Chapter 10: The bloody quarrel of the year: Shi Meilan's...
As for this "robbery", it was not a big deal at all and the village could not detect it.
Just as Li Jianye expected, the matter became a big deal, but it also didn't become a big deal.
When the village chief heard about this, he immediately summoned everyone in the village to the ancestral hall.
Everyone stood at their own home, and led by the village chief, they took Li Jianye one by one to identify people, but Li Jianye insisted that he could not recognize them, so the matter had to be dropped.
The village chief warned some suspected thugs, but he couldn't find anyone to convict, so he began to suspect people from outside the village. Therefore, the village chief organized a group of people to patrol every night.
This time it was Li Jianye, who knows, next time it might be some girl who's been harmed! This needs to be investigated carefully!
However, Li Jianye himself did not care about this matter and seemed to have forgotten about it in the blink of an eye. The next day, he urged Shi Meilan to go to her parents' home to borrow money.
"Those children are still waiting for their books. It's okay for me, but they are about to take the college entrance examination and can't wait." Li Jianye sighed and said.
Shi Meilan did not refuse. Early the next morning, she took Li Jianye back to the neighboring Shijia Village.
——
Shijia Village is about half an hour's bike ride away from Lijia Village. Shi Meilan took Li Jianye straight to her mother's home.
Shi Meilan's mother's family is an ordinary family in Shijia Village. Her father is a pig farmer in the village and the family has no land. Her mother makes some money for gas by sewing shoe soles and making clothes for others. The family has a meager income, but they have four children.
The first three are girls, Shi Meilan is the third, and only the fourth is a boy, who is Shi Meilan’s younger brother.
Shi Meilan's younger brother is Shi Jinyu. Shi Jinyu was spoiled by his family. He wanted to eat and drink all day long, and he looked like a second-rate kid. When he was younger, he had no money and ran to his three sisters' homes to beg for money. Sometimes he said he wanted to buy new clothes for his mother, and sometimes he said his father had a cold leg and needed to buy some medicine. He used all kinds of reasons to ask for money.
Shi Jinyu's only advantage is that he speaks nicely, especially to women.
He would act like a spoiled child to his mother, complain to his sister, and always say nice things when asking for money.
"Mom, don't worry, I won't waste money. Mom is the best, Mom~"
"Sister, this little money I have is not spent on myself, but on Mom. I really love Mom."
"Sister, please help me. When I make money in the future, I will definitely buy you a lot of good things."
"Oh! Sister, I feel bad when I see you being wronged! If your brother-in-law treats you badly, you must go home. Your brother will definitely support you."
After he said such nice things, not only could the women of the Shi family not do anything to him, but even the women outside the family could not do anything to him. He also tricked a good wife into marrying her, the youngest daughter of a small farmer who grew an orchard in Shijia Village.
The father-in-law has only one daughter in his family, and they are almost extinct. He is unwilling to marry his daughter to a second-rate guy like Shi Jinyu, but the daughter has set her eyes on Shi Jinyu and insists on marrying him.
Although Shi Jinyu himself has no ability, he is lucky. He has three sisters. The eldest and second sisters got married early and now live in other villages and rarely come back. The same happened to Shi Meilan later. The three sisters all earned a dowry and gave it to Shi Meilan's younger brother as a betrothal gift, and he got married.
His father-in-law's health was getting worse and worse, and Shi Jinyu had to rely on the family fortune of his father-in-law, so he now had a lot of money and lived a very comfortable life.
Otherwise, he would be lucky! He ate his own sister's flesh and blood in the Shi family, and when he left home and his father-in-law's family, there was no one left, not a single bite left.
——
When Shi Jinyu got into trouble in the past, Shi Meilan only thought that her brother was ignorant and mischievous, but he was not a bad person by nature. She always favored her brother. Even if Shi Jinyu really did something wrong, Shi Meilan did not believe that he did it on purpose.
However, after experiencing what happened in her previous life, Shi Meilan realized that her younger brother was truly unreliable.
When his sister was seriously ill and dying and was bullied by her in-laws, he, as a younger brother, did not support his sister, but chose to extort money from his brother-in-law and leave.
What's the point of having a brother like this?
The wrong things he did were not because he was immature or stupid, but because he was bad.
He either plays dumb and leaves all the bad things to others, or he evades responsibility, pretends to be a child who knows nothing, and takes advantage of his sisters.
She always treated him as her own brother, but this time she was really hurt enough, so she went back to her parents' home to ask for money without hesitation.
