Chapter 36 Withholding Rations

The Liu family's conditions were not bad before, and having one more person to feed was no big deal, so Liu Laohei just cursed and didn't really take any measures to drive the person away.

But things at home are different now than before, so although Liu Hongying appears calm on the outside, she is actually very panicked inside.

It just so happened that at this time, Lin Xiangnan was out every day, and even Hu Meili was not in a hurry to introduce a girl to Lin Xiangnan, so Liu Hongying had no place to poach him.

Finally, she couldn't hold it in any longer and approached Hu Meili to start a conversation. "Xiao Nan has graduated for a while now. Is he just hanging around like this? Not working or getting married?"

"Why rush? I'll introduce Xiaonan to someone better after we move into the new house."

Hu Meili looked proud. Lin Xiangnan would have his own house in the future, and he would definitely be able to find a better son-in-law than Zhao Qi.

"Why are you asking me this?"

Liu Hongying nodded somewhat disappointedly and said perfunctorily: "I'm just asking casually."

Hu Meili squinted her eyes and looked her up and down. "You are just asking casually. It's obvious that you are asking for the New Year's greetings to chickens. You have no good intentions. Are you trying to steal our Xiaonan's girl again?"

"How is that possible? That incident with Zhao Qi was truly an accident." Liu Hongying fled in panic.

People like her who have things on their mind are most afraid of people like Hu Meili who speak their mind and can expose the truth in just a few words.

Anyway, Hu Meili didn't believe her explanation. She rolled her eyes and had an idea in her mind.

As soon as Lin Xiangnan returned home in the evening, Hu Meili pulled her aside and whispered to her, "Find a man... see how Liu Hongying reacts... if she really dares to do something bad, then trick her..."

"No. There's no need to deal with a man I don't like just for her. It's troublesome." Lin Xiangnan asked curiously: "Why? Did you find out today that Liu Hongying is holding it in?"

"What do you mean? Has she been wanting to trick you for a long time?"

"You just realized it. She's been staring at me lately."

With Hu Meili, a person who doesn't value privacy, at home, Lin Xiangnan didn't dare to leave many things at home. Every time he pretended to take them out of his pocket or bag, but in fact he was taking things out of the space.

Every time when she took something, Lin Xiangnan felt most guilty and would habitually look around. Nine times out of ten, her eyes would meet Liu Hongying's.

She is not innocent, but there is definitely something wrong with Liu Hongying.

Knowing what Liu Hongying was planning, Hu Meili clenched her fists and said, "I'll go find her."

Lin Xiangnan quickly pulled the man back.

"Why are you looking for her? We're moving out soon, and she won't be able to do anything to stop us. And you don't need to do anything, Liu Laohei will be able to deal with her well enough."

"That's true. The Liu family is short of money right now. Hongying is already in her twenties, but she doesn't give any money and she even eats and lives at home. It's strange that Liu Laohei can tolerate her."

Hu Meili had always disliked her and would deliberately curse her whenever she got the chance.

Liu Laohei didn't curse at anyone. Instead, he defeated the enemy with one move and cut off half of Liu Hongying's food rations.

Liu Hongying didn't want to get married because her family lived too well. So he tried to make Liu Hongying suffer a little at home, just go hungry for two meals.

Recently, the Liu family's food has been the worst in the courtyard. Now it has become even worse. No one is surprised and they can only secretly sigh that "the Liu family is so cruel to themselves."

In fact, Liu Laohei was not cruel to himself, so he could still eat his fill. The only one who was hungry was Liu Hongying.

After two days of starvation, Liu Laohei asked, "Have you figured it out? This is the financial situation at home. If you don't get married, your life will be even more difficult. Anyway, the family can't afford to support an idler like you."

Liu Hongying gritted her teeth and asked, "Dad, can't you wait a little longer? There must be other better men. Does it have to be the one who's been married for the second time? I've asked around, he beats his wife, otherwise he wouldn't have given such a high betrothal gift."

"He promised me. He's changed."

Liu Laohei said impatiently: "With your current reputation, there are no better men waiting for you. A decent unmarried guy who has never even held a girl's hand would not dare to date someone like you who has been hugged by someone. Only those who are married twice would not despise you."

Beating your wife is not something you can change just by saying so. Liu Hongying said with a bitter face, "Anyway, this won't work. Dad, I'll marry you if you can find a better one for me."

"Change? That's easy to say. My family has introduced you to so many girls, but you didn't like any of them. Anyway, I'm too lazy to waste my energy on this anymore." Liu Laohei threatened cruelly, "You have to choose between getting married or starving to death at home. You can't choose to die rather than get married, right?"

Their family is a working-class family, not a rural one.

Liu Laohei didn't dare to tie up his daughter and marry her off, otherwise Liu Hongying would make a fuss and the people from the street office, the leaders of the steel plant, and the female comrades from the Women's Federation would all come to trouble him, so he could only use these roundabout means.

But Liu Hongying still didn't give in.

As long as there was still a little hope, she didn't want to compromise. Even if Liu Laohei withheld her food rations, she could still hold on for a while.

Because she was under too much pressure, Liu Hongying no longer just focused on Lin Xiangnan, but began to turn her attention to the young people of marriageable age on this street.

But the incident between her and the Zhao family was quite a big deal. Except for those little hooligans who had been pestering her before, most of them had no time to hide from her, which made her so angry that she cried secretly several times.

But Liu Hongying also looks down on those whose family conditions are not good.

Even so, Liu Hongying's taste is still picky. When Hu Meili saw her, she couldn't help but think of Lin Xiangnan, who was even more picky than Liu Hongying.

Lin Xiangnan looked down upon several of the potential sons-in-law that Hu Meili had her eyes on.

It can be said that these two girls were both raised by Hu Meili. Now seeing that they are both so picky, Hu Meili is a little doubtful whether she really does not know how to teach her children, and whether her Xiaonan will be like Liu Hongying, who has been unable to find a suitable person after one or two years of searching.

Thinking of this, Hu Meili suddenly became nervous.

She could withstand the frequent talks from her leader, but all in all, they only had one year, and Lin Xiangnan couldn't keep picking on her like this.

"Your cousin has a blind date tomorrow afternoon, you can go with her to broaden your horizons."

Lin Xiangnan refused, "I won't go. Mom, are you kidding me? I've been on a date so many times, do I still need to learn this kind of experience?"

"I mean, I want you to see how normal people date."

"Mom, you are being sarcastic to me! Am I not a normal person?" Lin Xiangnan was dissatisfied. "If there is something wrong with the other party, can you blame me?"

"You've ruined so many blind dates. Even if we take a step back, you're still wrong."

Seeing that Hu Meili had already started to make trouble, Lin Xiangnan gritted his teeth and said, "Okay, let's go. I want to see what's different about my cousin's blind date."