quarrel
At the dinner table, the whole family was eating while watching the Spring Festival Gala. The dishes were very rich, with fish, shrimp, meat and vegetables, which was quite complete.
Gao Yamei was waiting for Chen Rong to find fault with her, but she ate with relish the whole time and looked really hungry.
The meal went quite harmoniously, unlike last year when they started arguing before the meal was halfway through.
We always eat, drink and chat at the New Year’s Eve dinner, and a one-hour meal can take more than two hours.
When they were almost done eating, everyone who should have left the table had done so, leaving only the men still drinking.
About an hour later, Chen Hai, Chen De and Xu Zhen all left the table with red faces.
Gao Yamei helped Chen Hai sit on the sofa. "If you can't drink it, don't drink it. Why are you trying to show off?"
Chen Hai didn't drink much, just the kind that gets red in the face when drinking, but he was still sober.
Xu Zhen drank quite a bit. Chen Rong tried to stop him several times, but he wouldn't listen and just forced himself to drink several cups.
Chen De didn't like drinking, so he just had two sips. The men chatted about other topics for an hour.
The old lady could no longer hold her eyes open. She ate a lot that night and didn't talk much during the meal. She looked a little tired.
Gao Yamei first helped the old lady to sleep in the house. When she lay down, Gao Yamei always felt that the old lady's face was not very good. She asked her if she was feeling unwell, but she said no.
Gao Yamei thought it should be nothing. After all, the old lady was not one to endure hardship, and she would definitely tell you if she felt uncomfortable.
After Gao Yamei tucked the quilt in for the old lady, she did not close the door of the room completely when she came out. She was afraid that she would fall again when she got up to go to the bathroom at night, so she left the door half-open.
In the living room, the TV volume was turned down a bit, but the voices were louder.
Gao Yamei had been watching Chen Rong for a while. She felt that she had been preoccupied since dinner, as if she had something to say but was not sure how to speak.
Gao Yamei didn't ask, thinking it wasn't a good thing.
Seeing that it was getting late, Chen Feng wanted to take Wang Lili back to rest. After all, pregnant women should not be too tired and should go to bed early.
Chen Feng helped Wang Lili stand up, but they hadn't taken a step yet.
Xu Zhen, who was originally lying on the sofa, suddenly sat up and said, "Wait, don't move, I haven't finished what I want to say."
Chen Rong was sitting next to Xu Zhen serving him. When she heard this, her expression changed slightly.
Gao Yamei thought that the couple had been holding it in all night and had been waiting until now, and it was finally time to talk about it.
Liu Fang first asked: "Brother-in-law, just say whatever you want to say. No one is stopping you. My Lily is pregnant and needs to go back to bed."
Xu Zhen's eyes were blurry, and he didn't know whether he was drunk or not, but he could tell who was who in front of him.
Xu Zhen waved his hand and said, "No, what I'm talking about is related to them."
Chen De frowned and said, "What's going on? It even involves our Chen Feng. Why don't you tell me quickly? This is making me so anxious and upset!"
Xu Zhen probably knew that he was not speaking clearly at the moment, so he put his hand on Chen Rong's shoulder and said to her, "Tell me, no matter what, you must bring it back to me today."
After Xu Zhen finished speaking, he leaned weakly against the back of the sofa, waiting for Chen Rong to do her thing.
When everyone heard what Xu Zhen said, they realized that it was not an easy task and that a fight was inevitable. Everyone was full this time, and it would be really ugly if they started fighting.
Chen Tian also felt that the situation was not good and wanted to take Chen Xing back to the house for Duoduo, for fear of hurting Chen Xing.
Chen Xing said: "Brother, I'm fine, my parents are still here."
Chen Tian understood what Chen Xing meant. Since Chen Xing had the courage to face the matters between adults, Chen Tian should be relieved. No matter what, he would protect Chen Xing.
Seeing Chen Rong hesitate to speak, Gao Yamei asked, "Chen Rong, what's going on? While everyone is here, even if you're having trouble, we can't just ignore you."
Gao Yamei finished speaking, and before Chen Rong could say anything else, Liu Fang spoke up first, "This is different. Don't bring my family into this. We're not as prosperous as your two families."
Liu Fang said sarcastically, "Your family lives in the city and enjoys life. You have cars and houses. One of you owns a factory and earns 700,000 to 800,000 or even 1 million yuan a year. You live a life of luxury. But my family is living on frugality. There's not much we can do to help you."
Chen Rong was furious when she heard this. Her previous timidity disappeared. She straightened her body and said, "Sister-in-law, according to what you said, when things are good, you rush to curry favor with me, but when things are bad, you stay away from me more than anyone else."
Liu Fang asked, "What do you mean? You've always looked down on our family, and now you're going to break off relations?"
Chen Rong said, "What do you mean by respect or disrespect? Don't be so harsh. I just want to settle accounts with you."
Chen De frowned and said, "Settling accounts? What accounts are you settling? Our family doesn't owe your family anything."
Chen Rong said righteously, "Really? Big Brother, aren't you afraid of retribution for speaking against your conscience?"