Old Man Shi and Old Lady Shi had no money at all. They spent every penny they earned on their son. Shi Meilan went home and asked to borrow money, but Old Man Shi and Old Lady Shi refused.
"You're already married, why are you still asking for money? You'll be laughed at." Old Lady Shi refused while sewing shoe soles, her face full of annoyance at Shi Meilan: "You should think about your brother!"
Li Jianye's troubles belong to the Li family. Go find the Li family to solve them! Go find Li Jianye's brother! Why come back to the Shi family?
Shi Meilan looked at them with a cold face.
In the past, Father and Mother Shi always favored their younger brother and thought that whatever his younger brother did was right. But at that time, Shi Meilan also had affection for her younger brother, so she didn't care. Now that the family affection has been broken up, all that is left is a series of accounts.
Her parents must have known about what happened in her previous life. It was only a half-hour drive away, and someone must have told her parents that her brother could go back after getting the money. Her parents must have acquiesced. Just thinking about it made her feel resentful.
They were afraid that they couldn't take advantage of her and just wanted to throw her away. It would be better if they could squeeze the last bit of money out of her, but if they couldn't, they would never get involved with her.
They were born to the same parents, so why was she just a money-loser in their eyes?
"I'm already married, why do you ask me for ten yuan every year for the New Year? Won't that make people laugh? My brother's children study at Li Jianye's school and never pay any fees. Don't you know that?"
"I'm thinking about my brother, but you can't think about me? Am I not a human being?" Shi Meilan said aggressively, "Mom, I gave so much money to our family before, and they accepted it in vain? Now that you won't give me anything, I have no choice but to go out and borrow money from the uncles in the Shi family. Don't you think this is shameful?"
Old Man Shi was puffing on his pipe at the side. Finally, he had no choice but to call Shi Jinyu over.
Within ten minutes, Shi Jinyu arrived. As soon as he entered the room, he saw his sister and brother-in-law were there. He greeted them with a smile, and as soon as he sat down, he heard his sister say that she wanted to borrow money.
Shi Jinyu's face suddenly darkened.
"Your brother-in-law was recently robbed of some money and we need to make up for it. Don't you have some money? Lend it to us. We will pay it back sooner or later. We can write an IOU."
Shi Jinyu had said so many nice things before, but they were all just talk. He knew that his three sisters were less troublesome than the other and were afraid that their families would suffer. They would work hard outside and would not cause any trouble to the family, so it didn't matter if he boasted.
But he didn't expect that Shi Meilan actually wanted it now!
He was just talking casually, how could Shi Meilan take it seriously!
What's going on? Shi Meilan used to be someone who would grit her teeth and bear it even if the sky fell! Why is she actually asking him for money now? How could my sister do this?
Shi Jinyu was reluctant to give it, but when he thought that his sister might go out to borrow money from people in the village and then come back to say that he didn't lend it, Shi Jinyu felt embarrassed.
He is the root of the Lao Shi family. If he can't even handle such a small family affair, he will definitely be laughed at and others will say that he is not fit to be the head of the family.
For a man, face is more important than anything else.
Forget it, just lend it to him. His sister won’t refuse to pay it back anyway. She has the IOU.
"I can lend it to you," Shi Jinyu said reluctantly, "but I only have one hundred dollars, not two hundred."
Shi Meilan nodded happily, but she asked Li Jianye to sign the document.
Li Jianye didn't think much about it and just picked up the pen to sign - it didn't matter whether he signed or Shi Meilan signed, they were husband and wife after all, they would never be separated, and he would not default on the money, he would pay it back slowly.
After Shi Meilan got the money, she took Li Jianye and left Shijia Village, saying that she would go back to Lijia Village to borrow another 80 yuan from others, and add the 20 yuan left by her family to fill the hole.
Li Jianye was very satisfied with Shi Meilan's actions and was secretly pleased with himself.
He didn't marry this wife in vain.
As a woman, once she married into his family, she had to put him first in everything and make plans for him. The fact that Shi Meilan borrowed money from her parents' home for him and managed to get a hundred yuan made him see Shi Meilan's loyalty to him.
Why marry a wife? Of course, to use her! A wife must be useful. Li Jianye married Shi Meilan because she was smart and capable, never suffered any loss, was beautiful, and was prestigious when taken out. She was also nimble and could cook when brought home.
Now, he added another condition to Shi Meilan: share the debt together.
A good wife should share the debt with her husband. No matter what situation her husband is in, she should follow him without leaving him. No matter what her husband wants to do, she should spend her energy to support him.
