Chapter 40

The old lady clearly showed she was angry at her daughter.

Wang Mengmei called out for a while outside the door, but Zhao Chunlan did not open it.

Sun Cuifang whispered in Wang Mengmei’s ear, “The key is right on the doorframe.”

Wang Mengmei reached up and immediately found it.

She couldn’t help but laugh and cry at the same time.

She pushed the door open, and Zhao Chunlan was lying on the bed with her back to her.

“Why are you coming back?”

“Anyway, you don’t care about me, your old mother. I finally understand now—you’re all like the children that popped out from cracks in the rocks. Once you stop drinking milk, you forget all about your mother. Half a year goes by and you don’t even come back…”

As she spoke, Zhao Chunlan started to sob.

Wang Mengmei, feeling helpless, said, “That’s not true, I’m really busy… Alright, alright, I promise I’ll come back more often this year, okay? Mom, get up quickly and see what I bought for you.”

She tried her best to pull Zhao Chunlan out of bed.

The old lady was still angry, turning her back to her daughter and refusing to look at her.

If it were in the past, Wang Mengmei would have gotten angry as well. After all, her life wasn’t easy either, and whenever she came home, she had to buy things. She had to be fair to both of her younger brothers’ families, and couldn’t forget her sister’s family. Every time she came back, it cost at least 30 or 50 yuan.

They say the road back to the mother’s home is paved with money. In the past, when Wang Mengmei didn’t have much, it would make her upset.

But this year was different—Wang Mengmei had made money, so she no longer minded her mother’s little temper.

She put aside her feelings and happily pulled her mother to look at the clothes.

Zhao Chunlan kept criticizing her daughter with her words, accusing her of being unfilial, but when it came to action, she was honest and hurried to put on the clothes.

Wang Mengmei found a mirror to show her, “It looks good, doesn’t it? I bought it at the department store. I thought this color would look great on you.”

The thick cotton coat had a layer of dark purple corduroy on the outside, with embroidery on it.

Sun Cuifang chimed in from the side, “Sis has good taste. This jacket looks classy, much more stylish than the other old ladies in our village.”

Zhao Chunlan was already secretly delighted, no longer pretending. She didn’t want to take off the new clothes, but acted indifferent, saying, “I think the weather’s fine today, so I’ll wear this. I think anything else would be too warm.”

Wang Mengmei and her sister-in-law exchanged a look and, following Zhao Chunlan’s words, moved some chairs outside the front door.

Since the old lady was wearing new clothes, wasn’t it only right for her to sit outside and show them off?

Outside the door, Wang Yuedong started a fire in a clay pot, using branches that had been cut down. The fire blazed up, and the heat made everyone’s faces turn red.

Qian Jinlai, Wang Yuedong, and Jian Feng, the three men, squatted near the fire. When Jian Feng saw his mother-in-law come out, he quickly went over and helped move a few more stools for everyone to sit.

“Where’s Xiao Li?”

Wang Mengmei pointed inside, “She’s in the back room.”

She didn’t know where all the younger ones went; they weren’t even sitting by the fire and were staying inside.

“How about Big Sis?”

“She went to town to buy some meat.”

The meat shop opened on the second day of the New Year for the convenience of the daughters-in-law visiting their families.

Wang Mengmei gave a brief greeting to Qian Jinlai. He had no good words for her and her husband, only speaking to Wang Yuedong.

Zhao Chunlan, with her sharp eyes, quickly noticed that both Wang Mengmei and Jian Feng were dressed well this year.

She thought her second daughter must have earned well this year, and kept asking about Wang Mengmei’s business in a more affectionate manner.

Wang Mengmei relaxed a bit when talking to her mother, not revealing how much she earned but simply saying that the business was doing well and that she was very busy.

“I’m really overwhelmed with work. Even though I hired two people, it’s still busy, so I couldn’t come back earlier.”

Wang Mengmei was actually thinking about hiring someone else after the New Year. Right now, Ni Hao was responsible for washing vegetables and cutting ingredients, while Xue Ling handled the cash and cleaning. But many of the cleaning tasks had to be done by everyone together.

Sometimes it got so busy that there wasn’t enough time to wash the dishes, and they had to scramble to get them done.

She thought it might be better to hire someone part-time just to wash dishes.

Wang Mengmei didn’t think much of it when she said this, but Zhao Chunlan was all ears.

She believed her thoughts were right—her second daughter had to be making money!

After all, why would she come back so grandly this year?

Sun Cuifang brought over a handful of peanuts and sweet potatoes, which she roasted in the fire. Soon, a delicious aroma filled the air, and she shared them with everyone.

Zhao Chunlan split the sweet potatoes in half, giving one half to Qian Jinlai and the other half to Jian Feng.

With a loving smile, she called to her two sons-in-law, “Eat, eat.”

This was the first time Jian Feng felt the “care” from his mother-in-law since he proposed years ago. He took the sweet potato, feeling somewhat flattered.

Zhao Chunlan shouted inside, “Xiao Li! Shuai Zi! Come out and have some sweet potatoes!”

Jian Li and the younger siblings came out and enjoyed the sweet potatoes.

Wang Shuai didn’t like sweet potatoes and quietly complained, “Why is it sweet potatoes again? Even my farts smell like sweet potatoes now!”

Jian Li almost choked from laughing.

Wang Shuai left the sweet potatoes behind and quietly ran off while the adults weren’t looking. He didn’t return until almost lunch, when the second uncle’s family arrived.

Second Uncle Wang Yuexi was still the same as ever. During the New Year, when all the children gathered, it was time for him to share his opinions.

