Wen Zhaoye pulled out a pack of Chongjiu cigarettes with an old-fashioned image from his filthy pocket, took one out, put it to his lips, and said with a roguish air:
"Not feeling well? Then please don't be pregnant. If you have another baby, I can't afford to support you."
Xu Cuifen watched as he put the cigarettes back into his pocket, her eyes gleaming as she said:
"Hey, Zhao Ye must have spent two yuan on this cigarette, right? He must be making a lot of money at the factory lately, he's been smoking this cigarette."
Wen Zhaoye understood the hidden meaning in her words all too well. In the past, whenever he came home, even if he wore decent clothes, he would hear her say something like that, and then the next day he would receive Wen Xiaojian's request for an increase in his living expenses.
He carried a bucket of warm water and a bucket of cold water toward the main room, his tone quite displeased as he said:
"So? Are you planning to whisper in my dad's ear tonight and ask for a raise in your allowance or something?"
Xu Cuifen's face showed a hint of embarrassment that quickly turned into difficulty. She followed into the main room, her voice tinged with helplessness as she said:
"Oh dear, I'm not trying to make your dad's life easier, his legs are in such a state now..."
I'd have to go out every day to buy him something nice to nourish him, wouldn't that make it impossible for me to keep up with the household expenses?
"Who knows who'll eat it after we buy it?" Wen Zhaoye placed the water in the main room, his words carrying a hidden meaning.
He raised his hand to remove the cigarette from his lips, and casually glanced through the wisps of smoke at the girl glaring at him defiantly at the doorway.
Wen Jiaoyun's beautiful eyes were filled with rage. In the short time he'd been at her house, he'd either said she was crazy, that she was too lazy to cook, or that he wouldn't even look at her properly.
She couldn't take it anymore, and with a heavy, panting breath, she said, "Laughable! Look at my figure, my face, do I look like someone who's starving?"
"I knew you were up to no good outside."
Wen Zhaoye's implication that she was selling herself outside made Wen Jiaojiao so angry that her face turned red and her neck bulged.
Suddenly, she chuckled softly and said:
"Only someone who has been to a brothel would think of this. I didn't realize you were so sophisticated."
Wen Zhaoye's handsome face quickly turned red:
How come this girl has become so sharp-tongued now?
Wen Xiaojian, not wanting to see the family continue arguing, patted the bamboo mat and shouted:
"Stop arguing with your sister. You'll only upset such a pretty and sensible girl. It's so heartbreaking."
Wen Zhaoye couldn't win an argument with Wen Jiaojiao, but he was not convinced by Wen Xiaojian's words:
"Did someone knock your eyes out with a brick? And you still call yourself pretty, sensible, and always talking about it."
His voice was not quiet, and the three men's faces suddenly turned ugly in their own ways.
Wen Zhaoye nonchalantly carried the water into another room, only to find that all his belongings had been categorized and put into a corner.
A floral curtain and the back of a wardrobe divide the room into two separate rooms, and his wooden bed is located right by the doorway.
He put down the bucket, his eyes flashing coldly, and said:
Who made my room like this?
Xu Cuifen was in the kitchen, continuing to roll out the dough, when she turned her head and called out helplessly towards the door:
“Jiaojiao is back now, right? A girl can’t stay in the main room or with us, so I thought I’d put a bed in your room.”
Last year, it cost a total of over two thousand yuan to build these three bungalows plus a kitchen.
Two thousand of those funds came from Wen Zhaoye, and now he's even being forced to split his room in two, living in the outer room instead. Naturally, he's extremely unhappy about it.
His eyes darkened, and he said in a harsh voice, "I'm giving you two the time to move everything out and restore it to its original state by today, or I'll throw it all away."
Wen Xiaojian complained bitterly:
"Zhaoye, how dare you talk to your aunt like that? Do you know how hard it is for me to find a companion? Don't you know any better?"
Wen Zhaoye retorted again:
"It wasn't easy. My father remarried, and my son had to pay the bride price. It must have been tough for you."
If things get any harder for you, I might have to raise a whole bunch of your kids.
When the two remarried, Xu Cuifen asked for a dowry of 300 yuan, which was much higher than that of a first marriage in the village. It was all taken by Wen Xiaojian from Wen Zhaoye.
Wen Xiaojian and Xu Cuifen's faces turned green with anger again: "..."
Since her daughter left, Xu Cuifen hasn't thrown away a single thing; she keeps them all in the couple's room.
When Wen Jiaojiao was moving things yesterday, she kept confirming with her, just to avoid touching other people's things, causing them displeasure, and making things more complicated.
Only after receiving repeated assurances did construction begin. Although Xu Cuifen did most of the work while she sat and rested, she still spent half a day with her.
She glanced at Wen Zhaoye's expression, put down the clothes she was half-washing, rinsed off the foam, and conceded:
"Forget it, forget it, it's all my fault. I live in the main room, Mom, take down my curtain." There's plenty of time, I'll get him under my thumb sooner or later.
"How can that be? My daughter is a grown woman, how can she not even have her own room?"
Xu Cuifen stopped her from going inside to move things, turned her head, her eyes instantly welling up with tears, and looked at Wen Xiaojian with difficulty, saying:
"Honey, you'd better think of something! Our Jiaojiao is a girl, you know."
Wen Xiaojian, with an honest and simple face, sighed and said:
"Alright, the two of us old folks will move into the main room, and the house will be given to Jiaojiao."
Upon hearing this, Wen Zhaoye's chest filled with a furious rage, as if the sky were about to fall and the earth were about to collapse. He went inside, closed the door, and coldly hissed:
"never mind."
Wen Jiaojiao was also seething with anger. It was bad enough that she was dressed in this godforsaken place, but the worst part was that she was forced to take on this identity that required her to walk through the sewers to get around.
That's not all; there's also Wen Zhaoye at home who's always giving him the cold shoulder.
Xu Cuifen couldn't stand her washing method, which was so bad it seemed like she was practically ripping the clothes apart, and said:
"Jiaojiao, put it there, Mom will wash it for you later."
Wen Jiaojiao glanced at her, feeling much more at ease. She washed her soapy hands and said sweetly:
"Mom, you're so good, just like Dad."
Wen Xiaojian, who was in the inner room, felt a warmth in his heart. He had never heard a kind word from his son since he was a child.
Although Wen Jiaojiao had always been indifferent to him before, after this trip, she came back as a completely different person, becoming incredibly likable.
Wen Zhaoye sat back in the large wooden bathtub, his lean arms, still damp, draped over the edge. His short, wet hair cascaded down his back, and droplets of water rolled down his long neck to his broad chest.
He scoffed, his handsome face filled with arrogance and disdain.
After two years away, I've really honed my speaking skills.
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