Chapter 99 Claiming Credit
Seeing Lin Dahai's heartlessness, Old Lady Liu had no choice but to settle for second best.
"If we return your things, are you going to stop reporting it to the police station?"
Lin Dahai snorted, turned his head away with a sour face, and said, "Return the things first."
Lin Dahai considered himself a city dweller, and he didn't want to be beaten up by a group of shrewish country women for nothing.
He made up his mind to report the case to the commune police station as soon as the things were taken back, and he had to teach the rest of the Liu family a lesson no matter what.
The Liu family was criticized by the police and made a self-criticism. They will not dare to be so arrogant in the future.
Old Lady Liu felt that Lin Dahai didn't seem like a magnanimous person, so she rolled her eyes, grabbed Lin Dahai's arm, and knelt down before him.
"My dear in-law, no matter what, Shuhong is still my son-in-law. He even went to Xinjiang for my Xiaomei. Our two families are still connected by blood..."
Lin Dahai was disgusted by these words. He shoved the man away and said, "If you call me 'in-law' again, I'll never forgive you!"
With tears welling up in her eyes, Old Lady Liu said, "You're from the city, so please be magnanimous and don't hold it against us country folk. If anything else happens to my family, I'll have no choice but to hang myself at your doorstep."
Lin Dahai, who was being threatened: "..."
Feeling a slight hesitation, he snorted, "I'll go find a donkey cart. You guys hurry up and move everything out. I won't let this go until you've brought out a single thing."
After the person left, Liu Mei's mother got up shakily.
Liu Mei, who had been peeking around inside, came out and said, "Mother, we've already sold a lot of things. If we go to get them back, we'll have to pay the money back. It's better to wait a while until the whole family leaves, and then see who he asks for them from."
Old Lady Liu's droopy eyelids twitched, and she shook her head, saying, "Forget it, let's not get entangled with them anymore. We'll have to wait a while before we can leave, and it's not worth getting sued at the police station again."
Sister-in-law Liu Mei complained, "If we had left with Shu Hong one after the other, we wouldn't have lost so much."
Old Lady Liu looked miserable.
Having lived in the village my whole life, how could I just leave like that? I'd rather go to a place where I know no one.
The pillars of the family have all been sent to the frontier, and now the villagers are ostracizing Old Liu's family. Old Liu's family has lost several strong laborers, and they will receive less grain at the end of the year.
When her family was doing well, everyone in the village envied them and came to curry favor with them. Now, however, the Liu family has fallen on hard times and can no longer make a living in the village.
If life weren't so tough right now, Old Lady Liu wouldn't have made the decision to take her whole family with her.
Now we're just waiting for a letter from Lin Shuhong.
Before leaving, I have to sell everything that needs to be sold.
Once she moves to a new environment where no one knows about her family's situation, things will get better.
Sigh, she shouldn't have been so blinded by greed and set her sights on that young man from the city. If nothing had happened, the Liu family would still be the most successful family in the village.
A dozen minutes later, Lin Dahai borrowed the only donkey cart in the village.
The donkey cart belonged to the brigade. Lin Dahai had to plead with the brigade secretary to borrow it for a day, and the fee was one yuan.
Seeing the small amount of stuff piled up at the gate, Lin Dahai frowned. "Trying to fool me? Where's the stuff?"
Old Mrs. Liu, her heart bleeding, said, "Don't worry, many have already been sold. It will take time to get them back."
Lin Dahai was so angry he laughed, and said sarcastically, "Your family is so short of money, but other people's things sell pretty quickly."
Lin Dahai regretted it!
He regretted letting Liu Mei into the family, which resulted in his in-laws being such petty and narrow-minded people.
Sister-in-law Liu Mei: "We live in a village, which is not as good as your city. You are all so rich, yet you still want to take all these things back. You are so stingy."
Lin Dahai, hands on hips, declared, "Even if I throw everything away, I won't give it to your family!"
The Liu family was furious upon hearing this.
One by one, the items were moved back from other people's homes, from large wooden beds to small mirrors hanging on the wall. The Liu family was afraid that Lin Dahai would go to the police station to sue them despite his injuries, so they returned all the valuables that were due.
Before Lin Dahai left with the people in the donkey cart, Old Lady Liu grabbed his hand tightly and emphasized again, "If you sue us, I'll hang myself at your doorstep!"
Lin Dahai was afraid of this old woman and snorted, "Don't ever come to my house again. Our two families have nothing to do with each other anymore, understand?"
Only then did Old Lady Liu let go of her hand with relief.
The donkey cart traveled very slowly. From the village to the commune, then from the commune to the county town, and then from the county town to the city, the donkey cart didn't arrive at the tenement building until mid-afternoon.
Zhang Cui hadn't finished get off work yet, so Lin Dahai could only borrow a dollar from someone he knew to pay the fare.
Lin Dahai's facial injuries and the goods he brought back attracted attention, and soon a crowd gathered downstairs in the tenement building.
When Zhang Cui returned with the lunchbox, she heard Lin Dahai say in the crowd, "You all remember this: never find a wife from the countryside. There's an old saying that marriage should be between equals. Poor and remote areas breed unruly people. The poorer the family, the more problems they'll have. I was tricked by Shuhong. Ever since Liu Mei entered my family, my life has never been smooth..."
The person who was watching the spectacle said, "So you're just going to leave the injury on your face like this? That family beat you up, how can you just let it go like that? That's so pathetic."
Lin Dahai shook his head: "If I report it to the police station, that old woman will hang herself at my door. I think I'd better not report it. Anyway, we won't have any contact in the future, so it's not worth making such a big fuss."
Zhang Cui pushed through the crowd and saw a pile of things on the ground. Then she looked at Lin Dahai's smeared face and cursed inwardly, "Serves him right."
"Everyone, take a look! If anyone is missing anything or wants anything, I'll sell it to them cheaply. My family wants a sewing machine but we're short on ration coupons. We also have eggs, but we've been to the department store several times without success. If you want to trade anything, come to me."
It's called a replacement, but in reality, you still have to pay money, but you can't say it out loud. Anyway, everyone knows the unspoken agreement.
The furniture here includes items that Zhang Cui and Lin Dahai paid for for Lin Shuhong's family, as well as items that Lin Shuhong and Liu Mei bought themselves.
Since they're all old stuff anyway, Zhang Cui plans to sell them all as long as the price isn't outrageous.
If she makes more money from the sales, she will send Song Lubai another fifty yuan.
This can be seen as Lin Shuhong apologizing to Song Lubai.
Once inside, Lin Dahai, with a face covered in graffiti, looked at Zhang Cui as if seeking praise.
"How was it? I did a good job, didn't I?"
Zhang Cui didn't give him a smile and said coldly, "I see you've gotten used to living in the factory. You might as well continue living in the factory from now on."
Lin Dahai exclaimed in disbelief, "Why? I did everything you said, and you'll be the one to collect my wages by putting your fingerprint on them. Why should I have to live in the factory?"
Zhang Cui bluntly stated, "I don't want to see you. Seeing you reminds me of how you chased Lu Bai away. You're a scoundrel. If it weren't for the sake of Jianshe and Heping, we would have gotten a divorce."
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