Chapter 16: Borrowing money? Not a cent! The most bloody fight of the year...
Shi Meilan was planning to ask Hu Honghua to go to the nearby store to buy two ice creams.
They each had one, and they ate while watching.
In her previous life, she worked very hard to raise money to settle the matter, and Li Jianye finally kept his legs. Without Shi Meilan in this life, can he still keep his legs?
Shi Meilan didn't know, so she decided to take a closer look.
As a result, just as Hu Honghua stood up and went to the convenience store, Shi Meilan heard Li Tianci calling her. When she looked up, she saw Li Tianci running over.
After not seeing each other for a few days, Li Tianci looked no different from before, still wearing a white shirt and blue pants, standing upright. At first glance, he looked like a young man studying Chinese classics.
"Mom." Li Tianci stopped in front of her, a look of embarrassment on his face. He opened his mouth and said to her, "Do you remember when Dad's money was stolen in the back mountain? The parents of the students are here to ask for it back now."
Shi Meilan didn't respond, just stared at him.
Li Tianci continued, "Dad's short of money right now. Mom, didn't you take 200 yuan with you when you left? Just lend us 150 yuan so I can pay off Dad's debt."
Shi Meilan turned around and looked at him, her eyes and brows cold.
Li Jianye is so lucky. In his previous life, Shi Meilan always supported him, and in this life, his son also supports him.
Shi Meilan thought, it's strange, she gave birth to Li Tianci, raised Li Tianci, but Li Tianci didn't take her as his biological mother seriously, and asked her to be patient no matter what happened. But when his father encountered any problems, Li Tianci would really help.
It seems that men love men more in their bones, and they are always on the same page with men.
Shi Meilan said indifferently, "Your father and I are divorced. These things have nothing to do with me. If you want money, you should ask your current mother for it."
"Mom, don't be so harsh." Li Tianci was stung by the words "now mom" and felt uncomfortable all over. He felt like he was being blamed and quickly distanced himself from the matter, saying, "That was my dad's bad behavior. What does it have to do with me?"
It was his father who cheated on his wife and betrayed Shi Meilan, not him. He didn't want to be hurt by Shi Meilan like this.
He didn't try to find a new mother.
"What your father did before had nothing to do with you, and what he does now has nothing to do with me." Shi Meilan's tone became even colder. She said, "Your father can solve the problem however he wants. If he doesn't have money, let him sell the homestead or the land. There are many ways! Don't bother with the money in my hands."
"Mom, how can you say that? The homestead and the fields are our lifeblood. Selling them would be a shame to our ancestors! How can we sell them? Dad did do something wrong, but you can't be so heartless!" Li Tianci lowered his voice and said, "If Dad's leg is really broken, what will happen in the future?"
Li Tianci didn't even dare to think about how he would live if his father broke his leg. Who would make money in the future? Who would pay for him to go to college?
"You should ask your father about that. It has nothing to do with me." Shi Meilan frowned and said, "Don't you understand the word divorce?"
The mother and son had just had a few words when another minute passed in the crowd over there.
The sturdy man raised the wooden stick in his hand without mercy and smashed it hard on Li Jianye's leg.
Looking at his appearance, I don't think he can really break anyone's legs.
Li Jianye howled again.
The howl almost drew out the entire village, including Old Lady Li from the Li family compound, the village chief from the front of Lijia Village, Doctor Qian who came with his medicine box ready to be used at any time, and a group of people surrounded the place.
Even Lin Xinran ran out.
However, Lin Xinran saw that the situation was not right, and because of her own low status, she did not approach rashly. Instead, she lay on the wall of her house and looked out - after all, she was right in front of Li Laoer's house, so she could see what was happening.
Sure enough, when she looked out, she saw the hustle and bustle of the Li family.
When Mrs. Li saw her son being beaten, she sat on the ground and started howling again, in the same tone as her son. But unfortunately, the debt collectors didn't care about her at all. Even the village chief came, but it was useless. They just wanted money.
Zhao Erjie felt it was not lively enough, so she secretly whispered something to Old Lady Li. Old Lady Li looked around and ran straight towards Shi Meilan.
"Daughter-in-law, my good daughter-in-law, please pay them back. I will immediately ask Jianye to kick Wang Yulian out!"
Old Mrs. Li still thinks that Shi Meilan and Li Jianye divorced because of Wang Yulian. She also really believes that as long as Wang Yulian is driven away, Shi Meilan will come back.
