Chapter 10: Allowance Allocation

The village secretary, Liu Yiliang, also remembered what kind of life this young daughter-in-law had been living in the village and couldn’t help but break out in a cold sweat.

Not long ago, a military family member in town had been abused to death, and the incident had reached the city. Now, they were cracking down on such cases.

He was afraid that this matter would escalate. If something happened to this young daughter-in-law, Principal Xu wouldn’t be able to escape unscathed.

Just as he was feeling anxious, he heard Sun Hongmei still nagging on and on. He pointed at her and said sternly, “Alright, stop talking!”

He then turned to Zhang Zhiwei, “Zhang Lao San, you’re not being fair.

It’s true that children should be filial to their parents, but we parents can’t push our children to their death.

Since you’ve already separated, Huigou’s allowance should be sent to his own family. How can you take it all? Alright, I’ll be a witness here today. From now on, Huigou’s wife will collect the allowance herself, and you’ll get eight yuan every month, as your pension.”

Liu Yiliang, as the village secretary, usually didn’t get involved in small matters, but he often went to meetings and exchanges in town, so he had a way with words.

Hearing the village secretary speak, Zhang Zhiwei didn’t dare to refuse. Although he felt sorry for the money, at least Liu Yiliang didn’t mention what to do with the previous money. That was a way of saving face.

He stopped arguing and squatted down, silently puffing on his pipe.

Sun Hongmei still wasn’t convinced. She started to cry again, but Zhang Zhiwei roared at her, “Shut up! You woman, are you not making enough trouble already?”

Su Dashen, seeing that the matter had been resolved, quickly signaled her husband to speak. Sun Hongmei had kept their household registration book and marriage certificate.

Zhang Zhiqiang was also more inclined to side with Lin Yue. He reminded them, “Since that’s the case, then let the young people collect the allowance from now on. You two old folks should rest.

Lao San, take the things to Yuandong’s wife.”

Zhang Zhiwei didn’t refuse. He went home and brought the household registration book and marriage certificate to Lin Yue.

Zhang Zhiqiang then asked both families to write a guarantee letter, clarifying the responsibilities. Zhang Zhiwei followed all the instructions, obediently like a good-natured man without a temper.

Sun Hongmei was trembling with anger, but she had no choice. She could only silently swear to herself that she would make Lin Yue spit out all the money later.

Fortunately, she had already saved a lot of money, which was a comfort to her.

Who knew that there would be so much trouble later? Relatives, neighbors, acquaintances, and those who didn’t know her, from her maiden family and her in-laws’ family, all came to her house to borrow money.

Sun Hongmei naturally refused to lend, and she was even more criticized for it.

Seeing that they had no objections, Liu Yiliang said, “The matter is settled. You two families have already separated, so live your own lives from now on. Don’t cause any more trouble.

It’s freezing cold. If any of you get sick, you’ll suffer.

Alright, go home.”

He then glanced at Sun Hongmei and left in big strides.

The brigade leader, Zhang Zhiqiang, also waved his hand to shoo people away, “Go, go, go. It’s late at night. What are you all gathered here for? Don’t you have wives and children to keep warm at home?”

Seeing that there was no more drama to watch, the crowd gradually dispersed.

In the crowd, Zhang Xiaohui stared intently at this side, her eyes filled with conflict.

She had wanted to help Sun Hongmei tonight, but she really couldn’t stand her mother’s behavior.

After agonizing for a long time, she finally decided that it wasn’t a good time to get close to her mother. She simply followed the crowd.

Lin Yue had a good relationship with Liu Jianhua, but she wasn’t very close to her little sister-in-law. She hadn’t noticed that she was also standing in the crowd.

Su Dashen found Lin Yue and patted her hand, “You’re a good girl. Don’t let tonight’s events affect you. Your mother-in-law is unreasonable and has gone too far.

If she dares to bully you again, come to Aunt Su. Aunt Su will protect you!”

Ever since she saved Lin Yue from death’s door, Su Dashen had felt an indescribable closeness to Lin Yue. Lin Yue had deliberately tried to get closer to her, and now Su Dashen liked her more and more.

The two of them walked arm in arm, talking intimately.

Behind them, Zhang Zhiwei dragged Sun Hongmei back home.

After the children closed the door, Zhang Zhiwei finally lost his temper, “Are your crazy tonight? You had to make a scene like this? Now you’ve lost your eldest son’s allowance. Are you happy now?”

Sun Hongmei was also angry, “It’s all because of that jinx. She used to be so meek, but it was all an act! Now that we’ve separated, she thinks she’s got a backbone because she had a son, and she’s become bold! We shouldn’t have separated. We should have kept her under control and tormented her to death!”

Zhang Zhiwei was a man without much ability. When he was young, his family was poor. After his two older brothers got married, there was no money left. He didn’t marry Sun Hongmei until he was almost forty.

