Chapter 197 With the Reform and Opening Up, whose family's life...?
Tang Mingmei couldn't quite describe how she felt.
The praise I craved so much in my past life has finally come true, but it seems like that's all there is to it.
Aside from being a little surprised at first, I don't seem to have any other feelings.
One of the biggest reasons she felt so resentful in her previous life was because she was her parents' only daughter.
From childhood to adulthood, she can't remember how many times people, upon learning that she was their only daughter, would say with great regret, "What a pity, she's a daughter."
It's as if the Tang family is so pitiful to have such a daughter like her.
She wanted to prove to others that having a daughter was no worse than having a son. That's probably how her competitive spirit developed unconsciously.
Unfortunately, the more he tried to prove himself, the more frustrated he became, which distorted his mindset.
If you can't beat others, then compete with your sisters who also have the surname Tang.
But it turns out that even if you really do outperform others, it's really just like that.
Tang Mingmei couldn't help but find it amusing.
The neighbors finally noticed Tang Mingmei returning from outside and greeted her warmly.
"Mingmei's back! Taking her daughter shopping?"
Tang Mingmei smiled and nodded: "Yes, it's been a long time since I've been back, so I'm just strolling around with the kids."
"Li Xin has grown taller and more beautiful since I last saw her in more than half a year."
What was originally meant as a flattering remark, but then he called out to Li Xin, which was a complete waste of breath.
Li Hong was not happy and reminded the other party, "The child will take our Mingmei's surname."
The neighbor then realized what had happened and hurriedly said, "Oh right, right, right, look at my memory, I forgot that the child has changed his surname again."
He outwardly admitted his mistake, but inwardly he couldn't help but mutter: "This is truly going against the natural order! Since ancient times, children have always taken their father's surname, yet they've changed their child's surname to Tang. They've only made a little money in business, and they dare to disregard ethics!"
Despite her grumbling, knowing that the other person was doing well in Shenzhen, she still didn't want to say anything harsh that would strain the relationship.
Her child also has the idea of going to Shenzhen to work, maybe he'll need their help in the future.
After exchanging a few pleasantries, Tang Mingmei and her child went upstairs first.
Li Hong continued to stay in the courtyard chatting with her neighbors, listening to the gossip that had circulated in the tenement building during her absence for the past six months.
These neighbors, however, also had their own agendas; they wanted to learn some things about Shenzhen from Li Hong.
The group was having a pleasant chat until one of them, oblivious to the situation, suddenly asked, "Do you think your daughter's ex-husband regrets the divorce now?"
Upon hearing this, Li Hong's face immediately fell.
Li Dazhu must have regretted it, but she didn't care whether he regretted it or not.
Mentioning this person during the Lunar New Year is considered unlucky.
However, the other party had not yet noticed that Li Hong's expression had changed slightly, and continued, "But one thing I'm sure of is that he will definitely not live as well as your Mingmei after the divorce."
The fact that Tang Mingmei is living like this after her divorce has shocked many people.
Li Dazhu, who was told by Tang Mingmei's neighbor that he was not doing well, was arguing with his remarried wife.
With the Lunar New Year approaching, the children need new clothes, the family needs to buy New Year's goods, and money is needed everywhere. Unfortunately, he lost his job and can only earn a little money by doing odd jobs, which is not enough to support such spending.
So when his wife asked him for money to buy clothes for their two children, Li Dazhu got angry.
“Your eldest daughter isn’t my biological daughter. If she wants to buy clothes, she should ask her biological father.”
"I'm divorced from her biological father. We agreed that the child would stay with me and I would raise her from now on," the woman explained cautiously.
Li Dazhu, however, did not soften his tone because of her soft voice; instead, he became even more impatient.
"Why don't you go and earn money to support your child? There are so many divorced women in the world, why can others support their children on their own, but you have to rely on a man?"
Li Dazhu thought of Tang Mingmei. Since the divorce, he hadn't given the child a single penny in child support. She hadn't asked him for any either, and she was making a fortune selling clothes.
If he had known Tang Mingmei was so capable, he shouldn't have divorced her in the first place to have a son. In the end, he still didn't have a son, lost his job, and is now living a miserable life.
However, he did not believe it was his fault that his second child was also a daughter.
Thinking about how much he had sacrificed, only to give birth to a daughter, he became even more dissatisfied with his wife.
"You're useless, all you can do is give birth to daughters. No wonder your first husband didn't want you."
The woman's eyes welled up with tears as she was scolded. She tried to explain herself, saying that she had given birth to a son, but the child had only lived for a few months.
"Cry, cry, cry! It's almost Chinese New Year and you're still crying. You're bringing bad luck to this family."
Li's mother, who had just returned from picking vegetables at the market, heard her son cursing as soon as she entered the door. She immediately got excited and, even though she didn't know what had happened, she quickly chimed in.
"Exactly, always crying, what a useless thing." After scolding her, he handed her a big bag of vegetables he had just picked: "Take this and wash it clean, I spent the whole afternoon picking these."
The woman took the bag and glanced at it.
Many of the vegetable leaves inside were yellowed; if you ate them, they would have a very unpleasant, yellowish-brown smell, and they would always upset the child's stomach. But facing her mother-in-law's murderous glare, she dared not say a word.
She wiped her eyes, feeling uncomfortable, and went to the kitchen to wash the vegetable leaves.
If she had known that marrying into this family would lead to this kind of life, she would have preferred to stay in the countryside and farm rather than marry him.
Farming in the countryside at least provides fresh vegetables.
When the matchmaker first told her about the marriage, she thought that her suffering had finally come to an end and she could marry into the city and live a good life.
