Chapter 2: Rebirth

Wu Zhiqiu gazed at the setting sun outside and the several youthful faces in the room, her expression momentarily dazed.

Was the underworld helping her to recall past events? Is this the process everyone goes through after death?

“Mom! Please say something!” Her eldest daughter-in-law, Wang Yue, looked at her with a face full of anticipation.

“What should I say?” Wu Zhiqiu asked subconsciously.

The eldest daughter-in-law secretly rolled her eyes. How could she still not be old, yet already so absent-minded? However, today, they had to get the money situation settled no matter what.

“Mom, Xingguo’s unit has finally gotten an opportunity for him to go abroad. We can’t miss it! As long as he goes abroad for further studies and comes back, at the very least, he can become a deputy director, and even the full director isn’t out of the question!” Wang Yue’s face showed uncontrolled excitement.

Wu Zhiqiu crossed her arms tightly, pinching herself forcefully.

Hiss~ It really hurts! The pain almost made her tears fall.

But to the others, it seemed like she was excited about her son going abroad!

When the third son saw his mother like this, he immediately became anxious. “Mom! The job you promised me for my future wife—without a job, He Meina’s family won’t want to marry her off to me!”

“Third son, the issue of your future wife’s job is nothing compared to your big brother going abroad! Once he goes, our family will completely change! In the future, you’ll be able to find whatever kind of wife you want!”

Wang Yue comforted her younger brother-in-law, painting a rosy picture for him.

The third son, as clever as a monkey, wasn’t fooled by her empty words.

“Sister-in-law, isn’t my big brother going abroad going to take three to four years? Are you asking me to be single for another five or six years? By then, I’ll be over thirty! What young woman would want to marry a man who’s over thirty and still single?”

Wang Yue was left speechless…

She knew well enough that her third brother-in-law was driven by the desire for romance, and talking sense with him was impossible. As long as the old couple could be convinced, her younger brother-in-law’s complaints wouldn’t matter.

“Dad, Mom, this is a rare opportunity. Our family should prioritize Xingguo’s career!”

Old man Li Mancang nodded. Compared to the third son’s future wife, it was indeed more important for the eldest to go abroad. Since the country had just opened up, if he studied abroad for a few years, his prospects upon returning were limitless.

Seeing her father-in-law nod, Wang Yue’s lips curled slightly. Who else could have a future as important as the eldest son’s?

“Dad, you can’t just look after my big brother and ignore my future!” The third son stood up, his face filled with urgency.

“Who’s ignoring your future? We’re trying to find a way, aren’t we!” Li Mancang shot a glare at his third son, who had no sense of the bigger picture. How could a wife be more important than the eldest son’s career? If the eldest could go abroad, it would be like the Li family’s ancestral tomb was sending up green smoke!

Even if he died, he’d be able to brag to his ancestors in the afterlife!

“Mom~” The third son dragged out the sound, calling Wu Zhiqiu back from her trance.

Wu Zhiqiu was now sure that she wasn’t in the underworld, nor was she reminiscing about the past. It seemed like she had been reborn.

Reborn to a time before she had sold her work to help her eldest son with the overseas study expenses.

She looked at her silent, aging husband, the youngest daughter reading in the corner, and her third son, looking like a sparrow preparing for a fight.

And then, the eager faces of her eldest son and daughter-in-law.

It was so frustrating! She had barely died and escaped this troublesome family, only to be brought back to this difficult time!

“Mom~ Mom~ Say something! Meina is still waiting for your job!” The third son shouted anxiously.

Wu Zhiqiu, still feeling the weight of her emotions, immediately turned her attention to her third son when she heard his loud call.

“Why wait for my job? If you can marry a wife, then go ahead! If not, just remain single! Don’t count on my job!”

Wu Zhiqiu worked at a scrap collection station. Although the pay wasn’t high, it was very easy and flexible. She only worked half a day, which didn’t interfere with taking care of the household.

The third son looked incredulously at his mother, unable to believe that these words had just come out of her mouth.