Sun Hongmei was young and beautiful. After they got married, their lives got better. At home, Zhang Zhiwei was willing to listen to her.

He was also willing to spend time coaxing him.

Although Zhang Zhiwei looked honest, he had experienced too much poverty in his youth and was particularly obsessed with money.

He knew that his eldest son’s salary had gradually increased over time.

He had even calculated it before. As long as his eldest son didn’t leave the army, the money he sent back would definitely increase. Now that this money was gone, he felt a pang of heartache.

He tapped his dry pipe and waved his hand impatiently, “Alright, stop talking nonsense. I’ve told you how many times, don’t be so ruthless. You keep pushing people to their limits, and they’ll naturally bite back!”

“No, I have to get it back. Huigou was born from my womb. His life is mine, and his allowance is mine too! I won’t let that little vixen have it!” Sun Hongmei was about to rush out the door, but Zhang Zhiwei grabbed her, hoisted her onto his shoulder, and angrily slapped her a few times. Then, he carried her into the house, under the watchful eyes of their children.

Sun Hongmei stopped struggling immediately.

This old man usually acted like a piece of wood, but when he occasionally lost his temper, he was quite scary. She was used to his act.

The twins felt embarrassed and averted their gazes.

But when they turned around, they saw their little sister imitating their mother, sitting on their father’s shoulder, twisting her body, thinking she looked alluring, her eyes almost rolling to the sky.

Seeing their sister behaving badly, the twins scolded her.

On the other side, Lin Yue returned home. Liu Shiliang was playing with the children. Seeing her come back, he quickly greeted her with a lamp.

The child, seeing Lin Yue’s appearance, was startled, “Sister-in-law, what happened? Did you fight with someone? Why is your face patchy?”

Lin Yue’s heart skipped a beat. Ever since she had the spiritual spring water, not only had her body recovered, but her skin had also gradually improved. Plus, the original owner had fair skin, so now her skin looked smooth and white, not at all like a rural woman.

There was no mirror at home, and Lin Yue hadn’t noticed before.

The room she lived in was very cramped and dilapidated. The windows were made of paper, making the room even darker. It wasn’t very bright even during the day. Usually, when people came over to chat, no one noticed anything.

It was only a while ago, when she discovered that the calluses on her hands had disappeared, and her hands were smooth and delicate, that she became aware.

Lately, Lin Yue had been trying to figure out how to cover up her skin color, besides planting vegetables.

In this era, people usually only used face cream. It was impossible to buy any cosmetics. Those were all special supplies, and Lin Yue couldn’t even dream of getting them. She could only figure things out on her own.

She tried applying vegetable and fruit juices to her face, but it left her with a strange appearance. Some of the colors were too strong, and she almost couldn’t wash them off. People who didn’t know might think she had a bruise on her face.

She had also tried applying different types of flour to her face, but it would fall off in clumps whenever she moved, and the color wasn’t right. The only thing that worked relatively well was powder made from old pumpkins.

She had even built a small oven in her space to make pumpkin powder.

The final product was a mixture of pumpkin powder, potato starch, and wood ash, with a little sesame oil.

To be honest, all the effort she put into making starch and pumpkin powder, their adhesion and coloring ability on the face were not as strong as wood ash. It was frustrating.

However, this temporary “foundation” was enough to fool people for a while. It wouldn’t work for a long time, so she still had to figure out a way to truly solve this problem.

Lin Yue had been making a scene and crying at the old house’s door. Her face must be a mess now, like a painting.

Fortunately, it was night, and there were no streetlights in this era. Otherwise, people would definitely notice something was off.

She tried to remain calm and casually responded to Liu Shiliang. She was worried about the child going home alone, so she wrapped her two little ones in a small blanket, held them, and sent Shiliang to his street. When she saw the child hopping into his house, she went home with peace of mind.

The next day was the eighth day of the twelfth lunar month. Early in the morning, Luo Ershen, who lived in the east of the village, came to Lin Yue to exchange beans. Lin Yue lifted the bowl and saw that it was filled with half a bowl of rice.

Luo Ershen said that the rice was given to her by her sister, and she had been saving it.

Because it was the eighth day of the twelfth lunar month, she finally decided to use it and sent some to a few close families.

Lin Yue looked at the white rice and swallowed hard. It wasn’t that she was weak, but she hadn’t seen a single grain of rice since she arrived a month ago.

She didn’t think she liked it that much in her previous life, but now she was craving it.

Lin Yue filled a bowl of peanuts and red beans for Luo Ershen. Luo Ershen refused to take so much, but Lin Yue insisted, and she finally accepted it.

Although Lin Yue was craving rice, she didn’t want to eat it herself. She wanted to save it for her children’s supplementary food later.

Luo Ershen then took out seven or eight eggs and a handful of millet from her basket and forced them on Lin Yue. Her children were about to leave confinement the day after tomorrow, and this was a full-month gift for them.