Liang Dong was surprised, "You knew? You knew, and yet you still recognized a thief as your mother?"
What does it mean to take a thief as your mother? Although he didn't understand the meaning of the idiom, the word "thief" made Sanwa frown. He pulled Ning Weiguo's hand and said, "Grandpa, I don't like them."
Liang Dong's nose twisted in anger as he pointed at Ning Weiguo and said, "You call him grandpa? Then what am I?"
People in the north usually call them grandma and grandpa, while people in the south call them grandpa and grandma.
Strictly speaking, Liang Dong, the uncle who adopted Sanwa's biological mother, is nominally his grandfather, or grandpa.
"You're a stranger," Sanwa said crisply. He tilted his head and looked closely at Liang Dong's face, confirming that he had never seen him before. "Yes, a stranger."
Liang Dong was almost angry to death. The eldest and third children were not getting along well, and the second girl was just a girl, so he didn't want to bother with her.
The original plan to play the emotional card and ask Chen Lie to give them some money for the sake of the three children seems to have failed.
Bai Xiaofen took a deep breath and looked at Chen Lie. "Are you really going to sever ties with us? And have the eldest, second, and third children recognize this woman as their mother, and those two old people as their grandparents?"
Chen Lie said expressionlessly, "Then you think too highly of me. I can't influence the decision of the three kids. Whether they recognize you or not, I have to ask them."
Upon hearing this, Bai Xiaofen forced a smile and looked at the three little ones, "Big Boy, Second Girl, Third Boy, I am your grandmother. We are related by blood, and blood is thicker than water."
Seeing the three little ones still indifferent, Liang Dong rolled his eyes. Since he couldn't elevate himself, he decided to belittle others. He pointed at Ning Weiguo and Sun Aiju and said, "They have no blood relationship with you at all, so how could they truly love you? Their kindness to you now is all fake, just sugarcoated bullets. We are your real family."
Ning Tang clenched his fists tightly, really wanting to kick these two shameless people out.
If possible, she really didn't want Da Wa and the other three to face these two disgusting and hypocritical relatives at such a young age.
Tear off their hypocritical mask of family affection, and underneath is a face of shameless greed.
She took a deep breath, suppressing her anger. "You said you were the grandparents of Da Wa and his three children. So, may I ask you two, after all these years, have you ever visited them once?"
Liang Dong said awkwardly, "We? We? Don't we just have no time?"
"No time?" Ning Tang said, "Oh, even if you have to work, you must have time during holidays, right? Let me calculate, how many holidays are there in a year? Spring Festival, Lantern Festival, Qingming Festival, May Day..."
Big Boy replied, "National Day."
As if competing with the eldest child, Erniu and Sanwa named two festivals in quick succession: "Mid-Autumn Festival, Dragon Boat Festival."
Every time they mentioned a festival, Liang Dong and Bai Xiaofen lowered their heads a little.
"I can't even count them, and this is a year," Ning Tang said. "It only takes three days to get here by train from Shanghai. I'll count it as seven days for you to go there and back. Aren't you my grandparents? How can you not spare seven days?"
Liang Dong and Bai Xiaofen grunted and couldn't utter a word, a blush flashing across their faces.
Ning Tang continued, "Okay, I assume you're all busy with work and don't have any time. If you really can't spare any time, then you should at least send a letter, right?"
She dug out the letters from Liang Dong and Bai Xiaofen from the cabinet and threw them on the table. "After all these years, they only sent this one letter. It didn't ask a single thing about Da Wa and the other two. It didn't ask if they've grown taller, or how their grades are, or if they're eating well, or if they have enough money. It's all just asking for money, money, money."
She sneered, "Is this what they call blood is thicker than water, grandfather and grandmother?"
Ning Tang suddenly thought of a possibility, "You guys, don't you know what grade Da Wa, Er Niu, and San Wa are in now?"
Seeing Liang Dong and Bai Xiaofen looking embarrassed, she cursed in her heart, took a deep breath, and told herself not to be angry and not to argue with them. "The eldest is in the sixth grade this year and will be in junior high school next year. The second girl is in the fifth grade this year, and the third is in the third grade this year. Remember?" The last four words were emphasized one by one.
Bai Xiaofen muttered disapprovingly, "What grade we're in has nothing to do with us."
They didn't even know what grade Liang Ying was in elementary school, so how could they possibly remember Da Wa and the other three now?
Ning Weiguo was furious. "It's none of your business? You don't even know how old your grandchildren are or what grade they are in. Are you still human?"
