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Taking Advantage of Others’ Misfortune
“Sure, from now on, you can have it all, and you don’t need to save any for your mother,” Lin Chengshan said. “Your mother…”
Lin Chengshan paused, looking at his daughter’s innocent, clear eyes. It was better not to speak ill of Xiao Man in front of her. Children don’t understand much. She probably thinks Xiao Man is a good mother. Lin Chengshan thought it was best not to make his daughter sad at this time. Her health was the most important thing now.
“Eat quickly,” Lin Chengshan said, cutting the steamed cake into small pieces.
“Daddy, you eat too.” Lin Qingqing handed a piece of steamed cake to Lin Chengshan.
“Okay, Daddy will eat too.” Lin Chengshan said, taking a bite. Despite his efforts, the ingredients weren’t the best, so the steamed cake didn’t taste as good as he hoped. “Are you still hungry? After eating the steamed cake, have some rice.”
“I’m not hungry.” Lin Qingqing said, “I ate a lot.”
“Alright.” Lin Chengshan said, “Then Daddy will have some rice.”
After Zhou Laidi finished eating, she didn’t wait to wash the dishes and ran straight to the Xu family. Zhao Xintong had only just returned home, and if she were any later, there would be no food left. Father Xu and Mother Xu would definitely not leave food for Zhao Xintong. They would just say they thought Zhao Xintong had eaten out.
“Aunt, Uncle, you’re all here.” Zhou Laidi walked in.
“You…” Aunt Lin frowned.
“This is the IOU written by cousin Xu Youcai.” Zhou Laidi said, then knelt on the ground. “Please, please, repay this two yuan. Meihua was sold by her grandmother, and I want to bring Meihua back. Please, I beg you!”
Aunt Lin didn’t expect Zhou Laidi to kneel immediately upon arrival. She looked at her own son.
Xu Youcai was indeed surprised that Lin Chengshan had given the IOU to Zhou Laidi and that she had come to demand the money. Zhou Laidi was so shameless to kneel down like this.
“Aunt, Uncle, I beg you.” Zhou Laidi said.
“How much did your mother-in-law get for selling Meihua? Twenty yuan, right?” Aunt Linsaid. She had heard about it before.
When Old Lady Lin tried to sell Lin Qingqing, she mentioned the price, which couldn’t be too low. Although Lin Qingqing was a bit thin, her face was still quite nice. Old Lady Lin took advantage of Lin Chengshan going to town to buy things and brought Old Lady Ge to take Lin Qingqing, so the amount of money should be around twenty yuan.
“Yes, it was twenty yuan, but this IOU is only two yuan, which is nothing.” Xu Youcai had originally planned to write an IOU and not pay the money.
“It’s not enough, but we can make up the difference.” Zhou Laidi said, “Aunt, can you lend me a little more money?”
“Shameless.” Zhao Xintong couldn’t help but say. “Your family took the money, but you want us to lend you money.”
Zhao Xintong felt the slap she received was in vain and was very angry. Zhou Laidi coming to ask for money at this moment only fueled her frustration.
“Please, I beg you.” Zhou Laidi continued to kowtow.
Aunt Lin looked at Zhou Laidi’s pitiful appearance and felt a pang of discomfort.
“Does your mother-in-law know?” Zhao Xintong said, “This money belongs to Lin Chengshan, not you.”
“Well… it’s for his niece.” Zhou Laidi bit her lip.
Uncle Xu threw down the dishes and went elsewhere. Uncle Xu thought this was related to his wife’s family and let her handle it. Uncle Xu shared similar thoughts with Xu Youcai. Once the money was in their hands, there was no way they would give it up.
“Go, go find your mother-in-law.” Aunt Lin was very displeased and said as she walked out.
When Aunt Lin reached the door, Zhou Laidi hurriedly grabbed her leg, “Aunt, please return the money. It’s just two yuan, not much.”
Coincidentally, Aunt Lin’s home was on the side of the road, and many people came out after dinner to enjoy the evening. Some people saw this scene.
“What’s going on?” Someone with a fan came over. Mosquitoes were common, and the fan could be used to shoo them away.
“Aunt, that money was originally given by Chengshan to you to take care of Qingqing. It’s only been a few days, you will definitely be able to come up with the money.” Zhou Laidi raised her voice deliberately.
If Meihua hadn’t been sold, Zhou Laidi wouldn’t have dared to be so bold. She felt that her daughter was sold, and she didn’t get any money. Since Lin Chengshan gave the IOU to Zhou Laidi, she took advantage of the situation to demand money from the Xu family today. If she waited a few days, Zhou Laidi, this coward, would not dare to come and ask for money.
“I thought you were going somewhere, but you came here.” Old Lady Lin saw that no one had cleaned up the dishes, and she cursed for a long time. Old Lady Lin called Zhou Laidi at home, but no one answered, so she went out and saw Zhou Laidi outside.
“Mom, let Aunt return the two yuan my cousin owes.” Zhou Laidi cried, “Meihua hasn’t even had a good meal at home…”
Old Lady Lin didn’t care whether Meihua had a good meal or not. She only knew that the Xu family owed them money. Old Lady Lin prepared to take the IOU from Zhou Laidi’s hand, but Xu Youcai jumped out and tore the IOU into pieces.
