"Don't we, a family of several people, need to eat, drink, and relieve ourselves? The crops from the fields are enough to feed us, but what about the food, clothing, and daily necessities of a family? When Dad was beaten into a vegetative state by Dafei and hospitalized, the daily medical expenses were like burning money. My meager salary was simply not enough; my eldest sister paid for everything. She didn't even touch the money Uncle Liang compensated; she gave it directly to you. Apart from the portion you used to settle Dad's hospital and medical expenses when he was discharged, you refused to contribute a single penny to the cost of Dad's subsequent recovery and medication. My eldest sister and I paid for it all. Tell me, where do I have any spare money left?"
Li Wenxiu knew all these things, but Song Qiuxue's words also made sense.
Li Wenxiu asked veiledly, "Your older sister doesn't have a job, yet she has the money to buy fruit seedlings and open a shop. You have a salary, yet you're not as well off as your older sister?"
"What do you mean by that? Are you saying I gave all my salary to my older sister?" Song Baogen asked angrily. "My older sister has been working to support the whole family for ten years and has never complained to us. She even gave me her job. I've been taking advantage of her all along, and now you suspect that I gave all my salary to her?"
"A person without a job, yet with money to buy fruit seedlings and open a shop, anyone would be suspicious!" Li Wenxiu didn't mince words anymore. "You're closest to your eldest sister, who knows if you actually paid for it..."
With a snap, Song Baogen angrily slammed down his chopsticks and raised his hand to hit Li Wenxiu, but was stopped by Song Yinhua.
Seeing that Song Yinhua was blocking Song Baogen, Li Wenxiu dared to shout: "You want to hit me? Go ahead and hit me, it would be best if you hit me until I miscarry. I won't have this child, we'll get a divorce. I'll eat chaff and wild vegetables with you every day. You, a grown man, want to hit me when I'm pregnant?"
"You, you're being unreasonable!" Song Baogen couldn't argue with Li Wenxiu, and when pushed to the limit, he couldn't help but resort to violence.
"Baogen, calm down. Fighting won't solve anything." Seeing that she couldn't restrain her younger brother Baogen, Song Yinhua said something that really hit home: "Baogen, you're becoming more and more like Dad when he was young!"
Song Baogen was stunned.
When my father was young, he had a very fiery temper. He would beat his wife and children if he got angry.
He had secretly vowed since childhood that he would never be like his father, resorting to violence in a moment of anger.
But now that he has become the pillar of the family, he increasingly feels that his temperament is like his father's.
He became the kind of person he hated.
Song Baogen loathed himself for this. He withdrew his hand from hitting his wife and said to Li Wenxiu, "I haven't spent a single penny of my salary on my older sister. She's been supporting me for ten years. Believe it or not! If you want to abort the child and divorce me, I have no objection. I've had enough of this life with you!"
Li Wenxiu never intended to actually get a divorce, let alone abort the child; she was just trying to scare Song Baogen.
"I'll ask for leave from the factory tomorrow and go to the village with you to get a certificate so we can get the divorce certificate."
"I won't get a divorce!" Li Wenxiu panicked. "I've given you your first child, and the second one is coming soon. You want a divorce? No way!"
"You're the one who wants a divorce, and you're the one who doesn't want one. What do you want?"
"I... I'm just worried about you! This house and land belong to our family. Now that the fruit from the land has been sold, our family hasn't received a single penny..."
"Li Wenxiu!" Song Baogen snapped angrily. "I'm warning you, stop coveting my older sister's things all day long!"
"I'm doing all this for this family, so you don't have to work so hard, and so our children can have the money to go to university!"
Song Baogen was about to hit him again in anger, but Song Yinhua stopped him.
“Baogen, Wenxiu is right. From now on, I will pay you rent every year. What do you think?” Song Yinhua asked. “I won’t let you grow your land for nothing.”
Li Wenxiu's eyes lit up, "How much do you give us every year...?"
