Chapter 98

Old Mrs. Meng and her father came back a few days early and cleaned up Zhen Zhen's house. They dried the quilts, washed the sheets, and even cleaned the toilet behind the house.

After Zhen Zhen came back, he felt relieved when he saw the clean old house.

"During the New Year, you two should take a good rest and don't overwork yourself."

Mrs. Meng was so touched by her daughter-in-law's concern that she felt as if she had eaten honey in her heart. "You have been busy for a year. I want you to have a good rest during the New Year."

Zhen Zhen smiled and said, "This is the first time that the third daughter-in-law comes back, so we have to take good care of her."

"She is your daughter-in-law, and you are also my daughter-in-law, right? Mothers-in-law all have the same mentality. With so many people around, how can you treat her badly? Not at all!"

Zhen Zhen and Old Lady Meng lived under the same roof every day, and their relationship was closer than before.

Zhen Zhen didn't regard Old Lady Zhen as her mother. She was older and of a different generation, so few people cared about her. With Old Lady Meng looking after her, it was like having an extra mother.

Zhen Zhen brought some snacks from Zhenxin Food Factory to give to Mrs. Meng.

Mrs. Meng was a little embarrassed. "Our Dajian and Dazhu are so grateful to you for taking care of them. You still send them gifts every day."

Before the New Year, Zhen Zhen wanted to ask Mrs. Meng to make some meat buns, steamed bread and pancakes for her to eat when she came back for the New Year. Mrs. Meng agreed immediately, but Zhen Zhen knew that Mrs. Meng had been taking care of the housework all year round and her cervical spine was not very good. She often had arm pain from rolling and kneading dough every day.

Zhen Zhen felt a little guilty, so he sent a lot of medicinal liquor and plasters. He also asked Meng Daguo to send the best pork and flour, and asked Mrs. Meng to make more buns and steamed buns, and divided them equally between the two families.

Making steamed buns and steamed bread for the Chinese New Year costs a lot of money. Mrs. Meng is from the countryside and is used to being frugal. When she made buns in the past, she was reluctant to put meat in them. A little minced meat was good enough.

Meng Daguo sent a lot of meat, and told her to put more meat in so that everyone could eat more comfortably.

Mrs. Meng was afraid that Meng Daguo would think she was stingy, so she put in a lot of effort and made each meat bun plump, and then put some pork lard and vermicelli in it. When you take a bite, it is so greasy and fragrant!

Zhen Zhen took the basket cloth and wrapped the buns. "We are all family, why are you being so polite to me?"

Mrs. Meng sighed, "Laidi got married before the Lunar New Year, but you didn't come. I know you were unhappy. Not to mention you, even I as a grandmother couldn't stand it, but what can we do? Then there's Zhang Qiaohong, an unreasonable and short-sighted daughter-in-law! She didn't listen to Dazhu and insisted on sending Laidi to the Shen family. Now, it's Lunar New Year, and the Shen family didn't even say they would send any gifts. We're not greedy for their things, but the Shen family is an official family, not a poor family. They don't even know the rules of giving gifts in the first three years of marriage? I don't think they take Laidi seriously at all."

Zhen Zhen doesn't want to get involved in these things. Does Meng Laidi think she can live a good life after getting married?

Innocent!

"Sister-in-law, I'm telling you that women still have to rely on themselves. I brought Zhaodi to college, and I also brought Pandi to be the supervisor of the factory. Which of them is doing badly? If men were reliable, there wouldn't be so many suffering women in the world. Meng Lai Di is still young, and she thinks everything will be fine once she gets married."

Mrs. Meng agreed with her, "The suffering is yet to come for Laidi."

"If you have a hard time in the future, just don't blame me, Zhang Qiaohong."

"If she dares to blame you, I, as a mother-in-law, will not let her go."

Mrs. Meng was relieved to see that Zhen Zhen was not angry.

Zhen Zhen broke open a large meat bun and was stunned by the aroma. "You made these buns so delicious!"

“Aren’t all buns the same?”

"They are different. Although they are all made of skin and fillings, some people's meat buns just don't smell good. Unlike yours, both the skin and the fillings are incredibly fragrant. I have never eaten such delicious meat buns in my life."

Zhen Zhen meant what he said, people these days cook really well and can make something extraordinary out of ordinary ingredients.

In later generations, cooking utensils became better, ingredients became more diverse, and seasonings became richer, but people's cooking skills were getting worse with each generation.

Zhen Zhen thought that with Mrs. Meng's cooking skills, she could open a bun shop in the county town.

Mrs. Meng was stunned. "Can you really make money by selling buns?"