It turns out there really is no such thing as a free lunch. No wonder Li Dazhu has a house and a job but can't find a suitable remarriage partner; the Li family is a living hell.
Poor thing, she jumped from one fire pit into another.
If it weren't for the fact that my child is still young and needs her, I might not want to live anymore.
living room.
When facing her son, Li's mother showed none of the imposing manner she had displayed towards her daughter-in-law; instead, she was cautious and ingratiating.
"Son, guess who I ran into on my way back?"
Li Dazhu had no idea and asked impatiently, "Who did you run into?"
This is exactly what Li's mother was waiting for.
“I ran into your brother-in-law and chatted with him for a bit. He also learned about your situation and said he would look into it for you after the New Year to see if there are any suitable jobs available.”
"I need his help? He's just a lowly intellectual, what kind of good job could he possibly help me find?"
"That's not how it works. Your brother-in-law is already a director."
Speaking of her son-in-law, Li's mother sighed a little.
She had looked down on Deng Qingyuan so much back then, and vehemently opposed her daughter's relationship with him. She never expected that this son-in-law, whom she had once despised, would treat her better than her son and daughter. Sometimes, when he saw her, he would secretly slip her money.
On the contrary, it was her own two children... Thinking of her son and daughter, Li's mother felt so bitter.
My son is a good-for-nothing; after losing his job, his temper has become increasingly volatile.
My daughter is heartless; she doesn't treat her family like relatives at all after she got married.
Good heavens, what did she do wrong? Why is she being punished like this?
Everyone says that raising a son is for old age security, but with a son like this, will she really have a good ending when she gets old and can no longer work?
Just thinking about it made Li's mother tremble with fear.
Hearing that his brother-in-law had been promoted to director, Li Dazhu felt it was unfair.
"Why? How could someone with his background be promoted to director?"
Twenty years ago, people who would have been criticized and denounced were now living better lives than Li Dazhu, a legitimate member of the working class. Li Dazhu felt it was truly unjust.
Fearing that her son might say such things when he met Deng Qingyuan, Li's mother quickly analyzed the pros and cons with him.
"You can say that to me, but don't let anyone else hear. The Cultural Revolution is over, and the Deng family has been exonerated. He's now just like you and everyone else—a member of the glorious working class. If he can really help you find a good job, won't your life improve?"
These last words really struck a chord with Li Dazhu.
If Deng Qingyuan can really help me find a job, I might be able to treat him better in the future.
However, before the New Year was even over, Li Dazhu's hopes were dashed.
On New Year's Eve, Li Baohua angrily ran back to her parents' home.
Upon seeing his mother, he immediately began to berate her: "Shameless! A man with a son dares to ask his son-in-law for money. Is your son dead or crippled? Oh, he's useless, he can't earn money anymore."
At first, Li's mother seemed a little guilty. But what Li Baohua said next was so harsh that it made her furious.
“Li Baohua, that’s your own brother, a brother who came from the same mother’s womb. How can you say such hurtful things?”
"If you think I'm being rude, then don't have the nerve to ask Qingyuan for money."
Li's mother retorted, sticking her neck out: "That's my son-in-law. It's perfectly reasonable for a son-in-law to give money to his mother-in-law."
Li Baohua sneered: "Now you know to talk about your son-in-law? Have you forgotten how you looked down on him in the first place? Your face changes faster than turning the pages of a book."
Li's mother blushed with embarrassment after being rebuked.
Li Baohua said many more unpleasant things, and finally warned her mother never to ask Deng Qingyuan for money again.
Li's mother was so angry that she almost couldn't catch her breath.
Li Baohua emerged victorious in this argument.
Just as they were about to leave, Li Dazhu returned.
When I first saw this younger sister whom I rarely see throughout the year, I thought she was coming over on New Year's Eve to talk about finding me a job, and I was overjoyed.
But the next second, I heard her say with a look of disgust, "Useless."
Is Li Dazhu the kind of person who can tolerate such humiliation? His explosive temper immediately flared up.
During the Lunar New Year, a fierce argument broke out in the Li family, distracting the neighbors from preparing their New Year's Eve dinner, who all pricked up their ears to eavesdrop.
With the reform and opening up, everyone's life is getting better and better, but the Li family is getting more and more chaotic every year.
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At the same time, the Fu family in the family compound.
As the family's darling, Fu Yu had already taken a bath and changed into new clothes. Like a happy butterfly, she ran around among the busy adults, finally stopping in front of her mother. With her big eyes blinking, she asked expectantly, "Mom, are we going on a trip with Sister Xin Xin's family this year?"
Tang Mingli looked at her cheerful daughter and was overjoyed.
"Yes, after the first day of the lunar new year, we'll go out and play for a few days together."
"That's great!" Fu Yu happily took her mother's hand. "One of my classmates is also going on a trip this Chinese New Year."
"Oh, really? Where did they go on their trip?"
"Singapore and Malaysia".
"Singapore and Malaysia?" Tang Mingli doubted her own knowledge and subconsciously looked at her husband.
She's not very good at world geography, but she doesn't recall ever knowing about Singapore and Malaysia.
Fu Ci seemed to know what was going on, and smiled, "It's Singapore, Malaysia, and Thailand, isn't it?"
"Yes, yes, yes." Fu Yu nodded vigorously, then asked, "Where are Singapore, Malaysia, and Thailand?"
"Singapore, Malaysia, and Thailand are three countries..."
Fu Ci patiently explained to his daughter, but Tang Mingli was slow to realize what was happening and was quite moved.
It turns out that for some people, tourism to Singapore, Malaysia and Thailand had already taken off when even basic needs like food and clothing were a problem.
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Author's Note: I'm writing about the bad endings for scumbags...
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