That night, Xu Guiying's mood wasn't affected much; she almost drooled in her dreams just thinking about the 60,000 yuan.
The next morning, Liu Aimei, still unwilling to give up, wanted to keep Lele and Yanyan at home.
Xu Guiying refused to take the bait, saying, "What can a lame old woman like me do? You should find someone else to help you."
Liu Aimei was so angry she gritted her teeth. "Mom, Lele and Yanyan are very well-behaved. They just need to eat some food."
Song Xinfu had already gone to the factory early in the morning.
Song Yangmin came out of the room and called out to Song Guomin, "Big brother, Mom is in such a state, and your sister-in-law still wants Mom to take care of the baby. Aren't you going to do anything about it?"
Song Guomin pretended to be dead inside the house.
Xu Guiying said to her second son, "Second son, hurry up and go to the army, don't be late."
Song Yangmin nodded, "Mom, I've put the steamed buns on the table for you. Eat them if you're hungry."
Xu Guiying felt relieved. "Go ahead."
Only Xu Guiying and her eldest son's family remained at home.
Xu Guiying turned around and went back into the house, telling Liu Aimei to take care of the child and to dream about it.
Having no other choice, Liu Aimei had to bring the two children to the mall again.
On the way there, Liu Aimei complained to Song Guomin, "That old hag, don't even think about me taking care of her in her old age! Song Guomin, did you hear me? You're not allowed to take care of her either!"
Song Guomin remained silent this time, which was unusual.
Xu Guiying had given up hope for her eldest son. She was all alone at home, and with nothing to do, she would just sit in the yard and bask in the sun.
Brother Ding and Guo Xia from the supply and marketing cooperative came to visit her this morning.
For carrying the items, Xu Guiying received a 20 yuan reward from her workplace.
Brother Ding looked at Xu Guiying meaningfully, "Guiying, work hard. The company won't treat veteran employees unfairly."
Guo Xia gave Xu Guiying a wink.
Xu Guiying said gratefully, "It's all what I should do. Thank you for your kindness, leaders."
In her past life, Xu Guiying sold her job during those few days and used the money to help her eldest son and his wife buy a house. Later, Guo Xia secretly contacted Xu Guiying and said that it was a real pity about Xu Guiying.
Ding had originally planned to promote Xu Guiying to deputy director of the purchasing department.
Little did anyone know that Xu Guiying would sell her job again!
After Brother Ding and Guo Xia left, Aunt Wang from next door came to visit Xu Guiying again.
With the Song family in such a mess these past few days, and Xu Guiying having to go to work during the day, the neighbors have no time to care about her.
"Guiying, your eldest son was still talking nonsense outside last night, what's wrong with him?"
Xu Guiying didn't want to save face for that char siu bao, so she told him about the living expenses she was collecting.
Aunt Wang slapped her thigh and said, "I told you a long time ago to ask for living expenses. There are so many people in the family, and they only take advantage of you and Lao Song. They've made you so skinny, sigh!"
Xu Guiying sighed helplessly, "It's not too late now."
Aunt Wang whispered, "Be careful of your eldest daughter-in-law."
Several neighbors heard what Liu Aimei said last night.
Xu Guiying sighed, "We didn't expect our eldest son to be able to support us in our old age. As his parents, we have never wronged him."
Seeing that Xu Guiying was alone, Aunt Wang made her another bowl of noodles before leaving.
In the afternoon, Song Rongrong, who had no classes, returned home early.
Only her mother was home. Song Rongrong asked her expressionlessly, "Have you eaten?"
Xu Guiying nodded, glanced at Song Rongrong's patched pants, called Song Rongrong into the room, and gave her 20 yuan.
"Go buy yourself some clothes."
A huge sum of 20 yuan!
Song Rongrong was stunned for a moment, and looked at her mother with her mouth agape, "Mom, are you out of your mind? Give me the money?"
Xu Guiying glared at her, "You brat, just keep it, but be more frugal."
Xu Guiying's generation was limited by the times and had some preference for sons over daughters. Now that she's been back for so long, she's figured out some of the reasons behind it.
Every cause has its effect.
As parents, she truly owes Song Rongrong a debt of gratitude.
Previously, when Song Rongrong needed money to buy study materials, Xu Guiying would only give her the money after she had to beg and plead with her three or four times, let alone give her money to buy clothes.
Song Rongrong's eyes quickly reddened.
Xu Guiying stuffed the money directly into Song Rongrong's hand, saying, "Here, take this."
Song Rongrong lowered her head, sniffed, and said, "Thank you, Mom."
Girls this age are at an age where they love to compare themselves to others. Song Rongrong and Song Yingying are both good-looking, and Song Rongrong might even be ostracized at school for wearing patched clothes.
Xu Guiying looked away, "Don't block my light, hurry up and go read your book."
Song Rongrong's lips twitched as if she wanted to say something, but Xu Guiying chased her away again.
Song Rongrong returned to her room, where she and Song Yingying shared a large table.
She put 20 yuan into her tin box, which already contained 6 yuan, money she had been saving for a long time.
She now has 26 yuan.
The third child is to cook tonight.
The third brother bought groceries and brought them home. It was his first time cooking, and he was overwhelmed with the task of lighting the fire, chopping vegetables, and stir-frying.
He asked Song Rongrong to help him start the fire.
Xu Guiying scolded him for being lazy, "If your second brother can do it, why can't you? Rongrong still needs to study!"
The third child opened his mouth, not wanting to listen to his mother's explosive nagging, and quickly said, "I know, I know."
While tending the fire, Song Anmin thought about how to ask his mother for money later.
...
A short while later, the eldest son and his family returned.
Liu Aimei still had a dark expression on her face. Lele and Yanyan looked like they had been crying, their eyelids were red and swollen. The eldest brother also had a sullen face and didn't say a word, as if someone owed the eldest brother's family money.
Nobody paid them any attention.
Liu Aimei had nowhere to vent her anger, so she started criticizing the dishes her third son cooked.
"This vegetable isn't cooked through."
Song Anmin wasn't the type to suffer a loss.
"If it's not cooked through, just go back to the pan and cook it again. It's that simple, sister-in-law. I didn't say anything when you cooked the dishes too salty the other night, so don't come here to find fault with me."
Song Guomin instinctively wanted to protect Liu Aimei.
Xu Guiying put down her bowl, and the table fell silent again.
Song Rongrong looked around and then continued eating quietly.
Before going to bed that night, Song Xinfu put all the savings book and money into the iron box, locked the box, and stuffed it under the mattress, finding a gap to weigh it down.
For the next two days, things seemed calm on the surface at the Song family's house, and Liu Aimei's second and third children took turns cooking.
Liu Aimei couldn't argue with Xu Guiying, so she had no choice but to send Lele and Yanyan to the nursery. Fortunately, Liu Aimei and her husband's salaries were enough to cover the cost.
The matter concerning the Zhang family was soon resolved.
Li Xiaozhi was sentenced to death by firing squad.
Zhang Qingli, however, was only sentenced to one month in prison.
This news was brought back by Song Yangmin, who was the one who reported it to the police that day.
Xu Guiying felt something was wrong. "Whose connections did the Zhang family use?"
Song Xinfu dared not let his wife confront him head-on.
"Don't be impulsive. If you offend some big shot, there'll be nothing we can do."
Xu Guiying slapped Song Xinfu away, "I'm not stupid!"
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