"Why not? There are state-owned factories near my shop. None of these factories make breakfast. Everyone eats at home before going to work. But the employees have to go to work early and don't want to get up early to cook, so they buy some food outside to make ends meet. Ready-made noodle, wonton and dumpling shops are doing good business. You've seen Zhao Meilan, right? The small shop opened by her mother-in-law can make several thousand a year."

Mrs. Meng was inexplicably moved.

In the village, people aged 50 are considered old, and at her age, she is considered the oldest among the old. However, her sisters-in-law have opened shops and factories in the county town, and they take good care of the family. Although she is older, she can make buns, pancakes, steamed buns, etc., which is really her comfort zone.

If she were to sell this in the county, she would be able to do well.

Mrs. Meng was not interested in that little bit of money. She just felt that every household was making money. The village also engaged in clothing processing and medicinal herb planting. It was not her age to engage in clothing processing.

Their family bought shares in the medicinal materials company and got some extra money. Mrs. Meng had a taste of making money and wanted to go to the county town to try her luck.

"Then I'll sell some meat buns?"

"Meat buns, vegetable buns, stuffed buns, whatever, it's all fine. Just put them in front of my store and sell them. It's nothing special."

Mrs. Meng was embarrassed, "That would be terrible, what if I steal your business..."

"No big deal. I have a lot of employees there, and sometimes I'm too lazy to cook. If you sell some buns and cakes, it will be more convenient."

Mrs. Meng saw that she really didn't care about the small amount of money. She really felt that her sister-in-law was too kind to her. If the eldest family hadn't relied on her sister-in-law to help her, she would still be farming at home! It should be said that the entire Batou Village relies on her sister-in-law. Now the Meng family is really a famous figure in Batou Village. It is not an exaggeration to say that they are walking sideways.

Mrs. Meng smiled and nodded, "So will I really go there during the Chinese New Year? I've been thinking about what kind of stuffing I can make these days. I'll make some spicy and some non-spicy so that everyone can choose."

"Okay, don't worry, you have the skill to make dumplings, you won't have to worry about not making money."

Zhen Zhen went home carrying the bamboo basket cloth, and when he saw Zhang Cuihua, he handed her a bun. Zhang Cuihua took a bite and praised Mrs. Meng for making delicious buns.

When Zhen Zhen returned home with the steamed buns, Meng Daguo and Meng Hua came back from playing cards. Zhang Cuihua pulled them aside and said, "I have something I want to tell you two brothers."

"Auntie, what's the matter?" Meng Daguo borrowed his faucet and washed his hands.

Meng Hua poured water into Meng Daguo's hand, and heard Zhang Cuihua say, "What else could it be? It's about your sister Su Xiu."

Su Xiu is the daughter of Zhen Zhen who was adopted by someone else. Meng Daguo didn't spend much time with his sister, but he was strongly against it when his sister was sent away. In the past few years, he would occasionally sneak to his sister's house to see what his sister looked like and whether she looked like her mother or her father.

Meng Daguo couldn't tell whether he was missing his sister or was just curious. After discovering that his sister looked like Meng Changzheng, Meng Daguo felt very uncomfortable.

A few times, when he saw his sister working hard on the farm at Su's house, he would secretly wrap some money in stones and throw it in front of his sister. After his sister picked up the money, he would turn around and run away.

Meng Daguo was afraid that his sister would hate them, so he didn't dare to show up.

"What happened to her?"

"Su Hai, the son of the Su family, was driving a truck for someone else. He got into a car accident and broke his leg. The Su family had no money to see a doctor, so they wanted to marry Su Xiu to a fool! That fool knows nothing. He just drools all day and smiles foolishly at people. If Su Xiu marries such a man, her life will be over!"

Meng Daguo and Meng Hua looked at each other and decided to go to Lao Su's house without telling his mother first.

The two of them got on their bicycles and went to the next village. Seeing that Meng Daguo knew the way, Meng Hua asked him, and Brother Meng did not deny it.

"We are living a good life, but she is living outside. Besides, you married into the Tan family. When I see dad, I will have a hard time explaining myself as the eldest child."

Meng Hua smiled. Meng Daguo was a gentle person, traditional but very responsible.

He was not afraid of having to explain himself, but he was worried about his younger sister and worried that she was not living well in the Su family.

"What does mom mean? I see she has been doing nothing these years."

"Third brother, you don't understand mother," Meng Daguo sighed, "How can mother not care? Mother feels that she is too embarrassed to ask. My younger sister went to the Su family, and the Su family raised her. It is really unreasonable for her to suddenly come to the door and ask for someone. My younger sister will not forgive her."

