Chapter 29.1

While the atmosphere between Su Ting and He Dongchuan was just right, the atmosphere in Han FamilyMaster’s Bedroom was somewhat tense. To be more precise, Duan Xioaying was sulking on her own.

Duan Xioaying didn’t want Han Bin to buy a kick scooter, but she also didn’t want him to think she was stingy. So, instead of directly mentioning the price of the kick scooter, she started talking about something else: “Should we contribute to the medical expenses of Bo Wen’s grandmother?”

Han Bin had been in a good mood initially, but when he heard this question, his brows furrowed involuntarily.

He was upset.

And it wasn’t because of anyone else—it was because of his ex-mother-in-law.

Before his ex-wife married him, he had never seen his mother-in-law care much for her daughter. She hadn’t let her daughter pursue an education and still expected her to do all the housework. When they got married, his mother-in-law had asked for a dowry of eighty-eight dollars!

That was ten years ago. Back then, he hadn’t been promoted yet; he was just a conscript without a salary, only a monthly allowance.

The allowance wasn’t high—it started at just a few dollars and later grew to over ten dollars. But this money, besides what he spent on himself, also had to be sent home. His father had passed away early, and his mother was left raising two younger siblings. They always needed money.

The money he saved, along with what his mother saved through frugality, didn’t even add up to eighty-eight dollars.

To be honest, he didn’t even want to marry at that time. It had been a marriage arranged through matchmaking, and there was no deep emotional bond. On top of that, in rural areas at the time, the dowry was often just five or eight dollars as a symbolic gesture. It was considered good if you could offer eighteen dollars. But his mother-in-law was different—she had asked for a dowry that nearly matched what urban families were demanding.

Later, it was his father-in-law who intervened and brought the dowry down to sixty-six dollars. Only then did the marriage go ahead.

After the marriage, his ex-wife didn’t stop supporting her family. As long as his mother was alive, it was bearable. But after his mother passed away, half of the money he sent home each month ended up in his ex-wife’s family’s pocket.

He wasn’t happy about it and had brought it up to his ex-wife several times. Each time, she promised to do better in a soft voice, only to continue doing as she pleased afterward. If it hadn’t been for the children, he would have ended this relationship long ago.

After his ex-wife passed away, his relationship with her family was cordial for a while. He felt sorry when he saw his ex-mother-in-law crying at the funeral, so he let go of old grievances.

Later, when his ex-mother-in-law offered to help him take care of the children, he agreed, thinking that no one else in his family could help. But when he thought of his brother-in-law’s children, who were raised plump and well-fed, while his own children were starving and thin, Han Bin’s heart filled with resentment!

After the incident, Han Bin had planned to sever ties with his ex-wife’s family, but his ex-mother-in-law was unreasonable. She threatened to report him to the Military Unit, claiming that he had killed her daughter.

Although it was a completely fabricated story, she was his ex-wife’s biological mother, and if she made a big scene, he knew he wouldn’t come out on top. So, he had no choice but to compromise and agree to send her a monthly living allowance.

At that time, Han Bin had never expected that his compromise would not bring them any satisfaction. On the contrary, it only made them more confident and demanding.

Initially, they had agreed that the living allowance would be ten yuan per month, but over the two years, they kept asking for increases. Now, he had to give at least fifteen yuan every month.

On top of that, there were various medical and nutrition expenses. Every year, he had to pay at least two hundred yuan to his ex-mother-in-law!

Like this time, his ex-wife’s family had sent a letter, saying that his mother-in-law had fallen ill at the end of last month. There was no medical receipt, just a claim that the treatment had cost fifty yuan. They said his ex-brother-in-law had fronted the costs and that the expenses should be split three ways, with him paying fifteen.

Han Bin felt like sneering after reading the letter. His eldest brother-in-law only knew how to focus on farming, and his younger brother-in-law was idle—how could either of them have the fifty yuan to pay for his ex-mother-in-law’s treatment?

Not to mention whether his ex-mother-in-law was really sick, even if she had been, the medical expenses clearly hadn’t come from them.

His ex-mother-in-law was just making up this story to get money from him.

Feeling frustrated, Han Bin had said nothing when he received the letter a couple of days ago. Now, when Duan Xioaying asked about it, he wasn’t surprised but just felt irritated by his ex-wife’s family’s insatiable greed.

