Chapter 54: Controlling the Second Brother and His Wife
Fu Yuanshan was so frightened by Song Yushuang's words that his soul flew away. His knuckles turned white as he clutched the account book. Jiang Jianhua was still crying, "Mom, we really don't have any money! The silver bracelet can only be pawned for twenty yuan at most, how can it be enough for more than a thousand yuan?"
Song Yushuang sneered and took out a yellowed piece of paper from his sleeve pocket:
"This is the receipt for the old Fu family vase you secretly sold last year. The buyer was an antique shop in the south of the city. The vase was left by my father and is worth at least two thousand yuan. If you don't pay me back the money you embezzled, I'm going to the police station to report it stolen and say our house was robbed."
Fu Yuanshan's face turned pale as he grabbed the note and was about to tear it up. Song Yushuang didn't care: "It's no use tearing it up. I've already asked Yucheng to leave a record at the antique shop. The shopkeeper can still identify you!"
Jiang Jianhua finally understood and rushed over to beat Fu Yuanshan: "You even dare to sell our ancestors' things! Are you still human? Where's the money? Where did it go?"
Fu Yuanshan was so anxious from her beating that he almost blurted out the purpose, but he stopped himself in time.
Yun Tangyin heard it clearly at the gate of the courtyard and raised an eyebrow at Fu Yucheng: "So there is such a thing."
Fu Yucheng whispered, "Mom has long suspected that he sold the vase, but she never found any evidence. I didn't expect he had a backup plan."
The farce in the courtyard continued. Song Yushuang slammed the account book on the stone table and said, "You have brought shame upon the Fu family! Either you return the money you embezzled today, or I will report you to the army for selling your property privately, and you will never be able to return to the art troupe again in your lifetime."
Fu Yuanshan sat on the ground. Jiang Jianhua suddenly stopped crying, got up and rushed into the house: "I'm going to look under the box! I still have the gold ring my mother gave me!"
Yu Xia leaned over to Yun Tangyin and laughed under her breath, "Now they can't deny it even if they want to. I've seen that vase. It was in Mom's room last year, and then it suddenly disappeared. Jiang Jianhua said it was knocked over by a cat, so it turns out this kid stole it and sold it!"
As he was speaking, Jiang Jianhua rushed out holding a red cloth bag. He opened it and saw a shiny gold ring. "This can be worth fifty yuan! Is that enough?"
Song Yushuang glanced at it and said, "There are still more than 900 left."
Fu Yuanshan suddenly stood up and rushed out the door with red eyes: "I'll go borrow it! I'll go borrow it now!"
"Stop!" Song Yushuang stopped him, "Who could lend you so much? Do you think everyone else is a fool?"
She turned to Yun Tangyin and shouted, "Yinyin, bring the abacus from home. Let's calculate how much we need to deduct from his monthly salary to pay him back."
Yun Tangyin responded and walked into the courtyard with an abacus. "Second brother is unemployed right now, and Second Sister-in-law earns 30 yuan at the textile factory. Excluding your own food rations, if you pay back 30 yuan a month, it will take you several years."
"How many years?" Jiang Jianhua screamed, "Then we'll be starving for years!"
"If I had known this would happen, I wouldn't have been so greedy." Yun Tangyin moved the beads on the abacus: "Either pay the money back or go to the police station, you choose one."
Fu Yuanshan gritted his teeth and clenched his fists: "I'll return it!"
"It depends on your performance." Song Yushuang's response was very calm: "From today on, both of your wages will be handed over to Yinyin for safekeeping, and your family will provide your monthly meals. As for the money, when you pay it back, you can get your wages back."
Jiang Jianhua wanted to argue, but Fu Yuanshan grabbed him and said, "I agree! As long as you don't report it to the army, anything is fine!"
What he fears most now is that the news of his private sale of property will get to the army. If he is really punished, his life will be over.
Yun Tangyin put away the abacus and smiled at Yu Xia, "Sister-in-law, please come with me to the factory tomorrow and tell the finance department to transfer my second brother and sister-in-law's salary to me."
