Witty Wife, Better Life-Chapter 793 - 783

And then there’s the eldest daughter and her husband. I heard they’ve been doing well lately, no longer as poor as they were a few years ago, practically losing their pants. But her grudge against her parents’ home isn’t small. In the past two years, except for the holidays, the eldest daughter hasn’t visited even once.

Qiu Shuping curled her lips upon hearing this. She had a son and didn’t count on her daughter for support in her old age. If she wanted to come back, she could; if not, Shuping wouldn’t miss what little she might bring.

Then there was the youngest daughter, whose husband got transferred to the same military district as the second brother, so she filed a dependent’s report and took Niuniu with her to join the army. Now Xianghe and the second brother live close to each other.

Qiu Shuping listened carefully to Old Li’s words and continuously weighed her options. When he finished speaking, she sighed pretentiously and said, "Now that all the kids are living well, I can rest assured. It’s just my youngest son who is suffering." As she spoke, she started to wipe away fake tears.

Old Li had a habit of favoring the youngest son, even though the son was now in prison, and his wife’s crying made him feel that his eldest son was at a loss.

"So what should we do? Now each of them has grown up with hardened wings, and no one listens to what I say anymore." Old Li sat up, troubled, and took out his smoking pipe, preparing to have a smoke.

Qiu Shuping also sat up. "All my sons are good. Our Hongjun was so filial to us before. He’d send almost all his subsidies back home. Ah, now even if he wanted to be filial, I don’t think he could. His wife is being really harsh." Even then, she didn’t forget to drop a hint against the second son’s wife.

Old Li didn’t speak, just fiddled with his smoking pipe. He felt his wife had a point, as their second son was indeed becoming estranged from them.

"I was thinking, if we directly mention the house issue to Hongjun, his wife will find out, and then it definitely won’t work. Why don’t we give our old house to Hongqi in advance and then tell the second son that we old folks have nowhere to live? They have two empty houses in the Capital, they can’t just watch us sleep on the streets." Qiu Shuping’s plan was simple: help Hongqi secure the house first, then everything else would be easy.

"Going by what you’ve said, it seems like a plan, but I’m afraid the second son’s wife will only agree to let us live in the Capital, and not let Hongqi go." Old Li seriously considered it, finding his wife’s idea feasible.

"What’s there to fear? We’ll just stay in the Capital for a couple of days, and once we’re living there, we can call the shots. We’ll stay for a few months and then have Hongqi and his wife come and live with us. Then nobody can say anything. That way, wouldn’t it be the same as giving the house to Hongqi and his wife?" Qiu Shuping’s eyes shone as she spoke.

"Will the second son’s wife let that happen?" Old Li didn’t believe the second son’s wife would take this lying down, and it would be ugly if a fight broke out.

"Why wouldn’t it happen? We’ll just say that we’ve agreed to live there, and Hongqi is coming to keep us company. If she dares utter a word about kicking us out, I’ll accuse her. Does she have no shame? As the parents, we don’t have a house to live in, we stay at her place for a couple of days, and if she dares to kick us out, I won’t believe it. If such a thing happens, let’s see if she can keep her job as a teacher." Qiu Shuping was resolute about turning the tables on her daughter-in-law.

"Sigh, they are all our children, both the palms and the backs of our hands are flesh. If any child is not doing well, we as parents feel uncomfortable." Old Li sighed, implicitly agreeing to his wife’s plan.

When Qiu Shuping heard this, she knew that Old Li had agreed but was just saving face by not saying it outright.

"Old man, since we’re going to tell the second child that we have no house to live in, we have to give the house to Hongqi as soon as possible. The second child’s wife is a shrewd one, we might not be able to fool her if we just talk about it." Qiu Shuping was relentless in trying to coax the house into her hands. Now no one else would do; only her youngest son was the good one. As long as the house went to her youngest son, she wouldn’t have to worry about the old man making trouble outside. If she got really annoyed with him, she could have Hongqi kick the old man out for a few days. Without a place to stay, he would lose his swagger soon enough.

At this point, Li’s old man hesitated. He knew that giving the house wasn’t just about saying it verbally, it involved actually taking the household registration book and the property deed to transfer the ownership.

"Really, it’s just a formality. You know as well as I do how filial Hongqi is. Back when he was still in school and you were fetching water, Hongqi felt so sorry for you that he would get his shoulders red and swollen from carrying the load. Also..." Qiu Shuping prattled on as she sat on the kang, recounting how Hongqi had been ’filial’ to them.

Li’s old man hesitated all afternoon but was finally brainwashed by Qiu Shuping before dinner.

Seeing that she had persuaded the old man, Qiu Shuping was delighted and decided to go out and cut some meat for a good meal that night. She hadn’t expected things to go so smoothly, and having just come back, she couldn’t even remember the last time she had meat. She was craving it and wanted to treat herself as well.

Li’s old man was quite generous too; he hadn’t spent much of the hundred yuan that the second son had sent after the New Year. He immediately gave his wife a yuan to go buy the meat.

When Qiu Shuping saw the stack of money in the old man’s hand, she felt envious. She used to have complete control over the household finances; even a penny spent came from her pocket. But because she hadn’t been home for over two years, the money had all ended up in the old man’s pocket. What was that saying? Oh, right, ’A tiger that falls flat is bullied by dogs!’

No matter, she would let him hold onto it for a few more days. In time, she was determined to regain control of the family’s finances. With these thoughts, she suppressed the urge to snatch the money away and took the one yuan in her hand and left the house. frёewebηovel.cѳm

She was about to step out the door when she suddenly remembered that going out now might lead to unwelcome gossip from some illiterate old women, which could put her in an awkward situation. Rethinking it, she turned around intending to go back inside and ask the old man to buy the meat. But after just a step, looking at the yuan in her hand, she stopped. She turned and walked a couple of steps towards the yard, saw that the neighbor, the eldest son’s family, had smoke coming from their chimney, thought for a moment, and carefully tucked the money into her trouser pocket, then headed out to her eldest son’s house.

"Oh, daughter-in-law of my eldest, are you cooking dinner?" In the countryside, if there are people at home, the yard door is not locked, so Qiu Shuping pushed the door open and walked in herself.

Wang Dan wasn’t cooking at all. There were only men at home, and she was the only one who could busy herself at the stove. Wang Dan glanced at her mother-in-law and shouted into the house, "Li Hongxing, your mother’s here." She didn’t bother to make conversation with her mother-in-law, preferring to let her son deal with her.

Li Hongxing was lying on the kang resting, but at his wife’s shout, he jerked up, clearly showing an impatient expression on his face.

Didn’t his old mother just come by at noon? Why was she here again in the evening?

Anyone would feel irked having worked the whole day only to rest for a moment and then have to face a ’war’ between his wife and mother. Moreover, siding with either would only end in being cursed out by the other; eventually, the most hapless victim would be him, and nobody would be happy about that.