Apart from the eldest couple, no one else could believe that their mother, who had always been fond of the third son, could say something like this. How could she say something that would make him remain single?

Wu Zhiqiu’s lips curled into a cold smile. In her previous life, she had been so dedicated to her children, pouring everything she had into them. What had she gained?

Now, hearing these words, she felt no sympathy. If they were wounded by these words, the real suffering was yet to come!

“Mom! Are you really my biological mother?” The third son clutched his chest, his face full of hurt.

The old Wu Zhiqiu would have been heartbroken to see her beloved son looking at her like this. She would have promised him anything just to make him happy.

But now, seeing her youngest son in this state, though she still felt a slight discomfort in her heart, all those feelings vanished in an instant when she thought about her old age.

“I’m not! Go find your real mother!” Wu Zhiqiu said expressionlessly.

The second son, who had been looking down, couldn’t hold back his laughter anymore and snickered. His wife, too, was shaking with suppressed laughter, clearly trying to hide her amusement.

Even the eldest couple had smiles tugging at their lips.

The third son looked at the expressions of everyone in the room, gritting his teeth in fury.

“Mom, Dad, if you give all the work to Big Brother today, then don’t expect me to support you in your old age!” After throwing down this harsh statement, the third son tried to leave, but for some reason, he stopped himself and sat down on a small stool at the doorway.

Perhaps he was waiting to see if his parents would really hand over all the work to Big Brother to raise the money for his overseas studies.

In her previous life, Wu Zhiqiu and Li Mancang had indeed done this.

But…

“Old Three, whether I give you the work or not, we raised you when you were young, so you have to take care of us when we’re old! This is a civilized society now. You should learn some law, stop acting like an illiterate!” Wu Zhiqiu cast a cold glance at her youngest son. She wasn’t going to say that she didn’t need him to take care of her; who said that? She had raised him from infancy, wiping his behind and feeding him, and now he said he wouldn’t support her? She had spoiled him too much!

“You dare not take care of us, just try!” Li Mancang also glared at him fiercely.

“If you give all the work to Big Brother, I’ll never accept it!” The third son said, his voice full of resistance.

“Third Brother, how can you say that? After I go abroad, it will be good for the family! We’re spending some money now, but the returns in the future will be tenfold or even a hundredfold!” Li Xingguo, who had been silent until now, spoke calmly, his tone confident, with a hint of superiority.

“Hmph! Only our parents would fall for that nonsense! You said the same thing when you went to university, but now that you’ve graduated for several years, has the family seen a single penny from you?” The third son rolled his eyes disdainfully.

“Mom, Dad, Third Brother, your big brother has been studying these past two years, buying review materials and such. The expenses have been quite high, so that’s why he hasn’t given money to the family,” the eldest daughter-in-law, Wang Yue, hurriedly explained.

“Enough, Sister-in-law, don’t treat us like fools. You two are both working, each earning more than two thousand a month. How much do review materials cost? Don’t act like we’re all idiots!” The third son didn’t care about anyone’s face today. He knew for sure that his mom’s work would never go to Big Brother.

“It’s not just the review materials; there’s also the need to supplement nutrition and things like that. You don’t know how hard studying can be,” Wang Yue insisted, trying to justify.

The third son sneered, “Our parents are so old, and I’ve never seen you buy them any nutritional supplements to help them out!”

Li Xingguo’s face turned ugly. He had always held a high position in the family, and this was the first time he had been so openly questioned.

In the past, if someone dared to challenge him, his mother would have stepped in to defend him, maintaining his status as the eldest son in the family.

But today, it seemed his mother was watching a show, observing as the two brothers exchanged words, with no intention of helping him out.

His father was of no use either. His father always listened to his mother, and only when she took a stand would he step in to help!

Li Xingguo glanced at his mother, hoping she would protect him like she had in the past.

Wu Zhiqiu sneered inwardly. She had sent him abroad before, but did any of the younger siblings benefit even a little from it? Don’t even talk about the younger siblings; even she and her husband, aside from living with increasing hardships, had gained nothing from it.