Wang Yulian stood by and opened her mouth, but in the end she didn't say anything and just stood there in silence.
Zhao Erjie was happy now, and stood aside with her arms folded, watching - hey, the fifty yuan was not wasted, at least she got to see the excitement, right?
As she spoke, Mrs. Li turned to Li Jianye, who was trapped on the ground by his students' parents and stabbed in the back with a stick, unable to get up, and said, "Jianye! Why don't you apologize to Shi Meilan right now!"
Li Jianye was beaten so hard that he saw stars. He lay on the ground and looked up. His eyes passed through the legs and crotches of a group of people and saw Shi Meilan's sarcastic face.
Li Jianye's face suddenly turned red.
He had thought about meeting Shi Meilan again many times. Every time, Shi Meilan came to him for help because she couldn't make ends meet outside. But he never thought that one day he would be the one to come to Shi Meilan for help.
His dignity as a man prevented him from saying those words of begging, so he gritted his teeth and remained silent, and then he was hit by the stick again.
"Mom!" Seeing his father about to pass out from the beating, Li Tianci was anxious: "Mom, you don't care about us at all now. What will you do when you are old? Are you going to just use these 200 yuan for your retirement? How can you be so heartless?"
"What are you saying?" Shi Meilan sneered. "If I don't lend you these two hundred yuan, you're not going to take care of me in my old age? All the ten years I've raised you for were in vain? The fact that you crawled out of my belly doesn't count? Who has no conscience?"
After she left the Li family and could no longer work like a slave for the men of the Li family, Li Tianci felt that she was an "outsider" and was actually unwilling to support her in his heart. Instead, he began to accept Wang Yulian.
Everyone in the Li family is very realistic, including the two sons. It took Shi Meilan a lifetime to realize this. They don't really care who gave birth to them. They only care about who is willing to serve them all the time. As long as someone arranges their marriage, takes care of their children and cooks for them every day, that person can be their mother. Shi Meilan, who is gone, will not provide them with any benefits at all, so they are unwilling to support Shi Meilan anymore.
But they covered this up very well. Neither Li Tianci nor Li Tianfu took the initiative to say anything like "Shi Meilan doesn't serve me anymore and I'm unwilling to provide for her in her old age." Instead, they put all the blame on Li Jianye, pretending that it was Li Jianye's infidelity that prevented them from supporting Shi Meilan, and it was not their fault.
Now, seeing that Shi Meilan was unwilling to lend him money, Li Tianci's reluctance began to emerge, and he finally said two truths - if you don't give us money, we won't support you in your old age!
The deeper meaning is: How dare you not pay for me! Be careful, I will make sure you don’t have a place to bury your dead body! You won’t even have a hot meal to eat!
From this we can see that when a person's character is bad enough, your unlimited support will not be exchanged for loyalty, but will only breed contempt and betrayal. Even your own son will not sincerely consider you, but will only want to squeeze the money out of your hands.
Of course, even if they were given the money, they would not necessarily raise it. They would find various excuses to refuse, unless Shi Meilan was like Old Lady Li, who shamelessly threw herself at the gate of their yard, crying and forcing people to serve them.
But unfortunately, Shi Meilan is a tough person and would never do such a thing even if she died in the mountains. So the two brothers tacitly knew that they could get the benefits of Shi Meilan for free without taking any responsibility.
So Shi Meilan had long since given up counting on them. She had long seen clearly what kind of people the Li family was like, and now she responded without mercy: "You chose to follow your father, so follow him well from now on. Don't come looking for me again. You won't have to bury me even if I die."
They didn't even bury her when she died in her previous life, let alone this life!
"Alright, get out of here!" I'm upset just seeing them! I didn't even get to watch a good show!
After saying that, Shi Meilan didn't bother to talk nonsense with him. She jumped on her bicycle and prepared to go to the store to pick up Hu Honghua.
"Mom! How could you do this! Even if my dad did something wrong, you can't just watch him get beaten up, right?"
Li Tianci was angered by Shi Meilan's ruthlessness. He really couldn't understand how his mother could become so unreasonable and unsympathetic. Seeing Shi Meilan was about to leave, he stepped forward in a rage and pushed Shi Meilan's handlebars.
"Go! Go away! If you leave, I won't recognize you as my mother!"
