"Hey, little sister, why aren't you saying anything? Are you paying or buying something? I think paying is more convenient. Why don't you just transfer the money? You know the account number..."
"Dream on, there's nothing to it. Don't contact me again. I've never seen anyone so shameless." After saying that, Le Rong hung up the phone and stormed home, clutching her back.
"Hey, how dare you talk to your older brother like that? That's outrageous! You, hey, where is he? Hey..."
Upon hearing the dial tone, Brother Le immediately jumped up, pointing at the phone in disbelief, "She actually hung up on me? And said I was shameless?"
Le Rong's last sentence was quite loud, and her sister-in-law heard it too. She glared at her and said, "Your little sister has become something else. She doesn't even respect her own family anymore. I think we should have Mom and Dad call and give her a good scolding."
Le Rong was unaware of all this; she was still sitting on the edge of the bed, sulking.
Seeing that she had a sullen face as soon as she returned, Liu Taohua glanced at Yuanyuan, who was helping her pick green beans, and asked, "What's wrong with your mother? Who upset her again?"
Yuanyuan gently shook her head. "Grandma, I didn't make Mom angry."
"I don't have any either." Liu Taohua hadn't said much today, so she naturally didn't offend her daughter-in-law.
As soon as Zhang Xueshan got home, he overheard the conversation between the grandmother and granddaughter and couldn't help but laugh out loud. "What are you two talking about? Where's Xiaorong?"
When Liu Taohua saw her youngest son looking for his wife as soon as he returned, she couldn't help but purse her lips. "I'm talking about your wife. She just went out to answer a phone call and came back looking upset. She's still in her room. Let me make this clear, I didn't do anything to her."
Upon hearing this, Zhang Xueshan knew it must be a call from his wife's family. So he jogged to the room and asked, "Xiao Rong, what's wrong? Mom said you didn't look well when you came back."
Le Rong didn't want to bother her husband with these unpleasant things, so she shook her head and said with a smile, "It's nothing, I'm just a little tired."
Zhang Xueshan wasn't stupid, and asked directly, "Did your older brother say something? Or did your mother-in-law say something? Now that you're married to me, you can discuss anything with me and solve it together. Don't keep it all bottled up inside."
Looking at her earnest husband, Le Rong felt she had found a reliable support and tearfully told him everything her older brother had said.
"Snow Mountain, do you think my older brother is too shameless? He's too shrewd. He just wants to get benefits from me without giving anything in return."
Actually, I should have understood long ago. When my eldest and second eldest sisters got married and had children, I didn't see my eldest brother and sister-in-law give them red envelopes or gifts. I should have known about their character long ago.
But what I didn't expect was that they had just chased Yuanyuan away, and then they asked me for money. How could I not be angry? Did they think I was someone they could bully at will?
Seeing his wife's sullen face, Zhang Xueshan quickly reached out and patted her back, comforting her, "Alright, don't be angry. Isn't it a good thing that we realized things sooner? Besides, we didn't want to have anything to do with him because of Yuanyuan's matter. Now it's perfect, let's just let it end naturally. Don't answer your brother's calls anymore, so as not to make him angry."
When Zhang Xueshan went back to pick up Yuanyuan, he saw through his brother-in-law's true nature.
He was interrupted as soon as he explained his purpose, because they said they couldn't support Yuanyuan for nothing and that he should at least get some compensation for his hard work.
He was thinking of giving it to him, but just as he was about to ask how much, his brother-in-law was scolded by his mother-in-law, who said he was obsessed with money.
Of course, there were also many unpleasant words mixed in, and in the end, the brother-in-law ran away in disgrace.
Then his mother-in-law pushed Yuanyuan directly in front of him and said, "Take this little girl with you. Her clothes are all packed. Don't stay overnight. Just leave."
After saying that, she took out a large nylon bag and handed it to him. It was filled with round things.
And so, not long after he arrived, he immediately took Yuanyuan and boarded the train home.
However, he had sharp eyes and noticed that his mother-in-law seemed to have stuffed something into Yuanyuan's hand before leaving, though he didn't see it clearly.
"Snow Mountain, do you think my parents ever cared about me? I started working when I was thirteen. I was so young then, I could only do temporary jobs in town. I gave all the money I earned to my mother; I didn't dare keep a single penny."
When I got a little older, I was able to go to work in other provinces with my older sisters, and I earned more money than before. But I still didn't keep any money for myself; I gave it all to my mother.
But when I married you, my mother said that since I was marrying far away, I might not be able to help my family much in the future, so she wouldn't give me any dowry...
At this point, Le Rong looked aggrieved; she truly didn't understand why her mother treated her this way.
Her older brother and sister-in-law had no children, so she coaxed herself into giving birth to Yuanyuan. After she got married, she didn't give her a single penny of dowry, as if she had been adopted.
Perhaps she should be glad that she married far away, so she doesn't have to support her older brother and sister-in-law like her older sisters.
Zhang Xueshan's eyes flickered, and he hesitated before saying, "Xiao Rong, why don't you go ask Yuan Yuan? When I brought her back, I think I saw my mother-in-law stuff something into her pocket. Do you think it might be money?"
"Money? Impossible. My mom is very careful with money. How could she possibly give Yuanyuan money? Even I, her own daughter, don't get that kind of treatment."
“Even if it wasn’t money, there must have been something, right? This shows that your mother-in-law is thinking about you and your daughter.” Zhang Xueshan racked his brains to find a way to comfort his wife.
"You really saw it? Should I go ask Yuanyuan?" Le Rong really wanted to know what her mother had given Yuanyuan.
"Isn't that a bad idea? My mother-in-law didn't explicitly say so, which means she doesn't want us to know, right? So maybe we shouldn't ask."
“No, that won’t do. Yuanyuan is still young. What if my mom really gives her the money and then Yuanyuan gets lost? I’m asking now.” Although Le Rong didn’t think her mother would be so generous as to give Yuanyuan money, she still wanted to find out.
When Yuanyuan was pulled into the room, she still looked puzzled, wondering why her mother had called her there.
Le Rong thought for a moment and decided it was best to ask directly. So she smiled and looked at her daughter, "Yuanyuan, tell Mom, did Grandma—I mean, Grandma from our hometown—give you anything when you came? Like money or something?"
"Mom, how did you know Grandma gave me money?"
"You really gave it to me? How much was it? Where did you put it?" Le Rong asked impatiently. She wasn't really after the money; she was just curious.
Yuanyuan looked at her mother with some difficulty, then scratched her head sheepishly, "Mom, I don't know how much it costs?"
"How could you not know how much it costs?"
"My grandma back home didn't say anything, she just put it in my pocket."
"Then you..." Le Rong originally wanted to ask, "Then you don't know how to count?" But then she remembered that her daughter was only four years old this year, had never been to kindergarten, and no one in the family taught her, so she probably couldn't count.
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