Chapter 017 Not Supporting Idlers
"Thank you, it's still early."
Li Banxia smiled and invited her to sit down. He asked his eldest daughter-in-law to take the bowls and chopsticks to the kitchen, and went back to his room to get the money. He also poured water for the visitor.
"Sister Liu, I'm sorry to trouble you. Here's a hundred yuan, as agreed upon."
Li Banxia pushed a stack of ten-yuan notes over, and the woman scoffed, "We're all neighbors, you're being too polite."
The woman took the money, counted it, and put a ten-yuan note on the table.
"Give others a hundred, but I'll take ninety from our own people."
Li Banxia paused for a moment, about to refuse, but the woman held her hand, looked at her and sighed softly, "It's not easy for you to support the family on your own. Your second son is getting married soon, and your third son will be soon too, right? Your eldest daughter-in-law is pregnant with twins. There will be many expenses for your family in the future. Every little bit helps, okay?"
“No, it has to be the amount due. I can’t let you pay out of your own pocket…” Li Banxia disagreed.
The woman glared at her reproachfully, "Don't be so polite with me. I'm not losing out by giving you ninety. I'll just earn a few less bucks for running errands. Just give me a couple more bowls of leftovers at your banquet later. That's all I can do for you. If you want to borrow money from me, I really can't."
The woman had a straightforward personality, and she laughed as she spoke.
Li Banxia didn't refuse anymore, and nodded with a smile, agreeing.
The two chatted for a few more minutes, and the woman tentatively comforted Li Banxia. Seeing that she didn't object, she whispered some advice to her, "Men shouldn't have money in their hands. You have to find a way to get that money back. In the future, when the factory pays your salary, you can go directly to the factory to collect it. After what happened at the factory today, the leaders won't dare not give it to you. But whatever you do, don't let Su Youfu take the money again, or he might use it to subsidize other things."
Li Banxia paused for a moment, then looked at the woman's eyes with sympathy and worry, knowing that she meant well, and smiled faintly.
The woman, fearing to speak too intimately with someone she didn't know well, got up to leave after saying a few words.
Li Banxia saw her to the door. The woman took two steps and then exclaimed, turning back to Li Banxia with small, quick steps. "Oh, right, there's something else. When I came over, I saw Su Youfu and Lin Jiefang's mother standing on the road talking. Su Youfu said he hadn't eaten since you kicked him out, and Lin Jiefang's mother asked Lin Jiefang to invite Su Youfu to her house for dinner. It seemed a bit strange to me. Do you think that widow could be Lin Jiefang's mother?"
Li Banxia blinked.
The woman shook her head repeatedly, "It's not good to make things up without evidence. But I haven't seen He Taohua go out to work all these years. She's a widow with her son, yet she's never lacked money. How much money do you think her husband left her? No amount of money could last this long, could it?"
Just then, Su Lao Da returned with Su Lao Er and Su Lao San.
Su Laosan had a look of anticipation on his face, while Su Laoda frowned slightly, clearly angry.
As for Su Lao Er, his face was long. When he saw Li Banxia from afar, his expression showed embarrassment, anger, and annoyance, but no remorse.
"Oh my, look at your three sons, each one more extravagant than the last!"
The woman greeted him with a smile and whispered a reminder to Li Banxia, "You should keep that in mind."
"I understand, thank you, Sister Liu."
The three brothers approached, and the woman asked Su Lao Er with a smile, "I was just talking to your mother about you. I heard you've already met the parents. When are you planning to get married? Have you prepared everything? Your mother asked me to find you a bicycle ticket this morning, and I just brought it to you..."
Su Lao Er suddenly looked up, his eyes filled with surprise as he gazed at Li Banxia. "Mom, are you going to buy bicycles for me and Yuxia?"
Li Banxia glanced at him, didn't reply, and smiled as she said goodbye to the woman.
The woman sensed something was amiss, patted Li Banxia's hand, sighed, and left.
"mom……"
Su Lao Er was still immersed in his dream of owning a bicycle, unaware of the utilitarianism that filled his eyes.
Li Banxia turned around and went back to the courtyard, walked to the table and picked up the ten yuan.
Su Lao Er followed closely behind.
Upon seeing the bicycle ticket on the table, he paused for a moment, then reached past Li Banxia to grab it.
Li Banxia was one step ahead of him and pressed down on the bicycle ticket.
"Mom!" Su Lao Er exclaimed anxiously.
Li Banxia glanced at him, then looked past him at Su Laoda and Su Laosan who had walked in.
He began by saying, "Since all three of you brothers are here, I'd like to say a few words."
"Mom, tell me."
The eldest son, Su, walked over and stood respectfully to the left. His wife glanced at her serious-looking mother-in-law and then stood next to him.
Su Laosan leaned lazily against the flower stand pillar, looking rather unserious. "Mom, what's up?"
Su Lao Er kept his eyes fixed on the bicycle ticket without looking up.
Li Banxia said, "Starting next month, if you want to eat at home, you have to hand over half of your salary. If you don't pay, you won't get any food. We don't support idlers in our family."
"What?!"
Su Laosan immediately stood up straight. "Mom, I don't have a job. Where would I get the money to pay?"
"I'll give you a month."
Li Banxia frowned and looked at Su Laosan, "...Go out and find a job. You can pay twenty for temporary work, but you can pay it back later when you get paid."
Su Laosan was dumbfounded.
"No, Mom, I don't know how to do anything. What kind of job can I find? Why do you suddenly want me to find a job? The family doesn't need my few dollars..."
Li Banxia glared at him.
Li Laosan often said this in his past life, saying that she had made him stupid. He would cry whenever she asked him to go out and earn money. The couple would use the excuse that no one would take care of their three grandchildren to stay at home and sponge off their parents.
Back then, the times were good, and she benefited from the era's development and made a lot of money. She certainly didn't need the meager earnings he made.
They let him stay idle all the time, never expecting that he would end up like that.
Li Banxia sighed inwardly, but her face remained cold. "You're already a man in your twenties. You'll get married and have children in the future. Your wife and children will depend on you for support. If you don't have a job, how will you support them in the future?!"
"But there's still you and Dad..."
Su Laosan said confidently, and Li Banxia grabbed a teacup and smashed it at him. Su Laosan cried out in fright, shrank his neck, covered his head, and squatted down on the ground.
He yelled, "Mommy, Mommy, I'll look for it, I'll look for it, okay? Why are you hitting me again?!"
She's still sore from the injury she just got.
Su Laosan looked up at Li Banxia with a pitiful expression.
Li Banxia took a deep breath and glared at him fiercely, "Go to a state-run restaurant as an apprentice, learn carpentry at a lumber mill, or learn to carry bricks at a construction site. As long as you're willing, you can find a way to make a living anywhere!"
"What if I can't find it?"
Before Su Laosan could finish speaking, he noticed his mother's expression change and quickly explained, "Mom, Mom, it's not that I don't want to go, it's just that I'm so stupid, what if they don't want me..."
"So I'm giving you a month. If you can't find a job in a month, you can go back to the countryside and learn to farm from your great-uncle!" Li Banxia could barely contain her rising anger and shouted angrily.
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