Chapter 9: Demanding Dowry

The eldest son’s family was no longer the warm and harmonious place it used to be.

Wang Yue rubbed her swollen face with an egg, muttering curses at Wu Zhiqiu.

The eldest son hung his head in silence.

“Li Xingguo, if you dare give your salary to the family, I’ll divorce you!”

Wang Yue was beautiful. Although she was only a junior college student, many college seniors had pursued her. The reason she chose Li Xingguo was because he listened to her in everything, didn’t mind her family, and had no objections to her supporting her family. Moreover, they lived separately after marriage, so she didn’t have to serve her in-laws or give her salary to the family.

They had only been married for two years, and her family wanted half of Li Xingguo’s salary. Wang Yue couldn’t stand for this.

“If I can go abroad, what’s wrong with giving them some salary? If I develop well abroad and get a green card, you can come over later, and all these things will be gone!” The eldest son hugged his wife lovingly.

The slap marks on her delicate face were still very obvious, and there were claw marks on her neck.

Hearing about going abroad, Wang Yue forgot about the pain in her body, “But what if the old hag doesn’t help you get the money? It’s over ten thousand yuan, where are we going to get that much money?”

“I’ll take a day off from work tomorrow and go back to my hometown.” His grandparents were still alive in his hometown. As long as he could convince them, he wasn’t afraid that his parents wouldn’t help him get the money!

Convincing his grandparents was a piece of cake for Li Xingguo!

Wang Yue’s eyes lit up, “Good, then hurry up and go back! Once we go abroad, we’ll never come back to this broken place!” They wanted half his salary, dreaming!

The eldest son calmed his wife down, and he also had a plan in mind. He was determined to go abroad!

The next day.

Wu Zhiqiu opened her eyes and looked at the familiar furnishings in the room, Li Mancang snoring. Good! It was real, she wasn’t dreaming.

She was afraid of going back to the rented house and seeing her cancer diagnosis report, and her children treating her like trash.

Good, good!

She got up and washed up, she still had to go to work.

The few families in their backyard shared a few water taps, they would wash clothes and wash up in the yard.

The yard was rarely lively, yesterday’s incident at Old Li’s house gave everyone something to talk about.

Wu Zhiqiu washed up, and Hu Dalaoba greeted her enthusiastically.

Wu Zhiqiu gave a few perfunctory replies. She knew that Dalaoba wanted to pry more information out of her so she could go gossip, yesterday’s information was already enough, she didn’t want to deal with Dalaoba anymore.

The second daughter-in-law had prepared breakfast, millet porridge, corn cakes, and pickled radish strips.

The children also got up and helped their mother get bowls and chopsticks.

The second daughter-in-law taught them well, these young children were so sensible.

Looking at her few brats, they were so old and didn’t even say they felt sorry for their old home, they were always scheming against her, was it because she hadn’t taught them well?

Early in the morning, Wu Zhiqiu started to doubt herself!

Wu Zhiqiu looked at the three little radishes, they were so skinny.

“Second daughter-in-law, boil an egg for the children every day, they’re growing, they need to supplement their nutrition.” She said, taking out ten yuan from her pocket and handing it to the second daughter-in-law.

“Mom, no need, the children can eat just fine.”

“Take it if I give it to you, starting tomorrow morning, the children will all eat eggs!”

“Mom! I want to eat eggs too.” The third son, picking his eye boogers, heard about eggs as soon as he entered the room, his personality was such that he felt like he was losing out if he didn’t get money, his mouth was faster than his brain.

“I think you look like an egg! You’re so lazy you’re about to rot, and you still want to eat eggs, I have a bomb, do you want to eat it?”

The third son…

Did his mother eat gunpowder this morning? He was just saying it casually!

The third son hung his head and didn’t say anything. Wu Zhiqiu scolded him a few times and then went to work.

“The third son will wash dishes and do housework today, tomorrow it’s the little girl, you all be self-aware, if I find anyone not doing it, or slacking off, you can all get out of my house!”

