Chapter 8 Xia Lizhu, open the door

“You child… didn’t I tell you to stay outside?” Li Shuzhen said helplessly when she saw her daughter push the door open.

Seeing that the Jiang family had something to say and that her intentions had already been made clear, Wang Juying didn’t plan to stay any longer. She’d already delivered the message—whatever happened next was up to them.

“Well then, I should get back and have breakfast. Jiang Fugui, Shuzhen, I’ll be leaving now.”

“Alright, sister-in-law, thanks for making the trip. Take care,” Li Shuzhen said as she got up to walk her to the gate, then returned to the house.

“Dad, Mom, I don’t want to marry some thirty-year-old man. I don’t want to be a stepmother!” Jiang Peiyu protested.

“We know, sweetheart. Don’t worry, we won’t make you take that white-eyed wolf’s place…” Li Shuzhen reassured her. “You just came back after two days—how could we bear to part with you?”

“Sigh…” Jiang Fugui let out a deep sigh, clearly troubled.

“What are we going to do, husband?” Li Shuzhen was anxious. What if the Lu family didn’t agree?

Jiang Fugui thought for a moment. “How much money do we still have at home?”

“One hundred seventy-two yuan, two jiao, and three fen,” Li Shuzhen answered down to the last cent.

“We’ll keep the change for household needs. Give me 150, I’ll take it to Lu Laoxiong… The rest, we’ll write an IOU. I’ll swallow my pride and go talk to him about breaking off the engagement.”

“Alright,” Li Shuzhen nodded and stood up to get the cash box from the cabinet.

“Dad, Mom, we still have money? Didn’t we receive the bride price?” Jiang Peiyu was puzzled. If they received a bride price, how come there was so little savings?

Li Shuzhen felt chilled just thinking about it. “Don’t mention it. Even a dog you raise for 22 years will wag its tail when it sees you.”

“That white-eyed wolf ran off with everything.”

“She didn’t just take the bride price—she stole 500 yuan of the family savings too.”

“Luckily I didn’t put this 100+ yuan in the same place, or else…”

Jiang Peiyu was furious. She ran off and stole all the money too? No way she’d let Xia Lizhu get away with that so easily.

“We’re just going to let her steal from us like that? No way—we’re getting that money back!”

“Sweetheart, but how? She’s living in the city now, and her biological father is a factory director…”

“Dad, I’ve got a plan. Qiyang, go call your second uncle back from the field, quick. I’ll give you a White Rabbit candy when you get back.”

“Okay, Little Auntie, I’m going now!” At the mention of candy, Jiang Qiyang sprinted out the door.

Once in the field, he spotted his second uncle and shouted from afar, “Second Uncle! Second Uncle! Little Auntie told me to get you!”

Hearing the call, Jiang Yanwen looked up. “Qiyang, what does your aunt want?”

“I don’t know. Second Uncle, hurry up!” He was eager to go back for his candy.

With no choice, Jiang Yanwen hoisted his hoe and walked back home with Qiyang.

As soon as he got home, Jiang Yanwen put down his hoe and walked inside. “Little sis, what do you need me for?”

“Second Brother, let’s go to the Xia family and get back the money Xia Lizhu stole. It’s Sunday—they’ll definitely be home.”

“If we head out now, we’ll get there right around lunchtime. That’s when everyone’s home.”

“We’ll cause a big scene. Xia Zhihao cares a lot about his face—he won’t risk the embarrassment and won’t dare not pay us back.”

At the mention of confronting them over the stolen money, Jiang Yanwen became excited, almost eager.

“Well then, what are we waiting for? I’ll go hitch up the ox cart.”

Meanwhile, Wang Juying hummed a tune happily as she returned home.

Lu Shuangyan, noticing her mom’s good mood, asked curiously, “Mom, what are you so happy about? Did you see Uncle Jiang’s real daughter?”

“I saw her, I saw her! Let me tell you—she’s so delicate, so fair, so pretty. Just sitting there doing nothing, she was a joy to look at.”

“If we marry her into our family, and I get to see her every day, I swear I’ll live a few years longer from sheer joy.”

“Oh come on, Mom. You’re exaggerating. She’s a city girl—if she really married into our family, wouldn’t you be the one running around serving her every day?”

“Oh, hush, what do you know? If I can get such a beautiful daughter-in-law for your brother, I’d be happy to serve her every day.”

“And if she and your brother give me a granddaughter, I bet she’ll be absolutely gorgeous!”

Lu Shuangyan thought her mom had gone crazy. “Mom, it’s broad daylight. Stop dreaming already. Nothing’s even confirmed yet.”

“If nothing’s confirmed, I’ll make it happen. They took the bride price already—wherever this goes, we Lu family are in the right. Nothing to be afraid of.”

“Shouldn’t you at least call my brother first? What if he’s not willing?”

“Right, right, I’ll call him right now—tell him to come home early and take a look. He’ll be totally smitten!”

Shuangyan watched her mom rush out again, speechless.

Wang Juying hurried off to the commune office to make a phone call. But Lu Huaijin was out on a mission and not at the base, so she left a message asking him to call home once he returned, then went back home.

Jiang Yanwen and Jiang Peiyu rode the ox cart for four or five hours before arriving at the Xia family home. Checking her watch, it was just past noon—the perfect time, when families would be having lunch.

Jumping off the cart, Jiang Peiyu asked Jiang Yanwen to step aside, then shouted loudly:

“Xia Lizhu, open the door! Your Jiang auntie is here to collect the debt. Give back the money you stole from our family!”

“Xia Lizhu, don’t pretend you’re not home. I know you’re inside. You had the guts to steal and run—what, no guts to face us now?”

“Xia Lizhu, open the door! Open the door! You stole money from my family—hurry up and return it!”

Hearing the commotion outside—someone yelling about stolen money—Xia Zhihao frowned in confusion.
“What’s going on?”

“Dad…” Xia Lizhu looked guilty and lowered her head, not daring to meet his eyes.

“That ungrateful brat! We raised her for over twenty years, gave her two thousand yuan, and she still isn’t satisfied? Just wait and see how I’ll deal with her!”

Chen Hui angrily got up and stormed to the door. She flung it open and shouted:
“Jiang Peiyu, what exactly do you want? We made it very clear when you left—you’re not welcome here.”

“Pfft! You think your Aunt Jiang wants to come to this crappy place of yours? Birds of a feather flock together—your whole family’s rotten!”

“Your Xia family doesn’t have a single decent person. You’re all heartless.”

“If your real daughter hadn’t stolen 1,100 yuan from my parents, do you think we’d come here?”

Seeing Jiang Peiyu publicly expose her for stealing, Xia Lizhu panicked. She stepped forward to stand beside Chen Hui, squeezed out a couple of tears, and looked pitifully at Jiang Peiyu.

“What money? Jiang Peiyu, stop making things up! I didn’t steal anything—you can’t slander me like this.”

Jiang Peiyu saw her pretending to be pitiful again, trying to win sympathy, and refused to tolerate it. She plopped down right there on the ground and started crying and shouting dramatically:

“Oh, heavens! I don’t want to live anymore—how could I be so unfortunate?”

“Everyone come look! The Xia family is bullying people, treating others like dirt!”

“They stole our money and now deny it—are they trying to drive me to my death?!”