“It’s only natural to pay back debts.” Old Lady Lin was clearly surprised by Xu Youcai’s action.
Xu Youcai didn’t dare to act this way in front of Lin Chengshan, but he was much bolder in front of other members of the Lin family.
“This is something Cousin Chengshan forced me to write,” Xu Youcai said. “It’s not real!”
“What do you mean it’s not real? He asked you to take care of Qingqing and gave you ten yuan,” Zhou Laidi said. “And now, just a few days later, you’re trying to swallow the money.”
“Return the money,” the Old Lady Lin said. “That’s Chengshan’s retirement money for me. You can’t embezzle this money.”
The Old Lady Lin and Aunt Lin’s relationship was never good, just maintaining superficial peace. Aunt Lin wanted to meet the Old Lady Lin’s husband to persuade him to stop Zhou Laidi from demanding money. However, the Old Lady Lin appeared first.
“Which family charges so much money for just a few days of taking care of a child?” the Old Lady Lin said.
The Old Lady Lin and Aunt Lin started arguing, with the Xu family refusing to give money and the Old Lady Lin and Zhou Laidi insisting on getting it back.
Over two yuan, the Old Lady Lin and Aunt Lin almost came to blows.
Lin Chengshan had boiled hot water and still needed to give his daughter a bath. With the hot summer weather, even adults couldn’t stand it, let alone children. Lin Chengshan was troubled because his daughter was growing up. It wasn’t appropriate for him to continue bathing her. Boys and girls had different needs, and his daughter needed to understand this.
“I’ll find Auntie next door to help you bathe,” Lin Chengshan said.
“I can bathe myself,” Lin Qingqing replied.
“Wait a moment,” Lin Chengshan said, still intending to call someone.
“Daddy,” Lin Qingqing quickly tugged at Lin Chengshan’s shirt, “Daddy, I can bathe myself. I can also wash clothes.”
“…” Lin Chengshan was surprised. “You can wash clothes by yourself?”
“Yes,” Lin Qingqing nodded.
Lin Chengshan immediately recalled that in a past life, Lin Qingqing had drowned, and people said it was because she went near the river. Lin Chengshan couldn’t believe his obedient daughter would casually wander to the river. Rivers were dangerous for children, with unseen depths that could easily cause accidents.
“You don’t need to wash clothes, don’t do that, understood?” Lin Chengshan quickly grasped Lin Qingqing’s arms. “Don’t go near the river, understand? It’s very dangerous.”
“Daddy.” Lin Qingqing wasn’t very comfortable with Lin Chengshan holding her like that.
Lin Chengshan realized he was holding too tightly and quickly let go.
“Don’t be afraid, Daddy just wants to tell you not to go near the river. You don’t need to wash clothes, I’ll do it,” Lin Chengshan said. “If you don’t want Auntie next door to help, then you can bathe yourself. I’ll prepare the water.”
“Okay, Daddy is so nice,” Lin Qingqing said.
Xiao Man had never let Lin Qingqing touch scalding hot water. After all, Lin Qingqing was Lin Chengshan’s biological daughter. Xiao Man disliked taking care of the child, and if the child fell ill, it would take up a lot of her time.
Therefore, Xiao Man did not let Lin Qingqing do everything, she also did some things herself.
Lin Qingqing didn’t wash her hair. She bathed herself and dressed on her own. After dressing, she placed her clothes in the basin with bath water, so she could wash them a bit.
“Qingqing, are you done?” Lin Chengshan was worried about his daughter being alone in the bathroom for too long and feared something might happen.
The bathroom was also something Lin Chengshan had specially set up for Xiao Man. He knew Xiao Man was from the city and might not be used to country life, so he made many arrangements. Xiao Man only saw this as something he should do. As her husband, he should make her comfortable.
Lin Chengshan didn’t plan to come back in the future. He intended to take his daughter to the city first and buy a house. Houses were still relatively cheap at that time, and having a house would make it much easier to move the household registration. If necessary, Lin Chengshan could even ask his old leader for help. For the sake of his daughter, he could bow his head.
“Done, done,” Lin Qingqing said quickly.
“Have you dressed?” Lin Chengshan asked.
“Yes, I’m dressed,” Lin Qingqing replied.
The bathroom door was left open. Lin Qingqing was still too small, so Lin Chengshan didn’t make her close the door, just lowering the curtain.
When Lin Chengshan went in, he found Lin Qingqing sitting on a small stool, rubbing the clothes.
“I told you, Daddy will do the washing. You don’t need to use your little hands,” Lin Chengshan said. “You didn’t eat dinner tonight, are you hungry?”
“No, no, the big meat buns are delicious, and the steamed cake is delicious,” Lin Qingqing gestured. “So good.”
“There’s still steamed cake. Go eat some,” Lin Chengshan said. “Daddy will help you wash the clothes.”
“Daddy…” Lin Qingqing looked at Lin Chengshan, feeling a bit embarrassed. “Mommy said I’m a big kid now, so I should wash my own clothes.”
“You’re still small. Don’t believe what your mom says. She’s lying,” Lin Chengshan said.
Meanwhile, Xiao Man had finished dinner with her family. Mother Xiao said to Xiao Man, “Tomorrow, you should go on that blind date. Don’t think about that country bumpkin. He’s just a scoundrel taking advantage of others’ misfortunes.”
***
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