Chapter 4 Chapter 4 But this time, Xia Li was not disgusted...

Xia Li still wanted to be closer to her son. Although she only needed to discuss the matter with Jiang Dong's mother before leaving, and it was not fashionable to ask for children's opinions these days, if the child was close to her, then her journey would be easier.

So, looking at the little figure in the mirror who thought he was hiding well, Charlie smiled slyly.

She opened the cabinet with familiarity, pulled out a set of clean sheets, picked up the bed brush from the side, swept the bed thoroughly, and then spread the clean sheets on the mattress.

"Oh! I'm so tired! I'm so thirsty. Is there anyone who can bring me a glass of water?" Xia Li shouted exaggeratedly while lying on the bed.

She lay in bed for a long time and didn't hear any movement. She wondered if the child didn't hear her voice or just didn't want to pay attention to her.

So I decided not to just stare at the roof stupidly and got up to see what was going on.

As soon as I stood up, I found that Jiang Zai was quietly carrying a teacup of water and slowly moving it into the house. Their eyes happened to meet.

The child panicked in an instant, staring at Charlie, and stopped walking into the house. He turned around and ran with the cup in his hand, not caring that the water spilled all over the floor, and disappeared in a flash.

Charlie sat motionless on the edge of the bed, somewhat disappointed. Well, she couldn't drink the water brought by her own son today.

The noodles Jiang Dong's mother made at noon were only enough for her and her grandson, and she didn't prepare any meal for Xia Li at all.

However, Charlie didn't care. She didn't eat much and she had just eaten in the morning, so she wasn't hungry at the moment.

She knew Jiang Dong's mother's way of driving people away, but she couldn't leave until her mission was complete. Not to mention how much suffering she would have endured all the way from the county town, if Jiang Dong's mother waited for her to leave and took Jiang Zai to visit relatives and never came back, then she would be completely helpless.

While eating, Xia Li watched from the side, holding the teacup her son found for her, drinking the boiled water in it sip by sip, looking relaxed as if she had always been the owner of the place.

Jiang Zai, who was eating at the table, seemed a little absent-minded today. He stopped to look at the woman sitting against the wall, who was drinking water. For a long time, he didn't finish much of the noodles in his bowl.

Jiang Dong's mother couldn't bear to watch it anymore and reminded him, "Eat well."

Jiang Erdong and Ma Lijuan took their child back to his grandmother's house today. They had dinner there and came back in the afternoon.

Just after entering the village, the couple rode their bicycles with their child and hadn't reached home yet when they heard someone they knew calling out to Ma Lijuan: "Lijuan, hurry back. There's something wrong at your home."

Ma Lijuan asked Jiang Erdong to stop the car and asked curiously, "What's wrong with my family?"

The man spoke quickly: "Your sister-in-law is back, go back and see her!"

When Ma Lijuan heard this, she didn't care whether what she said was true or not, and hurriedly asked Jiang Erdong to ride his bike quickly and go back to check.

Arriving at the door, Ma Lijuan jumped out of the car without even waiting for Jiang Erdong to park it. She left her child with Jiang Erdong and ran into the yard.

As soon as she entered the yard, Ma Lijuan took a closer look. As expected, she recognized the figure even if it turned into ashes. It was her natural enemy, her sister-in-law - Xia Li.

This woman abandoned her husband and children and ran away two or three years ago. Why is she back today? It must be something bad.

"Oh, isn't this my sister-in-law! It's been a long time since we last met. What brings you back today?" Ma Lijuan was smiling widely. If one hadn't heard what she said, one would have thought that the two of them were close sisters with such enthusiasm.

As soon as Charlie heard the voice of her defeated opponent, she knew that she wanted to commit adultery in her hands again.

She turned around with the cup in hand, her red lips curled up in a sarcastic smile, "Hey, Lijuan is back. Mom said you went back to your parents' home, right? So, did you take Erdong's money back to your mom for safekeeping this time?"

She had overheard this incident earlier, when she happened to overhear Jiang Erdong and Ma Lijuan arguing. She'd thought her sister-in-law was a complete idiot. They'd already had a child, and yet she couldn't tell the difference. Taking her husband's money wasn't just her own money, was it? She took it, but what about giving it to your mother for safekeeping? Was she out of her mind, or had she been kicked by a donkey?

The two sisters-in-law were completely different. Xia Li was the clever one, while Ma Lijuan was the one who appeared clever but was actually quite simple-minded. Their only similarity was that they both had bad mothers.

At that time, they heard the two people arguing so loudly that Jiang Erdong almost hit Ma Lijuan. After all, that was his hard-earned money. If he gave it to Ma Lijuan's mother, he didn't know when he would get it back. They both thought that no one was home at the time, but who knew that she had heard it.

Later, when I quarreled with Ma Lijuan, I never used it. I was ready to threaten her at the critical moment and use a big move. I didn't expect that after not seeing her for so long, I would use it as soon as I saw her, and it was a decisive move.

Ma Lijuan never expected that Xia Li would know about this. She was startled and looked back quickly, just in time to see Jiang Erdong glaring at her. He was pushing a cart with the child Mingming and entering the gate.

It's over. Jiang Erdong and Ma Lijuan have been treating this matter coldly, not saying anything if they can, and avoiding it if they can. After all, it is a scandal.

Ma Lijuan had just gotten some money back from her mother, and all her sweet talk had yielded little. She'd felt guilty for the past few years, always giving in to Jiang Erdong's temper. When Xia Li brought up this matter, which had been deliberately glossed over, it was clear that Jiang Erdong's temper hadn't been good lately.