If a woman can help a man reach a certain level, she will receive praise and applause from countless people. This is a woman's greatest honor.
He had wanted to replace Shi Meilan and marry Wang Yulian before, but after today, Li Jianye felt that there was no need to replace Shi Meilan.
Considering that Shi Meilan is so hardworking and willing to borrow money from her family for him, he is willing to live with Shi Meilan forever. Even if he has other women outside, it is just for fun. His wife must still be Shi Meilan, and he will not change her no matter how obedient and well-behaved Wang Yulian is.
Because Shi Meilan is a good woman!
That day, after they came back from Shijia Village, Li Jianye wanted to move back to the front east room to be intimate with Shi Meilan, but Shi Meilan said that he was injured and not in good health, so she placed him in the west room.
Li Jianye didn't think much about it and just continued to stay in the west room.
——
After Shi Meilan returned from Shijia Village and settled Li Jianye, she really started to borrow money all over the village. However, she always took Li Jianye with her every time she went, and the IOUs were all written in Li Jianye's name.
Shi Meilan and Li Jianye were both respectable people in the village, and they didn't owe money because of gambling debts, but because of man-made disasters. They borrowed money to buy tutoring books for their children who were taking the college entrance examination. Everyone in the village was willing to lend them money.
However, no matter who Shi Meilan borrowed from, she did not go to the old Hu family at the end of the village. Shi Meilan said that she was too embarrassed to borrow money because she wanted to cancel the engagement, and Li Jianye agreed - Shi Meilan even accomplished such a difficult task as canceling the engagement, which shows how useful Shi Meilan is.
Some people in Lijia Village borrowed and some did not, and the total amount borrowed was more than 30 yuan. Even Zhao Erjie was forced by Old Lady Li to borrow 20 yuan. Now there are only a dozen yuan left away from 200 yuan, which doesn't seem like much.
At this time, something happened that interrupted Shi Meilan's plan to borrow money.
Old Mrs. Li next door is going to have her 56th birthday party.
Shi Meilan's revenge has reached the most critical step.
——
June 12th was a hot day with golden sunlight.
The sky was cloudless, the scorching sun was burning the ground, and the cicadas in the trees were chirping. In the afternoon, the old chef from the town brought a group of apprentices to the Li family's courtyard and started to prepare for the lively event.
Old Mrs. Li loved the hustle and bustle and loved face. She got up early in the morning and put on a bright new dress. When she saw the guests coming, she smiled so hard that her teeth were showing, and followed them one by one to make arrangements.
Zhao Erjie wanted to push her father-in-law out and push him behind a table, so that the lame father-in-law could come out and chat with others. Her father-in-law had become more and more irritable after he became lame, and he would yell at the slightest dissatisfaction. He needed to re-establish himself by scolding his daughter-in-law, so the more people there were, the more he scolded his daughter-in-law.
Zhao Erjie was very upset, so she left him at the table with Li's relatives and turned around to collect the gifts.
She rarely accepts gifts. Others only hold a banquet for their 50th and 60th birthdays, but Old Mrs. Li holds a banquet once a year. No one is willing to give big red envelopes to others who come to the banquet. They only give one yuan from this family and fifty cents from that family. Some people even bring food with them, but it is not even enough to pay for the banquet!
This damn old lady insisted on having this banquet that was a loss-making event!
Her father-in-law loves to scold people, her mother-in-law loves to pretend to be rich, her husband is always driving a sports car away from home, and her son's salary from working in town is never enough to spend. What a hard life she lives!
Zhao Erjie became more and more angry. She finally found a place to sit down and relax, but she had to listen to the people next to her praising Shi Meilan.
"Oh, the Li family is so lucky to have a daughter-in-law like Shi Meilan. Our ancestors are so proud of it."
Zhao Erjie was so angry that she almost died.
She was forced by Old Lady Li to lend twenty yuan to Shi Meilan, and no one praised her at all!
She was feeling righteous. She saw from afar that Shi Meilan and Li Jianye were coming with Li Tianci and Li Tianfu.
The two of them were family and ate their own meals, so they didn't need to bring gifts. However, Zhao Erjie was unhappy about this, so she arranged Li Tianci and Li Tianfu to sit at the main table, and using the excuse that "there were not enough stools", she arranged Li Jianye and Shi Meilan to sit at the guest table next door, and did not allow them to sit at the main table.
Zhao Erjie also said to Shi Meilan: "Second sister-in-law, my sister-in-law has been busy all morning. You've come just in time. Give her a hand and go to the kitchen to make some tea."