Seeing Han Bin frowning and not speaking, Duan Xioaying continued: “Although Bo Wen and the others can still wear last year’s clothes, the season is about to change. Should we get them each two new outfits? The cloth tickets we got at the start of the year are already used up. If we make more clothes, we’ll have to buy industrial fabric. Qian Qian is small, so she needs less fabric. Two outfits for her should cost about thirty yuan. Bo Wen and Bo Wu will need about a hundred for both of them. Altogether, it would be about one hundred and thirty.”

She paused before continuing: “Also, the milk. We had said we’d order one kilogram first to see if the kids like it, and then we could adjust. After watching them these past few days, I think both Bo Wen and Bo Wu really like milk. I wanted to ask if we should order half a kilogram more? Then they can each have a cup at home, and we can pack one for them to take to school. Anyway, milk is good for their health, so it won’t hurt to have more.”

Finally, Han Bin spoke up, now that it was about the kids. “Then go ahead and order half a kilogram more. If that’s not enough, we can order a whole kilogram.”

“Half a kilogram more should be enough. Qian Qian doesn’t care much for milk. The two of us can drink half a kilogram between us. Bo Wen and Bo Wu will each have half a kilogram, so that works out perfectly.” Duan Xioaying was calculating the costs when she sighed and said: “Adding half a kilogram of milk will increase our expenses by another four yuan and twenty cents. Bo Wen’s grandmother is asking for more money, and now we need to buy clothes and shoes for the kids for the season change. Besides the clothes, we’ll need to buy them new shoes, which will be another thirty or forty yuan. You also promised Bo Wen yesterday that you’d buy him a kick scooter, so we’ll need to set aside fifty-six yuan for that…”

Whether it was for milk, clothes, or shoes, these were all necessary expenses, and Han Bin had a rough idea of how much they would cost. He had been listening in silence until he heard that the kick scooter would cost fifty-six yuan. Unable to hold back, he interrupted: “How much is the kick scooter?”

“Fifty-six yuan.”

“A toy car, how can it be so expensive?”

“Even if it’s a toy car, it depends on the craftsmanship. I’ve seen He Yan’s kick scooter; the wheels are made of metal, and the workmanship is good. It looks like it’s not cheap.” Duan Xioaying lowered her head, muttering to herself: “It’s fine to buy one, that way Bo Wen won’t be too envious when he sees He Yan playing with his kick scooter.”

Her words seemed to be persuading Han Bin to buy the kick scooter, but in reality, they were meant to stop him. What was the point of spending dozens of yuan on a toy car just to satisfy the child’s vanity?

Although she thought this way, Duan Xioaying knew she couldn’t share all her thoughts with Han Bin.

Han Bin was a good person in many respects, but he placed too much importance on Han Bowen and the other two siblings. He liked her, but at the same time, he was cautious about her, always worried she might not treat the children well.

It had taken Duan Xioaying two years to earn Han Bin’s trust, and she didn’t want to risk her image in his heart because of this issue.

Although she didn’t say it outright, she hoped Han Bin would realize how much money was needed in the family and decide on his own to abandon the idea of buying Han Bowen a kick scooter.

Of course, if he could develop a dislike for her ex-mother-in-law because of her words and stop sending the monthly allowance, that would be even better.

But clearly, they weren’t in sync.

After some thought, Han Bin spoke: “Starting next month, order one and a half kilograms of milk. Buy the kids’ clothes and shoes as usual. Don’t worry about the letter from the Zhao family. And reduce the living allowance for the old lady to ten yuan…”

When she heard that the letter from the Zhao family didn’t need to be dealt with, Duan Xioaying’s lips curled up slightly. She knew this meant he wasn’t going to pay the medical expenses. As for the living allowance being reduced to ten yuan, she wasn’t entirely satisfied, but at least five yuan would be saved.

And with the reduction in money sent home, the old lady from the Zhao family would surely be furious.

Duan Xioaying lifted her head and looked at Han Bin with expectation, waiting for him to continue. But Han Bin didn’t seem to have any more to say. After a long pause, he patted her on the shoulder and said: “Let’s go to sleep.”

Duan Xioaying immediately felt deflated. After two years of marriage, she knew exactly what Han Bin’s silence meant. To put it bluntly, he just couldn’t bear to disappoint his precious son!

She felt wronged!

Even though Han Bin had made it clear before they married that he was remarrying for the sake of taking care of the children, and she had agreed gladly, believing the three children would all become successful in the future, she still wanted to have a good relationship with them.

But she hadn’t expected Han Bowen to be so difficult to deal with, and for Han Bin to be so biased.

