Now that things have escalated to this point, how could Xu Keke possibly let it go? Out of the corner of her eye, she caught sight of Li Yumei leaning out from the balcony, and a thought struck her.
Pretending to have just noticed, she pointed at the broom in Li Shaojie's hand and asked, "Why are you sweeping?"
Lu Cuihua then noticed what her son had been holding. Her son was a university professor, a cultured man. How could he be doing these household chores?
In Lu Cuihua's heart, her son is more important than anything else. Even though she and Du Wenting are still having a falling out, she still snatched the broom from her son's hand.
"What's going on? I was exhausted all day yesterday. Instead of resting in the house, why am I sweeping the floor?"
Xu Keke said sarcastically from the side, "He wants to rest, but Li Yumei has to work too. She's been banging on our door outside since early morning, like she's on a mission. How can anyone sleep?"
Li Shaojie glanced at Du Wenting, a thought popping into his mind that she was going to cause trouble again. But he still tried to comfort Li Yumei, saying, "It's just sweeping the floor, it's nothing."
Xu Keke couldn't let him fool Lu Cuihua. "Just let it go. It was clearly your sister who insisted on cleaning the house for us. When we didn't let her do it, she stood in the house crying. If she had just said she didn't want to do it, why was she crying? She should have just refused. We shouldn't have let you do it."
Her words struck a chord with Lu Cuihua, who was already seething with anger that morning. She unleashed her inner rage, raising her voice as if she were cursing in the village.
"Li Yumei! Come here to me."
Li Yumei knew Lu Cuihua's temper all too well, so she shrank back and shrank off the balcony. She didn't come any closer, but just stood at a distance and watched.
"Why did you wake Shaojie up so early? He was exhausted yesterday and wanted to sleep in this morning. Why are you urging him?" Lu Cuihua thought to herself with resentment. That little vixen, always clinging to Shaojie.
Li Yumei had suffered at Lu Cuihua's hands in recent years, so she didn't dare to raise her voice at her. She muttered in a low voice, "Isn't it what you said yesterday? According to the village custom, a new bride has to get up early on her first day to cook for the whole family. So I woke her up at dawn."
It really was Lu Cuihua who said this. She was thinking of talking to Du Wenting herself, but that would ruin things. So she entrusted the matter to Li Yumei. Li Yumei was naturally happy that Du Wenting would suffer a loss, so she readily agreed.
Xu Keke sneered, "Li Shaojie, so you got married alone yesterday? You're the only one who's tired, but I'm not? And you still talk about village customs. Your family has quite a few rules. Do you know what era we're living in? The 1980s! We've already entered the reform and opening-up period, what, your family still thinks it's like before liberation?"
Having barely managed to avoid a falling out, Li Shaojie wasn't about to let her have another hold on him. He glared at Lu Cuihua resentfully, "Mom, why did you make Yumei call Tingting?" Wasn't this just asking for trouble?
Lu Cuihua gripped the broom tightly, completely losing the imposing manner she had when she got up. How come all the blame was placed on her today? "I, I... I didn't do anything wrong."
Xu Keke pointed at Li Yumei with her finger and said provocatively, "So she's lying?"
Li Yumei immediately panicked upon hearing this, "I didn't, I didn't lie. It was true..."
Seeing Lu Cuihua glaring at Li Yumei, and fearing she might change her mind, Xu Keke immediately finished her sentence for her, "So your mother lied."
Li Shaojie pleaded softly, "Tingting, let it go, stop making a fuss."
Xu Keke shook off his pull, "What does this have to do with me? What did I do wrong? You didn't come back to your room last night, and I didn't say anything. Now I just want to know why your sister knocked on my door early this morning and wouldn't let me sleep. What is she thinking? What, your family can't let me have my way, but now I can't even ask her anything?"
These words made Lu Cuihua understand immediately. If Li Yumei hadn't held onto her son and wouldn't let him go back to his room last night, her daughter-in-law wouldn't be so angry, and she wouldn't have lost face like this. Lu Cuihua had only raised one good son in her life, and he was used to being outstanding and competitive in the village. She had never been treated like this before.
Li Yumei, that troublemaker, grew angrier the more she thought about it. Lu Cuihua's eyes flashed with a fierce light as she grabbed a broom and charged towards Li Yumei. Today, she was going to beat Li Yumei up and show this city girl that she wasn't someone to be trifled with.
Seeing her coming towards her, Li Yumei dodged and cried for help as she did so. Lu Cuihua chased after her, while Li Guodong watched from the side, muttering, "Oh dear, stop it, stop it! What's all this commotion about this early in the morning!"
But he only shouted a few times and didn't actually go forward to stop them.
Seeing Li Yumei running towards Li Shaojie, Xu Keke seized the opportunity and forcefully shoved Li Shaojie away. Li Shaojie had been thinking that he should let his mother hit Li Yumei a few times, so that Du Wenting would have no excuse to cause trouble again.
He was still hesitating when he was pushed out.
Lu Cuihua lunged forward, unable to stop herself, and the broom in her hand struck Li Shaojie squarely in the face.
Li Shaojie turned his head in disbelief, only to find Li Yumei standing behind him. He was momentarily stunned, not knowing who had pushed him.
"Brother, your face!" Li Yumei pointed at Li Shaojie's face in horror.
Li Shaojie's originally fair face was swollen with red welts in just a short time, with blood seeping out from some places.
Even Xu Keke felt that Lu Cuihua had gone too far. However, she liked it.
Lu Cuihua panicked and, ignoring Li Yumei, threw down the broom and rushed over. "What should we do? What should we do?"
Xu Keke said decisively, "This won't work, we'll get infected. We need to go to the hospital. I'm going to change my clothes. You guys wait here."
Li Shaojie called out from behind her, "No need to go to the hospital, just apply some medicine at home."
Xu Keke wouldn't listen to him. She went back to her room, closed the door, and happily changed her clothes.
When Xu Keke changed her clothes and came out of the bedroom, she saw Li Yumei huddled at the kitchen door, looking like a frightened bird.
The family of three sat on the sofa, with Li Shaojie in the middle, carefully examining himself in a mirror. Li Guodong and Lu Cuihua sat beside him, watching him nervously.
Xu Keke looked at the three of them and said directly, "Whoever has yesterday's gift money, give it to me first. I used all the money I had to pay for the banquet yesterday."
The Li family was stunned; none of them had expected that Du Wenting would bring up the money on her own initiative.
You should know that Du Wenting's father is a surgical professor at the medical school, and he knows many extraordinary people. The money he received as gifts yesterday was no small sum.
Li Shaojie's face darkened, clearly displeased. "Tingting, didn't Mom and Dad say that since no one from our hometown came, and the guests were all your relatives and friends, they would pay for the banquet and the money would be for our future living expenses? How come you paid for the banquet yesterday? Did you spend all the allowance I gave you?"
It's really shameless of him to say that. He's a teaching assistant at a school, and his monthly salary is less than forty yuan. He's asking for living expenses? People who don't know the situation would think he's given a lot of money.
Looking at the nervous expressions on Li Shaojie's parents' faces, it's clear this family is obsessed with money; they reveal their true colors when money is involved.
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