Chapter 157 The Punitive Back
Qin Suisui ultimately couldn't persuade Liu Qianyun otherwise, and the three of them went to Ruifuxiang and bought several feet of blue printed fabric and corduroy fabric.
Ruifuxiang has professional tailors who can make clothes to fit. They made one set of clothes for Qin Suisui using two different fabrics, and since there was some corduroy left, they also made one set for Zanzan.
After leaving Ruifuxiang, Liu Qianyun took the mother and son to Dongfeng Market and bought cream cakes and various trendy snacks. Zanzan was so happy that he didn't want to leave.
Fortunately, the little guy is sensible and knows that it's time to go home for dinner.
For convenience, they took the bus.
Moreover, there is a bus stop not far from the family compound, making it very convenient to get in and out.
After getting off the bus, you'll find yourself on a clean street lined with century-old locust trees.
September has arrived, and the locust tree leaves are gradually turning yellow. With a gust of autumn wind, they fall to the ground in an instant. It seems that there hasn't been time to sweep them away yet, and the ground is already covered with a thin layer of leaves, turning the entire street golden in an instant.
Zan Zan's hands were held by her mother and grandmother respectively. She would take a few steps and then hop around, dancing on the fallen leaves, her silvery laughter echoing all the way.
As they approached the entrance to the family compound, Zan Zan's laughter suddenly stopped. Terrified, she hid behind Qin Sui Sui and whispered, "Mom, Grandma, that old witch is here!"
Qin Suisui was taken aback. An old witch?
Before she could even look up, Liu Qianyun beside her frowned and spoke in a very unfriendly tone: "What are you doing here?"
Following her gaze, Qin Suisui noticed an elderly woman with gray hair standing under the century-old locust tree at the entrance of the family compound.
Qin Suisui took a closer look and realized that this person was none other than Grandma Pei. When she last came to Beijing, the old lady had black hair and was very energetic. How come after only a few months, her hair had turned mostly white and her face looked more than ten years older?
Hearing Liu Qianyun ask this, Grandma Pei awkwardly walked out from under the big locust tree, stood in front of them, and called out, "Qianyun, you're back?"
"Sui Sui and Zan Zan are here too?"
Liu Qianyun didn't have time for pretense: "Didn't you come here because you knew Ayan and the others were coming back today? Just say what you need to say!"
Grandma Pei chuckled again before explaining her purpose: "It's about that... your dad took all the rice we just bought to the black market to sell in order to buy those broken stones. I wanted to ask Ayan to help him keep quiet about it."
Qin Suisui raised an eyebrow. Pei Jiuyan has this function too?
Before she could even ask, Liu Qianyun impatiently said, "We severed ties a few months ago. Ayan has no obligation to do so, and I don't want my son involved in your family affairs. If there's nothing else, we'll head back now."
After saying that, he took Qin Suisui and Zanzan's hands and started walking into the family compound.
Grandma Pei panicked and grabbed Liu Qianyun's hand, her voice trembling with tears: "Qianyun, Qianyun, Mom knows she was wrong. I was wrong before, and I wasn't good to your second branch of the family. But now the eldest son has separated us old folks, and your father loves gambling on stones. He's almost gambled away the whole family's money. We're getting our just desserts."
"You know your dad isn't afraid of anyone, except his grandson, Ayan. Please, let Ayan go, otherwise we old folks won't be able to survive!"
As she spoke, she reached out and took Qin Suisui's hand again: "Suisui, it was all Grandma's fault before. You are a good girl. Please help Grandma persuade your mother-in-law. Grandma promises to treat you both well from now on!"
Qin Suisui frowned and didn't speak. The last time she came to Beijing, she heard that Grandpa Pei was obsessed with gambling on stones. She found it strange. These days, the regulations are so strict. How could there be open gambling on stones in Beijing?
Later, Pei Jiuyan told her that when her grandfather was young, he met Liu Jianye, an employee of the Beijing Jade Factory. Liu Jianye was in charge of purchasing jade raw materials and often went to Yunnan Province or the China-Myanmar border, so he had many opportunities to "smuggle goods".
Grandpa Pei got into gambling on stones because of him.
The Pei family had considered reporting the jade factory, but before they could do so, Liu Jianye resigned from the factory on his own.
I thought this would finally help Grandpa Pei break his bad habit of gambling on jade, but instead he became even more addicted. I learned that Liu Jianye had left the jade factory and started a business on the black market. He had resources and connections, making it much easier for him to buy and sell on the black market.
Pei Huoshan also used his connections to investigate this Liu Jianye, only to find that "Liu Jianye" was actually an alias.
In other words, Grandpa Pei didn't even know the person's real name or where they lived, yet he still gave them money for so many years.
Later, the relationship between Pei Huoshan's family and the old house soured, and since Grandpa Pei repeatedly refused to change his ways, Pei Huoshan stopped caring about it.
He had no feelings for this family; he grew up in his father-in-law's house, and if there was any gratitude he owed, it was only to his father-in-law.