Liang Dong curled his lips, "What does this have to do with you, fake?"
Scolding Ning Weiguo was definitely touching Ning Tang's sore spot. "You said my parents were fake, so may I ask, what have you two real ones done for Da Wa, Er Niu, and San Wa over the years?"
Liang Dong opened his mouth slightly, his lips moved a few times, but he couldn't utter a word, his mind went blank.
Seeing him like that, Ning Tang smiled and patted the three children, "You go and tell him."
The eldest child said, "Grandma and Grandpa give us red envelopes of New Year's money every year, write us letters, and send us delicious food."
Even if they couldn't come to Hailang Island, or Ning Tang and Shen Lie couldn't take the three little ones back to Shangang Village to celebrate the New Year due to military arrangements, Ning Weiguo and Sun Aiju would still send red envelopes every year.
Erniu said crisply, "Grandma can braid my hair and knit a little flower hat for me." She blinked her big eyes and looked at Bai Xiaofen, "Fake grandma, can you braid my hair and knit a little flower hat for me?"
Before Bai Xiaofen could answer, Erniu shook her head and said, "You don't know. You don't even know what grade I'm in."
Sun Aiju had been in Hailang Island for less than half a month, but she had already knitted a pair of woolen gloves and two pairs of woolen socks for Da Wa and the other three. Otherwise, Ning Tang would have stopped her, saying that the winter in Hailang Island was not that cold, and she also wanted to prepare cotton shoes and sweaters for the three little ones.
Bai Xiaofen hesitated, "Even if I've never braided your hair or knitted you a woolen hat, I'm still your blood aunt."
Anyway, if you ask them what they have done for the three little ones, they can't say a single word, but when it comes to blood relationship, they can come up with a lot of ideas.
"Tsk." Chen Lie suddenly laughed. It was a sudden laugh, but it didn't feel awkward at all. He said coldly, "Just tell me, how much do you want this time?"
Since the relationship had already been torn apart, Liang Dong didn't bother to hide it anymore. He held up four fingers and said, "Four hundred." He quickly added another finger and said, "No, five hundred."
Chen Lie is now the head of a regiment. His length of service increases year by year, and his salary will only increase. The military benefits are getting better year by year. He is also a navy soldier, and he can receive sea subsidies every time he goes to sea. He must have earned a lot of money.
Thinking of this, Liang Dong put down his middle three fingers and said, "Five hundred isn't enough. I need six hundred."
Before Shen Lie could say anything, he interrupted, "Don't say your family is broke." He pointed at the washing machine and electric fan in the corner, "How can you afford these appliances?"
Bai Xiaofen quickly responded, "If you don't want to pay, you can use these electrical appliances as compensation."
Ruijie is grown up, it's time for him to get married and start a family. Girls in the city have to go back to Shen's house and bring back the washing machine, electric fan, bicycle and radio. Otherwise, they can get a wife!
Ning Tang was almost laughing out of anger. It's true that a horse doesn't know how long its face is, and a cow doesn't know how curved its horns are.
They? If you ask them to pay money, they will give money. If you ask them to use electrical appliances as collateral, they will use electrical appliances as collateral?
These two people have such big faces.
Seeing that Chen Lie didn't speak, Liang Dong stared at him and added, "My daughter Liang Ying gave birth to three children for you."
Bai Xiaofen continued, "And they have two sons and a daughter. Listen carefully, two sons, two!"
Ning Tang sneered at this, "You guys also said that Liang Ying gave birth to three children for Chen Lie. If you don't know, you might think it was you two who gave birth to three children for Chen Lie."
Bai Xiaofen glared at her. "You have no right to speak, no? You're just a hen laying eggs."
After talking for a while, there were no other children in the house, and no baby crying was heard. Bai Xiaofen roughly guessed that Ning Tang probably had no children, and there were only three children in the family: Da Wa, Er Niu, and San Wa.
It is very likely that Chen Lie will only have these three children in his lifetime.
Thinking of this, Liang Dong and Bai Xiaofen felt more confident in asking for money.
Liang Dong said, "Don't waste your words on her." He looked at Chen Lie and said, "For the sake of the child, you have to give us 700 yuan."
In just a short while, another hundred yuan was added, and the amount increased from six hundred yuan to seven hundred yuan.
"For the sake of the children?" Chen Lie laughed. "Or maybe for the sake of Da Wa and the other two, don't even think about coming into the house. If I see you on the street, I'll give you three big slaps in the face."
Chen Lie is tall and strong, and his words are very intimidating.