Shi Meilan was riding a bicycle at the time. As the bicycle started, her legs left the ground and she was suddenly pushed. The bicycle lost control and Shi Meilan fell to the other side unexpectedly!
She was so frightened that she screamed "Ah" and thought she was going to fall to the ground. At this critical moment, a hand suddenly reached out from the side and supported the handlebars, blocking the force of the handlebars hitting the diagonal direction, and supported Shi Meilan with her entire shoulders and chest.
Shi Meilan crashed sideways into a broad chest.
The other person was not wearing any clothes at all, only a tattered white sweatshirt, which was steaming from the scorching heat. When she bumped into him, she was burned even through the satin clothes on her body.
The other person was helping her steady the car.
Shi Meilan raised her head in shock and met Hu Chengjun's face.
Hu Chengjun was too tall. Standing on the side of the road, he was a head taller than her while she was riding the bike. There was a little sweat on his forehead. He looked at her with his single eyelids, his eyes slightly sharp, and his thick eyebrows were deeply knitted. After staring at her for two seconds, Hu Chengjun slowly backed away and let go.
He has never been good at speaking, and at this moment he couldn't say anything. He just pursed his lips and looked at her with a heavy gaze.
He had obviously just come down from the mountain. His shoes were still covered in mud, and his clothes were snagged with leaves. There were few good clothes in the countryside, and people were reluctant to wear them when working, for fear that they would get dirty, snagged, or torn. Therefore, they wore dirty clothes when going up the mountain. If you smelled carefully, you could smell the herbal scent of insect repellent on him. Hunters all brought this with them when they went up the mountain.
When Hu Chengjun let go of her hand, Shi Meilan finally realized what had just happened.
Li Tianci, this bastard, actually dared to push her!
Shi Meilan felt a surge of anger suddenly hitting her scalp.
Since her rebirth until now, she has only wanted to sever ties with this group of people and let them suffer on their own, but she never expected that Li Tianci would dare to attack her!
Well, she didn’t feel wronged, but Li Tianci actually felt wronged!
Shi Meilan jumped out of the car swiftly. Before Li Tianci left, she turned around and slapped him twice in the face, cursing as she did so: "I really gave birth to a beast like you. I should have thrown you into the toilet and drowned you!"
The two slaps she delivered were filled with rage and she used great force. The crisp slaps were almost louder than the "Ah" sounds of Old Lady Li. Li Tianci's whole body tilted sideways, and he covered his face with his hands in disbelief as he looked at Shi Meilan.
He has never been beaten by Shi Meilan in his life!
How could he be so cruel? Not only did he abandon them, but now he was beating him!
At this moment, Wang Yulian suddenly rushed over, blocking Li Tianci behind her. She burst into tears and begged Shi Meilan, "Sister Meilan, I know you hate me, but the child is innocent. Tianci is just worried about his father. He is not deliberately trying to embarrass you. For the sake of the child, please help the father."
Wang Yulian covered her face and cried bitterly, "What happened before was all my fault. Don't hit the child. If you are angry, just hit me. As long as you are willing to lend the money to our Lao Li, you can hit me however you want."
As she spoke, Wang Yulian took a step forward, her knees wobbling as if they were about to fall, as if she was about to kneel down in front of Shi Meilan.
Wang Yulian is best at using this trick. She first constantly belittles herself and pretends to be concerned about the overall situation. Then she starts to praise others' generosity and says words that make people's blood boil. Anyone who meets her will vomit a pound of blood.
She and Zhao Erjie each have their own irritating qualities, and neither of them is easy to deal with.
The most important thing is that other people still fall for her tricks!
Li Tianci, who was standing by, was protected by Wang Yulian. Seeing how Wang Yulian had humbled herself for his father, he actually felt that Wang Yulian was somewhat "pitiable". He also felt a bit of resentment towards Shi Meilan. He immediately pulled Wang Yulian up from the ground and shouted, "Auntie Wang, don't kneel down to her. She won't give you any money. We have to find a way to pay it ourselves!"
Just at this moment, Hu Honghua walked out of the convenience store.
——
The sun outside was scorching hot, and the roads in the countryside were covered in a dusty smell that blew dryly onto people's faces, causing pain in their nasal cavity when they breathed.
She was holding two popsicles in her hands, one pineapple flavored and one strawberry flavored, five cents each, one for her and one for Aunt Shi.
As a result, when she walked out, she saw Li Tianci, Wang Yulian, Aunt Shi and Uncle standing together, and the atmosphere did not seem to be very good.
