Chapter 007 You know you can't afford to lose face, huh?
"……I don't."
He Taohua hated Li Banxia's gaze; it was as if she were looking at something dirty.
Suppressing her anger, she gritted her teeth and got up from the ground, only to find that the slit of her cheongsam was torn, posing a risk of exposure if the wind blew. She quickly pulled it off with both hands.
But this means she has to bend over, otherwise she can't reach it.
It would take at least two minutes to walk from the Su family's house to hers, and she would have to walk back like an old woman, stooped over, looking disheveled in front of the neighbors.
He Taohua was almost bursting with anger!
"Banxia, I don't work because my late husband left me a lot of money. My son also has a job and can earn money to support the family. My money is earned honestly and has absolutely nothing to do with you... your Su Youfu!"
"Really? If you didn't, you didn't. I never said you spent Su Youfu's money. Why are you in such a hurry?" Li Banxia replied casually.
He Taohua's eyes turned red with anger, and she felt like she couldn't breathe properly.
Is she in a hurry?
Li Banxia's words just now were clearly pointed at something. If any neighbor had heard them, she would have been spat on and gossiped about. How could she have the nerve to say something she didn't mean?
She did it on purpose!
He Taohua's face was extremely ugly. She cursed countless times in her heart and really wanted to break off relations with her, but when she thought about the consequences of breaking off relations, she gritted her teeth and endured it.
"Alright, I was overthinking it. You can't joke like that, Banxia. If word gets out, it will damage my reputation. There's always gossip around a widow's house. My son even works in the same factory as Comrade Su. We can't afford to lose face like that!"
"Ah, so you know you can't afford to lose face, huh?" Li Banxia drawled out, then glanced back and forth between He Taohua and Old Man Su.
He Taohua wanted to curse again; she was really fed up with Li Banxia's sarcastic remarks!
She glared at Su Youfu and called out to Li Banxia, "Don't worry, from now on I'll avoid your Su Youfu whenever I see him!"
Su Youfu looked up at He Taohua, a clear hint of disappointment flashing across his eyes.
Li Banxia gave a half-smile and a half-sigh, "Heaven is watching what people do. If you haven't done anything wrong, you won't be afraid of ghosts knocking on your door in the middle of the night. Don't be afraid, God won't send ghosts to knock on your door."
He Taohua, "..."
She wanted to tear Li Banxia's mouth apart!
Like a mad dog, it wouldn't let go of her.
ill!
She couldn't be bothered to respond to Li Banxia's words anymore. Covering the two slits of her cheongsam, she hunched her back and walked away with a gust of wind.
After admiring He Taohua's hunched back for a while, Li Banxia's mood improved considerably.
Old Su watched He Taohua leave as if fleeing, feeling extremely angry.
The look in his eyes as he looked at Li Banxia revealed undisguised disgust.
Li Banxia noticed this, turned her head to meet Old Man Su's gaze, and her heart instantly turned ice-cold.
"Su Youfu, what kind of look is that?"
Li Banxia sneered, "Feeling wronged for He Taohua? Why don't you go to her house and comfort her?"
"Li Banxia, you're really sick!" Old Man Su cursed.
Li Banxia spat at him, "If I'm sick, I'll infect you first, and then I'll take you to hell with me!"
Old Su turned around and walked into the house in anger.
Li Banxia snorted, "Su Youfu, you really won't tell me who your comrade-in-arms is?"
"Women and petty men are the most difficult to deal with!"
Li Banxia raised her voice, "Don't worry, I'll find out sooner or later."
Startled, Old Man Su stumbled and nearly tripped on the steps before hurriedly returning to his house.
Su Lao Er sidled up to Su Lao Da and whispered in his ear.
"Brother, do you think there's something going on between Dad and Aunt He? I don't understand."
Boss Su shook his head. "Making rumors without factual evidence is a legal offense. Don't talk nonsense."
Su Lao Er glanced at him, stiffened his neck, and said "Oh".
Li Banxia glanced sideways and saw the twin brothers huddled together. They looked exactly alike, but the older one appeared to be a gentle and honest scholar, yet his eyes revealed shrewdness and calculation.
Thinking of the aggressive scene of his second brother before his death, Li Banxia sneered.
"……mom?"
Su Lao Er was startled by Li Banxia's laughter and broke out in a cold sweat. He forced a smile and said, "What about the job? I've already talked to Yuxia. Her family all think highly of you. What if our family suddenly changes their minds and Yuxia won't marry me if I don't have a job?"
