Chapter 63 The Red Envelope courtyard door creaked open. Cold...
The courtyard door creaked open. Cold wind with damp chill poured into the main room. Wang Xiuping put her hands in the sleeves of her cotton-padded jacket, stomped on her muddy cotton shoes and walked in. Her nose was red from the cold. "Sister-in-law, are you having dinner?"
Xu Fengxia was pouring soup into a bowl when she suddenly shuddered. "Hurry up and sit down. I just cooked a pot of bone soup. Come and have a bowl to warm yourself up."
"No, I just had lunch." Wang Xiuping walked straight to Cheng Xin and put a red paper bag in her hand. Her rough fingers gently patted the back of her hand: "Here, this is from your grandmother. She said it's a gift for the new daughter-in-law. There's five dollars in it."
Cheng Xin held the red envelope tightly, her fingertips trembling slightly. The thin red paper package was like a piece of burning charcoal, so hot that she wanted to let go, but was afraid of dropping it on the ground.
Xu Fengxia wiped her hands with her apron and asked in a puzzled tone: "Why did her grandmother suddenly become so generous?"
"Ever since the Wang family father and son were arrested," Wang Xiuping sat down on a bench, her cotton pants rustling against the wooden bench. She sighed, her eyes filled with helplessness, "Mom has been wiping tears at home every day, regretting that she believed what Chen Ying said and almost pushed her own granddaughter into the fire pit."
She lowered her eyes and spoke even more quietly: "Chen Ying told mother that Wang Jiangang was doing well in the commune and that Geng Yunye would only be able to farm after his demobilization and that he had no future. Mother believed her."
"Chen Ying?" Xu Fengxia frowned in confusion. "She is my sister's daughter. She is usually the sweetest person. She even sent clam oil to me and Xinxin before. Is there some misunderstanding?"
Cheng Xin put the red envelope on the table, her tone cold, her lips pursed into a straight line, "I didn't take the clam oil she gave me, and turned around and gave it to you, saying it was to celebrate her first pot of gold. In fact, she asked Wang Jiangang for money to buy it under my name!"
She recalled the scene of the confrontation that day, and her eyes were slightly red. "When our family was harvesting grain, Wang Jiangang insisted in front of many people that if I accepted his things, I had to marry him. After Yun Ye asked about it, he found out that it was Chen Ying who asked Wang Jiangang for money to buy vanishing cream in my name without authorization. She pretended to give it to me so that she could use it for herself. I confronted her, but she refused to admit it and insisted that it was a misunderstanding."
Geng Yunye's hand holding the chopsticks was throbbing with veins, but his face remained expressionless. He just took a deep breath, picked up a piece of fish and put it in Cheng Xin's bowl, and said in a low voice: "Try this, less bone."
The eldest aunt suddenly realized: "I thought so! She praised Wang Jiangang to the skies in front of the old couple, saying that he would definitely become a team leader in the future and lead the members to live a good life. She coaxed the old couple around."
She shook her head, her expression full of emotion, "Something happened to the Wang family's father and son. The old couple knew they were fooled, and they felt very guilty."
Xu Fengxia stood up instantly, her chest heaving violently: "I have always treated her as my own daughter, but I didn't expect that she would be so thoughtful at such a young age! Knowing that Xinxin and I don't accept things from others casually, she deliberately used such a despicable method to ruin my daughter's reputation!"
Cheng Cunzhi put a piece of braised pork into his daughter's bowl and forced a smile: "Eat, eat, the food is cold." He turned to look at Wang Xiuping, his eyes filled with helplessness and tolerance, "Sister-in-law, go back and tell mom that we appreciate your kindness, and we won't take the money. It's not easy for an old couple to save money. When people get old, they like to hear sweet words. Chen Ying is very cunning, no wonder they were fooled."
Wang Xiuping reached out and held down the red envelope that Cheng Xin pushed over, her eyes earnest: "These five yuan are a token of the old couple's love. It would be even more difficult for them not to accept it." She stood up and shook her cotton-padded jacket, "I have to go back. Your grandma is still waiting for a reply."