She knew that Aunt Shi and Wang Yulian had fought at Li Laoer's house before, and her heart tightened. She hurried forward and stood behind her uncle to watch.
Li Tianci glanced around and happened to see Hu Honghua peeking around.
Hu Honghua wore a brown polka-dot vest with jeans today. These were also bought for her by Shi Meilan. Jeans are very popular now. Shi Meilan has good taste and the clothes she picked for her are very suitable for her. She is thin and her waistline and girlish curves can be clearly seen. The brown color makes her skin look white and tender, which suits her skin tone very well.
Her thick hair was tied into a low ponytail, swinging back and forth at her waist. She poked her head out from behind Hu Chengjun, revealing a small, oval face the size of a palm.
Shi Meilan had previously given Hu Honghua two boxes of moisturizer. After Hu Honghua took them home, she applied them every day. Her originally dark and rough skin became moisturized and looked a lot whiter. She actually looked quite good.
As soon as he saw Hu Honghua, Li Tianci thought of their broken engagement.
When they broke off the engagement, Hu Honghua was still reluctant to let him go. After all, he was so good and had a bright future, so it was natural for Hu Honghua to be reluctant to let him go.
But at that time he was only thinking about -
Li Tianci subconsciously glanced at the yard next to theirs.
He saw Lin Xinran lying on the wall of Widow Wang's yard.
Lin Xinran was probably not looking at him, but at Wang Yulian next to him. When he turned around and his eyes met Lin Xinran's, Lin Xinran subconsciously shrank back.
Ever since Wang Yulian and Li Jianye got together, the vague feelings between Li Tianci and Lin Xinran also changed. There was a bit of hostility between them amidst the awkwardness - yes, Li Tianci looked down on Wang Yulian, and by extension, he looked down on Lin Xinran, the daughter of a slut, and Lin Xinran also hated Li Tianci because he didn't like her mother.
So Li Tianci knew that it was impossible for him and Lin Xinran to be together.
Li Tianci has always been a smart man and never wastes time on impossible things. Since it is impossible with Lin Xinran, he will turn around and look for a possible one.
As long as it can solve his current predicament, he doesn't mind sacrificing something.
Li Tianci's eyes turned and looked at Hu Chengjun who was standing behind Shi Meilan.
Just now, Shi Meilan jumped out of the car so fast that she didn't even care about the car. It was Hu Chengjun who helped her steady herself, moved her to the side, and then lifted her footrest to lay her flat.
When he saw Hu Chengjun, Li Tianci thought of the prey that Hu Chengjun had killed.
Hu Chengjun actually made a lot of money as a hunter. Many restaurants in the city charged high prices for the wild game from the mountains. Many big bosses also made reservations with Hu Chengjun just to have a taste of wild game. He made as much money as Boss Li did as a truck driver.
Since Shi Meilan couldn't be relied upon, Li Tianci gritted his teeth and said to Hu Chengjun beside him, "Uncle Hu, please lend me some money to help me through this difficult time. I will marry Hu Honghua in the future and I will definitely treat her well. When I get into university, I will take Hu Honghua with me to study."
Everyone present was stunned.
Shi Meilan thought that this bastard was still following the same path as his previous life, but Wang Yulian thought it was great, as she had gotten a good relative for free. As for Hu Chengjun who was standing aside, his first reaction was to look at Shi Meilan.
Shi Meilan had her back to him, so he couldn't see her face. He could only see a part of her white neck and earlobes.
Her earlobe was also round and smooth, like a pearl, emitting a faint cool light under the sunlight. At a glance, he could almost see the dense fuzz on it.
"Uncle Hu!" Li Tianci didn't get a response, so he hurriedly shouted again.
In Li Tianci's eyes, this marriage is a sure win for the Hu family.
It only costs one hundred and fifty yuan to change Hu Honghua's fate and let Hu Honghua live a life without worries about food and drink. When he becomes a college student, Hu Honghua can also enjoy the glory!
His marriage is very valuable, otherwise why would Hu Chengjun get his father drunk and get engaged to him?
Although Hu Honghua's family background is not good, Li Tianci doesn't care about this. As long as she can help him overcome the difficulties, he is willing to marry Hu Honghua.
At this time, Hu Chengjun finally raised his eyelids and looked at Li Tianci.