Ma Lijuan's face wrinkled. Jiang Erdong ignored her and only greeted Xia Li, "Sister-in-law."

Charlie also nodded and asked casually, "Are you back?" as a response.

"Yeah." Jiang Erdong replied.

Then he pushed the car under the window of their east room, went into the house and never came out again.

Ma Lijuan lost the first battle and suffered heavy losses.

Sometimes, Xia Li really doubted whether Jiang Erdong was a child of the Jiang family. Jiang Dong and his mother were both good people, and Xia Li could not lie against her conscience. Although Jiang Dong's father died before she got married, it was said that he was a very virtuous person in the village when he was alive.

Forget about her and Ma Lijuan; they were outsiders in this family, without roots, and couldn't compare to their good people. However, Jiang Erdong, a native of this family, seemed completely out of place. He wasn't close to either Jiang Dong's mother or Jiang Dong himself; he wasn't cold, but he definitely wasn't affectionate either. Before they got married, his flaws were fine, but after they got married, he and Ma Lijuan were like a wolf and a hyena, a perfect match.

In the afternoon, Jiang Dong's mother still treated Xia Li like air, ignoring her completely. Jiang Zai also didn't get too close to her, still observing her from a distance, the kind of person who would retreat three feet if you got too close.

I don’t know what the couple in the east room were doing in the room. They didn’t show up the whole afternoon.

Charlie could sit still at first, but as the sun gradually set, she couldn't help but think: Do I have to stay back today?

However, it seemed like a solution. First, she had booked a hotel in the county town for several days at once, so she didn't have to worry about being checked out. The only things she had in her hotel room were a few pieces of clothing, so if they got lost, they would be lost. Second, she had her own room at home, so she didn't have to worry about accommodation, and she could find more opportunities to soften Jiang Dong's mother's attitude.

Time is money. She needs to go back to Guangcheng early because she has other things to do.

Thinking of this, Xia Li was no longer anxious. Taking advantage of this time, she searched everywhere in her and Jiang Dong's room. Unexpectedly, she saw that Jiang Dong had hidden some money in a secret compartment of the cabinet. She counted it and there were about 1,600 or 1,700 yuan.

It seemed Jiang Dong was doing okay, having saved a little money, at least enough for emergencies. If she remembered correctly, when she was still in this family, Ma Lijuan had boasted that Jiang Erdong could earn 88 yuan a month.

Xia Li shook the bills in her hand. Although she could earn this much in the first two or three months, who would complain about having too much money? Moreover, she would be raising the child alone in the future. As the child's father, Jiang Dong would probably be locked up for several years, so he had to contribute something.

Anyway, the money was hidden by him. He can't get it out, and no one else can get it. It's better to give it to his wife and children.

So, she picked up her bag from the bed, opened it, and stuffed the wad of money in. However, when she was about to zip it up, Xia Li thought again, forget it, if he comes out at that time, he can't be without any money, after all, a husband and wife are bound by love for a hundred days, so Xia Li counted out a few more bills and put them back.

She was so soft-hearted that she shook her head.

Worried that she had missed something, Charlie returned to the cabinet and continued rummaging inside.

"Eh? What's this?" She raised her delicately drawn eyebrows, took it out and took a look, her expression of disgust instantly becoming unconcealable.

But this time, Charlie wasn't disgusted with anyone else, but with herself.

At the beginning, her mother took the high betrothal gift from Jiang Dong and insisted that she marry him. She was very reluctant, so she didn't smile during the wedding photos, not to mention that she was made up to look so ugly.

At that time, he was almost crying because of how ugly he looked, but Jiang Dong didn't know if his eyes were blocked by eye boogers or what, but when people asked him if the bride was pretty, he said she was very beautiful.

That was one of the rare embarrassing moments for Charlie, and she wished everyone could go blind.

Unfortunately, as a bride, she was restricted in her mobility and was mentally shaken, and was forced to take many photos at the wedding. One night after the wedding, when Jiang Dong excitedly said he wanted to show her something, Xia Li thought he was going to give her a surprise, but it turned out to be a huge shock.

The moment Xia Li saw those ugly photos, she wanted to poke her eyes out. She wanted to tear them all off immediately when Jiang Dong wasn't paying attention, but Jiang Dong reacted faster and snatched them away with the size and physical strength advantage between men and women.

Afterwards, Xia Li cried in anger, and only after Jiang Dong coaxed her by saying that he would burn it in a few days and ensure that no one would see it in the future did Xia Li give up.

Who knew that Jiang Dong would actually dare to lie to her! Xia Li was so angry that her teeth itched, thinking, Jiang Dong, I will tear it up and burn it right now, so that you can see it, hide it, and dare you to lie to me again!

She had just placed her finger in the middle of a photo.

"Xia Li, what are you doing over there in the closet?" Jiang Dong's mother suddenly appeared at the door with a serious expression, looking at Xia Li like a thief breaking into her house.

Xia Li was startled and hurriedly grabbed the photo and stuffed it deep into the mezzanine. Then she poked her head out from behind the open cabinet door and replied with a smile, "Mom, Jiang Dong's cabinet is a bit messy. I can't stand it. Please tidy it up."

"Oh? Are you that diligent?" Jiang Dong's mother didn't believe it.

"Come out quickly, I have something to tell you." She said this and walked out of the west room.

There was no choice but for Charlie to close the cabinet door and go out to see what was going on.