"No problem!" Yu Xia smiled so hard that her eyes narrowed. "I'll go say hello to Sister Li from the Finance Department right now and ask her to keep this in mind."
Yu Xia and Jiang Jianhua were workers in the same textile factory. Seeing this, a sense of pride was brewing in their eyes.
Fu Yuanshan looked at Yu Xia's brisk back and was shaking with anger, but he didn't dare to get angry.
Now he had no leverage, and even Jiang Jianhua elbowed him: "It's all your fault! If you hadn't been selling vases, would we have been so severely oppressed?"
"Shut up!" Fu Yuanshan growled, "If you hadn't been crying out that you had no money, would I have taken such a risky gamble?"
The two were about to start arguing again, but Song Yushuang stopped them with a shout: "If you keep arguing, I'll send both of you to the police station!"
Yun Tangyin spoke at the right time: "Mom, why don't we ask them to pawn their gold rings and silver bracelets first, and then pay back part of it, and the rest will be paid monthly."
She turned to Fu Yuanshan and said, "If Second Brother is willing to find a job in a factory and pay it back in one lump sum every month, it will be much faster."
This gave Fu Yuanshan a way out. He stiffened his neck and snorted, which was considered as an agreement.
On the way back to the house, Fu Yucheng squeezed Yun Tangyin's hand and said, "I didn't expect Mom to have such a big card in her hand."
"Mom doesn't want to take this too far." Yun Tangyin leaned on his shoulder. "If they had produced evidence of the vase earlier, they would have been kicked out long ago. Why would they still be here?"
Yun Tangyin paused and said, "But this is also good. Let them pay it back slowly. This will not only help recover the money, but also teach them a lesson."
As soon as I reached the door, I saw Jiang Jianhua chasing out, holding a cloth bag in his hand: "Sister-in-law, these are the rings and bracelets, you can pawn them."
Her voice was weak, without the arrogance she had before.
Yun Tangyin took the cloth bag and said, "I'll ask my sister-in-law to accompany me to the pawnshop tomorrow. The amount of money will be recorded in the account and used to offset the debt."
Jiang Jianhua nodded and turned away reluctantly.
Fu Yuanshan stood at the gate of the yard, looking at her back with a complicated expression.
Yun Tangyin handed the cloth bag to Fu Yucheng: "Keep it, this is their sincerity."
The next morning, Yun Tangyin and Yu Xia had just returned from the pawnshop when they saw Fu Yuanshan squatting at the gate, smoking. He stood up when he saw them and asked, "How much did you get for the pawn?"
"The gold ring is fifty-eight, the silver bracelet is twenty-one, a total of seventy-nine." Yun Tangyin showed him the pawn ticket: "Here is the receipt, keep it."
Fu Yuanshan took the pawn ticket, held it in his hand for a long time without saying anything, and suddenly said: "I'm going to find a job and start tomorrow."
Yun Tangyin was a little surprised, then smiled: "That's more like it."
Yu Xia joked, "If you had done this earlier, why would you need to sell vases?"
Fu Yuanshan glanced at Yu Xia, then turned and left.
Song Yushuang pulled Yun Tangyin into the house and sent Yu Xia away. She looked at the quietness in the yard and smiled at Yun Tangyin: "You still have a way."
Yun Tangyin handed her a cup of hot tea and said, "They won't cry until they see the coffin. Now that they know they are scared, they will naturally behave themselves."
The setting sun shines through the window lattice and falls on the account book on the table.
Yun Tangyin thought about it and asked softly, "Mom, since you already have evidence in your hand, why do you still want me to do this?"
Song Yushuang looked at Yun Tangyin, who had already noticed everything, and suddenly laughed.
She placed her hand on the back of Yun Tangyin's hand, fiddled with the jade bracelet on her wrist, and smiled softly: "If I don't let you do it, how can you establish your authority and manage the accounts in this family?"
When Yun Tangyin heard this, she was stunned at first, then she laughed.
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