Chapter 35: I'm Just Too Full

Liu Honghe was not someone who would swallow his anger and get beaten in vain, so he quickly packed up his things and moved into the factory.

The food in the cafeteria was much better than at home, so Liu Honghe kept 8 yuan for himself and only paid 10 yuan to his family.

Liu Laohei really felt like he had raised an ungrateful person, and he cursed, "What did you say when you took over my job? Why are you denying it so quickly?"

"You told me to get out. Besides, I'm not staying at home right now. I'll give you the rest except for the meal money. What else do you want from me?"

In the past, Liu Honghe had no idea how many times he had cheated for work, and this time he was very skilled at cheating.

"I don't have any fancy food or drinks, and the 8 yuan is just enough to fill my stomach. If you go to the accountant to collect my salary, I will ask her to advance next month's food expenses. Anyway, I won't starve myself."

8 yuan is the normal food and drink money for a month, which is really not much.

If Liu Honghe told others that he only left eight yuan for meals in the cafeteria and gave the rest to his family, others would still praise him for being filial.

But the difference between his salary and Liu Laohei's was too big, and Liu Laohei couldn't accept that he only gave 10 yuan to his family. In the past, Liu Laohei had to give at least 40 yuan of his 45 yuan salary to his family.

But Liu Honghe, no matter how hard he tried, he had been beaten and scolded, but he just wouldn't change his ways, and Liu Laohei couldn't do anything about him.

When people in the yard mentioned Liu Honghe, Liu Laohei could only sigh, "Honghe was corrupted by outsiders. Hu Meili and I both had to work before, so we didn't teach him well."

As luck would have it, these words reached Hu Meili's ears again.

Hu Meili immediately became dissatisfied and deliberately said loudly: "Fortunately, I am still an office worker. If I were just a cook at home, Liu Laohei would blame me for not teaching the child well."

Liu Laohei quickly explained: "I didn't mean that."

"That's what you mean! It's like everyone knows your little tricks."

Hu Meili said, "Before, I just gave Honghe two sticks, but you were afraid that I would mistreat your son, so you came over to persuade me. Why didn't I see you persuade me when I scolded Xiaonan and beat Xiaoxi?"

"You're mistaken. This is not the case."

"I beat my own child and you just stood there and did nothing. When I beat your son, you were afraid that he would suffer. It's strange that you can teach him well this way. Don't blame your son for growing up crooked. He is just like you. He looks honest on the surface, but he is actually full of calculations."

Being a stepmother is difficult, and Liu Laohei's attitude is so strong that Hu Meili doesn't bother to teach his children. Don't you know how to teach your own children?

She couldn't stand Liu Laohei's little tricks, so she spoke out directly to put him in a bad position.

If they hadn't divorced, the blame for not raising the child well would definitely be on Hu Meili. But the key point is that she was divorced, and the women in the yard stood on her side.

"Don't be angry, we all know it's not your fault."

"If anyone wants to blame someone, it's only Liu Laohei. He's a grown man, but he doesn't have any sense of purpose. A good family was broken up by going to the countryside."

"That's right. They don't do things decisively. They've been arguing about work for so long that all the affection between father and son and brothers has been worn away."

"If the family didn't have the means, they shouldn't have insisted on it. They should have just decided to send Honghe to the countryside, and when the time came, they would have signed him up and sent him away. They gave the child hope for half a year, and it didn't work out. You can't blame them for making a fuss."

Most families do this. Resources are limited, and jobs are either given to the eldest son or the youngest son. It's decided early on, so there's no point in making a fuss.

However, Hu Meili and Liu Laohei had not divorced yet. Hu Meili insisted on asking Lin Xiangnan to stay in the city, and Liu Laohei did not want his child to suffer, so he indulged Liu Honghe's fuss.

Who knew it would end up like this.

But no one knew about the Liu family's affairs, they could only see the final result.

"So, the one who can't teach the child is actually Liu Laohei, and it has nothing to do with beauty."

Hu Meili agreed with this conclusion and said proudly, "I've only heard him talk about it for a while. I'll have to move out after the new house is built. Liu Laohei can't blame me even if he wants to."

"You are so lucky. Your parents even invited you to this great event."

"But if you build a house, you won't get any housing when the factory distributes it in the future."

Hu Meili curled her lips, "Originally, such a good thing would not be my turn."

Although she spent money to build a new house, Hu Meili only cared about showing off her new house and did not reveal her wealth at all. No matter who asked her, she said that the money for building the house was borrowed and she cried about being poor.

After all the building materials were purchased, on the day of digging the foundation, the entire Hu family came out. Even the second uncle's family and the third uncle's family from the countryside all came to help.