Cheng Xin looked at Wang Xiuping's departing back, then lowered her head to look at the red envelope on the table. After a long silence, she finally spoke: "In fact, Chen Ying did this not just to instigate me and Wang Jiangang."
Xu Fengxia looked up, her eyes full of confusion: "What do you mean?"
"She likes Yunye." Cheng Xin bit her lip. "I caught her secretly looking at Yunye more than once. She deliberately taught me to spell Yunye's name wrong and asked me to find a few more young men to develop at the same time. She also said bad things about Yunye in front of me, saying that he was not worthy of me."
The table fell silent in an instant. Geng Yunye paused for a moment while picking up the food, lowered his eyelashes to hide his emotions, and then continued to pour wine for Cheng's father as if nothing had happened.
Xu Fengxia's face turned ugly, and she snorted coldly: "How old is she and she's already thinking about snatching men from others! She's quite cunning."
Cheng Lei, who had been eating, suddenly looked up and complained angrily, "We were watching TV at the captain's house. She asked me if I wanted to watch cartoons every day. She said that if I let Wang Jiangang be my brother-in-law, I could watch TV every day." He clenched his fists and became more and more agitated. "I said at the time that Wang Jiangang was not worthy of my sister!"
Xu Fengxia's face was full of anger: "I felt sorry for her but no one loved her. I really fed an ungrateful person!" She seemed to remember something and her face suddenly darkened: "No wonder she told me that Yun Ye has a bad temper. She was afraid that you two would not get along in the future, so she asked me to introduce you to a few more people. I thought she cared about you, but I didn't expect her to be so vicious!"
Cheng Cunzhi shook his head repeatedly, his face full of disappointment: "No wonder the second boss said that soldiers are unreliable, it turns out that someone is gossiping behind my back!"
Geng Yunye clenched his glass tightly, suppressed his anger and said, "The innocent are innocent, but Cheng Xin has been subjected to a shameful plot for nothing."
Cheng Cunzhi took a sip of wine and put the glass heavily on the table: "We all know that you are a good child. The highest official your grandmother has ever seen is the captain. She was fooled and confused. How can she listen to others?"
Wang Xiuping sat back on the bench before she even walked out the door, with a complicated look on her face: "When you got married, the old couple watched from behind and didn't dare to approach."
Cheng Xin suddenly felt mixed emotions. She recalled the time she spent with her grandparents when she was a child, and those warm memories were intertwined with the subsequent quarrels.
Geng Yunye quietly held her hand under the table and squeezed it gently, his eyes gentle and soothing.
"They made a great effort to let me come over when you two came back this time." Wang Xiuping continued, "The old couple saved these five dollars for a long time by living frugally. They just wanted to express their gratitude and ask you not to hate them."
Xu Fengxia wiped her eyes and reached out to put the red envelope back into Cheng Xin's hand: "Take it, this money is a token of your grandparents' love. They are old, and they will feel bad if they make a mistake."
Cheng Xin stroked the red envelope and nodded.
She raised her head and looked at her family: "I no longer blame grandpa and grandma. I am just angry about what Chen Ying did."
Geng Yunye suddenly spoke up in a steady voice: "What happened in the past is in the past. Let's live a good life in the future." He looked at Cheng Cunzhi, "Dad, how is the bamboo weaving craft being learned in the brigade recently?"
Cheng Cunzhi perked up when he heard this and sat up straight. "Everyone has learned well, but there are not enough knitting patterns. If you two have any ideas, bring them up and we'll discuss them carefully."
The topic gradually turned to bamboo weaving and livelihood, and the atmosphere at the dinner table gradually eased. Cheng Xin drank the hot bone soup and watched her family discussing with each other, and finally a smile appeared on her face.
Just thinking of Chen Ying, she couldn't help but frown, wondering what this cousin would do in the future.
Geng Yunye looked at Cheng Xin's slightly frowned face, and a trace of barely perceptible worry flashed in his eyes. He knew in his heart that Chen Ying would probably not give up, but now was not the time to confront her head-on, so he could only be careful.
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