The skinny Liang Dong couldn't help but shudder, but for the sake of money, he mustered up his courage and said, "I swear, this is the last time we'll come to ask for money. For the sake of the children, give us 700 yuan, and I promise I'll never come to you again."
Seven hundred yuan? He didn't even want to give me seven cents.
"You want money, right?" Ning Tang said.
Bai Xiaofen's eyes lit up, "Yes."
"Why should I give it to you?" Ning Tang said, "Don't even mention it for the sake of the child. Da Wa and the others won't even acknowledge you."
Bai Xiaofen opened her mouth to retort, but Ning Tang immediately said, "Have you ever bought a piece of clothing or a bag of snacks for the eldest, second, and third daughters in these past few years? You want to play the family card? Fine, but first make up for what you've owed for so many years."
The Liang family is so poor that they can barely make ends meet. They even borrowed money for the ticket to Hailang Island.
Besides, the purpose of their coming here was to ask for money. It was absolutely not in line with Liang Dong and Bai Xiaofen's style to lose money before getting it.
Bai Xiaofen turned her head away. Ning Tang was a sharp talker, so she couldn't win over him. She was about to try to pry Shen Lie away from her boyfriend. "Shen Lie, my daughter gave birth to three children for you. Three! She died because of exhaustion from giving birth to children for you. Two sons and one daughter. You need to pay 300 yuan for each son, and no more for the daughter, just 100 yuan. That's 700 yuan in total. Just tell me whether you will give it or not."
Liang Ying died of illness. In the month since she passed away, her face was haggard, her cheeks were deeply sunken, and her wrists were as thin as sticks. Three children gathered around her bed, but she ignored any of them and kept muttering why Liang Dong and Bai Xiaofen hadn't come to see her yet.
She received one letter after another from Shen Lie, but until Liang Ying closed her eyes, she still had not waited for her adoptive parents, second uncle, and second aunt to come.
"Give it to me." Chen Lie said expressionlessly, then suddenly cursed, "Give it to me!"
When Liang Dong and Bai Xiaofen heard Chen Lie say that, a glint of joy flashed in their eyes, but they were frightened by the sudden swear words Chen Lie burst out, and their faces turned pale with fear.
Chen Lie pointed at the ground and said, "You guys said it yourself. Liang Ying gave birth to three children for me. If she wants money, okay? You guys can ask her to come up to me and ask for it. Don't even mention 700 yuan. I'll give her 7,000 yuan."
No matter how capable Liang Dong and Bai Xiaofen are, they cannot bring the dead back to life.
Bai Xiaofen said, "You, you are just making up stories!"
"Oh, didn't you say that Liang Ying risked her life to give birth to three children for me? Then I should give the seven hundred yuan to her instead of you." Shen Lie said.
Ning Tang nodded. "In a few days, I'll convert these seven hundred yuan into paper money and burn it for her." He said to Liang Dong and Bai Xiaofen, "You guys want money? You can." Pointing to the ground, he said, "Go downstairs and ask Liang Ying for it. Whether she gives it to you or not is entirely up to her."
What do you mean by going down to Liang Ying to ask for it? Isn't it just a disguised way of cursing them? Go to hell!
Liang Dong's face turned pale at first, then quickly turned red. He pointed at Ning Tang and couldn't utter a word.
Ning Tang snorted. Not to mention that she didn't respect her elders, Liang Dong and Bai Xiaofen's actions showed that they were not worthy of being called elders. It would not be an exaggeration to call them a pair of scumbags.
Chen Lie glanced at the sky. It was already midday. His stomach was growling with hunger. He didn't have the energy to continue arguing with these two shameless people. He said to them, "You two should leave."
Liang Dong and Bai Xiaofen were about to sit down on the ground shamelessly when Chen Lie suddenly stood up. "If you don't leave, I'll call for help. I'm the regiment commander now, and the troops have assigned guards."
Liang Dong and Bai Xiaofen had never seen Shen Lie's guard Xiao Zhao, but that didn't stop them from picturing a strong young man in their minds.
Bai Xiaofen said stubbornly, "If you don't give us money, we won't acknowledge Da Wa and his family, and they won't have grandparents anymore."
Chen Lie smiled, "If you don't want to recognize them, then don't recognize them. Don't even mention that you don't want to recognize them. They don't want to recognize you either." He asked the three little ones, "Do you recognize this grandpa and grandma?"
The three kids looked at each other and said in unison, "I don't recognize you." There wasn't even a rise or fall in their tone.
Sanwa also said, "We don't have grandparents, but we do have grandma and grandpa."
