Chapter 280 Unable to Lift His Head
She paused, then added in a low voice, "Since you've been living here, the neighbors have been gossiping a lot, which makes things difficult for me too."
Li Hongmei's eyes instantly reddened, her nose tingled, and tears welled up in her eyes.
Her finger trembled as she pointed at Qiao Wanyin, her voice choked with tears: "Qiao Wanyin, do you have any conscience? We traveled all the way from our hometown to seek refuge with you, eating your food and living in your house without a single complaint, and this is how you treat your own family? You're ruthless and cruel?"
"Second sister-in-law, I—" Qiao Wanyin opened her mouth, her heart clenched, but the words caught in her throat, and she didn't know how to continue.
"Don't call me Second Sister-in-law!"
Li Hongmei suddenly stood up, her voice filled with barely suppressed anger and grievance. Her eyes widened as she stared straight at Qiao Wanyin. "Now you're a government official's wife, living in a military compound, wearing the fine fabrics of city people, and everyone listens to you. You look down on us country relatives, don't you? Don't you think so!"
Her voice rose, sharp enough to pierce the silence of the room, while tears streamed uncontrollably down her cheeks, dripping onto her rough clothes. "Have you forgotten? Back then, you took all our belongings and ran off to the port city without a word, leaving us seven people behind. We couldn't even hold our heads up in the village, we couldn't even afford porridge, and we survived by digging up wild vegetables and boiling tree root soup every day, going hungry one meal after another!"
Qiao Wanyin's heart skipped a beat, and her throat felt like it was blocked by something, leaving her unable to utter a single word.
She wanted to explain, to refute, but the words stuck in her throat and she swallowed them back.
She couldn't very well say, "The one who ran away wasn't me, it was the original one..."
Has the soul been replaced?
Who would believe something like that?
Even she herself, after three months of being transported here, was still half-asleep and often couldn't tell whether what she was seeing was real.
Li Hongmei continued to sob, her voice hoarse and broken: "After you left, the family ran out of food, the rice jar was so empty you could see your reflection! My parents knelt at the clan chief's door, kowtowing and begging for a single grain of rice, only to be pointed at and cursed for 'failing to raise their daughter properly'! Do you know how cold it was that day? The north wind felt like knives on their faces, their knees were bleeding, but no one would open the door..."
Now you've come back in all your glory, dressed smartly, with a rosy complexion, a car, a house, and servants waiting on you, and you've completely forgotten us? Forgotten which muddy ditch you crawled out of, haven't you?"
She gritted her teeth, speaking slowly and deliberately, each word like flesh and blood ripped from her heart: "This time, I'm determined not to go anywhere! I won't believe anything you say! My husband has bad legs, the kids are still young, my parents are old, this family can't go on like this, are you just going to watch us die?"
Qiao Wanyin dug her nails deep into her palms, and a sharp pain shot through her fingertips, which jolted her back to her senses.
She lowered her head, looking at the white crescent-shaped mark on her palm, her knuckles trembling slightly from the force she was using.
Of course she knew how many bastards the original owner of this body had done.
Selfish, cold-blooded, and ruthless, he stole all the family's savings, leaving not even enough money for the elderly to treat their illnesses. He abandoned his entire family, including the elderly, the weak, the sick, and the disabled, and fled to a port city to live a carefree life.
In the end, the family was almost destroyed, and the younger siblings were nearly sent to be child brides.
These debts, these sins, now, it's all her turn to bear them.
But if we let my second sister-in-law's family stay in the military compound because of a moment of weakness, there will only be more trouble in the future.
Neighborhood gossip, organizational review, and military regulations—none of these allow family members to bring outsiders to stay overnight without permission.
Not to mention that once these people become attached, it will be difficult to get rid of them, leading to endless entanglements that could affect her husband's future and even jeopardize her current peaceful life.
She raised her head, her gaze calm, her voice not loud but steady, clear and unquestionable: "Second sister-in-law, you cannot stay here."
The color drained from Li Hongmei's face instantly, her lips trembled, and she froze on the spot as if she had been hit on the head with a blunt object.
She stared at Qiao Wanyin in disbelief, her eyes filled with shock and despair. "Qiao Wanyin...you...what did you say? Are you really going to be so heartless? I'm your own sister-in-law! When I bore your children, served your in-laws, and suffered hunger and cold, wasn't I there for you? And now you're turning your back on me?"
“I will have Li An find a job for your second brother in the county town.”
She continued, her tone still calm but without a trace of emotion, giving the other person no chance to interrupt, “I’ll ask someone to put in a good word for me, and I can work as a warehouse guard or a porter. It’s not a good job, but at least I’ll have some income. Every month, I’ll send fifty yuan home specifically to help the elderly and supplement the family income. I’ll also send grain and cloth coupons back regularly. But the military compound has a clear rule that family members are not allowed to allow outsiders to stay overnight for extended periods, especially unemployed or non-local residents. That’s the rule, and I have no right to make an exception.”
That's true.
The military region does indeed have this rule, which is posted in black and white on the notice board at the entrance of the family quarters.
But it was also the only excuse she could use to move out.
It's both the truth and a way to silence public opinion, preventing people from accusing her of being heartless and ungrateful.
Li Hongmei shoved the chair away roughly, the wooden legs scraping violently against the cement floor, making a piercing "squeak" that echoed endlessly in the small room, as if even the air itself was being torn apart.
She pointed at Qiao Wanyin, her fingers trembling, her voice shrill: "Fine! Very well! Qiao Wanyin, you just wait and see! You've been so heartless to my family today. If you suffer retribution in the future, don't blame me for not reminding you! You'll have to pay back your debts one day! You can't escape them!"
The door slammed shut with a loud bang, the force so great that some dust fell from the wall.
The whole building seemed to shake, and the window frames made a slight "click" sound.
Qiao Wanyin stood still, her back ramrod straight, like a silent stone statue.
Her hands were still trembling slightly, but her chest felt like it was being squeezed by an invisible hand, making it hard and painful, and she couldn't breathe.
She closed her eyes, the questions and wails still echoing in her ears.
She knew that she would never get past this hurdle.
She knew that this time, she had truly broken her second brother's family's heart.
This thought was like a fine needle, piercing her heart again and again, making her steps heavy.
She originally thought that as long as things were done, everything would be fine in the future; but now she understands that once human relationships are damaged, it's like a broken bowl, no matter how hard you try to piece it back together, it can never be the same again.
With red eyes, Li Hongmei stumbled through the family compound, tears streaming down her face.
Her footsteps were hurried and disordered, her heels hitting the cement floor with a "thump-thump" sound, as if she were venting her grievances and anger.
The dappled shadows of the plane trees on both sides fell on her, revealing her hunched back and slightly trembling shoulders.
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
