Chapter 36: Cutting Off Her Food

The Liu family’s conditions were not bad before, and having one more person to feed was no big deal, so Liu Laohei just cursed and didn’t really take any measures to drive the person away.

But now the family situation is different from before, so although Liu Hongying appeared calm on the surface, she was actually panicking inside.

At this time, Lin Xiangnan was running outside every day, even Hu Meili wasn’t in a hurry to introduce a partner to Lin Xiangnan, Liu Hongying wanted to poach him but had nowhere to start.

Finally, she couldn’t hold it anymore and took the initiative to approach Hu Meili and strike up a conversation, “Xiaonan has been out of school for a while, why is he just hanging around, not working or getting married?”

“What’s the rush. After we move to the new house, I’ll introduce a good one to Xiaonan.”

Hu Meili’s expression was proud. Lin Xiangnan would have his own house in the future, he would definitely find a son-in-law better than Zhao Qi.

“Why are you asking me this?”

Liu Hongying nodded with some disappointment, perfunctorily saying, “I was just asking casually.”

Hu Meili squinted her eyes and looked her up and down, “You’re just asking casually, it’s obvious that you’re a weasel paying New Year’s greetings to the chicken, you’re not up to any good. Are you trying to poach our Xiaonan again?”

“How could that be. Zhao Qi was really an accident that time.” Liu Hongying fled in embarrassment.

People like her who keep things bottled up inside are most afraid of people like Hu Meili who speak their minds, a few words can expose them completely.

Hu Meili didn’t believe her explanation anyway, she rolled her eyes and had an idea in her mind.

When Lin Xiangnan came home that night, Hu Meili pulled her aside and whispered, “Find a man… see how Liu Hongying reacts… if she really dares to do something bad, then we’ll trick her…”

“No way. There’s no need to deal with a man I don’t like for her sake, it’s troublesome.” Lin Xiangnan asked curiously, “What’s wrong? Did you just realize Liu Hongying is up to no good?”

“What do you mean? Did she want to trick you all along?”

“You’re just realizing that now. She’s been watching me closely lately.”

With Hu Meili, who doesn’t care about privacy, in the house, Lin Xiangnan didn’t dare to keep many things at home. Every time she pretended to take things out of her pocket or bag, she was actually taking them out of her space.

Every time she took something out, Lin Xiangnan felt the most guilty. She would habitually look left and right, nine times out of ten, her eyes would meet Liu Hongying’s.

She was not innocent, but Liu Hongying definitely had something up her sleeve.

Knowing Liu Hongying’s intentions, Hu Meili’s fists clenched, “I’ll go find her.”

Lin Xiangnan quickly stopped her.

“What are you going to find her for? We’re about to move out soon, she won’t have anywhere to cause trouble even if she wants to. Besides, you don’t need to do anything, Liu Laohui is enough to give her a taste of her own medicine.”

“That’s true. Liu’s family is short of money now. Hongying is over twenty, she doesn’t get any money, she eats and lives at home, Liu Laohui can’t stand her anymore.”

Hu Meili had always disliked her, she would deliberately scold her whenever she got the chance.

Liu Laohui didn’t scold her, he directly took a decisive action and cut off half of Liu Hongying’s food allowance.

It was because the family was living too well that Liu Hongying didn’t want to get married. So he wanted to make Liu Hongying suffer a bit at home, and she would be fine after being hungry for a couple of meals.

Recently, Liu’s family’s food has been the worst in the courtyard, and it’s even worse now. Everyone doesn’t find it strange, they just secretly sigh, “Liu’s family is really harsh on themselves.”

Actually, Liu Laohui isn’t harsh on himself, he can still eat his fill. The only one who is starving is Liu Hongying.

After being hungry for two days, Liu Laohui asked, “Have you made up your mind? This is the condition of our family, if you don’t get married, your life will be even harder in the future. Anyway, this family can’t afford to support you, an idle person.”

Liu Hongying asked through gritted teeth, “Dad, can’t you wait a little longer? There must be other better men. Why does it have to be that divorced one? I’ve heard that he beats his wife, otherwise he wouldn’t give such a high dowry.”

“He promised me. He’s changed.”

Liu Laohui said impatiently, “With your reputation now, what other better men are there waiting for you? A decent unmarried guy, who hasn’t even held a girl’s hand, wouldn’t dare to date you, someone who has been held by others. Only divorced men wouldn’t mind.”

Beating his wife, how could that be changed just by saying so, Liu Hongying said with a bitter face, “Anyway, this one won’t do. Dad, find me a better one and I’ll get married.”

“Find? Easier said than done. How many have I introduced to you, you didn’t like any of them. Anyway, I’m too lazy to bother anymore.” Liu Laohui threatened harshly, “Either you get married or starve to death at home, you have to choose one. You can’t just refuse to get married even if you die, can you?”

Their family is a worker’s family, not a rural family.

Liu Laohui didn’t dare to tie his daughter up and marry her off, otherwise Liu Hongying would make a fuss, the street office people, the steel mill leaders, and the women’s federation comrades would all come to find him. So he could only use these roundabout methods.

But Liu Hongying still didn’t give in.

As long as there was a glimmer of hope, she didn’t want to compromise. Even if Liu Laohui cut off her food allowance, she could still hold out for a while.

Because she was being pressured too hard, Liu Hongying didn’t just focus on Lin Xiangnan anymore, she started to set her sights on the eligible young men on this street.

But the incident with the Zhao family was quite big, except for those little hooligans who had been pestering her before, most people avoided her as if she was a plague. This made her secretly cry for several more times.

But Liu Hongying didn’t look down on those with poor family conditions.

Even so, Liu Hongying’s standards were still high. When Hu Meili saw her, she couldn’t help but think of Lin Xiangnan, Lin Xiangnan’s standards were even higher than Liu Hongying’s.

Several prospective sons-in-law that Hu Meili liked, Lin Xiangnan didn’t like any of them.

These two girls, you could say, were both raised by Hu Meili. Now seeing that both of them were so picky, Hu Meili was a little doubtful, did she really not know how to teach children, would her Xiaonan be like Liu Hongying, picking for a year or two, and still not find a suitable one.

Thinking of this, Hu Meili suddenly became nervous.

She could withstand the leaders’ frequent talks, but they only had one year in total. Lin Xiangnan couldn’t keep picking like this.

“Your cousin is going on a blind date tomorrow afternoon, you go with her to get some experience.”

Lin Xiangnan refused, “I’m not going. Mom, are you kidding me? I’ve been on so many blind dates, why do I need to get this kind of experience?”

“I mean, let you see how normal people go on blind dates.”

“Mom, you’re being sarcastic! Am I not a normal person?” Lin Xiangnan retorted, “There’s something wrong with the other party, can you blame me?”

“You’ve ruined so many blind dates. Even if we’re being generous, you’re also at fault.”

Seeing that Hu Meili was already starting to argue, Lin Xiangnan gritted her teeth, “Okay, I’ll go, I want to see what’s different about my cousin’s blind date.”