Liang Dong and Bai Xiaofen, these two blood relatives, never appeared in the early years of Da Wa and his friends' lives. To the three children, they were strangers.
How should they react to strangers, or strangers who don't like them? No reaction at all.
Even if it was revealed that they were just here to ask for money under the guise of recognizing their relationship, the three little ones would not feel a ripple in their hearts.
Because I don’t care, I don’t pay attention. Because it doesn’t matter, I am indifferent.
Erniu snuggled into Sun Aiju's arms. Seeing Sun Aiju looking at her, she tilted her little face up and smiled at Sun Aiju, revealing her white teeth.
God gave her a pair of grandparents who despised her and didn't like her, but also gave her a pair of grandparents who liked her and loved her.
In fact, God is very fair.
Da Wa and the others? Three, but they are Liang Dong and Bai Xiaofen’s last trump card.
Seeing that the last trump card had been "taken away", the two were at their wit's end.
Liang Dong used his last trick, "You guys, aren't you afraid that I will ruin the reputation of Da Wa and the other two, saying that they are unfilial and don't support the elderly?"
Ning Tang almost laughed out loud, "Then you underestimate us too much? How much is face worth?"
If she really cared about her reputation, she would have gone to work and given birth to ten or eight children for Chen Lie.
Ning Tang paused. "If you dare to do that, I'll use the paper money I exchanged for the seven hundred yuan and burn it in front of your house. Then the neighbors will ask about it, haha."
Chen Lie added, "Just say you wanted it. Raising a daughter and having three children will earn you 700 yuan. Oh, more than 700 yuan. Add in the money Liang Ying used to subsidize you, and the 200 yuan you asked for at the funeral, and you'll definitely make 1500 yuan. Then let the neighbors judge for themselves and see if you think this 1500 yuan is too much to bear."
Liang Dong and Bai Xiaofen's faces turned pale. If Chen Lie and Ning Tang really did this, they would lose face as a couple! Or would they have to stay in the courtyard?
Liang Dong insisted, "You... you wouldn't dare."
He bet on Chen Lie and Ning Tang's upbringing; they shouldn't be able to burn paper money at someone else's doorstep.
Ning Tang smiled, "I dare not. Why shouldn't I dare?" She said, "I forgot to tell you, I don't have a job, so I'm not afraid of you reporting this to my workplace. I have plenty of time to waste with you. Seven hundred yuan should be enough to burn a lot of paper money. If I can't burn it all in one day, I can burn it for seven days, fifteen days, a month. It will eventually be burned."
"By then, the whole building will be filled with white smoke, and someone will definitely ask questions." She slapped her lips, "I'm not a good person. If I say something unpleasant, don't blame me."
Bai Xiaofen was furious. She never thought that there was someone in the world who was more shameless than her. She was so angry that she was shaking and pointed at Ning Tang, unable to utter a word.
Chen Lie said coldly, "If you guys don't leave now, I'm really going to call for help."
He stood up suddenly, startling Liang Dong and Bai Xiaofen. They quickly stood up, picked up their bags and left.
Ning Tang stood at the door and watched for a while. When he saw that they were no longer on the path, he went into the house and said, "Finally they left."
Chen Lie glanced out the window and sighed, "They left this time, but they're two shameless people. Maybe they'll come back again next time."
Ning Tang smiled and said, "Come if you want." She said, "I was complaining that they were moving too fast and I didn't use my broom magic."
What she just said to Liang Dong and Bai Xiaofen was the truth, not a single word was false.
She can really burn paper money.
Not to mention that Liang Dong and Bai Xiaofen came back to ask for money again, maybe Ning Tang was one step faster than them and went to their house to burn paper money in advance.
As for whether it will happen? There will be outsiders who will talk about it. Whoever dares to talk about it, she will go to his house and ask that person to pay the 700 yuan that Liang Dong and Bai Xiaofen asked for.
Liang Dong and Bai Xiaofen walked for a while, and the more they thought about it, the angrier they became.
Bai Xiaofen said, "Are we going to let them go so easily? That's 700 yuan, and we didn't get a penny." She also wasted the money for the round-trip ticket.
Liang Dong snorted coldly, "No? If you are capable, go ask that couple for money, and try to win over Da Wa, Er Niu, and San Wa."
Chen Lie and Ning Tang are both more talkative than the other, while Da Wa and the other three are simply unyielding.
They refused to even call them grandpa or grandma. No, Da Wa did call them that once, but it was to mock them when he apologized to Da Hu.
