No one knew what the two talked about in the main room. When they came out again, they looked relaxed and even put their arms around each other, agreeing to have another drink.
"Eldest daughter-in-law, get a few more today, your Uncle Hua and I will have a few more drinks." After Xun Xingshun finished speaking, he said to Xun Liangtian, "Eldest, go to the cellar and get a bottle of wine, just take the one from the very back."
"You still have quite a few bottles of wine hidden away? There are still some to choose from." Hua Guangzong smacked his lips, it seemed like he hadn't touched a drink in almost two years, and today he had to satisfy his craving no matter what.
Hua Xiangyun, “…” Should we bring it up now, or wait until the wine is served?
While they were still hesitating, the two old brothers had already put their arms around each other's shoulders and went to the cellar to pick out the wine themselves.
“Grandpa can’t drink,” Hua Zhian whispered. “Otherwise, we won’t be able to explain ourselves when we get back.”
Hua Xiangyun said, "Then go ahead. Grandma specifically told you to keep a close eye on things."
The atmosphere is tense right now; it's really not easy being the villain.
Hua Zhian, “…” You were there too, is it okay to betray your brother like this?
Hua Xiangyun, “…” Of course it’s good, since you’re my brother, and my own brother at that.
Because of the slap mark on her face, Xun Liangfen tries to avoid people and will never go near the two children.
Even when Xiangyun and the others called her before, she only gave a perfunctory response and didn't say anything more.
In fact, everyone saw her predicament, but no one said anything.
As lunchtime approached, the younger generation returned home, and the once quiet courtyard instantly became lively.
The children who were looking for their families were very enthusiastic, which helped Hua Xiangyun, who was initially a little unfamiliar with the place, to quickly integrate.
"Xiangyun, stay a couple more days this time. Our village will be cleaning the ponds before the New Year, and we'll go catch some small fish then," Xun Erni, who was about the same age as her, said, squeezing next to her.
“We should stay a few more days,” Xun Liangcai said with a smile. “That pond hasn’t been cleaned for many years, and there are a lot of big fish in it. We can take some back with us.”
Hua Xiangyun looked at Hua Guangzong, who was chatting enthusiastically, and asked, "These things are up to my grandfather to decide, but what's fun in Qingtang?"
“That’s going to be fun,” Xun Liangcai’s eldest son, Xun Rongqiu, said with a smile. “We can all go down and catch fish, and we can even see who catches the most.”
However, all the fish will be distributed uniformly by the village, and will be allocated according to household size and population.
If you want more, you can use work points to offset the cost.
There are also some snails and loaches inside. When the time comes, it doesn't matter who touches them, they're theirs. Our family always gets the biggest harvest when the pond is cleared. My older brothers, my second older brother, and I are all experts at finding things; we'll have plenty of loaches and eels then.
Seeing that Xun Rongqiu was practically patting his chest in assurance, Hua Xiangyun said with a smile, "I'm really looking forward to it."
“Then you can come down with us to catch them. It’ll be so much fun. Those things are so slippery, they burrow and burrow in the mud. You can’t catch them without some skill.” Xun Rongqiu got excited when he saw that Xiangyun also thought it was fun. “I’ll definitely tell you all the tricks then.”
Hua Xiangyun, “…” No, I was just being polite. That stuff was slippery, not my cup of tea…
Hua Guangzong finally got his wish this time. Although his grandchildren were watching closely, he still managed to drink three small cups.
He knows his own health well and wouldn't want to cause trouble for his old friend at this time.
Gu Yu, lying on the kang (a heated brick bed), held her breath and dared not make a sound, only staring intently at Xun Liangfen, who was feeding her.
"You did this on purpose. How did they find out all these years?"
Xun Liangfen understood what she meant. So many years had passed without any inquiry, so why was she suddenly checking the accounts?
Little did she know that she had lived in constant fear all these years, knowing that this day would come sooner or later. But thinking of her relationship with her father-in-law, she thought she would let it go easily in the end. Little did she know that these were all things her mother had done behind her father's back.
"Mom, we've been making a living all these years, why did you keep lying to me?"
Gu Yu sneered, "Would I call that lying to you? I gave birth to you and raised you, so it's only right that you be filial to me."
Besides, I didn't hold a knife to your throat and force you to give me the money. You gave it to me voluntarily, didn't you?"
Xun Liangfen, “…”
Her mind was filled with memories, and scenes from the past flooded back.
Every time, her mother would tell her about the hardships the family faced and the difficulties she endured as the head of the household. Then, in a moment of impulse, she would give her the money...
Once it happened, it happened again. Later, it seemed to become a habit, and she would even hand over the money on her own without her mother having to ask.
Gu Yu sneered, "Now you remember, right? You gave all of this voluntarily. Go tell your father later."
And your dad emptied everything out of my cupboard. Let me tell you, it wasn't just what you gave me; it also contained the family's savings.
It's inappropriate for a married woman like you to accept this money. The Hua family has always touted themselves as benevolent and righteous, so you shouldn't accept this money either.
"If you can get this money back, I'll still consider you my daughter. Otherwise, don't ever show your face in front of me again, it'll only make me feel worse."
The first thing Gu Yu did when she got home was to endure the pain and check her belongings. When she saw that the bottom of the box was completely empty, it almost killed her.
Xun Xingshun doesn't want to live a good life anymore. She didn't keep a single penny. What was the point of all her years of thrift and frugality?
Xun Liangfen said, "Mother, I dare not..."
In this household, although Gu Yu usually makes the decisions, everyone is afraid of Xun Xingshun.
They rarely interfere in family matters, but if they do, no one dares to object.
She has been on tenterhooks since yesterday, and her father hasn't spoken to her for two days, something that has never happened before.
"You useless thing, isn't your father the one who loves you the most? He's arranged everything for you, but look at your two older brothers, they haven't gotten anything..."
Xun Liangfen knew that she couldn't feed her again today, so she put the bowl aside and waited for her sister-in-law to come in before talking to her.
I couldn't help but feel a little fortunate. My mother had been frugal all her life and would never joke around with food. Otherwise, judging from the anger in her eyes, I was afraid that she would have smashed the bowl on my face.
My mother had mentioned before that she should give the job to her nephew, but she really couldn't make that decision. And whether she could keep the job after this trip back was another matter.
She felt extremely uneasy when her father-in-law came over today. She knew that Hua Guangzong was the most indulgent person in the whole family, and it was because of his mediation that her mother-in-law hadn't made things difficult for her over the years.
She thought about it all night yesterday and regretted it. How could she have let her good life turn out like this?
Now that Baoguo has gone back, she has no one to confide in.
As for Zhi'an and Xiangyun, they haven't been very close to her all these years. Now that she knows she gave everything to Xunjia, she probably has some resentment in her heart.
Her mind was in turmoil, and she no longer cared about the hatred in Gu Yu's eyes. She haphazardly put the bowl and chopsticks on the table and fell into deep thought.
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