Chapter 13: Bad News

“Mommy is not sad, Mommy is happy!” Chunni hugged her children, comforting them.

Wu Zhiqiu felt uncomfortable too. In her previous life, she had suffered, but the second daughter-in-law had served her family for over ten years, diligently and without complaint. Her misery had nothing to do with the other woman, on the contrary, she had been cold and violent towards her!

In this life, although she didn’t rely on anyone, the other woman was sincere to her, she had given her heart, so she couldn’t chill her heart!

“Mom, I don’t want the money, as long as you see me, that’s enough.” Chunni wiped her tears, a smile on her lips.

“Mom gave it to you, you keep it. Buy yourself two sets of clothes, go out for a walk, let the third son and Fengchun do the housework!” Wu Zhiqiu couldn’t say anything nice. Chunni was still young, twenty-two years old, she was still like a flower, but she stayed at home doing housework all day, like a maid. It wasn’t fair to her!

“Your mother gave it to you, you keep it. She told you to buy clothes, you buy them!” Li Mancang couldn’t say anything either, but he always thought this daughter-in-law was good. She didn’t dislike them, she cooked according to their tastes every day, and she took good care of the children!

What good was it that the eldest son’s wife was pretty and educated? She looked at them with disdain, she came from a rural family, and she looked down on their working-class family!

The second son stuffed the money into his wife’s hand. This money represented the family’s approval! He had to take it!

“Thank you, Mom and Dad!” Chunni’s tears flowed uncontrollably.

“Alright, go to bed early.”

Wu Zhiqiu urged them back to their room.

Li Mancang polished the two bicycles until they shone, then he locked them with a padlock.

“Why lock them up at home?”

“It’s not safe at home. Look at the third son, his eyes are shining green when he looks at the bicycles, I’m not at ease.” Li Mancang was worried that his youngest son would steal them, where would he go to reason with him then?

Wu Zhiqiu thought it was impossible, no matter what, her youngest son wouldn’t dare to steal things from home!

The door was closed, and everyone fell into a deep sleep.

In the middle of the night, Li Mancang, who was half asleep, heard a knock on the door. The sound was faint, intermittent.

Seeing that his wife didn’t seem to hear it, he put on his coat and got out of bed.

There was movement at the front door, “Who is it?” Li Mancang picked up the iron shovel by the door and asked cautiously.

Was someone seeing their new bicycles and trying to steal them?

“Dad, it’s me! Fenglan!”

“Fenglan?”

“Dad, it’s me!” Li Fenglan’s voice was choked with sobs.

Li Mancang quickly opened the door. Standing at the door were his eldest daughter and granddaughter, Manman. Both of them were in a sorry state, their hair was messy, their eyes were red and swollen, and they looked like they had crawled out of the mud.

Li Mancang’s heart skipped a beat, “Come in quickly!”

The two of them quickly entered the house. Li Mancang locked the door and quickly asked, “What happened?”

His eldest daughter wouldn’t come over in the middle of the night for no reason!

“Dad, Jianmin is gone! Dad!” Li Fenglan covered her mouth and sobbed.

Li Mancang felt his vision go black, his head felt heavy, and his whole body trembled uncontrollably.

Wu Zhiqiu in the house also heard the commotion.

She put on her coat and went to the main room. Seeing her eldest daughter crying like that,

Wu Zhiqiu’s mind was struck by lightning. It was at this time that her eldest son-in-law had died in the army!

She came back almost two days ago, she forgot about this!

“Mom! My husband died!”

Wu Zhiqiu’s heart sank. It was all her fault, she was so caught up in her own mess that she forgot about her eldest son-in-law!

If she had remembered when she came back… could she have avoided his fate of dying young…

“When did it happen? Why did they only come back to tell us now?”

“He died in the army a week ago. We only found out this afternoon when Jianmin’s comrades brought his ashes back home.” Fenglan sobbed uncontrollably.

At this time, the second son and Chunni also woke up. They were both shocked when they heard their elder sister’s words. What should they do?

Wu Zhiqiu felt a little relieved when she heard this. Even if she had remembered when she came back, it would have been too late! Besides, the army was a confidential unit, they couldn’t contact their son-in-law at all.

“Then why did you come back now?” Wu Zhiqiu felt something was wrong. This didn’t happen in her previous life.

They received the news the next morning.

“Grandma, Grandpa! Our uncle kicked us out!” Manman said angrily.

“Kicked you out? Why?” Chunni immediately protested. How could they kick out a widow and her orphan just after her husband died? Were they even human?

“My dad died, the army and my dad’s comrades pooled together three thousand yuan in compensation. My dad’s comrade just left, and my uncle started asking my mom for the money. It was given to me and my mom by the army, of course, we wouldn’t give it to him! My uncle said that the house belonged to the Old Chen family, and he wouldn’t let us live there. He kicked us out!”

Manman sobbed. When her father was still alive, her uncle was good to her. Her father had just passed away, and they kicked her and her mother out!

“The Old Yu family is too much! That’s my brother-in-law and my sister’s house, why can they kick people out?” The second son’s eyes widened.

“My uncle said that our family doesn’t have a son, so the house should be inherited by the Old Yu family, and he wouldn’t give me a single inch! He also said that the compensation money should belong to the Old Chen family.”

“Did they take the money too?”

“No! I fought tooth and nail to keep the money. If they dared to take it, I would report it to the police and the army! My uncle didn’t dare to take it by force, so he just kicked us out.” They, mother and daughter, would rely on this money to live. She would die before she gave it to them!

Wu Zhiqiu recalled her previous life. Fenglan had also brought back this three thousand yuan, but she had taken it and used it to send the eldest son abroad. The eldest son never returned the money, and Fenglan and her child lived a difficult life, he never helped them!

Fenglan was kicked out, and her family didn’t care. In the end, she didn’t get the house back, and Fenglan and Manman had been renting a house ever since.

Thinking about how unhappy Fenglan had been in her previous life, she, as her mother, had also played a part!

“Mom and Dad, the Old Yu family is bullying us because we don’t have a man! I have to get justice for my sister!” The second son had been raised by Fenglan since he was little. He was closer to his elder sister than his own mother.

“That’s right, how can they bully people like that? Her husband’s body is still cold, and they dare to kick his wife and child out of the house. It’s not something a human would do!” Chunni also said indignantly.

What else could it be but bullying?

Li Mancang trembled with anger. His son-in-law had just died! This family dared to bully his daughter, did they think he was dead?

“Second daughter-in-law, first, light a fire in your brother’s room, let your sister and Manman stay there. I’ll cook some noodles, let’s think about how to settle the score with the Old Chen family.”

Hearing her mother’s instructions, Chunni quickly asked the second son to light the fire, and she went to cook noodles for her sister.

Wu Zhiqiu saw that Chunni didn’t need her, so she could think about how to help her eldest daughter get the house back.

Chunni was quick and efficient, and soon two bowls of noodles were ready, along with two fried eggs.

“Chunni, I can’t eat.” Fenglan wiped her tears.

“Sister, if you don’t eat, your body will collapse. Who will take care of Manman? Who will go with us to ask the Old Yu family for the house? That house was left to you and Manman by your husband, do you want to let others have it?”

“No! That’s my home, Manman and mine! We won’t give it to anyone!” Fenglan’s eyes were bloodshot. Her child was now her only hope for living. Her husband had left it to her child, no one could take it!