Just like this time, when she mentioned making new clothes, she had purposely only referred to the three kids. She thought that, being a grown woman standing in front of Han Bin, he wouldn’t forget about her.

But in the end, he didn’t even let her buy two new outfits for herself. Why? It was because he knew money was tight and needed to be saved for Han Bowen’s kick scooter!

If Han Bowen were sensible, Duan Xioaying could have accepted the injustice. But Han Bowen wouldn’t even change his ways. She felt so wronged—what was she enduring all this for?

But Duan Xioaying only thought these words in her heart and dared not show them outwardly.

Although Han Bowen’s relationship with her wasn’t good, and she could no longer expect much from him in the future, both Han Bohan and Han Qianqian acknowledged her, and Han Bin was still her husband. She would have to rely on these three people for the rest of her life.

If she were to speak openly now and make things awkward, it would only result in losing everything.

Therefore, Duan Xioaying could only seethe in silence, spending half the night unable to sleep. The next day when she arrived at school, she was feeling listless and in a bad mood.

But that’s how people are, right? After enduring too many grievances, one eventually gets used to it, and their ability to adjust improves.

What else could she do? Divorce Han Bin? Live the kind of poor, struggling life she had in her past life?

Don’t even mention that she was reborn, and that she could make a fortune with her eyes closed this time around. If she had that ability, she wouldn’t have lost so badly when she started a business after being laid off in her previous life.

She wasn’t naturally cut out for business.

If she hadn’t married Han Bin, the best she could have hoped for in this life would have been buying a unit welfare apartment with her savings, waiting for the demolition, and getting two or three apartments, maybe with some extra cash. If her son was capable, she might have had enough for a decent funeral; if her son wasn’t capable, it would end up just like her past life, where she would die without peace.

But no matter which scenario, her choice would surely be better than not marrying Han Bin.

She could only endure.

If it had been anything else, she would have just endured these couple of days, processed her emotions, and it would have been fine. But who knew that Heaven seemed to be against her, bringing one troublesome event after another.

That morning, Duan Xioaying had barely settled into her office chair before someone came to cause trouble.

The person who came to pick a fight was Xu Fen, the mother of a student named Li Xiaoming in Duan Xioaying’s class, and she was also a military wife.

Normally, since both of them lived in the same Family Residential Compound for military families, Duan Xioaying and Xu Fen should have had a good relationship, but in reality, this was not the case.

The reason behind this was somewhat related to Li Xiaoming.

Li Xiaoming was a troublemaker in Duan Xioaying’s class. Not only did he have poor grades, but he was also particularly domineering. He used his height and strength to bully his classmates.

Just this semester alone, Duan Xioaying had already been approached twice by other parents about Li Xiaoming.

Normally, this wouldn’t be hard to resolve. If the child had a bad temperament, the parents should step in. They could explain things to him, and if reasoning didn’t work, a good beating might help change his attitude.

However, Li Xiaoming’s family was a typical case of “bad influence from the top.” Xu Fen herself was the kind of person who caused trouble and was unreasonable. When she was called to the school, instead of being ashamed of her son bullying his classmates, she actually took pride in it, thinking her son was particularly impressive.

When Duan Xioaying mentioned that Li Xiaoming was bullying his classmates, Xu Fen claimed that it was just common for kids to fight. When Duan Xioaying said that Li Xiaoming had made a classmate cry, Xu Fen argued that it was because the other child was too weak and couldn’t fight back.

It was completely unreasonable!

As soon as Duan Xioaying saw Xu Fen walk into the office, she started to feel a headache coming on. She knew that Xu Fen showing up was likely not for anything good.

Her intuition turned out to be correct.

Xu Fen had come to talk about the upcoming performance for the Children’s Day celebration.

Because the Military Unit leaders were going to attend the event, many parents hoped that their children could perform, and Xu Fen was one of them.

What set Xu Fen apart from other parents was that she was particularly difficult to deal with.

Even though other parents wanted their children to perform, once Duan Xioaying explained the criteria for selecting performers and made it clear that allowing their children to participate could affect the overall quality of the performance, most of them would give up the idea, understanding that individual interests shouldn’t interfere with the collective good.

But Xu Fen didn’t care about that. She said: “A performance with ten or so people, and the singing is loud. How could my son drag it down? If it’s really a problem, I’ll have him just stand there and not sing. That should work, right?”