As for the debt of gratitude owed to Grandpa Pei and Grandma Pei for giving them life, it was already repaid when they allowed Pei Yishan to abduct them, and when Grandma Pei almost killed Liu Qianyun and her child during Liu Qianyun's pregnancy.
Since returning from the capital, Pei Jiuyan had been explaining all the family troubles to Qin Suisui, bit by bit.
I heard that after Pei Jiuyan's threat last time, Pei Yishan went back and, on behalf of his grandparents, took the initiative to sever ties with Pei Huoshan's family.
But having lost Pei Huoshan and Pei Jiuyan, two powerful figures, and being punished by his workplace, he was so angry that he simply separated his grandparents from him and made them live separately.
He took most of the money from the old house, leaving the elderly couple only enough to live on, and even took possession of the old house itself.
So Qin Suisui didn't need to guess what Grandma Pei's current situation was: a husband who loved gambling on stones, a cold and heartless eldest son, and a lonely and helpless woman.
However, she didn't express her opinion in the face of Grandma Pei's request. If she had to choose sides, she would definitely stand with her mother-in-law. Wasn't Grandma Pei's current miserable state a consequence of her own actions? Besides, no matter how badly she was suffering now, it couldn't erase the evil she had committed in the past; these were two separate matters.
"Qianyun! Mom really knows she was wrong! Look at my age, I can't just starve to death!"
"Qianyun! Please have pity on this old woman! Even if I'm not her mother, I'm still Huoshan's biological mother and Ayan's biological grandmother. You can't just stand by and watch me die!"
"Mom promises, I'll definitely treat you well from now on..."
Whether it was genuine grief or mostly an act, Grandma Pei's wails grew louder and more earnest with each cry.
It was rush hour, and more and more people were walking around outside the residential compound. Seeing that more and more people were gathering to watch the commotion, Liu Qianyun pushed Grandma Pei's hand away with a dark face: "I know, you go back first. I'll have Ayan go when he comes back."
With her daughter-in-law's attitude softening, Grandma Pei dared not ask for anything more and hurriedly nodded, "Okay, okay! I'll wait for him at home!" As if afraid that her daughter-in-law would change her mind, she quickly left.
Seeing her mother-in-law's depressed look, Qin Suisui took her hand and asked, "Mom, if you didn't want to help, why did you agree to her request?"
Liu Qianyun patted her hand: "You don't know, this family compound is full of neighbors who have lived here for decades. If something happens in our family, they will know. If I don't agree, she can cause a huge scene here. If someone reports it to her workplace, your dad and I will be the ones who get criticized."
“I’ll verbally agree, but whether I actually go and deal with it is up to her son and grandson.”
Qin Suisui nodded. She could understand her mother-in-law. No matter how bad Grandma Pei was, she was still Pei Huoshan's biological mother. Pei Huoshan could handle her however he wanted. But to her and her son, she was an outsider. Even the best marital relationship could have some barriers. It was really not worth it if their marital relationship was affected by Grandma Pei.
The three women—mother-in-law, daughter-in-law, and mother-in-law—quickly forgot about the incident and went home to cook.
For dinner, we had homemade noodles with soybean paste, stir-fried cabbage, and canned luncheon meat.
"Sui Sui, Mom took a day off from work today and was late buying groceries. I didn't manage to get much. We'll just have this for tonight and Mom will go buy groceries tomorrow morning."
Qin Suisui quickly waved her hand: "Mom, what are you saying? You call this a compromise? It has meat, oil, and refined grains. So many people want to eat it but can't! I'm so happy to be able to eat your homemade noodles!"
Liu Qianyun grinned from ear to ear: "Alright, alright! Mom knew you had a sweet tongue!"
"Do you want to eat ribbonfish tomorrow? We still have some fish coupons from before that we haven't used much. I'll go buy some ribbonfish to eat tomorrow."
Qin Suisui nodded: "Mom, anything is fine! You don't need to buy too much. We can just eat home-cooked meals when we get home."
Liu Qianyun nodded, smiling, but feeling even happier inside.
When Sui Sui came back this time, she was noticeably more lively and cheerful than last time, just like she was when she was a child. Her silly son did a good job, finally managing to bring his wife's personality back to normal.
Just as she was thinking this, her silly son lifted the kitchen curtain and poked his head in: "Mom, wife, I'm home."
Liu Qianyun was startled, her hand trembled, and she accidentally spilled a little too much salt. She immediately pointed at Pei Jiuyan's nose and scolded, "You're back, so what? Do you expect me to bring eight sedan chairs to welcome you?"
"You walk so quietly! You startled me, I even spilled too much salt!"
"Nobody taught you that scaring people can be deadly!"
Pei Jiuyan took a step back after being scolded, and looked at Qin Suisui with some grievance.
Qin Suisui suppressed a laugh and lowered her head, avoiding his gaze. She had just been worried that her mother-in-law was holding in her anger, and that it might make her sick; well, now her punching bag was back!
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