Chapter 757 Things Are Gone Wrong
Shen Min has successfully entered school to repeat her senior year under Shen Ci's arrangement, while things have become chaotic back home because of Shen Min's sudden departure.
Funan, Longyang Town.
This is a small town at the southernmost edge of Funan, with a strong local flavor.
Most families in the town live together as a group, with elderly people and children everywhere, especially children; some families have three or five children, which is considered a small number.
The preference for sons here is arguably the highest in the country. The locals no longer simply prefer boys; they take pride in having sons, and the more sons a woman has, the higher her status in the family.
If a family or even an entire clan has no boys, they will be looked down upon.
In relatively civilized modern society, such feudal customs still exist, and are even becoming more and more prevalent in small, unknown places, showing a distorted and pathological trend.
"mom!"
Early in the morning, Wang Chunyan, the eldest son's wife, called out in the yard, "We're out of laundry detergent, do you have any new ones?"
Hearing the noise, the old lady slowly walked out of the main room and said impatiently, "Xiaomin bought these online before, saying there was a discount online, so she bought quite a few. Look for them."
"I've been looking for ages, but I can't find it!"
"Look carefully again. It must have been Xiaomin who put it away. How could laundry detergent fly away?"
Wang Chunyan was so angry that she cursed, "That damn girl just left like that, leaving all the work at home behind. When she can't make it out there and comes back, I'll break her legs. I'll make sure she runs away!"
As soon as the old lady entered the house, her grandson immediately started yelling, "Grandma, where are my black jeans? Where did you put them?"
Upon hearing this, the old lady still said, "Look carefully. Your sister usually tidies up the things, so they must all be in your room."
"She can't just throw it away, can she? Before, because my jeans faded, they stained a whole basket of clothes, and my mom scolded her for it..."
"No, you can't. Look carefully."
While the old lady was talking, her hands were also busy, rummaging through the drawer for her denture cleaning solution. Shen Min usually did this for her.
"Mom, I'm going to work. Chunyan has an event at her workplace today, so she probably won't be able to come back. Have your second son's wife make you lunch."
Shen Mingming, dressed neatly and carrying a briefcase, was about to leave.
He was the eldest son in his family and a cadre working in a government agency in the town. The old lady loved her eldest son the most because, in her eyes, working in a government agency was the most respectable and honorable thing for the family.
"Boss."
The old lady stopped him first, saying, "You have to find Xiaomin."
"Mom, Xiaomin has already left. If she insists on not coming back, where am I supposed to find her?" Shen Mingming said helplessly, "You should forget about Xiaomin. I didn't think it would work either. It wouldn't sound good if word got out that you married Xiaomin to a divorced man in his thirties."
“Our town isn’t very big to begin with, and I’m considered a person of some standing. If I really succeed, what will others think of me?”
The old lady waved her hand: "That's not it."
"What is it?"
The old lady sighed and said, "When Xiaomin was here, I didn't feel like we had anything to do with her, but now that she's gone, the house is in chaos. Look at how messy it is these past few days. No one is cleaning up, and the chores only get done when your wife and your second son's wife are free. It's really upsetting to see this."
Upon hearing this, Shen Mingming immediately showed a speechless expression: "Then as long as someone does it, that's fine. Why do you care when they do it?"
Before the old lady could ramble on any longer, Shen Mingming glanced at the time and impatiently pushed her aside: "Mom, I really have to go. If you need anything, talk to the second son."
That's how men are. Anyway, since they don't have to do the work, they don't care whether Xiaomin or their wife does it.
As long as someone else does it, it's fine.
"Mom, I'm going to work. I'll have lunch at my workplace and won't be back."
At this moment, the second son's wife, Zheng Hong, came out of the back room and was about to go out.
Upon hearing this, the old lady glared and said, "You're not coming back for lunch either? Then, who will cook for me and my grandchildren?"
The students at the town's middle school who live nearby usually go home for lunch.
Zheng Hong blurted out instinctively, "Xiao Min, she..."
Then she realized, "Oh right, Xiaomin ran away from home, so it's my sister-in-law's turn. Normally, this is what her daughter does, but since Xiaomin is gone, it's my sister-in-law's turn."
Wang Chunyan, who had just entered the room, overheard these words and immediately retorted with dissatisfaction: "What you're saying means that serving Mom and cooking for her is only our family's responsibility?"
"Oh, sister-in-law, I didn't say that." Zheng Hong calmly looked at Wang Chunyan and said, "It's not just about serving Mom. Aren't Da Bao, Er Bao, and San Bao all your sons? If the older sister runs away, will you, as the mother, not feed her?"
Upon hearing this, Wang Chunyan was about to retort when Zheng Hong spoke up before she could, saying, "Don't drag my Tao Tao into this. He's my only son. If you, as his aunt, don't want to take him along, I can have him eat lunch at school."
After saying that, he went out the door.
Wang Chunyan felt a pain in her chest from anger, when she heard the old lady say again, "Then you should come back at noon and cook a meal. You can't let the child go hungry at noon."
"Mom, I have something to do at work at noon. It's such a long way to and from work."
"How far could it be? When Xiaomin was homeschooled, she could come back at noon to cook lunch for her younger brothers. Why can't you?"
"Alright, stop arguing, it's no big deal." At this moment, the second brother, Chen Chengcheng, came out still sleepy, wearing only his underwear: "I wanted to sleep a little longer, but I heard you guys chattering away in front of me all morning."
When Wang Chunyan saw that he wasn't wearing pants again, she yelled, "Second brother, put your pants on!"
"Sister-in-law, why are you making such a fuss? I'm not naked." Shen Chengcheng didn't seem to care much and looked at her mother, saying, "Mom, don't make things difficult for my sister-in-law. Let Da Bao take his younger brothers to eat lunch at school. I'll pay for it. My sister-in-law has work to do. Can you really expect her to leave her job to come back and cook?"
"And what about me?" the old lady asked, her eyes wide.
"How could I leave you behind?" Shen Chengcheng stepped forward and hugged the old lady tightly. "I'm still here, aren't I? I'll take you out for steamed dumplings at noon. There's a new place next to the Forestry Bureau that's really delicious."
Like many youngest sons in families, Shen Chengcheng's work is not as good as his older brother's, and his down-to-earth and capable spirit is far less than that of his two older sisters.
He's glib and smooth-talking, and he's really good at pleasing the elderly.
As soon as he said that, the old lady nodded immediately: "Alright, go ahead and get busy."
Wang Chunyan also sighed, thinking to herself, "I have something to do today, but what about the future?"
With Xiaomin gone, I'm afraid she'll have to come back every day at noon to cook a meal for the elderly and children.
(End of this chapter)
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