As they were talking, they arrived at the village where Su Xiu's family lived. The Su family was easy to find, so Meng Daguo and Meng Hua didn't hide anything and walked straight in.

Su Xiu was cooking pig food. She chopped up sweet potato leaves, corn flour and miscellaneous vegetable leaves and put them in the pot to cook. Just as she was about to serve the pig food, she saw Meng Daguo come in.

Su Xiu was stunned, and Su's father also recognized them and looked unhappy.

"What are you doing here? When your mother gave Su Xiu to our family, we agreed that you could not take her back without our consent."

Su Qiang's leg was broken by a truck, and Su Qin was bitten by a dog. The family was in chaos, and Su's father was not in a good mood either.

Old Mrs. Su pulled Old Man Su and said, "I heard that the Meng family opened a factory in the county and made a lot of money! I asked Su Xiu to go to the Meng family to ask for money a long time ago, but she refused to go. Now they have come to the door on their own initiative, you can't chase her away."

Meng Daguo said in a deep voice: "I heard that you want to marry Su Xiu to a fool."

Father Su was stunned. "What's wrong with marrying a fool? A fool is not a human being? I adopted Su Xiu and raised her for more than 20 years. Now her brother has lost his leg and she is asked to return home. People gave her 3,000 yuan as a betrothal gift. Shouldn't she repay her family?"

Meng Daguo frowned and said angrily:

"You raised her, she is your daughter, why would you marry your daughter to a fool!"

"Because I'm her father!" Father Su snorted coldly and took a puff of his cigarette. "Whatever I say is what it is! She has to listen to me! If she doesn't listen to me, I will either beat her to death or drown her in the river. She has to get married even if she doesn't want to!"

Meng Hua frowned:

"We can discuss this. It's just three thousand yuan, right? I'll pay for it and you cancel the marriage. Is that ok?"

Old Man Su didn't expect that he would ask for three thousand yuan!

Old Mrs. Su was right. The Meng family has indeed become wealthy. Now that they are wealthy, they should use more money to redeem their daughter. Three thousand is not enough!

"Abolish? How can we cancel something that the two families have already discussed? Besides, the Cao family is rich, and Su Xiu can subsidize her parents' family every year after she marries. I took three thousand yuan from you, but you lost such a good son-in-law. Isn't that a big loss for me?"

"Okay? That guy is a fool! You still have the nerve to say okay! This is no longer the old society. Your behavior is illegal. I can call the police to arrest you!"

"Catch me? Do you think I was scared? Even if I go to jail, I will send Su Xiu to Cao's house to be Cao's wife! Cao's family said that when Su Xiu gives birth to a son, they will help build a house for our Su Qiang. Su Xiu is so beautiful, she is the cash cow for us. Three thousand yuan, you are kidding me!"

Old Man Su’s words made Meng Daguo’s face turn completely black.

"Then how much do you want!"

"At least 10,000!"

"Ten thousand yuan? Are you kidding me? There aren't many households with a salary of ten thousand yuan in Xinyao County! You just asked for ten thousand yuan. Do you think money just fell from the sky? Where can I find so much money for you?"

But Father Su snorted:

"Are you pretending to be poor? Do you think I haven't heard it? Your Meng family borrowed hundreds of thousands of dollars from the bank to build such a large factory, and you sell instant noodles all over the country. If your family has no money, there will be no rich people in our county!"

Meng Daguo and Meng Hua looked at each other. Neither of them expected that Old Man Su was not someone who could be easily fooled.

But he was extremely greedy and could not be satisfied with just 10,000 yuan. If they accepted the offer, they would become his cash cow in the future and would ask for some money whenever they had no money.

This is going to be a big problem!

Besides, they haven't discussed it with Mom yet. If they agree to it rashly, I'm afraid Mom will be unhappy.

Meng Daguo was about to say something but was pulled back by Meng Hua.

"You can't negotiate like this, brother, come back with me first."

"Can……"

"Don't worry, he will come to you sooner or later."

Before leaving, the two of them glanced at Su Xiu. In fact, Meng Hua had also secretly come to see Su Xiu. At that time, Su Xiu was still young. Unexpectedly, after not seeing her for many years, she had grown into a big girl.

Su Xiu is nothing like Meng Changzheng. She is a very quiet girl. She just keeps her head down, and no one knows what she is thinking.

The two returned home with gloomy faces. Zhen Zhen thought that the two sons were a little strange, so she asked a question. Meng Daguo hesitated for a long time, but still went to her room and told Zhen Zhen about Su Xiu.

Zhen Zhen thought about it, then went next door to find Zhang Cuihua. She leaned over and whispered a few words in Zhang Cuihua's ear. Zhang Cuihua nodded and went out holding an umbrella.