Font Size:
“Mom is fine; she’s just happy!” Chun Ni hugged the children, comforting them.
Wu Zhiqiu felt a pang in her heart. In her past life, she had suffered greatly, but the second daughter-in-law had served the family for over ten years, working diligently without a single complaint. Her own misery was unrelated to her; in fact, she had even treated her with cold indifference!
In this life, although she didn’t expect anything from anyone, since others treated her sincerely and invested in her, she couldn’t let them down!
“Mom, I don’t want the money; just having a place in your heart is enough for me!” Chun Ni wiped her tears, a smile on her lips.
“Mom gives it to you, so keep it. Buy yourself a couple of outfits. You should go out and have some fun! Let the third son and Fengchun handle the housework!” Wu Zhiqiu wouldn’t say pretty words; Chun Ni was still young, in her twenties, the prime of her life, yet she was stuck at home doing chores like a maid, which was unfair to her!
“Take the money from your mom and buy some clothes!” Li Mancang added. He couldn’t say much, but he thought this daughter-in-law was pretty good. She didn’t look down on them, and every meal was made according to their tastes, and she took care of the kids well!
What if the eldest son’s wife was pretty and educated? She looked down on them every time she visited, thinking she was above them because she came from a privileged background!
Li Mancang pressed the money into his daughter-in-law’s hands; this money represented the family’s acknowledgment! She had to accept it!
“Thank you, Dad and Mom!” Chun Ni was moved to tears.
“Alright, go to bed early!”
Wu Zhiqiu urged them back to their room.
Li Mancang polished the two bicycles until they shone and locked them up securely.
“Why lock them up at home?”
“It’s not safe; you saw how the third son looked at the bicycles with greed in his eyes. I can’t be at ease!” Li Mancang worried that his youngest son might steal them, and then where would they go to complain?
Wu Zhiqiu thought it was unnecessary; her youngest son wouldn’t dare steal anything from their home!
After securing the front door, the family fell into a deep sleep.
In the middle of the night, Li Mancang, half-awake, heard a knock at the door. The sound was soft and intermittent.
Seeing that his wife didn’t seem to hear it, he put on his cotton coat and got out of bed.
There was indeed some noise at the entrance. “Who is it?” Li Mancang picked up the iron shovel by the door, asking warily.
Did someone see the new bicycles and come to steal them?
“Dad, it’s me! Fenglan!”
“Fenglan?”
“Dad, it’s me!” Li Fenglan’s voice was tinged with tears.
Li Mancang hurriedly opened the door, and standing there were his eldest daughter and granddaughter Manman. Both mother and daughter looked disheveled, with tangled hair, red and swollen eyes, and clothes that looked like they had just crawled out of the mud.
Li Mancang’s heart raced. “Quick, come in!”
The two hurried inside, and Li Mancang locked the door behind them, quickly asking, “What happened?”
Something must have happened for his daughter to come in the middle of the night!
“Dad, Jianmin has died! Dad!” Li Fenglan covered her mouth, crying uncontrollably.
Li Mancang felt his vision darken, his head spinning, and his body trembling uncontrollably.
In the house, Wu Zhiqiu also heard the commotion.
She wrapped herself in her cotton coat and went to the main room, seeing her eldest daughter crying like that.
Wu Zhiqiu felt as if thunder had struck her; it seemed this was the moment when her son-in-law had fallen in the line of duty!
She had almost forgotten about this!
“Mom! The kids’ dad has died!”
Wu Zhiqiu felt a jolt in her heart; it was her fault for being so wrapped up in her own trivial matters that she had forgotten about her son-in-law!
If she had remembered as soon as she returned… could it have possibly changed the fate of his early death?
“When did this happen? Why are you only coming back to tell us now?”
“He died in the line of duty a week ago. This afternoon, Jianmin’s comrades brought his ashes home, and that’s when we found out!” Fenglan cried, her voice breaking.
At this moment, the second son and Chun Ni also woke up. Upon hearing their sister’s words, they were taken aback; what were they going to do now?
Wu Zhiqiu felt a bit relieved at the news. Even if she had remembered, it would have been too late! Moreover, the military unit was closed off; they had no way of contacting their son-in-law.
“Why did you come back at this time?” Wu Zhiqiu felt something was off; this wasn’t how things unfolded in her last life.
They had received the letter early the next morning.
“Grandma, Grandpa! We were driven out by Uncle!” Manman said resentfully.
“Driven out? Why?” Chun Ni immediately protested. How could they drive out a widow and an orphan right after the death of her husband? Was that even human?
“My dad was killed, and his comrades pooled together three thousand copper coins in compensation. As soon as my dad’s friend delivered the news, my uncle demanded that my mom give him the money. That’s for my mom and me, and we refused to give it! Uncle said that house belongs to the Yu family and wouldn’t let us stay there! He kicked us out!”
Manman cried, lamenting that her uncle had treated her so well when her dad was alive, but now that her father had just passed, they had been thrown out!
“The Yu family is too much! That house was built by my brother-in-law and my sister; how dare they kick us out?” The second son’s eyes widened.
“Uncle said our family has no sons, so that house must be inherited by the Yu family, not by this girl! And the compensation should also belong to the Chen family!”
“The money was taken from them?”
“No! I’ll fight to the death to keep that money; if they dare to take it, I’ll report them to the police and the military! My uncle didn’t dare to take it forcibly; he just kicked us out!” They would rely on that money to get by; she would never let them take it!
Wu Zhiqiu recalled her past life; Fenglan had also brought that three thousand copper coins back, but she had forced to take it forher eldest son to use it for going abroad. By the time she died, her eldest son hadn’t returned that money, and Fenglan had struggled to raise her children without any help!
Fenglan had been kicked out and left to fend for herself; in the end, she never got the house back. She had to rent a place with Manman.
Thinking about how poorly Fenglan had lived in her past life, Wu Zhiqiu felt partially responsible as a mother!
“Mom and Dad, they’re taking advantage of us because there’s no one left in our family! I have to seek justice for my sister!” The second son had been raised by Fenglan, and he felt a closer bond with her than with his own mother.
“Exactly! How can they bully us like this? Just because my brother-in-law has passed, they dare to throw his wife and child out? That’s simply inhumane!” Chun Ni added indignantly.
What else could this be called if not bullying?
Li Mancang trembled with anger. His son-in-law had just died! How could this family dare to bully his daughter as if he was already gone?
“Second daughter-in-law, go warm up in your room a bit. Let your sister and Manman stay in there for now. Go cook some noodles, and we can discuss how to confront the Chen family about this!”
Upon hearing her mother’s orders, Chun Ni hurried to get the fire started, while she prepared noodles for her sister.
Wu Zhiqiu was glad Chun Ni was busy and could think about how to help her daughter reclaim the house.
Chun Ni worked quickly, and soon two bowls of noodles were ready, along with two fried eggs.
“Chun Ni, I can’t eat,” Fenglan said, wiping her tears.
“Sister, you have to eat! What will happen to Manman if you’re not well? Who will take care of her? Who will help us get the house back from the Yu family? That house was left for Manman and you by your husband; do you want to give it away to others?”
“I won’t! That’s my home with Manman! We won’t give it to anyone!” Fenglan’s eyes were bloodshot. Her child was her hope for survival; her husband had left it for them, and no one could take it away!