There was a hint of coldness in his eyes, and a hint of boredom hidden underneath.
Hu Chengjun used to treat Li Tianci differently because he was Shi Meilan's son. Seeing that Li Tianci was polite and sensible in the village and was better than other children in the village, he was willing to get engaged to Li Tianci. But now it seems that this child not only cannot distinguish right from wrong, but is also very utilitarian.
In the past, he looked down on Hu Honghua because she was not good at studying, not smart, and not smart. But now, he wants to marry Hu Honghua because he has no money.
What kind of protection can such a son provide to Shi Meilan?
No wonder Shi Meilan finally left the Li family without mentioning anything about supporting her son - perhaps she was also heartbroken about the child.
Hu Chengjun's expression turned even colder when he thought of this. He said, "The marriage has been called off. Let's not talk about it anymore."
Hu Chengjun is really biased. Whoever he likes, he thinks that person must be good and right. When Shi Meilan was still in the Li family, Hu Chengjun also had a filter for the Li family. Now that Shi Meilan is no longer in the Li family, Hu Chengjun no longer likes the people in the Li family.
Li Tianci was stunned again after being rejected so cleanly by Hu Chengjun.
He didn't understand! Hu Chengjun had previously tried every possible means to get drunk with his father and arranged his marriage, so why was he suddenly denying it now?
Was he also disgusted that his father had found a whore and ruined his reputation? Or was he disgusted that his father had been beaten to the ground and humiliated?
Li Tianci felt a surge of anger rising to his scalp. He felt humiliated and immediately shouted, "If you don't want it, there are plenty of people who do. I won't beg you, and don't regret it!"
After saying that, Li Tianci left angrily.
After Li Tianci left, Hu Honghua dared to hand the ice cream to Shi Meilan and whispered, "I didn't say I wanted to marry him."
How come this person decides everything on his own?
Shi Meilan took the ice cream, rolled her eyes and said, "Whoever marries him will be unlucky."
At this time, a family surnamed Zhou in the village stepped forward and decided to lend money to Li Tianci. This family surnamed Zhou had just watched Li Tianci and Hu Chengjun talking, and had the idea of arranging a marriage for their daughter.
The Zhou family was an ordinary farming family with average financial situation and not much money. They had a daughter who had a mental problem and was half-idiot, so she could never get married.
Seeing that Li Tianci was in trouble, the Zhou family came up with an idea. They planned to give the money as a dowry. In the future, their daughter would have a husband to take care of her, and her life would be secure, right?
Li Tianci was forced into a desperate situation. If he continued to delay, his father would really be beaten to death. He hardened his heart and agreed.
The Zhou family quickly gave money and invited the whole village to be witnesses, and they would get married after Li Tianci finished the college entrance examination.
As the Zhou family paid the money, this drama finally came to an end.
——
Shi Meilan was just rolling the last bite of pineapple-flavored ice cream onto her tongue.
The scene was finally over, and she felt satisfied. She threw away the popsicle stick and said to Hu Honghua, "Let's go back to town."
Hu Honghua looked up at Hu Chengjun who was standing beside her and said, "Uncle wants to go too."
Hu Chengjun nodded and said, "Wait until I get home to get a car. I have some prey to sell in town."
The three of them returned to the Hu family together.
As they turned back, they saw Li Tianci and Wang Yulian working together to lift Li Jianye up from the ground and dragging him into Li Laoer's yard.
Li Tianci walked to the door and slammed it shut.
He will always remember this day! His biological mother ignored him and forced him to marry the idiot daughter of the Zhou family!
Sooner or later he will return home in glory and make his mother regret it!
——
At this time, Shi Meilan had already ridden her bike, taking Hu Honghua and Hu Chengjun to the town.
Hu Chengjun's tricycle was filled with some game and mountain products. The two of them pedaled towards the town together, which took about an hour.
On the way, Shi Meilan couldn't sit still and kept talking to Hu Chengjun.
Hu Chengjun is a man of few words and is a natural taciturn person. Shi Meilan has to say ten sentences before he can only reply with a "hmm". Shi Meilan doesn't care and rides her bicycle in front of her.
Hu Chengjun just followed behind, occasionally looking up at her.
Looking at her permed hair fluttering in the wind and the beautiful clothes she was wearing, and when his eyes slid down to see her plump waist and hips, Hu Chengjun was startled and abruptly retracted his gaze.