Duan Xioaying, feeling helpless, replied: “Comrade Xu, the program has already been set for a week, and the performance lineup has been confirmed and reported. If you’re coming to me now saying you want Li Xiaoming to perform, I really don’t have a way to accommodate that.”

“I’m coming to you now because I just found out about this!” Xu Fen retorted.

In reality, Xu Fen had known about it long before, but she hadn’t thought much about it until yesterday when she overheard that if a child performed well, they might catch the attention of the leaders. That’s when she started to care about it.

However, she had no qualms about lying and shifting the blame onto Duan Xioaying: “Such an important matter, you teachers should have told us parents earlier. That way, we could have thought about whether to let our children participate in the performance. Don’t you think so?”

Duan Xioaying almost wanted to spit blood. She thought to herself, *This program was decided by us teachers! What does it have to do with you parents?*

But she couldn’t say it so directly. Duan Xioaying gently reminded her: “Comrade Xu, this is a school-sponsored celebration, and the performers were chosen based on the needs of the program. It wasn’t a matter of parents wanting to put their kids in. If everyone tried to insert their child, it would be a complete mess, wouldn’t it?”

“So why can’t my son be part of the performance?” Xu Fen pressed.

“Li Xiaoming isn’t suited for singing.” Duan Xioaying explained gently, which wasn’t a lie. Li Xiaoming’s voice was truly poor—he couldn’t hit high notes, couldn’t reach low notes, and always struggled to stay on key.

But Xu Fen didn’t see it that way. “What’s the big deal about being suited or not? If you can speak, you can sing. I already said, if he can just stand there without making a sound, he won’t drag down your performance. Is that okay?”

Duan Xioaying was speechless. “Comrade Xu! This isn’t about whether he makes a sound or not. The program has already been set…”

“Stop trying to brush me off with that nonsense! Whether the program is set or not, and whether the performers can be changed, isn’t it all up to you teachers?” Xu Fen interrupted her with a wave of her hand, saying stubbornly: “If you refuse to let my son perform, I’ll go out and spread the word that your selection of performers is unfair!”

At first, Xu Fen had just said it casually, but as soon as the words left her mouth, she thought more about it and became even more emboldened. She immediately became more insistent: “Teacher Duan, I know you don’t like our Xiao Ming, but this is too much! Such a great opportunity to perform, and just because of your personal preferences, my Xiao Ming is excluded…”

Duan Xioaying couldn’t sit still anymore. She stood up and said loudly: “Comrade Xu! You can’t say whatever you want! What do you mean by personal preferences? The performers were clearly chosen by me and the music teacher based on set criteria!”

“I don’t care! If my son can’t be on the program, then I’ll just say you’re behind this!” Xu Fen shouted loudly: “If you don’t let my son participate, I’ll report you to the Principal for abusing your power!”

Duan Xiaoying was furious, her anger rising to the point where she wanted to reply: “Then go ahead and report me.” but the words almost escaped her mouth before she swallowed them back.

She didn’t dare to let Xu Fen report her.

Although the performers for the program had been selected according to standards and were already submitted, adding or removing one person, or even changing someone at the last minute, really didn’t matter much.

Her main reason for not agreeing was that it would be too troublesome. If she agreed today to let Li Xiaoming join the program, would she have to agree tomorrow for Wang Fen, Li Fen, and all the other parents she had previously rejected? Would the parents she had turned down earlier come back to complain?

If she agreed to add every parent’s child who came to her, then what kind of standard would there be left? The entire class would just end up performing a big chorus together!

If Li Xiaoming were a likable child with good grades, she might have been happy to add him. But who was Li Xiaoming? A mischievous troublemaker with poor grades who couldn’t sing well. All he would do on stage was drag everyone down.

Duan Xiaoying was extremely unwilling, but faced with Xu Fen’s unreasonable behavior, she ultimately chose to compromise.

She wasn’t afraid of Xu Fen, she just didn’t want to make things difficult for the Principal.

Duan Xiaoying comforted herself like this, but after sending Xu Fen away, she couldn’t help but throw her pen in frustration.

Then, she fell into deep thought.

If she directly added Li Xiaoming to the program, not to mention the parents she had already rejected, others who hadn’t come to her yet might get the idea and start demanding the same. 

The best solution would be to have one of the originally chosen participants drop out, and then let Li Xiaoming join. This way, she could explain that the student didn’t want to perform, leaving an open spot, which was filled by Li Xiaoming based on the selection criteria.

So, who should drop out?

…