He suddenly became very upset, locking himself in his room all day and smoking one cigarette after another.
Meng Ruyi was on the verge of collapse. Although Lu Kai's family couldn't offer much help, having him by her side when she went out was better than facing it alone.
Now, Lu Kai is traumatized and is staying at home, refusing to go out.
She can't do it! If she doesn't go out, how will this family, who are starving and needing to eat, drink, and relieve themselves, manage?
He gets scolded and spat on outside, and when he comes back he still has to take care of Lu's mother, feeding her, washing her body, and taking care of her excrement and chamber pot.
Meng Ruyi had never lived such a life since birth.
The once voluptuous and alluring beauty, like a peony, has visibly become thin, with dark circles under her eyes resembling those of a panda. She no longer bothers to apply skincare oil to her face, and her hands have become much rougher.
And so, not a single person in the family remembers her well.
Mr. Lu was never home for meals or drinks, and he acted as if he didn't see her at all.
Lu Kai smokes all day long in his room, looking utterly颓废 (颓废 is a difficult word to translate directly, but it implies a state of listlessness, decadence, and lack of motivation), yet he eats and drinks just as much as anyone else.
Not to mention the two children, who haven't been to school these days and have been playing in the yard all day. They've already let their minds wander and become wild. Every day after eating, they wipe their mouths and go out to play.
It's time to go home and eat.
Every day I look like a mud monkey; the clothes I take off look like I've been rolling around in the mud all day.
Meng Ruyi had never known that the trivialities of daily life could be so torturous; she had never suffered such hardship before.
After thinking it over, she came up with a plan and went to Lu Kai for advice, asking him to call Xu Zhenzhu back to serve Lu's mother and the whole family.
In Meng Ruyi's words, the family's current state is all Xu Zhenzhu's fault.
Now that the family is in such a mess and Lu's mother is injured, why should Xu Zhenzhu be the only one enjoying a life of luxury in the countryside?
She must atone for her sins! She must return to the Lu family to atone!
Let her come back to serve Lu's mother and take care of the whole family, so they can vent their anger before getting a divorce.
Otherwise, wouldn't that be letting Xu Zhenzhu off easy? She caused the Lu family so much trouble; she can't go unpunished, can she?
These words struck a chord with Lu Kai. He had been locking himself in his room every day, not without regret!
What she regretted was not being with Meng Ruyi, but rather not being more discreet, which allowed Xu Zhenzhu to discover her.
He regretted that he should have married someone else instead of Xu Zhenzhu.
What I regret is that even if I had married Xu Zhenzhu, I should have let her stay and work in the lower commune instead of transferring her back to the county town!
I regret that if I had known things would turn out this way, I shouldn't have let Gu Zhiyuan go to the machinery factory in the first place.
...
Now he doesn't dare to go out, doesn't dare to face the eyes of outsiders, and doesn't dare to face the reality that he has fallen from being a favored son of heaven to being in the mud.
After hearing Meng Ruyi's advice, he felt even more resentment towards Xu Zhenzhu.
After thinking for a moment, he called the Red Star Commune, pretending to be from the supply and marketing cooperative, and asked someone to notify Xu Zhenzhu of the Tuanjie Brigade that if she didn't come back soon, she would lose her job.
After being married for more than half a year, he had come to know Xu Zhenzhu and her family quite well.
Since Xu Zhenzhu has retreated back to the Unity Brigade, she probably won't show up unless there's something in it for her.
It would be better to find her weakness: work!
I don't believe Xu Zhenzhu won't obediently roll back.
Sure enough, when the call was made, the next day, Lu Kai arrived at the courtyard where the two of them had previously lived, wearing a straw hat.
Around noon, they finally caught up with Xu Zhenzhu.
The couple hadn't seen each other for many days, and when they finally met again, there was no warmth between them. The way they looked at each other was as if they wished the other dead.
Xu Zhenzhu suddenly realized: "It was you! It was you who made the call?"
Lu Kai nodded: "Yes, I made the call! Xu Zhenzhu, you don't think you can get away with ruining our whole family and just run off to the countryside, do you?"
