Xun Xingshun had always considered himself selfless as the village chief, but he never expected that Gu Yu would do such a dirty trick behind his back.
I wonder what the Guangzong brothers are thinking behind my back. Will they think that he's the one who's been indulging them? Just thinking about it makes me angry.
As his bedmate and having shared a room with her for decades, he believed he knew exactly where Gu Yu hid things. He took an axe and chopped off the lock on the kang cabinet in no time.
The crammed-full cabinet made Xun Xingshun tremble even more.
He lifted the top few layers of tattered cloth, and what lay beneath was something he had never even seen before.
Neatly arranged pieces of brand-new cloth occupied half of the entire cabinet. It was estimated that even the town's supply and marketing cooperative did not have this much stock. In addition to some pastries, there were also brand-new lunch boxes, fountain pens, watches, and even pretty silk scarves that little girls liked.
With each item that didn't belong to the family that they brought out, his face darkened even more.
If he only took Liangfen's things, that would be fine. But if he took things from other people in the village, how could he still be the village chief?
They moved everything out, and then dismantled the bottom compartment, revealing everything inside.
Back then, Gu Yu married into the family empty-handed, and he was the one who made this kang cabinet.
He took out the banknotes and bills, and underneath them was a passbook.
When he opened it, the amount inside almost made him drop the booklet.
That's nearly ten thousand yuan, that's quite a skill.
It seems the son-in-law was right; Liangfen has handed over all her salary from all these years, and I guess she didn't even get her bonuses back.
This is simply outrageous, no wonder the son-in-law was furious.
This made him think more deeply. His children hadn't come to pay their respects this year, and his old friend hadn't brought him cigarettes or alcohol. It must all be related to this matter.
If it were his two daughters-in-law doing something like that, he would grab a machete and go to their parents' home to demand an explanation.
Brothers for decades, bound by life and death, are about to be ruined by that greedy woman.
He put the passbook in his pocket, took all the money and tickets with him, and went straight to Pianxia to find Hua Baoguo.
“Baoguo,” Xun Xingshun rubbed his face twice before gritting his teeth and saying, “This was done by the mother and daughter behind the scenes. Their family isn’t in such dire need of your support.”
I also bear some responsibility for this; I didn't realize it all these years.
These are the passbooks and all the money I found. Go back and calculate it; if it's not enough, your father will make up the difference later.
As he spoke, he stuffed the folding book and money notes into his hand from his pocket, saying, "Tell your father later that I, as his brother, have let him down, and I will personally apologize to him one day."
“Father,” Hua Baoguo hadn’t expected his father-in-law to be even more straightforward than himself. His decisive actions had taken his surprise, and he was somewhat at a loss as to what to do with the things he was holding. “I can’t accept these. It’s only right that Liangfen shows her filial piety, but she shouldn’t have kept it a secret from the family…”
Xun Xingshun glared at him, “I have two sons and several grandsons, do I really need a married-out girl to show my filial piety?”
"Take her back tomorrow. If she doesn't act like a good daughter-in-law or a good mother, let me know, and I'll deal with her for you."
As they were talking, the knocking on the main room door continued. Xun Xingshun grew impatient and turned around to yell, "If you keep making noise, lock me in the pigsty in the back."
Gu Yu and Xun Liangfen immediately fell silent, knowing that Xun Xingshun truly meant what he said.
"You're really useless; you can't even handle such a small matter." Gu Yu didn't dare to argue anymore and turned her anger on Xun Liangfen.
"I don't know either. We've never had any money problems at home. I don't know why Baoguo suddenly decided to give the money to my mother-in-law." Xun Liangfen was completely flustered. She was pleasing neither her husband's family nor her own. What kind of situation was this?
"It's all your fault for being useless. I told you years ago that you should manage the family's money, but you insisted that Baoguo would listen to you and not waste it, and that you would save every penny. Now look what's happened, the money you saved has gone to that old woman."
That's bad enough, but he also tricked me.
Your father has always doted on you since you were little; you should quickly ask him to let us out.
The thought of her children and grandchildren returning made Gu Yu even more unwilling to lose face in front of her two daughters-in-law. She had to get out of here before they came back, no matter what.
Xun Liangfen didn't dare to argue and continued to bang on the door, "Dad, please open the door for us first. This family is about to finish work, and they need to let my mother and me go out to cook."
"You still have the mind to think about food?" Xun Xingshun handed the money to his son-in-law, feeling a little better, but he didn't intend to let the mother and daughter off so quickly. "You've ruined my reputation over the years. You'd better reflect on your actions in there."
Xun Liangfen asked, "Mother, what should I do? Father won't listen to me."
Gu Yu shoved her and said fiercely, "Then keep begging! Those were all things you offered to your mother, things you forced on me, so that your father can release me first."
Gu Yu now recalled Xun Xingshun's past behavior and felt even more uncertain, only wanting to get out of here as soon as possible.
She didn't rely entirely on Xun Liangfen; she pressed her head against the crack in the door and peered out, wanting to see what Xun Xingshun was doing.
What she saw through the crack in the door almost made her heart stop. Was the old man throwing out the lock from her kang cabinet?
Normally, Xun Xingshun would never touch her things, and she was in charge of managing the household. Now that the lock was left in the middle of the front yard, what about her own things?
Those are her life. If Xingshun finds out and takes them, then everything will be over. What has she been doing all these years?
Gu Yu pounded on the door, her frantic banging startling Xun Liangfen, who quickly stepped aside, not understanding what was wrong with her mother.
"Xingshun, old man, hurry up and open the door for me. Did you touch my things?"
"I'm telling you, that's our family's wealth, you can't take it away." Gu Yu started rambling incoherently, confessing on her own initiative.
"Who am I doing all this for? It's all for our family! Open the door now, or I'll break it."
After saying that, she really mustered up her strength and slammed the door hard. The loud banging startled Xun Liangfen, who quickly covered her arm and didn't dare to ask the old lady if it hurt.
Xun Xingshun ignored her, picked up the axe he had just used, and sat in the yard chopping firewood to vent his anger.
Hua Baoguo, however, was somewhat worried, but he still steeled himself and walked to Xun Xingshun's side, "Father, let Mother out!"
"If they keep ramming like that, they'll get hurt." Most importantly, that poor door probably won't last much longer either.
Xun Xingshun cleaved the wooden stake in two with a single stroke before looking up at the main room and saying coldly, "If you break that door, I'll lock you in the pigsty."
The pigsty is a valuable asset of the family, and the door there is much sturdier than the main room's. Let her break down it as she pleases.
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