"What's the matter? Why did you call us here? Let's talk about it. There is still a lot of work to do in the fields." Chen Xiaoping sat down and started asking questions.
"I won't say it. I don't know what happened." Li Pingwang was very angry and spoke in a rude manner.
Chen Xiaoping just looked at his sister.
Chen Xiaoying just said what she had just said.
"It's not like we're wasting money. The second brother's house does need to be renovated." Chen Xiaoping felt that the girl did nothing wrong: "How can we live without a house?"
Li Pingwang still said the same thing: "I worked so hard to raise them. I have been working outside for seven or eight years, and I still have to repair and build their house. What do I owe them?"
"What about the money they earn from working?" Chen Xiaoping couldn't help but ask.
Zhao Xueyan immediately pricked up her ears. Her husband, the third brother, had been out working for six years. Apart from the three or four hundred yuan he gave her during the Chinese New Year and the money he paid for the children's tuition, he had no money to spend on other days.
When asked where the money went, he said she was in charge.
She was angry but had no other choice. Her eldest sister-in-law said that it was the man from Zhaojia Village who cheated her away. She had no evidence, so she didn't dare to ask her eldest sister-in-law.
"I don't know." Li Pingwang had an idea in his mind, but he didn't want to say it.
He was still unhappy in his heart. This was his family matter, why was he asking these questions?
Seeing him like this, Chen Xiaoping and Chen Xiaorong knew that Li Pingwang was stubborn again and he was getting impatient and wouldn't listen to anything.
Chen Xiaoying knew the dilemma of the two elder brothers, so she said, "Eldest brother, second brother, I asked you to come here to be witnesses for me and Li Pingwang. I have never seen the money he has earned in these years. He always gives me money to buy salt, washing powder, and clothes, but I never get any. After asking several times, he only gives me a few dollars."
"I'm settling accounts with him now, not because I want to spend money recklessly, I just want my second son and his friends to live a good life. As parents, I want to help them if I have the ability, so that they can suffer less. Mainly, I want my grandchildren to suffer less. They can go out to earn money, and their wives can take good care of the children at home and let them go to school well. Only then will they have hope for the future, right?"
Chen Xiaoying suddenly said some profound truths, which made Chen Xiaoping and Chen Xiaorong feel strange, but they also felt that it was very right.
"That's right." Chen Xiaoping said to Li Pingwang in a gentle voice, "Your grandchildren are grown up now, it's time for them to live their own lives. They can't build a house all at once with their own ability. As a father, you can help a little. You are old now and don't have much to spend money. Why do you keep hiding that money?"
When Li Pingwang was young, he was able to endure hardships and followed others to plant saplings. Each sapling earned several cents. In addition to the land owned by the eldest son, the land owned by the second and third sons was also planted by him. With a total area of seven or eight acres, he planted tens of thousands of saplings and made a lot of money every year.
But it has been twenty years, and they still live in the same adobe house, and the couple still wear tattered clothes. They are still poor.
Where is the money?
"Yeah, brother, the purpose of making money is to live a good life. If you are reluctant to eat and spend, then what is the money for?" Chen Xiaorong also advised.
Li Pingwang's face was longer than that of a donkey, and he looked gloomy, but he just didn't say a word.
He has such a stubborn temper. Once he gets to his point, he won't listen even if the king or the emperor comes to his rescue.
Chen Xiaoping was a person who liked to smooth things over, so he didn't dare to say anything and remained silent.
Chen Xiaorong had no idea either, he just looked to his elder brother.
As soon as Chen Xiaoying saw this situation, she knew that it was futile to expect her two brothers to support her. However, she did not rely solely on them to support her.
In her previous life, even after she died, the old man, who was already 90 years old, still held on to his money and did not divide it among his four sons. When he was sober, he felt that none of his four sons had a promising future and no one could rely on them, so he did not give them a penny.
Later, when he was ninety-six years old, his mind was confused and he was sick. He couldn't even remember whether he had eaten or not, let alone the money he had hidden somewhere.
The children almost dismantled all the old furniture. They dug out the rat holes, the chicken coops, and the beams, but they couldn't find it.
The money is gone anyway.
Li Hongwei had hoped that with the arrival of his eldest and second uncles, there would be some order. He also hoped that his brothers' lives would become better and that they could live a stable life together with Qi Xin in the future.
As a result, there was no hope for my eldest and second uncles.
Zhao Xueyan also felt disappointed. Her mother’s uncle was the eldest and both of her uncles had come, but no one could persuade her father-in-law. So how many years would she have to stay in the main hall?
Jiejie is already eight years old, and it’s time for her to sleep in a separate bed from the couple.
Her eyes turned red and she felt extremely aggrieved.
She married the third brother, which was actually quite unlucky.
When the eldest son got married, he had three brothers and two sisters. There was not enough space for them at home, and since he was the first one to have a wedding, his father-in-law helped build two mud houses on the residential land allocated to the eldest family in the village. When the second son got married, the third and fourth sons also went out to work and did not live at home, so the two sisters-in-law lived in one house, and the other room was used as the wedding room for the second son, which is the main room she lives in now.
Later, she and the third son were about to get married, and there was no place, so she built two mud houses for the second son, moved the second son's family out, and let her and the third son live in them. Finally, the fourth son was about to get married, and it was time to build a house for their third son's family, so this room was vacated for the fourth son to live in.
As a result, the fourth son's wife's mother was very powerful and said that she would not marry her daughter to him unless he had a house.
I was married into the family and was tied up, so I can't run away. The fourth brother's wife was not married into the family, so I must build the fourth brother's house.
As a result, only the three of them were left here, and they have lived there for ten years.
I've had enough.
"Dad, my eldest sister-in-law, second sister-in-law, and my younger brother and sister-in-law all have houses, so why don't I have one? I want a house, too."
Li Pingwang was already angry. When he heard that his daughter-in-law dared to challenge him, he immediately widened his eyes and raised his eyebrows: "Your husband is incompetent. If you want to build a house, ask the third child."
"Didn't you build the house for the fourth son?" Zhao Xueyan mustered up her courage. They were both daughters-in-law, so why should she be the one to suffer a loss?
"The fourth brother is in poor health. If I don't help him, he will never be able to build a house in his lifetime." Li Pingwang felt that he was justified in being biased.
Chen Xiaoying smiled bitterly. Ten fingers are made of flesh, some are long and some are short. You can say that he doesn't care about his son's life or death. He is also biased. He favors the fourth son.
Because compared to the eldest brother who was bad-tempered and disobedient, the second brother who was simple-minded, and the third brother who looked depressed and easy to bully since childhood, the fourth brother was good-looking, had a soft temper, and was obedient, so he favored the fourth brother.
Moreover, the fourth son's mother-in-law is very powerful. The fourth son's wife felt wronged and went back to her parents' home crying. Then her mother-in-law and brother-in-law came to reason with him.
The third son's wife was ill, and his parents felt guilty and were afraid of offending the Li family, so they didn't want this daughter-in-law anymore and returned her to his family. The more he treated the third son's family, the less he took them seriously.