"Make it cold!"
Li Banxia said irritably, "If you want a job, find your own way. Don't try to take advantage of your sister-in-law. If you dare to have any more funny ideas, I'll break your legs!"
Su Lao Er glanced at the fire tongs in Li Banxia's hand, thought about how fiercely she had hit Su Laotou earlier, and swallowed hard.
"Hehe... Mom, I'm not after my sister-in-law's job. You have a job too, don't you?"
He's really fearless.
Even now, he's still trying to test her!
Li Banxia stared at him coldly, "You tell me if Cui Yuxia would dare to do the job of picking medicinal herbs? If she catches the wrong person and someone dies, she'll be dead too!"
Su Lao Er shrank his neck.
He stammered, "Aren't there other chores? It's not like we have to go pick medicinal herbs..."
"What did you say?" Li Banxia tapped the fire tongs.
Su Lao Er thought he was going to be hit, so he jumped up with a howl and shouted, "I won't say it anymore, I won't say it anymore, okay?"
He took off running.
Li Banxia: "...You're lucky you ran fast."
The second son has such a brain; he could do anything, but he just can't be a decent human being.
Su Laoda and his wife exchanged a glance.
The eldest son's wife said, "Mom, what would you like to eat tonight? I'll make it."
Li Banxia glanced at the sky; the sun was already setting in the west. It was past seven o'clock. Thinking about the time again, it was only a little over an hour since she got home from work.
"I'm happy today, so I won't cook at home. Mom will treat you to a meal out."
Li Banxia placed the fire tongs at the kitchen doorway, went back inside to get her bag, and called to the couple, "Let's go."
Boss Su glanced at Old Man Su's room, "My dad..."
"Go hungry!"
Li Banxia stretched out his hand, and his eldest daughter-in-law, stunned, also tentatively reached out her small hand and tapped Li Banxia's finger.
Li Banxia almost burst out laughing.
Silly.
She grabbed the eldest daughter-in-law's chubby little hand and said, "Let's go."
The eldest daughter-in-law was being led by her, her head spinning, her face turning red in no time. She kept glancing at him as they walked, her eyes filled with excitement when she looked at Su the eldest.
He gestured to her, saying, 'Look, Mom is holding my hand!'
Su Laoda was even happier to see that his wife was liked by his mother more than his mother liked him.
The couple both had silly smiles on their faces.
They lived in houses allocated by the auto parts factory. All the houses in this area had the same layout: two families lived in one small courtyard, each family had two rooms, and they shared a kitchen.
The person who lived in the same courtyard as them took a leave of absence without pay last year and went to the south to make big money.
With many children in the family, Li Banxia took the initiative to rent two more rooms.
The eldest son and his wife lived in one room, while the second, third, and fourth sons squeezed into another. Su Xiaosi was only 15 years old at the time, usually living at school and only coming back on weekends.
The family has two daughters living in one room; the eldest daughter, Su Hongying, got married at the beginning of the year.
Leaving the small courtyard, walk straight ahead onto the street, turn left, and you'll find a state-run restaurant.
It was peak dinner time, so Li Banxia glanced at the day's menu and ordered a signature braised beef, spicy diced chicken, and three jin of sauerkraut and pork dumplings, asking the couple to see if there was anything else they wanted to eat.
Both of them shook their heads in unison, saying they had eaten enough.
Li Banxia looked at it and added a vegetable dish: stir-fried hot and sour bean sprouts.
As soon as the dumplings were served, the eldest son's wife wanted to set aside half for the rest of the family, but Li Banxia stopped her.
"We didn't order any for them. This is for the three of us. The eldest can eat a lot, and you're pregnant, so it's a good time for you to replenish your nutrition..."
Seeing the couple's touched expressions when she looked up, Li Banxia choked for a moment, then simply said, "Eat quickly."
After finishing eating and returning home, I had just reached the gate of the courtyard when I heard my youngest daughter, Su Hongmei, shouting.
"Mom, where did you go? I'm starving!"
Su Hongmei pouted and glared at her eldest daughter-in-law, "Sister-in-law, don't you know what time it is? Haven't you made dinner yet? Are you trying to starve me to death...?"
Before the last "ah" could even finish, Li Banxia threw a tattered sandal at him.
Su Hongmei was stunned by the hit, "Mom, why did you hit me?"
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
