Chapter 16

The money box on the table held a jumble of coins, barely adding up to three hundred yuan!

“Mom, this isn’t right! How come we only have this much money?” The first to jump up was Wang Qingzheng, the third son.

He didn’t manage the money, but their family was almost all able-bodied workers! Even if the fifth son’s wife was newly married, the rest of them, eleven people working, their annual work points added up, it couldn’t possibly be just this much money!

Zhao Guifen, with a cold face and her hands on her hips, glared at him: “What? Did you not spend any money when you married your wives? You think wives are blown in by the wind? You all eat more than the next, it’s good that we have this much money left.”

Zhao Guifen’s voice was strong, but she was still secretly nervous.

Had she hidden too much?

But if she didn’t hide it, how would the fifth son and the second son buy jobs later?

Even if the fifth son’s wife said she would go home to find a way, she couldn’t really let her find a way! The fifth son’s wife’s family would help the fifth son later.

Right now, she had to spend the family’s money on him!

Otherwise, when they split the family, wouldn’t the eldest son get a share?

Why should he get a share of the family’s money!

Wang Qingzheng frowned, feeling that the amount was wrong.

Compared to him, Wang Qingliang, who was sitting beside him, exploded: “Mom, almost everyone in our family gets ten work points. Just last autumn, the money we exchanged for our family’s work points book was over seven hundred yuan, how come it’s gone now?”

Zhao Guifen blinked.

She didn’t say anything.

Bai Xiuxiu sighed and smiled: “Don’t blame Mom.”

Zhao Guifen froze, unable to believe it.

This was the eldest son’s wife? She…

“Mom has to bear so much pressure for being greedy for so much money.” Bai Xiuxiu smiled.

With her words, Zhao Guifen wished she could strangle her.

Why was she so forgetful! Why did she believe that the eldest son’s wife could say something nice?

“Mom, our family’s food and drink for the whole year are from the grain we saved from the autumn harvest. As for meat, most of it comes from Qinghe hunting in the mountains and storing it for the winter. We don’t spend much money. You wouldn’t want to tell us that you gave three or four hundred yuan in dowry for the fifth son’s wedding, would you?”

Bai Xiuxiu asked with a look of surprise.

As soon as she said this, everyone else remembered, yes! The family’s food and drink didn’t cost much!

Zhao Guifen’s face turned black: “You don’t know anything because you don’t manage the house. Isn’t that how everyone else lives? Who can save several hundred yuan a year? Isn’t that more successful than the workers?”

“Mom, workers can’t save several hundred yuan a year, but two or three people can. Our village is not as good as others, but we’re not just a few people either. Eleven people working, and after all these years, we only have three hundred yuan left?”

Bai Xiuxiu glanced at Zhao Guifen. This mother-in-law of hers was really stupid!

Stupid and heartless!

Zhao Guifen’s face turned red.

“Mom, you’re too much. If you don’t want to take it out, just say so. Why are you playing tricks on us?” Wang Qingliang, the fourth son, was very unhappy.

Wang Qingzheng, the third son, also had a dark face.

They were all family, why were the fifth son and the second brother the only ones who mattered? Didn’t they matter?

Slap!

Just when everyone was dissatisfied, Wang Shoucheng slapped Zhao Guifen directly: “You heartless, foolish thing! What are you standing there for? How much did you hide? Take it out now!”

This slap stunned everyone.

In their family, they didn’t hit their wives!

Besides, how old was their mother?

Zhao Guifen didn’t expect that she would get beaten at her age. She cried in anger: “You hit me? You think I’m doing this for who? Take it out? Take it out! Let’s just not live this life anymore!”

She cried and shouted as she took out some more money.

Bai Xiuxiu was surprised at first, why did he hit her?

Then she saw the amount of money that was taken out, and she understood.

This was a ploy to play the victim.

This time Zhao Guifen had learned her lesson. She took out eight hundred yuan, feeling the pain.

“That’s all! We’ve spent all the family’s money on food and drink over the years. This money plus what we took out before. A total of one thousand one hundred and seventy.” Zhao Guifen covered her face, looking like she had lost all hope.

So much money!

The Wang family members all felt their hearts pounding.

They no longer suspected that money was being hidden. After all, this was a large sum of money!

And their mother had been beaten, how could she possibly be hiding more?

Bai Xiuxiu looked at their expressions, it seemed she couldn’t get Zhao Guifen to cough up any more. This amount wasn’t even half of what Zhao Guifen had in her hands!

But getting some was better than nothing, and this was a long game.

“You’ve all seen it, this is all the money we have. The fifth son needs at least a hundred yuan for renovating the house. From this money, I’ll give each of you brothers a hundred. The rest will stay with me and your mother.

We’re all one family, and since we’re not splitting, the money should be in the hands of us two old folks.

We’ll give you each a share after the autumn harvest.

You’re all grown up, and you all want to have some money in your own hands, I understand that as your father.

But don’t cause trouble again next time.”

Wang Shoucheng saw that the situation was under control, so he smoothed things over.

The Wang family members usually kept their money with the old couple, so they had rarely seen much money.

Suddenly getting a hundred yuan each, they were naturally delighted!

Zhao Guifen gave each of her sons ten ten-yuan bills.

When it came to Wang Qinghe and Bai Xiuxiu, she couldn’t help but feel a pang of heartache!

Why? Why should they get the family’s money?

Bai Xiuxiu didn’t care what she was thinking. She easily snatched the money from Zhao Guifen’s hand, smiled brightly at her, and said: “Thank you, Mom.”

Zhao Guifen’s heart ached.

This was her money!

“I’ve given you the money, don’t just stand there, get out! Go to work!” Zhao Guifen said impatiently.

After everyone left, Zhao Guifen looked worried: “Old man, they’re all rebelling.”

Wang Shoucheng’s old face also showed a hint of displeasure: “All of our sons are making a fuss together, if we don’t give them anything, this won’t go away. It’s true that we’re still here, and they have no reason to split the family. But if they all make a fuss, we’ll have to split the family even if we don’t want to.

At least we’ve stabilized things for now. We need to quickly secure jobs for the fifth son and the second son.

As long as the fifth son and the second son are successful, we won’t be afraid of splitting the family. We’ll split the eldest son off, and our family will live our own lives.

The fifth son and the second son can help the third and fourth sons, wouldn’t that be fine?”

“That’s true, but… I just feel like the eldest son’s wife will cause trouble!” Zhao Guifen couldn’t help but get angry when she thought about her eldest son’s wife.

Wang Shoucheng was silent for a moment: “Let them handle their own daughter-in-law business.”

In the west room.

Bai Xiuxiu put the money in the box, feeling happy: “I finally got a hundred back. By the way, I’ve already obtained the medicinal herb seeds. I’ll show you the use of this thing later.”

Wang Qinghe watched his wife busy, handed her a cup of brown sugar water, and said calmly: “Okay, I’ll wait and see.”

Bai Xiuxiu saw his calm expression, and she wanted to shock him!

As for keeping her cheat from Wang Qinghe, she had never considered it. She had been by his side for decades, and she had used those decades to confirm his trustworthiness.

Unfortunately, he couldn’t see the space, so she would have to show him the finished product after the honeysuckle matured!