Qiao Guilan felt wronged. "What did I say? Why is everything blamed on me? Which family doesn't spend money to get their son married? If you, as the father, weren't so incompetent, would our family be able to afford to spend a girl's salary to raise money for our son's dowry?"
"You old woman, you always bring up the most sensitive topics!" Song Erzhuang was so angry that he picked up a carrying pole and was about to hit Qiao Guilan. "When have I ever been idle? I do housework at home and I also go out to do hard labor to earn money. If I weren't capable, how could I support this whole family?"
When Song Caixing saw her parents arguing, she hid in the room and didn't dare to go out.
No sooner had Song Erzhuang left than Qiao Guilan called Song Caixing out and told her to wash the clothes and do all the housework.
Song Caixing reluctantly fetched water to wash the clothes, and timidly said, "These things used to be done by my eldest sister."
“Your eldest sister has grown too big for her britches; Mom can’t control her anymore.” Qiao Guilan gave Song Yinhua a good scolding, then tidied herself up and prepared to go out.
"Mom, are you going out too?"
"Your Aunt Liu hurt her leg yesterday, so please ask Mom to go over and help her dig up her vegetable garden and sow the seeds."
"Are you going to do chores for someone else again?"
“When did you become so cold-blooded like your older sister? We’re all neighbors from the same village. Someone broke their leg and can’t work, so they asked me to help. How could I not go?” Qiao Guilan gave Song Caixing a few more instructions, told her to finish the farm work at home, and then hurriedly went out to work for someone else.
-
Overnight, the wild peach trees on the back mountain, which had been watered with the spirit spring, were sawed off at the base.
The peaches on the branches have all been picked clean.
The mulberries and other wild fruits nearby had all been picked, and many of the wild mulberries that had fallen to the ground had been trampled underfoot.
This was clearly done on purpose.
Song Yinhua couldn't figure out who did this.
If you want to eat wild fruit, just pick them all; there's no need to cut the fruit tree down to the roots.
Suddenly, voices came from the surroundings.
"It's too sour, we can't eat this! Let's look for something else!"
Song Yinhua turned her head and saw someone not far away looking around with a bag. He picked a wild fruit tree, took a bite, and then quickly spat it out.
"This one is also inedible, it's too astringent, and this peach is smaller than an egg, it looks like it's not edible."
The person speaking noticed Song Yinhua and walked towards her. "Aren't you the one who sold peaches at the market yesterday morning? Where did you pick your peaches?"
As the group approached, they saw the cut-down peach tree and a few peaches that had been bitten a few times and were lying on the ground.
"Yes! It's this peach!"
"Who did this?"
"This morning, Song Hanwen brought a tricycle full of peaches to sell at the market, saying they were all picked from the back mountain. How could the tree have been cut down in just two or three hours?"
The people who were speaking looked at Song Yinhua suspiciously. Song Yinhua spread her hands and said, "How could I, a young lady, cut down such a thick peach tree without a saw?"
Wang Erchui, who was hiding nearby, listened to their conversation and then quietly left.
He rode his old bicycle to the gate of the machinery factory in town.
"Han Zhiyuan? He didn't come to work today," said the old man guarding the gate. "He didn't even ask for leave. Sigh! Given his family situation, he probably had some urgent family matters preventing him from coming."
Wang Erchui rode his broken bicycle to Han Zhiyuan's house again. When he opened the door, he saw two pairs of big eyes staring blankly at him.
Where is your father?
The two little boys were covered in dirt and seemed a bit dazed when they saw people.
"Who is it?" Wang Naiyun came out carrying her granddaughter, who was feeding her formula. "Wang Erchui? What brings you to my house?"
"I've come to find Zhiyuan."
"You're looking for my Zhiyuan? He hasn't come back all night!" Wang Naiyun began to complain incessantly.
She complained about her son's lack of ambition.
He complained about his daughter-in-law's cruelty.
They complained that the family was full of old people, young children, and sick people, making life unbearable.