Bai Xiaofen curled her lips. She was just talking. When it comes to talking skills, ten of her couldn't beat Ning Tang.
Liang Dong said, "It has come to this, we both can't return empty-handed."
Bai Xiaofen was stunned: "What do you mean?"
Liang Dong glanced at her and said, "Have you forgotten? When we first arrived at Hailang Island, didn't you say you wanted to pick some coconuts and fruits to take back? I think that's a good idea."
Fruits are very valuable in the Shanghai market. Apples cost 50 cents per pound, while oranges and pears are a little cheaper, at 20 cents, and they are supplied with fruit coupons.
Normally Liang Dong and Bai Xiaofen were reluctant to buy them. Only during the Chinese New Year and other festivals would Bai Xiaofen buy a bag of the cheapest oranges. However, all of them went into Liang Ruijie's stomach, and the two of them were reluctant to eat even a single bite.
Hailang Island is different because the climate here is good and fruits grow well. Not to mention apples, oranges and pears, even the rare jackfruits, mangoes and lychees are not valuable at all.
Especially the mango trees, which are everywhere.
When Liang Ying was still alive, she often sent fruits to Liang Dong and Bai Xiaofen.
At that time, the Liang family had no shortage of fruits to eat, nor did they have a shortage of fruits to entertain guests, so everyone who came and went had face.
The two suddenly remembered Liang Ying's kindness, looked at each other, and saw regret in each other's eyes.
Bai Xiaofen said, "Just wait and see. Shen Lie's hard times are still ahead. He married someone like that? A fierce second wife. And Da Wa and the others? San You? A stepmother with no morals and no ethics. Sooner or later, the Shen family will fall into ruin."
Liang Dong nodded, agreed with Bai Xiaofen's statement, and agreed with it deeply.
The two chatted for a few words and prepared to start picking coconuts.
Compared with fruits, coconuts are obviously more rare. After all, there are fruits for sale in Shanghai, but coconuts are extremely rare in Shanghai because of the underdeveloped transportation industry.
Liang Dong had everything planned out. He would pick a bag of fruit, four or five coconuts, and take them back to sell on the black market, claiming they were a kind of fruit from a mysterious island. He would definitely be able to fetch a high price.
Thinking of this, a trace of greed flashed across his eyes.
The money from selling fruits and coconuts may not make up for their heartache of not being able to get 700 yuan, but at least it can help them pay for the train tickets.
August is the season when coconuts ripen.
Liang Dong and Bai Xiaofen stood under the coconut tree, looking up at the golden coconuts hidden among the green coconut leaves. They were moved but also troubled.
Bai Xiaofen asked, "Boss, how do we pick these coconuts?"
Liang Dong glared and said, "You ask me, who should I ask? Like this? You help me keep an eye on it and see if anyone comes. I'll climb up and pick them."
"Will it work?" Bai Xiaofen asked worriedly. After all, these coconut trees didn't look very short, and Liang Dong was thin and weak, so how could he climb a tree?
"Stop talking nonsense and hurry up." Liang Dong said, "If not? Hurry up, someone is coming."
After saying that, Liang Dong tied his long clothes into a knot, picked a relatively short coconut tree, and climbed up using his hands and feet, with his butt sticking out, in a very unsightly posture.
Bai Xiaofen nervously peeked under the coconut tree.
It was noon and there were not many people on the road, but she was still afraid that someone would catch her and Liang Dong "stealing" coconuts. Wouldn't it be fun to get caught?
What you fear will come true. Just when Bai Xiaofen's heart was stretched to its limit, a voice suddenly rang out in her ears, "Hey, you guys? What are you doing?"
This sound frightened Bai Xiaofen so much that she lost three of her seven souls.
Liang Dong was so scared that he fell off the coconut tree and landed on his butt on the ground.
The two men screamed in unison, "Comrade! We didn't mean to do it. Considering that this is our first offense, please forgive us!"
After saying this, he ran away without waiting for the response of the fishermen who called out to him.
Nonsense, if you run away too late, you will be detained and sent to the police station.
These days, the punishment for theft is particularly severe. In the past, the perpetrators would be paraded through the streets.
Watching the two men's backs disappear into tiny black dots in a matter of moments, the fisherman was completely bewildered and muttered, "Why are they running so fast?"
He saw that Liang Dong and Bai Xiaofen were strangers and probably didn't know that coconuts on the island could be picked casually. Liang Dong looked clumsy, so he called them and just wanted to ask if they needed help.
I didn't expect these two people to run so fast, which made the enthusiasm of the fishermen go to waste.
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