"Li Wenxiu, shut up!" Song Baogen was furious. "I told you this belongs to my eldest sister, I don't want it!"
“Baogen, listen to me!” Song Yinhua comforted her younger brother. She knew it was hard for Baogen to support his family on his own, and she wanted to help him. Besides, the land did belong to her family, and she couldn’t take advantage of them. “This house and land originally belonged to Mom and Dad and you. It’s only right that I pay you rent every year for planting fruit trees and growing crops on this land. If you don’t accept it, I will feel bad.”
"Sister, I can't just take your money for nothing..."
“Baogen, you didn’t take it for nothing, this is rent,” Song Yinhua retorted. “Or are you saying you don’t want the rent because you want to take the land back?”
"I didn't mean that!" Song Baogen exclaimed anxiously, "I..."
"Then you should accept the rent; that way I'll feel at ease."
After Song Yinhua's repeated insistence, Song Baogen finally agreed.
When discussing the rent, Song Baogen was very resistant. Li Wenxiu spoke up, wanting half of Song Yinhua's annual income from selling fruit. Song Baogen yelled at her for this.
"Two hundred a year then," Song Baogen said, giving a figure.
That two hundred is equivalent to one and a half months' salary for him.
Li Wenxiu was displeased and pulled Song Baogen aside, whispering, "Your eldest sister sold over ten thousand yuan worth of fruit this year..."
"Why didn't you mention that your older sister didn't earn a single penny in the past few years?"
"Doesn't your older sister own a wonton shop? Wonton shops make money too, two hundred is too little for you."
"Li Wenxiu, how can you be so greedy?"
"I'm doing this all for my family!"
The couple started arguing again.
Song Yinhua then spoke up, "Two hundred yuan a month for rent, 2500 yuan a year, what do you think?"
"No, that's too much!" Song Baogen refused.
“I agree!” Li Wenxiu said. “I’ll listen to my eldest sister.”
She originally wanted more, but seeing Song Baogen's attitude, if she didn't agree quickly, she might really end up paying him 200 a year as he said.
Song Yinhua brought out paper and pen and wrote down the agreement. All three of them signed and pressed their fingerprints.
Song Baogen harbored a deep grudge against Li Wenxiu.
Before the marriage, she promised to treat his older sister well with him, but after the marriage, she schemed against him in every way. First, she prevented him from contacting his older sister, saying that his older sister would bring him bad luck. Now, seeing that his older sister is making money by selling fruit, she is eyeing his older sister's money.
The two had a fight as soon as they got home.
-
The next day.
Song Yinhua was working in the vegetable garden, while her daughter Xiaoxiaohua and several black wolfhounds were running around happily.
Tang Youliang and Zhou Qiaoyun, a married couple, came to the door.
The two were very friendly. "Yinhua, we've come to deliver a message to you. Qiuxue is getting married. You're her eldest sister. Although she has reunited with us, she has never forgotten you. She specifically asked us to come and invite you to her wedding."
Song Yinhua thought she had misheard. "Qiu Xue is getting married? She invited me to her wedding?"
“That’s right, Qiu Xue is marrying someone from the provincial capital. The groom’s family has a very powerful background. Qiu Xue called back last night and repeatedly told us to invite you to her wedding. She hasn’t forgotten you.” Zhou Qiaoyun’s face was full of joy. “They say good people are rewarded. Qiu Xue is so kind and grateful. We, as her parents, are very proud. Yin Hua, you must come.”
Song Yinhua discovered that Song Qiuxue was getting married a few years earlier in this life, and that she had made a complete 180-degree turn compared to her previous life by specially inviting her to the wedding.
In the evening, Qiao Guilan and Li Wenxiu, mother-in-law and daughter-in-law, went to ask Tang Youliang and his wife if they had invited her to Qiuxue's wedding. Only then did she learn that Tang Youliang and his wife had not invited her parents and younger brother's family to the wedding.
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