Chapter 96 Ancient World: Stepmother (13)
Zhao Lianhua was genuinely frightened.
He staggered home, stopped doing any work, and locked himself in his room, refusing to come out no matter how much Li Qingyue and her brother called him.
That night, Li Xiangling cooked again. She was on the verge of tears, feeling like she had more to do after those two left.
After working hard all day, the food I made was still criticized.
Li Qingyue picked at the food in the bowl with her chopsticks, but in the end, she only ate a few bites before putting down her chopsticks.
"They're really useless."
He muttered something dismissively, then stood up and left.
Li Xiangling was furious.
She wanted to slam her fist on the table and yell at them, "You're so capable, yet you never cook!" But she didn't dare; she only dared to vent her anger on Changqing and his sister.
The next morning.
Zhao Lianhua didn't come out either, and Li Qingyue stopped instructing her sister to cook. Instead, she banged loudly on Zhao Lianhua's door.
"Mom, get up and cook! We're starving. How are you going to explain this to Dad?"
Li Xiangling stopped being coy and called out, "Mom, what's wrong? Dad's not home, you can't just ignore us."
Both of them started calling her "Mom," and they even used Li Fusheng, who was serving corvée labor, as a raft.
There was no response.
After discussing it for a while, Li Xiangling went up and knocked on the door.
"Mom, do you miss Li Changqing and the others? I'll go and call them over, okay?"
A terrified sound immediately came from inside.
"No, don't go looking for him!"
The door opened, and Zhao Lianhua walked out silently. Her eyes were dark, clearly she hadn't slept well all night.
"Mom is fine. You all sit down. I'll go cook."
She staggered into the kitchen and actually managed to cook a meal.
However, she became much more silent, and even seemed somewhat afraid to mention Li Changqing and his sister. Every time she heard someone mention them, her face would change drastically, as if she had seen a ghost, which greatly puzzled Li Qingyue and his sister.
Of course, what worried Li Qingyue the most was that her stepmother was always distracted while working, especially at night when she was afraid to go out. Every day she would go to the fields and come back early before it got dark.
This resulted in an endless amount of work in the fields, and no time to cut grass and feed the livestock.
More than a month has passed.
The pig we raise at home is skin and bones, the cow we raise is sick, and we haven't been able to catch up with the work in the fields. The soybeans haven't been harvested yet, and they all rotted in the fields after a rain.
Zhao Lianhua herself has also lost a lot of weight, as if she has been seriously ill.
Li Xiangling was very unhappy because her brother didn't do any work at all, and even ordered her around. He did more work in the past month than she had in the previous year.
Sometimes she couldn't help but think that it would be great if Li Changqing and his sister were still at home, at least she wouldn't have to do things like washing clothes and cooking.
She also harbored some resentment towards her brother.
All he does is order her around, while he does nothing all day.
The whole family shared a common wish: that Li Fusheng would come back soon, otherwise, they really wouldn't be able to cope.
Li Fusheng returned home amidst everyone's anticipation.
However, his condition was no better than Zhao Lianhua's. In fact, he was even thinner, almost skin and bones. He lay in bed for a whole day and night after returning home before waking up.
He wasn't sick, but he was very weak.
That evening, Zhao Lianhua cooked a table full of dishes, and only then did he notice that two people were missing from the house.
"Where are Changqing and Huanxi?" He was a little annoyed. Even if they shouldn't be there to welcome him, they should at least be there for the meal.
Zhao Lianhua's expression froze.
Before she could speak, Li Xiangling interrupted.
"Li Changqing said that my brother and I were freeloaders and that my brother kicked us out."
Clang.
Li Fusheng dropped his chopsticks on the ground.
"Wh-what?"
His eyes widened suddenly.
Li Xiangling was taken aback and fell silent, while Li Qingyue, who had some face in front of her father, immediately took over the conversation.
"They went back to their old family home. Anyway, Li Changqing is almost sixteen, and the clan chief agreed. We've raised them for several years, so we've done our best."
Li Qingyue didn't take the matter to heart. He was going to be an official in the future, and the Li clan would have to rely on him. This little thing wasn't worth worrying about. He could just be driven away. However, he didn't expect his father to react so strongly.
Li Fusheng was stunned for a long time, then suddenly slammed his hand on the table.
"How dare you act without my permission?!"
"And Zhao Lianhua, the child may be immature, but aren't you immature too? Why didn't you stop him!"
He looked heartbroken and glared fiercely at the people in front of him.
Although Zhao Lianhua regained her sense of security after Li Fusheng arrived, she still felt wronged upon hearing these words.
"I... I couldn't stop her, Qingyue..."
Li Fusheng's face darkened.
"Tell me what happened during the month or so I was away."
It was early morning, and the air was slightly chilly. As Li Fusheng listened to his children and wife talk about what had happened at home over the past month, his heart felt as if it had fallen into an ice cellar, growing colder and colder.
After learning that the work at home had been delayed, he glared at Zhao Lianhua fiercely. However, when he heard that Changqing had gone to Uncle Liu's house to collect the rent, his expression changed drastically, and he suddenly stood up.
"Why didn't you stop it?"
Li Qingyue and his sister's expressions also changed. They had never heard of their family renting land to Uncle Liu before.
Thinking back on this month, Changqing not only didn't go hungry, but also hired someone to repair the house, so it turns out he was getting rent money from all of that.
Li Qingyue immediately stood up in anger.
"I'm going to ask him for the rent back right now. So, it turns out that those siblings have been using our money this month!"
Li Xiangling followed angrily. She had been holding back her anger for a long time after doing so much work this month. Now that her father was back, she wasn't afraid of them.
"No, don't go!"
Zhao Lianhua reacted as if she had stepped on hot coals, her face changed, and she quickly blocked their way.
"stop!"
Li Fusheng also quickly called out.
Li Qingyue turned around with dissatisfaction, "Dad, I'm your own son. Li Changqing is too audacious. You can't favor him!"
Li Fusheng looked at his children, who were full of resentment, and after a long while, he sighed.
“What do you know? The reason I didn’t tell you about those dozen or so acres of land that were rented out is because they were originally left to you by your Uncle Fuguan. In recent years, your mother has only helped manage them.”
Nobody knew about it, so nobody knew where the money went. Who would have thought something like this would happen?
Li Fusheng was also filled with remorse.
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