An hour's journey is actually not short, and the dirt roads in the countryside are full of potholes, making it very difficult for people to ride a bike, not to mention that she was carrying Hu Honghua on her back. She had some sweat on her back, but she didn't ride slowly.
Shi Meilan has been doing farm work since she was a child. She is strong and powerful, otherwise Li Tianci would not be able to stand steadily after being hit!
It took an hour to get from Lijia Village to the town. After arriving in the town, I rode all the way to the west. After half an hour, I arrived at the Chunfeng Garment Factory.
They passed many restaurants along the way, and Hu Chengjun went to each one to sell the wild game and mountain products in his car. They stopped and sold many times, and it was not until about 2:30 in the afternoon that they arrived at the Chunfeng Garment Factory.
"Okay, her uncle, wait outside for a while." Shi Meilan turned to Hu Chengjun and said, "No outsiders are allowed in. Wait until we pack our things and then we can go to a restaurant in town for dinner tonight."
Hu Chengjun nodded.
Shi Meilan rode her bike and took Hu Honghua into the guardhouse. She then took Hu Honghua to Building 4 and reported to Manager Sun.
When they arrived at Building 4, there was no one there except a cleaner sweeping the floor. Shi Meilan went to ask the cleaner and found out that something big had happened at the Chunfeng Garment Factory today.
"They say our new CEO is in trouble. He didn't even enter the factory, but went straight to the hospital." The cleaner didn't know the real situation, just heard it from someone else, and then repeated it to them: "Three supervisors and Manager Lu went to the hospital to visit him. I don't think he'll be back until tomorrow."
Shi Meilan also nodded, and took Hu Honghua to the three female workers' dormitories first, tidied up Hu Honghua's single dormitory, and then took Hu Honghua to have a meal outside with Hu Chengjun.
Hu Chengjun chose a mutton hotpot restaurant in the center of the town, near the school.
The restaurant business was pretty good. The three of them sat at a table. Shi Meilan took the menu and ordered food from the waiter, while Hu Chengjun got up and got two bottles of beer.
The air in the restaurant was filled with the delicious smell of mutton. When Hu Chengjun came back with his beer, he saw his niece sitting on a bench with a curious look on her face, glancing around from time to time. Shi Meilan was sitting on the other side talking to the waiter. The steam from the pot on someone else's table gurgled onto his face. He looked through the mist and saw Shi Meilan's hair shaking.
He stared at it and felt like he was seeing another life.
The moisture softened his bones, and his pace slowed down. He walked over slowly, sat down in front of Shi Meilan, and placed the beer on Shi Meilan's table.
The light in the mutton restaurant was a warm orange-yellow hue, falling on her fair face, making her cheeks shimmer with cool ripples. The smoke surrounding her made her look like she was sitting in the clouds, warm and gentle.
Shi Meilan didn't care about the bottle of beer. She was negotiating the price with the waiter next to her. As someone who knew how to live, she wouldn't spend a penny more, and she even asked the waiter to bring some side dishes.
The waiter beside him said with a smile: "Okay, our restaurant will be closing next month, and we just happened to have some leftover vegetables in the kitchen, so we'll give them all to you."
Shi Meilan echoed in surprise: "Oh, why don't you do it? That's such a pity."
The waiter smiled and said something like "the family is moving away", without saying much else, and turned to go to the kitchen to busy himself.
Only Hu Chengjun looked up and looked around the restaurant when he heard "What a pity".
The restaurant's decoration was ordinary and plain, but perhaps it was because the smell of the mutton soup was too strong, floating around him, making him feel that this place was quite warm.
He was distracted at the moment when he heard Shi Meilan ask him: "How many days will you stay in town? Do you have a place to stay?"
Hu Chengjun lowered his eyelashes and nodded, saying "yes".
He had a small hotel he often went to. When he came to sell goods and had no time to go back, he would stay in the small hotel. Sometimes he couldn't bear to spend money, so he would just sleep directly on his tricycle. Anyway, he wouldn't freeze to death in the summer.
Shi Meilan was relieved. She opened a bottle of beer and poured a glass for Hu Chengjun. The beer foamed up. Hu Chengjun heard Shi Meilan say, "Thank you so much."
Hu Chengjun didn't understand what she was thanking him for.
For many years, he had actually just been watching her silently. It was shameful to tell others that he liked someone else's wife. It was shameful for him, and even more shameful for Shi Meilan. In the village, a woman's reputation was very important. The slightest disturbance would cause people to gossip about her. He didn't want Shi Meilan to be gossiped about, so he never showed any special feelings for her.