Without hiring any outsiders, Lin Xiangnan only had more than 20 strong laborers from his own relatives and friends, and the speed of building the house was faster than he had imagined.

Several uncles and cousins ​​of the Hu family contributed both money and manpower. In order to build the house as soon as possible, they even took leave from the factory and took turns sleeping at the construction site at night to guard the bricks and stones.

In comparison, Lin Xiangnan and her two daughters didn't put in much effort.

So Hu Meili had to reluctantly order: "Don't you have a way to buy those good things? Go buy a few pounds of meat and a few pounds of rice, so that everyone can have a good lunch today."

Lin Xiangnan stretched out his hand and said, "Give me ten dollars."

She kept her promise and started construction on the new house. She gave the remaining five hundred to Hu Meili.

Hu Meili had received a huge sum of money from Lin Xiangnan. Even though she knew that Lin Xiangnan still had a lot of money, she was too embarrassed to exploit him, so she simply took out a 10-yuan bill from her pocket and handed it to Lin Xiangnan.

"Be careful, don't get caught."

"Don't worry, I don't know how many times I've bought this. I'm buying things, not selling them, so what can go wrong?"

Lin Xiangnan took the money and went for a walk outside. When he came out of the woods by the river, he carried a small backpack with ten kilograms of meat, ten kilograms of rice, and a few kilograms of potatoes and vermicelli.

She knew Hu Meili's cooking skills, and Hu Meili couldn't make dishes that were too difficult, so she could only stew them in one pot.

After seeing the things, Hu Meili nodded with satisfaction, and then stretched out her hand to Lin Xiangnan, "Where's the remaining money?"

“I’ve spent all my money.”

"Bullshit. It's not right to bully your mother. It's not like I haven't bought food without a ticket before."

Lin Xiangnan looked up at the sky and pretended not to hear.

Hu Meili cursed: "I am really impressed. You have a lot of private money, and you still deduct money from your mother."

"Nonsense. I gave you all my money. Where did this private money come from?"

Hu Meili glanced at her, half believing and half doubting, "Okay, stop pretending. Go to your grandma's house and ask her not to cook lunch today. I'll do it. Your grandma has been delivering meals these past few days. Today is Sunday, so it's time for us to show our appreciation."

Hu Meili’s cooking skills are average, but good meat has its own aroma. Once fried, the fragrance fills the whole yard, making the kids next door cry with envy.

As soon as the child started crying, an older sister who knew the child well came over.

"You have so much meat in this pot."

"Not much, more than 20 people. I counted and each person only has five pieces of meat, just for the taste of meat."

"Then give me some. My little one is making a fuss."

Hu Meili refused without a second thought, "Not this time, maybe next time. This pot of meat is for the people who work. If there is no share for me, they won't have enough to share if one piece is missing."

The other party only asked for the piece of meat because there was so much of it. Who knew that she wouldn't even get a piece? She didn't dare to complain and left in disappointment.

Hu Meili has lived in this yard for more than ten years, and her deterrent power is sufficient. Except for the first person who came to ask with a fluke mentality, no one else dared to come here, even the children who were craving for meat did not dare to do so for fear of being scolded.

While Hu Meili was stewing meat, Liu Hongying, who was not far away, could only make tortillas while smelling the meat, and she was extremely tormented.

But this was not the most uncomfortable thing. The most uncomfortable thing was Liu Laohei's nagging in her ears.

"We're running out of toothpaste and soap at home. Buying these two will cost you more than 70 cents. You also need to buy toilet paper. All together, you don't even have a dollar left."

There are only two people in the Liu family who earn money now. Not only are their salaries not high, but Liu Honghe is also uncooperative and has directly hidden in the factory, which makes life at home even more difficult.

"I'm afraid I can't save 20 yuan to pay off my debt this month." Liu Laohei sighed.

Liu Hongying could only comfort him, "Life is a little hard this year. My two younger brothers have jobs, and life will only get better in the future."

Liu Laohei had had enough of the corn paste, so he couldn't help but say again: "Think again about the young man I mentioned to you last time. He's actually a really good guy."

"Dad! That's a second marriage." Liu Hongying bit her lip and said aggrievedly: "Anyway, I don't like her. I won't marry her."

"Now that you're married, you don't have to eat corn paste every meal. You've been eating it for almost half a month, and you're still not full."

Liu Hongying said calmly, "It's good enough to have enough to eat. When I was in the countryside, I couldn't even eat corn paste if I wanted to."

"You won't eat anything." Liu Laohei glared at her and scolded her, "I shouldn't have let you eat too much."