Wang Erchui scratched his head. Han Zhiyuan wasn't home, hadn't gone to work, and hadn't come home all night.
Did he have a moment of despair and jump into the river?
At this moment, Han Zhiyuan was sleeping with his eyes closed in the arms of his runaway wife, and Chen Wanping deliberately teased him by pointing at his face with her finger.
Han Zhiyuan, who was sleeping like a log, didn't make a sound.
He didn't know how much time had passed when Han Zhiyuan felt a strong itch in his chest. He groggily opened his eyes and met Chen Wanping's face as she approached.
"Stop messing around, let me sleep a little longer." He said, turning over and continuing to sleep.
"You're late!" Chen Wanping leaned on his shoulder, her fingers touching his heart.
"I'm sleepy, stop fooling around..."
You're really late!
"What time is it?" Han Zhiyuan asked groggily.
"It's past nine o'clock."
Han Zhiyuan suddenly woke up, sat up abruptly, glanced at the bright window, and then belatedly remembered that he had ridden more than 20 miles last night to find his runaway wife.
"Why didn't you wake me up sooner? You'll get your pay docked if you miss a day of work!" Han Zhiyuan threw off the blanket and frantically searched for his clothes.
"You don't love me!" Chen Wanping pouted. "Do you have someone else in your heart?"
"My darling, I can't have any other woman in my heart but you..." Han Zhiyuan habitually coaxed his wife, but suddenly remembered that his wife had run away with all his money. "Chen Wanping, how dare you say that I have another woman in my heart? You ran away with all my money, leaving not a single penny, leaving me and my children no way to survive!"
"Why are you bringing this up again?" Chen Wanping was also angry. "We agreed last night that we wouldn't mention this again. I'm doing this all for you and our three children. I don't want your father to squander all the money you've worked so hard to earn."
"He's still my dad!" Han Zhiyuan didn't like his wife treating his father like that. "Have you forgotten that when you married me, my mother was firmly against it and even pretended to be sick and threatened to kill herself? It was my dad who made the decision to let us get married!"
"That's all in the past, why do you keep bringing it up?" Chen Wanping leaned into Han Zhiyuan's arms. "I've thought about what you said last night."
Han Zhiyuan was pleasantly surprised, "You're willing to come home with me?"
"Not this one." Chen Wanping nestled into Han Zhiyuan's arms, hugging his neck and acting coquettishly. "You said you wanted to marry Song Yinhua, and I agreed."
"I didn't say I wanted to marry her. It was my mom who thought she was strong and capable of taking care of people and doing heavy work, and she wanted me to marry her. But my heart only belongs to you, my wife..."
Chen Wanping put her finger to Han Zhiyuan's lips, "You're willing to let such a beautiful wife like me take care of your father's bodily needs? You're willing to let such a beautiful wife like me spend all my time taking care of three children?"
“You gave birth to all three children. My father has my mother to take care of him. Come home with me. Trust me, my family will soon be rich again. We’ll hire two nannies, and you can stay home as a pampered housewife without having to do anything.”
Han Zhiyuan was very confident. He knew what would happen in the next forty years and how to take advantage of the times to make himself rich again.
"You don't love me anymore!" Chen Wanping said petulantly. "If you really loved me, you wouldn't only think about making me suffer with you at home!"
Han Zhiyuan softens whenever Chen Wanping acts coquettishly.
"Then what do you suggest I do?"
“Just listen to your mother and marry Song Yinhua first. Once you have enough money to hire a nanny, I’ll go back and our family will be reunited.”
"Okay, whatever you say!" Han Zhiyuan deliberately let his wife bring it up instead of bringing it up himself, so that she wouldn't blame him for marrying another woman later. "You're the one who told me to marry Song Yinhua, so don't blame me in the future!"
Chen Wanping punched him, and the next second the two were playfully fighting and kissing.
The two were getting intimate when someone suddenly knocked on the door.
"Wanping, come out and eat peaches! Your fifth aunt sent over a lot of peaches, they're big and sweet, come out quickly!"
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com