He said about Qian Ping, “It’s not wrong to study, but you need to consider whether it suits you. I told you back then, studying science wasn’t going to work for girls. By the time you’re in the third year of high school, your energy will be spent. It’s just a waste of effort; boys learn faster.”

Wang Yun Yun’s house is filled with books, but they’re all those useless books. She should seriously study math, physics, and chemistry—those are the useful things.

Jian Li couldn’t help but feel speechless. Just earlier, they were saying that Qian Ping shouldn’t study the sciences, but now they’re saying Wang Yunyun should study math, physics, and chemistry.

In her second uncle’s eyes, girls can’t succeed whether they study the sciences or not.

When the “interrogation” finally turned to Jian Li, she didn’t hold back.

“Second uncle, I ranked first this year!”

Before her second uncle could respond, her second aunt, Li Xia, quickly questioned, “Really ranked first?”

Wang Mengmei took over, “Yes, first place.”

Wang Yuexi was surprised, but still congratulated Jian Li on her progress.

However, her second aunt, Li Xia, started with sarcastic comments: “That’s great, our family has another first place. Xiao Li, you really need to keep studying, don’t be like… Ping Ping. I speak frankly, so don’t take it to heart.”

Qian Ping silently glanced at her second aunt, Li Xia. She had been distracted, rehearsing her lessons in her head and didn’t even know what Li Xia had said.

Jian Li stuck out her tongue and pulled her sister and Wang Yunyun into the house.

Anyway, the annual scolding mission was complete, no need to listen to her second aunt’s sarcastic remarks here.

When Wang Shuai entered the room, the previous guests had all been evaluated, and it was his turn.

Looking at all the adults in the yard focusing on him, Wang Shuai thought: …

Inside, Jian Li was flipping through Wang Yunyun’s submissions, unable to hold back her admiration.

“Sis, you’re amazing.”

She had just casually said it, but Wang Yunyun had actually submitted forty articles in three months!

Jian Li sincerely said, “Five thousand words per article, you’ve written over two hundred thousand words!”

Wang Yunyun replied, “Actually, it’s not just these, I also wrote two long article beginnings that I haven’t submitted yet.”

Jian Li gave her a thumbs up.

Despite her heavy schoolwork, Wang Yunyun had managed to write so many articles in these months, and her results were obviously impressive.

At least when Jian Li saw Wang Yunyun take out a stack of acceptance letters, she was genuinely shocked.

Wang Yunyun was quick to understand. After Jian Li explained the magazine’s style, she was the only one who truly grasped it.

Wang Yun Yun’s targeted submissions had hit three out of the first ten, and later, seven or eight out of every ten submissions were accepted.

—-

In just three months, Wang Yunyun had sent out over forty articles and had thirty-two accepted.

Jian Li’s eyes turned red when she saw the numbers on Wang Yunyun’s remittance slip.

She lay back and spread out on the bed.

“Ah, I really have to compete with you overachievers.”

Wang Yunyun’s level of achievement made Jian Li feel ashamed.

Comparing it to the goal she had set before the winter break—to draw sixty pages of comics—Jian Li felt extremely guilty.

She had spent all her time playing, and had barely drawn less than ten pages.

So intense! Jian Li almost cried from the pressure her cousin put on her.

Wang Yunyun packed up her things, putting her manuscripts back into a deep drawer.

Just like Jian Li, Wang Yunyun had kept her submissions a secret from her family; only Wang Shuai knew, but his little brain couldn’t really understand what submitting articles meant.

Because Wang Shuai was someone who struggled with writing compositions.

So he knew but didn’t care, never mentioning it to anyone.

Similarly, Wang Yunyun had kept secret that during this winter break, Wang Shuai had been running around with a group of village kids, buying small snacks and toys in the city to sell to nearby towns.

Now, the two siblings both had significant sums of money.

Wang Yunyun didn’t need to be told—her thirty-plus article payments had already pushed her savings up to two thousand yuan.

Wang Shuai’s fortune would also be no less than four figures.

Wang Yunyun wasn’t sure what to do with the money. It was the first time she had earned so much, and there would be more in the future.

She felt like it wasn’t right to keep it a secret from her family.

But if she told them…

Wang Yunyun instinctively wanted to ask Jian Li’s opinion.

Jian Li quickly flipped over and sat up, “Are you stupid? Of course, you can’t tell the truth.”

She then gave Wang Yunyun some advice: “You can say you earned a few hundred, after all, they don’t know how much you made. Keep the big sum and give a little to your family if you want.”

Wang Yunyun felt bad for her parents. If she didn’t say anything at all, she wouldn’t feel comfortable.

But Jian Li reminded her: “You can tell your parents, just don’t tell your grandma.”

Zhao Chunlan’s mouth could blow things up, and if she found out, the whole village would know.

Wang Yunyun propped her head up with her elbow: “But I don’t know how to spend all this money.”

It was her first time with so much money, and she didn’t know where to spend it.

She didn’t need books right now since she hadn’t finished reading the ones from the library.

As for clothes, she wasn’t very interested.

Could this money just sit in the bank collecting interest?

Jian Li, feeling a bit jealous of her sister’s sudden wealth, started brainstorming.

“Buy a house!”

“You’re not old enough now, but you can save up and we’ll buy one together in a few years!”

Just thinking about it made Jian Li excited. In a few years, when she starts college, she plans to buy property in a core area of a first-tier city.

Didn’t a famous female host say in her past life?

When she was in college, she bought a house every month. Jian Li decided to set that as her goal.

“Buy houses!”

Then, just lie down and collect rent.