to go to the back mountain.

At that time, Li Jianye said that he planned to take the school tuition money to the town to buy books for the children, but the two hundred yuan was stolen by a petty thief.

In her previous life, Shi Meilan trusted Li Jianye so much that she didn't think much about it. When Li Jianye was robbed, she was only worried about him and thinking about how to repay the money. But after her rebirth, she realized that the two hundred yuan didn't fall into the hands of a petty thief, but into Widow Wang's grocery store!

What happened today was nothing more than a show staged by Li Jianye himself. He couldn't pay the money back, so he had to find another way to clear himself of the charges.

But Shi Meilan didn't expose her. She said, "Let's go and see your dad."

If she doesn't walk faster, she will miss this good show. Li Jianye is acting as a man who loses money, and she has to play the role of a good wife who loves her husband.

A group of people followed him to the back mountain.

When they arrived at the back mountain, it was already dark and there were already more than a dozen people gathered there.

The person who discovered Li Jianye was a villager from Lijia Village. On the way back to the village, he found a person lying on the mountain road. He looked down and saw, oh, isn’t this Principal Li?

Principal Li is so miserable!

His usually neat white shirt was now covered in dust and dirt, and had a large tear in it. His gold-rimmed glasses were lost, and no one knew where they had fallen. There was a large wound on his forehead, which looked like it had been caused by a stone. He fell to the ground without making any sound, which scared the villagers.

Those who don’t know would think that Li Jianye is dead!

The villager screamed and turned around to call a group of people.

The villagers of Lijia Village hurriedly took torches and used them to light the way - they also had flashlights, but the batteries were too expensive and the rural people were reluctant to use them. Most of them took torches into the back mountain. The torches illuminated the road in the mountains and also illuminated Li Jianye on the ground.

Li Jianye had obviously just woken up and was sitting on the ground, covering his injured head.

When the others saw Li Jianye, they all squatted around him and didn't touch him. The first person who ran over was naturally Li Jianye's biological mother, Old Mrs. Li.

When Mrs. Li saw her son lying on the ground, she cried out, "Ah!" and pounced on Li Jianye. She raised her head and started howling, "Son! My son! What happened to you?"

The others followed behind. Old Mrs. Li held Li Jianye in her arms, while Li Tianci and Li Tianfu helped Li Jianye up first, while Shi Meilan stood aside.

After most of the villagers had arrived, Li Jianye finally spoke: "It was just a petty thief. He wore a towel around his face. I didn't see his face and his voice was unfamiliar to me. He held a knife against me and stole my school tuition."

As he spoke, Li Jianye raised his head and subconsciously looked around.

Not only the villagers came, but his family members also came, but Widow Wang did not come.

Li Jianye heaved a sigh of relief and continued to act out the scene. He said, "I wonder where this little thief came from."

The people around were in an uproar.

"This little thief is incredibly bold! He'll rob today, rape tomorrow, and kill the day after tomorrow!"

"That's two hundred dollars! We have to find this guy!"

Some said they should go find the village chief, some said they should search every house, and some asked Li Jianye if he had seen what the little thief looked like.

Li Jianye shook his head vaguely and said, "I didn't see his face. It was dark, and I couldn't see his tall figure clearly. He came up and hit me with a brick. I was so confused that I really can't recognize who he was."

Of course he couldn't recognize her because there was no such person.

He just wanted to gloss over the matter vaguely and clear himself of the blame.

After he finished speaking, he raised his head with a guilty look, looked at Shi Meilan beside him and said, "Wife, I lost my money. What should I do?"

The crowd was silent for a moment.

I lost two hundred dollars. How can I fill this huge hole?

When money was mentioned, everyone's eyes flashed with calculation, even Mrs. Li, who had been crying just now, stopped crying - her son was her biological son, she really felt sorry for him, but... her son had started a family now, and it was not her turn to take care of him.

Old Madam Li turned to look at Shi Meilan and said confidently, "Think of a solution quickly!"

Her son, of course, has to be served by his daughter-in-law! It's only natural for a woman to serve a man!

"Hubby, don't worry, as long as you are okay." Unexpectedly, Shi Meilan was not angry at all. She did not scold Li Jianye for losing the money, and she did not quarrel with old lady Li when she spoke in a bad tone.

She raised her thick eyebrows on her round face and spoke in a strong voice: "We will pay the money back together. I will go to my parents' house to borrow some money tomorrow. I will definitely not delay the students' work!"

The people around exclaimed "Wow" and praised it repeatedly.

Look at the good wife Li Jianye married. She even paid off a debt of 200 yuan with her. This is what a good wife is!

Even though Shi Meilan is usually mean to her husband, she is really reliable at critical moments!

The stone in Li Jianye's heart suddenly fell to the ground.

He had been waiting for so long and finally heard these words!

He finally tied Shi Meilan to the debt!