Chapter 243 The Little Yellow Croaker is Exposed

The eldest sister of the Li family is named Li Zhaodi. There has been no news of her for many years. Xia Juanjuan can only ask Luo Cheng to help look for her in Lin County. If she is found, there is no need to meet her in person or anything, just tell her the address.

Since she had to go find Luo Cheng anyway, Xia Juanjuan did business with him again. It was winter, and this time she bought 20 ginseng plants and 500 kilograms of cotton.

Ginseng is still 50 yuan per stem, but cotton has dropped by 20 cents compared to the first transaction, selling at 1.2 yuan per catty, which together makes 1,600 yuan.

Luo Cheng also agreed to look for Li Zhaodi.

Since the matter couldn't be found for half a day, Xia Juanjuan decided to stay calm and stay at home to winter, and prepare for the New Year.

In mid-January, Aunt Wu's youngest son Wu Feng returned the five yuan he had borrowed from Xia Juanjuan when his wife gave birth, plus the ten yuan that Xia Juanjuan later left behind, a total of fifteen yuan.

Seeing that the young man was trustworthy, Xia Juanjuan smiled and returned the small yellow croaker to them.

After the autumn harvest, Wu Feng went to find Xia Shuangshan and said that he wanted to learn bricklaying and start by doing odd jobs such as making adobes, moving bricks, and mixing mud. He could earn 80 cents a day.

Xia Shuangshan said that Wu Feng had a good understanding and was hardworking. He would be willing to take him with him if there was work next spring. He would be able to do heavy work such as building walls and sealing roofs. Heavy work could earn one or two yuan a day, which was a considerable income for rural people.

However, when Wu Feng took the small yellow croaker back home, somehow, his sister-in-law Chen Yue'e got to know that he had small yellow croaker at home.

Chen Yue'e thought that Aunt Wu had secretly given the small yellow croaker to the younger son, so she ran to the gate of Aunt Wu's yard, sat down, and started crying and making a fuss, saying that Aunt Wu and Uncle Wu were partial to the younger son and only gave the small yellow croaker to the younger son but not to the older son. Did they not expect the older son to take care of them in their old age?

The whole village came to watch the fun.

Aunt Wu was so angry that she almost passed out!

As a legendary figure in the community gossip world, she has always been the one to make fun of others, but how could anyone make fun of her? Now that she has such a daughter-in-law, she is in big trouble!

The key point is that even she didn’t know about the small yellow croaker!

If the old Wu family had this thing, they would not have married such a sharp-tongued woman to their eldest son!

Wu Feng had no choice but to come with Chen Qi and tell her mother that it was the dowry that Chen Qi's grandmother had secretly packed for her granddaughter.

Chen Yue'e was speechless for a moment, then she made up her mind and sneered:

"Is it something that your sister-in-law's grandmother gave you? The Chen family is related to my family. The first two sons still live in a mud house! They have a little yellow croaker as a dowry for their granddaughter, so how come they are still so poor? Mom, uncle, you are lying with your eyes open. You think your eldest son and daughter-in-law are easy to bully, and you only pick on the weak ones! Oh, Wu Gen, you are a blockhead and an idiot! Your parents and your brother are eating delicious food and drinking spicy drinks behind your back, but you are still as stupid as a fool. If there is something delicious or money at home, you should rush to your parents' house! In the end, who cares about you!"

Aunt Wu was really furious. She had been a big shot in the village all her life, but now that she was old, she had such a daughter-in-law. It was like a fire in the backyard!

Immediately, he put his hands on her waist and pointed at Chen Yue'e and cursed, "You heartless bitch! Qiqi told me the origin of the small yellow croaker, and you don't believe it. What's the problem? My family is rich, and they want you, a relative who is 'somewhat related' to them, to know about it? With the character of your family, if they were related to you, they would show you their wealth, and you still go to their house, refuse to leave, and insist on borrowing money?

It's our family. How much food have you given to your mother's family?

Let’s not talk about the past. Your brother from your mother’s side just came to borrow money last fall, right?

My son has worked so hard for a year, and has earned about 20 yuan? He hasn't even given it to his parents, but you were the first to give 10 yuan directly to your brother from your mother's side!"

When Chen Yue'e heard this, her face suddenly brightened up.

How did her mother-in-law know about this?

Because of this, Wu Gen beat her up and called her a spendthrift woman!

Her younger brother from her mother's side is a lazy and gluttonous person. When he got married and built a house the year before last, he asked her family for 50 yuan. When he had a child last year, he took another 20 yuan. If you count the other miscellaneous gifts of a few yuan, he took at least 100 yuan.

To put it nicely, it was a loan, but after all these years, not a single penny has been paid back!

But Chen Yue'e still had a sincere heart towards her natal family, always thinking that if she was wronged in the Wu family, wouldn't she have to rely on her natal brother to come and make trouble and support her? How could her natal family not be closer than her husband's family?

Aunt Wu continued to scold, "Also, if you have some delicious food or money at home, you rush to send it to our house? Hehe! If you really want to say that, Old Wu, go and get my account book!"

Uncle Wu still wanted to keep things quiet, so he scolded, "Damn it, this family's shame should not be made public, let's just keep it behind closed doors..."

Aunt Wu turned to Uncle Wu and started to scold him: "Don't let your family shame be exposed in public? Look, your eldest son and his wife are quarreling outside the gate. Do you think you can talk it out behind closed doors? Hurry up and bring it to me, don't force me to scold you!"

Uncle Wu was so frightened that he had to go into the house to get the account book.

Chen Yue'e was stunned for a moment. Her mother-in-law couldn't read, right? How could she still have an account book?

After a while, Uncle Wu brought the account book. On the yellow straw paper, there were a lot of things written crookedly with simple Chinese characters, sketches, and numbers.