Xu Zhenzhu glared at Lu Kai, and if she had a knife, she would have stabbed him long ago: "You ruined my life, you deserve it! This is the retribution you all deserve! Do you know what retribution is?"
Lu Kai said impatiently, "You're talking to me about retribution? What kind of good person are you? Let me tell you, Xu Zhenzhu, you'd better come back with me now and take care of my mother and the family! If you behave yourself and take good care of my family, I might let you off the hook! Otherwise, try the methods of the Lu family! You'll lose your job, and even if we're not divorced, you'll still be my wife, Lu Kai's wife, and you'll have to obediently serve me and our whole family!"
"I'm unemployed now anyway, and I don't care what others say! I have plenty of time and energy to waste on you!"
"Now that you no longer have the Lu family as your backer, and you lose your job, do you think your brothers in the Xu family will let you off the hook? If you're smart, you'll obediently agree!"
Xu Zhenzhu trembled with rage: "Lu Kai, you're inhuman! How dare you threaten me with my job? This job is mine!"
Lu Kai sneered, "That was a job our Lu family found for you! Without our Lu family, would you have such a good job? Don't dream! Don't think that just because our Lu family has fallen on hard times and is now powerless against you, we can't do anything to you, right? Even if our Lu family is down on its luck, this broken ship still has some nails. We might not be able to deal with others, but we can still handle someone like you, Xu Zhenzhu, more than enough."
Xu Zhenzhu never expected that Lu Kai would be so cold and ruthless after their falling out, showing no regard for their past marital affection. Her heart turned even colder.
Lu Kai is right. She has nothing left now, her husband and she have become enemies, and she can no longer stay at home.
After her three older brothers learned that she had offended the Lu family and would no longer be able to rely on their influence, they all turned their backs on her.
Not only did they force her to return the dowry money she had given as a bride price, with interest, but they also divided up all the things she and Lu Kai had previously owned in their small family home.
During her stay at the Tuanjie Brigade, the three families were eyeing her job with great interest.
If it weren't for the three families keeping each other in check and all wanting this job, she probably would have lost it long ago.
This job is all she has left to hold onto; it's what she's relied on for the rest of her life, at least for the past few years.
If she loses her job, even if she still has some money, how many days can she make ends meet?
Lu Kai is going too far! Does he think he can take me for granted?
She ruined her own life, and now she wants me to serve her whole family?
Does he think he's Xu Siya from a past life? Letting the Lu family bully and humiliate him, serving as a shield for his entire life?
Xu Zhenzhu felt a burning hatred in her heart, biting her lip, her eyes filled with a desperate, venomous resentment.
You want her to serve you? Just don't regret it later!
Having made up her mind, Xu Zhenzhu nodded in humiliation, which was taken as an agreement.
Meanwhile, in a distant northwestern military unit...
"Go back this time, resolve this matter completely, and then come back! Do you hear me?" a corps commander said with a dark face.
Across from him, a man in his thirties wearing a military uniform nodded: "Yes!"
The political commissar, who looked slightly more refined, patted the man in his thirties in military uniform on the shoulder: "Don't worry, you won't be going back alone this time! We'll have Deputy Regiment Commander Xu go with you! He's from your area too! With him there, whoever it is, they'll have to give us a clear explanation!"
"We can't be the ones shedding blood and sweat at the front, only to have someone try to poach our employees from behind! Do they really think we're spineless corpses?!"
"Political Commissar—" The man in military uniform seemed to have something to say.
He was abruptly interrupted: "Shut up! This matter must be dealt with seriously! Otherwise, it will be our Northwest Army Corps that loses face!" The army commander slammed his hand on the table, interrupting him.
The political commissar said from the side, "Lu Zheng, you need to understand that this isn't just your problem! If we don't deal with this seriously and curb this unhealthy trend to ensure the stability of our soldiers' rear, we can't guard the border with peace of mind, can we?"
Just then, a loud voice rang out from outside the door: "Report! Xu Changfeng, deputy commander of the Third Army Corps, reporting for duty!"
As the voice spoke, a lean man walked in.
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