The third son shrank his neck. He had wanted to talk to his second sister-in-law and ask her for help, but his mother saw through him in an instant.

Li Fengchun wanted to do the same.

Now, both of them were eating with their heads down, not daring to breathe. They weren’t sure if their mother would really kick them out!

Even the most beloved eldest brother hadn’t gotten a good deal from their mother, let alone them.

Li Fengchun was even more afraid. She still relied on the family for her studies! If she angered her mother, and she couldn’t pass the exam this year, her mother wouldn’t let her retake it, and that would be the end of it!

Seeing that both of them had taken it to heart, Wu Zhiqiu picked up her small bag and went to work.

Ge Daye at the door greeted her enthusiastically.

The scrap metal recycling station wasn’t far from home, it was a twenty-minute walk.

For all these years, Wu Zhiqiu had been frugal, she didn’t even have a bicycle, she took the bus to and from work every day.

Li Mancang’s bicycle was only good for its bell, everything else made noise. When he rode it, it was like a marching band, creaking and groaning, the chain fell off eight hundred times a day. Even the bicycles used by people who sold scrap metal were better than his.

When Wu Zhiqiu arrived at the station, their scrap metal recycling station was under the management of the supply and marketing cooperative. There were only three people in the yard, she was responsible for collecting at the station, the other two rode tricycles and were responsible for collecting from door to door.

“Sister Wu, good morning!” Liu Zhuzi and Han Dazhuang greeted her.

“Dazhuang, Zhuzi, good morning! Where are you going to collect today?”

“I’m going to North City today, Zhuzi is going to West City, we’re going further today!” Dazhuang laughed and rode his tricycle.

“Sister Wu, we’re off!”

“Okay!”

Wu Zhiqiu was the only one left at the scrap metal recycling station.

She registered the things the two of them had collected yesterday in the register, sorted them out, and there wasn’t much work left.

She just had to wait for people to come and sell some scrap metal or something.

This job was a bit dirty and the salary was low, but it was really easy.

She picked up the basket next to her, it contained half-finished shoes for Li Mancang.

She scratched her scalp with a needle and continued making shoes. No one came to sell scrap metal all morning.

Wu Zhiqiu quickly tidied up, locked the door of the recycling station, and hurried to take the bus to the eldest son’s workplace.

The eldest son now worked at the Construction Bureau. Although he had a university degree, his connections and background weren’t good, and he wasn’t very good at socializing, so he was only a deputy director, earning a little over ten yuan a month.

When Wu Zhiqiu arrived, the Construction Bureau had just gotten off work.

She waited at the door, and when she saw the eldest son come out of the office building, she quickly called out, “Li Xingguo!”

The eldest son had just asked his leader for leave, and he was planning to go back to the countryside this afternoon.

He didn’t expect to see his mother calling him outside.

What was going on? Did she regret asking him for money yesterday? Or did she change her mind about his going abroad?

Thinking about this possibility, the eldest son immediately ran out. If his mother had changed her mind, he wouldn’t have to go back to the countryside, the expenses of going back and forth were not small.

“Mom! What are you doing here?” The eldest son smiled.

Wu Zhiqiu didn’t know what the eldest son was thinking, he was so happy!

But it didn’t affect her from getting to the point.

“Eldest son, get the dowry money you gave your wife back to me!”

A bolt of lightning struck the eldest son’s mind. His mother wasn’t here to talk about going abroad, she was here to settle the score from yesterday!

“Mom, once you give the dowry, you can’t ask for it back!” The eldest son said, pulling his mother aside, he didn’t want his colleagues to hear, it would be embarrassing.

“Your wife can curse her mother-in-law, why can’t I ask for the dowry?” Wu Zhiqiu shook off the eldest son’s hand, she was going to say it right at the entrance of the unit, if she went further, others wouldn’t hear, how could she ask for it!