"When you first came to us to borrow money, your attitude was not like this."
When Chen De heard this, he stood up suddenly, but was stopped by Chen Hai when he was about to do something.
Chen Hai said: "Brother, calm down, don't be impulsive, listen to her first."
Chen De gasped. Even if Chen Hai didn't stop him, he wouldn't dare to act rashly.
Liu Fang said, "Why don't you tell me what we owe you?"
Chen Rong said, "Okay, let's calculate each one individually."
"Let's start with the most recent. When Chen Feng got married, you took 200,000 yuan from our family, saying it was a betrothal gift to Chen Feng's mother-in-law. Xu Zhen and I saw that you were really struggling, and we were so worried about Chen Feng getting married, so we gave you 300,000 yuan directly. You still haven't paid it back yet."
Liu Fang said, "Chen Rong, we've already paid back that money. Don't refuse to pay."
Chen Rong said, "Don't be impatient, I haven't finished speaking yet."
"Later, you paid back half of it, then built a new house and took another 500,000 yuan from me. Three years later, you paid back 300,000 yuan. You still have 300,000 yuan left. When do you plan to pay it back?"
Chen Rong remembered clearly all the subsidies she gave to her family. If she didn't have the habit of keeping accounts, she probably wouldn't be able to get any of the money back.
Liu Fang and Chen De were dumbfounded, thinking that Chen Rong was asking for debt repayment.
Chen De said, "Chen Rong, when you gave us the money, you said it was nice and that we weren't in a hurry to get it back. Now you suddenly ask us to take out 300,000 yuan. Where can we rob you?"
Chen De’s meaning was very clear, he just couldn’t get it out at the moment.
Chen Rong said, "I don't care where you borrow it, steal it, or rob it. I must see the money today."
Liu Fang was so angry that she pointed at Chen Rong and said, "Chen Rong, don't go too far. If you really count it, you still owe us."
Chen Rong raised her eyes in surprise and said, "Oh! Are you biting me out of frustration? You really can say that."
Liu Fang said, "Then listen carefully. Chen Hai and Gao Yamei, the same goes for you two."
Liu Fang suddenly vowed to bring Chen Hai and Gao Yamei along, as if it were really a real thing.
Gao Yamei said: "What does our family owe you? We have always made it clear, so don't talk nonsense."
Liu Fang said, "Okay, so you're all targeting our family. I originally thought we were all family and didn't think too much about it. Now that you've bullied us, we have no choice but to settle the score so you don't cause trouble in the future."
Gao Yamei crossed her arms, she wanted to hear what Liu Fang had to say.
Liu Fang said to Chen De: "Give me the phone."
Chen De took out his cell phone and handed it to Liu Fang. Liu Fang unlocked it and opened the memo, which she remembered clearly.
Liu Fang looked at her phone and said, "On May 20, 1996, Chen Hai and Gao Yamei got married. They bought furniture and a washing machine worth 1,005 yuan, and paid 1,000 yuan in advance for the bride price. On October 26, 1997, Chen Rong got married and brought a television set worth 2,500 yuan as a dowry..."
Liu Fang read for nearly twenty minutes in one breath. She remembered clearly all the expenses spent on the family since she married into the Chen family. Every expense had a date, and she remembered even the smallest penny or two.
"You can't deny this. My family still has receipts for every transaction, just waiting for this day. If you hadn't mentioned the money, maybe it would have been over. But if you insist on bringing it up, then I'm not someone you can easily bully."
Gao Yamei didn't know whether to laugh at Liu Fang after hearing what she said. What kind of person is this? She has never seen such a petty person. If this gets out, people outside will laugh at her.
Chen Rong said, "Sister-in-law, you are so shameless. This happened so many years ago. For someone as stingy as you, if someone spends even a penny on you, you will remember it for the rest of your life."
"You even keep track of the cost of eggs and vegetables. If I borrow something from your house, shouldn't you also account for it?"
Liu Fang flipped through the memo again and said, "Oh! Don't tell me, it's true. Before you got married, you ate and drank a lot at my house. I kept track of every meal you ate for free, including the cost of ingredients and labor. And you also asked me to bring you things, etc."
This time, Gao Yamei really couldn't hold back her laughter and was caught by Liu Fang again.
Liu Fang turned to Gao Yamei and said, "Sister-in-law, don't laugh at her. You have it too. Let me look for it."
"As for you, it's not much either. After all, you and Chen Hai moved to the city not long after you got married."
"However, when you gave birth and were in confinement, your family happened to be too busy to take care of you. I took care of you wholeheartedly from the time you gave birth to the baby until you left. I prepared three meals a day for you and served them to you, almost feeding you. You should also settle this account. After all, I'm not your nanny. Even if I were, I would have to pay for it separately."
After Liu Fang finished speaking, her eyes accidentally caught sight of Chen Xing, and she remembered something: "Oh, by the way, besides all this, there was also the time when Chen Xing was a child recuperating in the countryside. For almost two years, I fed her and took care of her daily life. I put in a lot of effort. And you and Chen Hai are working and earning money in the city, while I even lost my job to take care of Chen Xing for you. How do you account for this?"
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