Aunt Wu looked around for a while and then said, "My fellow villagers, I have been in Qingshui Village for so many years and there is really nothing to be said about me. But today, my eldest daughter-in-law said in public that I am biased, so I have to say something!

She said her husband would send all the delicious food and money to me and Old Wu. I also have an account book here, recording everything in and out of the house, so that I can calculate whether it is correct at the beginning and end of the year. I didn't expect to use it today.

Since everyone is here, I will read it to you and let you judge whether we, the old couple, have eaten my eldest son’s food or used his money! "

At that moment, Aunt Wu started reading from the account book.

It doesn’t matter if you don’t recite it. Once you recite it, everyone will understand it.

The eldest son of the Wu family didn't even support the old couple. In the past, they didn't cook at home. They would go to Aunt Wu's house, eat, and then leave. Aunt Wu also loved her son and grandson, and would often send some coarse grains and other food to the eldest son's house.

As for what the eldest son of the Wu family gave to his parents? That's basically none!

On the contrary, the younger son would give the old couple a few cents from time to time, or pick wild mushrooms and fungus from the mountains, or occasionally hunt wild rabbits, etc., showing a lot of filial piety.

As they listened, even Wu Gen, the eldest son of the Wu family who had tacitly accepted that his wife was the one making the trouble, could no longer bear it. He came up and beat Chen Yue'e, and said to Aunt Wu: "Mom! Don't nag me! Your son knows he is wrong! This bad woman has been making trouble again after not being punished for a few days! Wait for me to beat her up, and then let her make amends for you!"

Chen Yue'e burst into tears and felt extremely aggrieved, and she cursed at Wu Gen.

When this incident happened, he acquiesced to it. Why did he suddenly turn against me?

Aunt Wu looked at the couple's double act coldly and sneered, "You don't have to put on a show here for me. Last time you wanted to divide the family property, but you didn't do it thoroughly. Today you've made such a fuss, so you should just divide the family property. From now on, we won't count on you to support us in our old age. If you have a conscience, come and see us. If you don't, then you can just stop having any contact with us until you die!"

Having said that, he waved his hand and went back to his room.

When the villagers saw that the excitement was almost over, they all went home.

However, we still talked about this after-dinner talk for quite some time.

The Wu family eventually split up.

Chen Yue'e was beaten so badly that she went back to her parents' home. She called her brother over and they also had a fight.

But in the end, the two reconciled and lived together.

Without the support from my parents-in-law, life is a little more difficult than before.

Chen Yue'e and Wu Gen both regretted it deeply, but there was nothing they could do.

As for the story of the small yellow croaker, it had spread and everyone knew that it was brought by Chen Qi from her mother's home.

Later, word of this spread back to Old Chen's family.

The two sons in the family were unaware that Grandma Yao gave Chen Qi a small yellow croaker as a dowry.

The main reason was that when Shen Wanxue lived in the commune where Grandma Yao lived, Chen Qi helped take care of Shen Wanxue a lot on behalf of Grandma Yao. Therefore, Shen Wanxue specially sent two small yellow croakers.

Shen Wanxue also gave five or ten yuan to other grandchildren of Grandma Yao when they got married, but of course they were not as expensive as the small yellow croaker.

This matter was reported back to the Chen family, and therefore, Grandma Yao's son and grandson started to quarrel with Grandma Yao.

Xia Juanjuan did not go to see the commotion at the Wu family, but Lin Yuru did, so she had a general idea of ​​what happened and felt a little sad.

When it comes to profit, especially when it comes to the huge profit of small yellow croaker which can be exchanged for at least fifty yuan on the black market, the brothers and fathers are in such a mess, it's really...

Just think about it, if her little brats dare to make such trouble in the future, she will definitely slap them in the face and then sever the mother-child relationship directly, letting them mess around!

Fortunately, the kids at home are still young, and apart from the occasional fights and quarrels, they are relatively harmonious, so I don’t have to worry about that.

She is still busy at home growing bean sprouts, making tofu, and drying bamboo shoots.

It was about six or seven days after the incident at the Wu family's home. When she was busy, there was a sudden knock on the door.

When I opened it, it turned out to be Chen Qi.

Chen Qi cried until her eyes were red, and she choked up and said, "Sister-in-law Juan'er, can you...can you go to my mother's house with me? My grandma is sick! Sister Juan'er, didn't you help me deliver my baby before? I heard from my mother-in-law that you learned some Chinese medicine, can you help go and take a look. My grandma...my grandma also secretly asked someone to send me a message, saying that she wanted to see you."

After hearing this, Xia Juanjuan was stunned for a moment. Why did Grandma Yao want to see her?

Thinking of her relationship with Shen Wanxue, and the care that Grandma Yao had given Shen Wanxue, Xia Juanjuan did not hesitate any longer and said, "Wait a minute, I'll tell my family and then I'll go with you. I have a bicycle, and it will be faster if I take you there."

Chen Qi had been close to her grandmother since she was a child, and now she was so anxious that she was at a loss. After hearing this, she nodded in gratitude.

Xia Juanjuan went back to her room and said a few words to Lin Yuru, then rode away on her bicycle. Wu Feng was worried about his wife, so he also borrowed a bicycle and took his wife with him.

When we arrived at the Chen family's home, we saw the whole family gathered in the two yellow adobe houses where Grandma Yao lived.

At first, Xia Juanjuan thought that this was Grandma Yao's illness, but when she went in, she saw that Grandma Yao's eldest son, youngest son, and daughter-in-law were looking at each other with dissatisfaction like chickens.

Seeing Chen Qi coming back, Chen Qi's father, Chen Lao Da, immediately came up and raised his hand to hit Chen Qi: "You are a glutton. After getting married, you only think about your husband's family. How dare you come back!"