Chen Zhilan stomped her feet and walked heavily. Zheng Fangshu caught up with her in two steps and grabbed her arm. She pushed him away forcefully, but Zheng Fangshu hugged her and kissed her to calm her down.
She whispered, "Zheng Fangshu, you're lying to me! Your mother doesn't like me at all!"
“My mom doesn’t dislike you, she’s just angry with me.” Zheng Fangshu sighed. “She’s angry that I didn’t tell her about you and me sooner, making her lose face in front of Zhou Yue yesterday.”
"real?"
"Of course, you're so nice and poised, how could my mom not like you? She just asked me to take you out for dim sum, and she's also asking us to go to the Red Star Cinema tonight."
My mom also said that once we get the money back, it will become our little family fund, and all the money she earns from selling chickens and pigs will be given to you to manage. Come on, honey, tell me what you want to do with that money…”
Zheng Fangshu was handsome and eloquent; he easily charmed Chen Zhilan with just a few words, making her beam with joy.
After confirming that Zheng Fangshu and Chen Zhilan had boarded the bus, Liang Guiying went to ask the security guard in the dormitory area if there was a recycling station nearby.
"Young people shouldn't always use old things, but my son is frugal and reluctant to throw them away, so I, as his mother, have to sell them for him and buy him all new ones in the future."
"Oh, by the way, today is the Dragon Boat Festival. I made some zongzi (sticky rice dumplings). Here are two for you; they're already steamed. You can just heat them up or pan-fry them if you like."
After getting the address from the security guard, she took a sofa directly there in a tricycle, negotiated the price, and then had someone come back with her to move the things.
The commotion caused quite a stir, attracting many people from upstairs and downstairs to come and see what was going on. Liang Guiying explained that she was buying new things for her son.
The young wives present said enviously, "Deputy Section Chief Zheng's mother is such a good mother and a good mother-in-law. It's such a blessing to be your daughter-in-law."
Unaware of what had happened, Zheng Fangshu and Chen Zhilan didn't realize their home had been burgled until they returned home in the middle of the night.
The two immediately got into a huge argument, exchanging words back and forth, making their affair and the birth of their illegitimate child known throughout the entire boiler factory, turning them into objects of public scorn.
That's a story for another time.
Let's go back to Liang Guiying.
After emptying her unfilial son's house, Liang Guiying didn't waste a second. She went back, washed her face, and then loaded all the grain, oil, chickens, eggs, and other things she had brought out yesterday onto the tricycle.
We sped along and soon returned to the airport living area.
Last night, Liang Guiying told Fourth Granny to restore the Zhou family home to its original state and replace all the items by noon. It's already late afternoon now, and I wonder if the old woman has obediently complied.
The gate to courtyard number 16 was ajar. Liang Guiying parked her car and pushed the gate open to go inside.
In the courtyard, the mess had been cleaned up, the broken stove had been repaired, and the old sofa and stools in the house were gone. The leather sofa that had been moved over was a bit worn, but it looked like it matched the little house well. It must have originally been something that Zhou Yue's parents had bought.
On the table were a radio, an electric fan, a thermos, a kettle, a rice cooker, and other appliances, all of which looked brand new.
In 1983, the country was gradually transitioning from a planned economy to a market economy. Some more developed coastal areas had completely abolished ration coupons. In Jiangcheng, apart from sugar, tobacco, alcohol, and meat, which were still subject to rationing, many other things could be purchased without coupons.
However, electrical appliances are relatively expensive large items.
For example, a Triangle brand rice cooker costs 80 yuan, a Wuyang brand tabletop electric fan costs 50 yuan, and even a Dongfeng brand radio produced locally in Jiangcheng costs 30 yuan. Add to that the new beds and bedding for the four rooms, and the new pots and pans in the kitchen, and you can't get it for less than two thousand yuan.
The old woman's daughter-in-law was unemployed and had four children, the youngest of whom was not even six months old. Her son was an ordinary worker at the Jiangcheng Flashlight Factory, earning only thirty-odd yuan a month.
With her son's income, it's difficult to support four children, yet he was able to buy so many new things in such a short time. One can only imagine how much money that old hag has embezzled from Zhou Yue over the years!
She took Zhou Yue's money to subsidize her own son's family, and still dared to bully Zhou Yue and her daughter like this. This old hag is truly wicked beyond measure!
Liang Guiying found a brown envelope in the most conspicuous place in the master bedroom on the second floor. Inside the envelope were a thousand yuan and a note.
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