So he didn't understand what she was thanking him for.
He looked up at her and saw only a swirling mist.
Through the mist, Shi Meilan's eyes were slightly red, but she didn't say anything about "rebirth" or anything like that. She just picked up the glass, raised her head and took a sip of beer.
Okay, she doesn’t want to think about those annoying things in the past. Since her divorce, that group of messy people have nothing to do with her. It’s enough for her to be alive now, and she wants to live the best life with Hu Honghua.
Hu Chengjun didn't understand what Shi Meilan was thanking him for, but he had one advantage, which was that he didn't talk much. If others didn't say anything, he wouldn't ask. If Shi Meilan drank, he would drink too.
——
The wine glass was filled and then emptied. The dusk outside the window gradually darkened, like a layer of ink stained on white paper, gradually turning dark. The mutton in the mutton restaurant was served plate after plate, and Hu Honghua's mouth was full of oil after eating it.
Today is a good day for all three of them.
——
But this day was not very good for Li Laoer's family.
Li Tianfu went to the village to farm during the day. After he came back from farming at night, he realized that so many things had happened. When he returned home, he saw that Wang Yulian had not cooked again. He curled his lips, stopped talking, and went back to the west room to sleep.
Ever since Li Tianci agreed to marry into the Zhou family, he felt extremely humiliated. He had previously married Hu Honghua, who was not so outstanding, but now he was going to marry a fool. He was so upset that he didn't want to say a word. He went back to his room and started studying.
His agreement to get married today was just a temporary measure. He couldn't really marry a fool. He had to get into college and return the money tenfold to the Zhou family after making it.
Li Tianci felt humiliated, and Li Jianye naturally felt humiliated as well, because he was the one who was pinned to the ground and beaten!
He was so angry that he couldn't eat. He didn't go out for three days and continued to ask for leave from school.
As a result, on the fourth day, near the beginning of July, even worse news came from the school.
Because Li Jianye lost his tuition fees and had not attended classes for a long time, and because of the emotional situation of the students' parents, the school decided to dismiss Li Jianye and not allow him to attend classes at school.
Li Jianye was horrified and hurried to the school to continue teaching, but the parents of his former students jointly boycotted him and reported him, saying that he had taken the school's money and did not return it, that he had married a whore, and that his work style was problematic and that he could no longer be employed. This was understandable, as the parents of the previous students had come to his house to beat him up, and the feud had already been formed, so of course they wanted to crush Li Jianye to death.
Otherwise, what if Li Jianye returns to the school and takes revenge on their children? So they have to take the initiative and get rid of Li Jianye.
Li Jianye was also unlucky. When it rained it poured, after being reported, the head of the school did not want to take responsibility and simply followed the parents' wishes and fired Li Jianye.
The school teacher won’t let him in, so Li Jianye can’t even be a teacher!
Li Jianye panicked and quickly asked his father to plead with the person in charge. He had to go to class! He was the principal, what was he supposed to do if he didn't teach?
However, Mr. Li was very disappointed with Li Jianye because Li Jianye had insisted on letting Wang Yulian come in, and he was unwilling to say a word to Li Jianye. Now that he knew his son was fired, he ignored him and refused to use his connections on Li Jianye's behalf.
Mr. Li had said long ago that if a person meets true love in middle age and gets divorced, he is courting death. Li Jianye didn't believe it, and he deserves it now.
Li Jianye, rejected by his own father, was now feeling even more miserable. He spent his days lying on the kang, as if he were dying. He couldn't understand how he had ended up like this. He had been a revered principal not long ago, respected by everyone and greeted with smiles. How had he suddenly become a nobody?
Seeing that it was already July and Wang Yulian was about to go to work in town, she suggested to Li Jianye, "How about... you apply for a job at the town school? I'm also going to work, so we can go to town together and rent a house. Besides, the college entrance examination is almost here, and Tianci will also be taking the exam in town. Let's go around and take a look and prepare."
Li Jianye was at his wit's end, so he nodded and said, "Then let's go to the town together."
Early the next morning, Wang Yulian took Lin Xinran and Li Jianye to the town. Li Jianye went to the surrounding schools to see if there were any recruiting teachers, while she took Lin Xinran to Chunfeng Garment Factory.
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