Zhao Erjie didn't want to see Shi Meilan resting - there were guests all around, and she couldn't order Shi Meilan around at this time, so Shi Meilan couldn't get angry.
As expected, Shi Meilan stood up obediently and said, "Sister-in-law, please sit down and rest for a while. I'll go to the kitchen to help."
Zhao Erjie was happy.
After Shi Meilan went to the kitchen, Zhao Erjie saw from afar that another guest was coming and hurried to the door to greet him.
The guest was Widow Wang, who was well-known to everyone in the village. She came by herself without her daughter.
Widow Wang was obviously dressed up today. She was wearing a light-colored dress and her hair was tied up into a low bun at the back of her head with a pen. She didn't look like a country girl, but more like an ancient person who walked out of a painting from the Republic of China. With two strands of hair hanging in front of her face, her whole body exuded a lingering charm.
Zhao Erjie curled her lips and said calmly, "I'm coming."
Widow Wang gave a fifty-cent gift. Zhao Erjie cursed the widow in her heart for being a freeloader and casually arranged the person to sit at the guest table, where she happened to sit with Li Jianye.
Just as I turned around, two more people came in, they were Hu Chengjun and Hu Honghua.
Seeing Hu Honghua, Zhao Erjie rolled her eyes. This was Shi Meilan's lackey. Then she looked at Hu Chengjun, her lackey's uncle - this man was a rare visitor. Hu Chengjun had a very eccentric personality and seldom interacted with people in the village. It was said that he had just gone to the town to deliver meat some time ago and made a lot of money.
I don't know why I'm so interested today and come to her house for a meal.
She went to receive the gift money half-heartedly and found that it was only two dollars!
Zhao Erjie was happy now, and she brought the person to the guest table with a smile.
This time, Li Jianye and Wang Yulian sat on the left side of the guest table, and Hu Chengjun and Hu Honghua sat on the right side.
These four people all knew each other, and they all seemed to have good character and had not done anything immoral, so when they sat together, they did not attract attention.
They look like just ordinary people!
But at the dinner table, Li Jianye glanced at Wang Yulian, who accidentally kicked Li Jianye's leg with the tip of her shoe. Hu Honghua lowered her head deeply, while Hu Chengjun sat with his back straight and a cold expression.
While still talking at the banquet, Li Jianye apologized to Hu Chengjun, saying that it was Shi Meilan's idea to cancel the engagement, and he didn't know about it. Oh! He was busy, and this woman was really acting recklessly. Once he knew about it, the engagement would be canceled. These women are ignorant, and they must not affect the relationship between us brothers!
As he spoke, Li Jianye clamped Wang Yulian's shoes.
The two of them flirted openly under the table, and both of them were a little excited - it was even more exciting under the eyes of so many people.
Hu Chengjun listened quietly, as if he saw nothing, while Hu Honghua almost buried her head in her clothes.
Occasionally, Hu Chengjun looked up and glanced at Li Jianye's strangely excited face, then gradually lowered his eyes, pretending not to see it.
The banquet was noisy all around, and Li Jianye's voice mixed in with the clamor and gradually faded into the background sound. He nodded silently, as usual, calm as a quiet mountain.
Until a breeze blew from afar.
"The tea in the kitchen isn't boiling yet." Shi Meilan walked out of the room, passed by the noisy crowd, and said with a smile, "Let's have a few drinks."
Shi Meilan turned her back to Hu Chengjun and poured a glass of wine for Li Jianye and Wang Yulian at the table.
Hu Chengjun looked at her back, then lowered his eyes when she turned around. He drank the wine she brought him in one glass. He could no longer hear any sound around him. The only sounds he could hear were the movement of her feet, the sound of pouring water, and the smile in her eyes.
Even a rigid mountain like him would be shocked by her.
——
But Shi Meilan didn't notice Hu Chengjun at all.
She had no idea what the mountain was like. Her eyes were fixed on Li Jianye and Wang Yulian. Seeing that they both drank all the wine, she felt her heart beating faster and she gritted her teeth fiercely.
In her previous life, this scumbag and bitch cheated her of her money, stole her shoes behind her back, and even stepped on her head to climb up before she died. She has never forgotten the hatred they felt before they died.
In this life, she wanted to bring disgrace upon these two people! They would never be able to hold their heads up high.
——
Li Jianye and Wang Yulian were completely unaware of this.
After three glasses of wine, when the chef brought out the prepared dishes, Wang Yulian suddenly felt something was wrong.
Wang Yulian felt very hot.
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