In the afternoon, snowflakes began to fall again.
Lu Yanzhao was exhausted when he got home. He didn't eat and went straight to bed.
Gu Nanjiao had just woken up and went to the main room. She saw Lu Xiaomei playing a game of intercourse with Zhang Xiaohu. When she saw Gu Nanjiao, she quickly ran to her and said, "Sister-in-law, I'm so hungry."
"Where is Mother?" Gu Nanjiao went to sleep as soon as she got home, so she didn't know where Lu's mother had gone.
"Mother went to Sister-in-law Meihua's house and hasn't come back yet."
Hearing Lu Xiaomei say that, Gu Nanjiao seemed to remember that there was an unwritten rule in the village.
In the village, whether it's a wedding or a funeral, every household has to send one person to help out; otherwise, if your family has any problems later, no one else will get involved.
Now that she's back, and her family is closer to the Zhang family, it's natural that her mother would go and visit in her place.
"I'll fry some fries for you two. You take good care of Xiaohu and play with him." Gu Nanjiao looked at the two children and decided to make some modern food, French fries.
"What are French fries?" Zhang Xiaohu asked, his eyes wide and bewildered.
"French fries are things that are about the length of a finger. Take a bite, and they're crispy on the outside and tender on the inside. They smell so good!" Lu Xiaomei introduced the delicious food to Zhang Xiaohu, making Xiaohu's mouth water.
"I want to eat it, I want to eat it."
...
Lu's mother was thoroughly fed up with Li Shi, who followed her everywhere. Li Shi kept calling her "sister-in-law," which annoyed her.
After finally finishing up with Zhang San's business, she had barely left when she followed him home.
"Good sister-in-law, just tell me, we're family, let's make money together, maybe I can even help you out." Li followed in front of Lu's mother, her face full of a flattering smile, a calculating glint flashing in her narrow eyes.
"A family?" Mother Lu sneered.
“When you seized my family’s land and drove the three of us to our old house, you never said we were a family.”
"Oh dear, sister-in-law, that's all in the past, why bring it up again?" A hint of embarrassment flashed across Li's face, but she quickly concealed it.
“Sister-in-law, Yanping is getting married soon, and he’s short on dowry money. You’ve made a lot of money in your business, so as his aunt, you should contribute some.”
Hearing Li's words, Lu's mother was truly astonished. She had seen shameless people before, but never anyone as shameless as this.
That's shameless! His mother opened the door for another shameless person; he's utterly shameless.
Gu Nanjiao opened the door just in time to hear those words. At that moment, she and Lu's mother felt the same way: how utterly shameless! How could anyone say such a thing?
"Second Aunt, how much dowry did you give when Lu Yanzhao got married?" Gu Nanjiao looked at the thin woman in front of her with a gleam in her eyes and couldn't help but tease her.
Li was stunned for a moment, but soon a smile returned to her face.
"Oh my, it's Yanzhao's wife." Li Shi ran up to Gu Nanjiao and looked her up and down.
"I heard you were eager to marry our Yanzhao, and didn't even ask for a bride price. Since you didn't ask for one, how am I, as your second aunt, supposed to pay for it?"
This Li is really shrewd; she's got a silver tongue. No wonder Lu's mother is no match for her.
Gu Nanjiao smiled upon hearing this: "Second Aunt, surely there should be a gift for our first meeting?"
Li laughed twice and said, "Of course we have to." She then prepared to take out two copper coins from her pocket to give Gu Nanjiao a break.
"Second Aunt, we are family, and you are the elder. You can't give me too little. I won't accept anything less than three or five taels."
Li paused in taking out coins, then immediately smiled and said, "Auntie doesn't have that much money on her today, I'll give it to you another day."
"No, Auntie, I haven't visited your house yet. Why don't I go to your house now, and you can go home and get it?" Gu Nanjiao glanced at the increasingly dark-faced man with a half-smile, feeling extremely pleased.
"Oh dear. Auntie has something urgent at home, so I have to go back first. We'll talk another day, another day." After saying that, she ran off in a flash, as if afraid that Gu Nanjiao would catch up and ask for a gift.
Seeing Li's discomfiture, Lu's mother felt a surge of pent-up resentment that had been building up inside her for years, finally able to let it out.
Ms. Li arrived at her house breathlessly. As soon as she entered, she saw Lu Yanping rushing towards her in a hurry.
"Mom, give me some money quickly."
"What do you need money for again?" Mrs. Li looked at her unreliable son, feeling a bit disappointed in him.
"Never mind all that, just give it to me." Lu Yanping's voice was a little impatient as he stretched out his hand, urging Li to give him the money.
Li was seething with anger. She thought about how Gu Nanjiao had asked her for a gift earlier that day, and now her son was asking her for money. She was furious.
Li glanced around the yard, found a broom, and started hitting Lu Yanping with it. She cursed and hit him as she did so.
"I'll make you ask for money. You do nothing all day but ask for money. I'll beat you to death."
Lu Yanping was so badly beaten that he kept jumping up and down, dodging Li's broom.
"If you don't want to give it to me, then don't. Why did you hit me?"
"Get out of here! Get out of here! All you do is mess around all day. Look at you, so useless, just like your father."
Lu Lao Er, who had been hiding in the house, unable to sit still any longer, strode out, snatched the broom from Li Shi's hand, and threw it hard on the ground.
"You can insult him if you want, but why are you dragging me into this?"
"Like father, like son. Look at Lu Yanzhao, that scholar's daughter is eager to marry him, but your son hasn't even seen a trace of a wife yet."
Li was extremely jealous of Lu's mother. Lu Yanzhao's father was a capable man when he was alive, and his son passed the imperial examination at the age of eight. She was so jealous that she was going crazy.
Fortunately, Lu's eldest uncle died young, which made her gloat for a long time.
But now, that person's son married the scholar's daughter, and he was so eager to marry her off, who knows how much dowry he brought. Now, that person has found a way to make money, but he's not telling me.
"If you keep spouting nonsense, I'll beat you to death!" Lu Lao Er was furious. What a man fears most is being told he's incompetent, especially by his wife. This was simply outrageous.
"You try hitting me." Li wasn't afraid of this incompetent coward.
"Snap—"
Lu Lao Er slapped Li Shi across the face with all his might.
Ms. Li felt her left cheek was swollen and burning with pain. She touched the corner of her mouth and saw blood oozing out. Seeing the blood, she could no longer hold back her tears.
Li Shi thought, "That coward Lu Lao Er actually dared to hit me!" and stretched out her long fingernails to scratch Lu Lao Er's face.
"Lu Lao Er, I'll fight you to the death! How dare you hit your mother!"
Several scratches immediately appeared on Lu Lao Er's face, burning with pain. He felt that his dignity as a man had been lost, completely trampled on by Li Shi.
I'll beat you to death.
...
At this moment, Lu Yanzhao's courtyard was peaceful, a stark contrast to Lu Lao Er's family.
Lu's mother looked at the thick snow on the roof and then at the snowflakes falling from the sky, and couldn't help but sigh.
She was really afraid that the thick snow would collapse his dilapidated thatched old house.
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com