Chapter 60: Heartbroken
It was the very first time the two sisters-in-law had seen Lin Wan suffer a setback!
The sheer dark satisfaction in their hearts was beyond words!
Ever since Huang Guixiang married into the family, how many hidden losses had they suffered because of her? Day in and day out, they had to come home and do chores after finishing work, while Lin Wan, this dependent baggage, did absolutely nothing except pick faults with everything.
A while back, Huang Guixiang had been even more outrageous. To tighten the family’s purse strings and buy a job for Lin Wan, she had given them nothing but watery slop for every single meal. The sweet potato porridge was all sweet potatoes with barely a grain of rice in sight.
Now, she was crossing the line even further. The moment both she and Lin Wan secured jobs, they immediately pushed to split the household!
So it turned out they were allowed to share hardships together, but when the blessings arrived, they weren’t allowed to enjoy them together!
Harboring the mindset of watching a good spectacle, the two sisters-in-law followed them to the hospital in a state of high excitement, constantly whispering to each other about who the fierce person was who had thrashed Lin Wan. It was practically executing justice on Heaven’s behalf! Ridding the people of an absolute plague!
Arriving at the hospital.
Zhang Aimin located Bed 36. Spotting an old man lying on the bed, he was completely dumbfounded.
He hurriedly went to ask a nurse, “Comrade, isn’t Bed 36 supposed to be occupied by Comrade Lin Wan from the post office? Is there perhaps another Bed 36?”
The nurse inspected Zhang Aimin, who was sweating profusely from anxiety. “Comrade Lin Wan isn’t staying in Bed 36 anymore. Who are you?”
Zhang Aimin quickly replied, “I am her stepfather. My name is Zhang Aimin, and I’m a worker at the Red Star Machinery Factory. This is my work ID. These are Comrade Lin Wan’s older brothers, sisters-in-law, and nephew.”
Zhang Hongqiang raised his hand exceptionally high. “And me, Zhang Hongqiang! I am Comrade Lin Wan’s biological younger brother!” The young comrade was highly dissatisfied. Why bother introducing the older brothers and sisters-in-law? They weren’t born from the same mother anyway! Only he and Lin Wan were born from the exact same womb!
Hearing that they were Comrade Lin Wan’s family, a smile instantly surfaced on the nurse’s face. “Comrade Lin Wan has relocated to a cadres’ ward. Come along, I’ll escort you over!”
What the hell? A ca… cadres’ ward? On what merit did she get to stay in a cadres’ ward?
Bao Yan and Zhong Hongmei were completely flabbergasted. The others were equally shocked.
Zhang Hongqiang, however, was ecstatic. His sister Lin Wan was staying in a cadres’ ward! Just ask! Who else? Whose sister was more formidable than his sister? Hahaha!
Reaching the cadres’ ward, the nurse knocked on the door. Huang Guixiang came to open it, and the moment she saw Zhang Aimin, she delivered a sharp glare to him. “If you’re coming, just come by yourself. What did you bring so many people for? Wanwan needs to rest!”
Zhang Hongjun offered an obsequious smile. “Auntie Huang, we just came to see Wanwan. We absolutely won’t disturb her rest.”
One doesn’t strike a smiling face. Huang Guixiang stepped aside, and the group filed into the room one after another.
Zhang Aimin headed straight into the inner ward to check on Lin Wan’s condition. Seeing Lin Wan lying completely withered on the sickbed, his eyes instantly turned red with tears. “Wanwan… does it still feel awful?”
Following right behind him, Zhang Hongqiang lunged forward. “Sis, tell me who beat you! I’ll gather my buddies and go stage a rebellion against their household!”
Meanwhile, the couples from the first and second branches were busy inspecting the ward. They stepped into the kitchen to take a look: “My goodness, the kitchen is fully tiled, and the floor is fully tiled too!!!”
Then they stepped into the bathroom: “Holy crap, the bathroom floor is tiled as well, and there’s a flush toilet!”
“My goodness, this is the very first time in my life I’ve seen a flush toilet!”
“It’s made of porcelain too!”
“Does sitting on it to take a dump make a person pass an extra two jin of waste?”
Bao Yan put on a completely unrefined display of someone who had never seen the world, wishing she could lift the lid and sit right down to take a dump right this instant.
“And there’s a living room, complete with a sofa…”
“If I could stay in a ward like this, I wouldn’t even mind getting sick!”
Their own home wasn’t even as luxurious as someone else’s bathroom! The two sisters-in-law, who had been gloating on the way here and wanting to watch Lin Wan’s embarrassment, could not bring themselves to laugh even a tiny bit now! There was only a thick, suffocating wave of envy.
The ward was remarkably massive. In their own housing block, this ward could easily be partitioned into a two-bedroom apartment with a living room.
“Wanwan, how are you doing?”
“Who beat you anyway?”
“The person who struck you must possess an extraordinary status, right?” Otherwise, how could she be checked into a cadres’ ward? Bao Yan questioned with heavy sourness.
Everyone else turned their concerned (subtly envious) gazes toward Lin Wan. If taking a bit of a beating meant getting to stay in such a luxurious ward, they would be more than willing too. At the very least, they could come here to enjoy themselves for a couple of days!
Lin Wan didn’t utter a word, strictly maintaining her persona of a weak, dizzy, and nauseous patient.
Huang Guixiang delivered a fierce tongue-lashing right out of the gate: “Questioning, questioning, questioning my foot!”
“The moment you stepped through the door, this old woman explicitly stated that Wanwan needs to rest. What did you say back then?”
“You said you’d just take a single look and leave!”
“You said you absolutely wouldn’t disturb Wanwan’s rest!”
“Every single one of you was spouting pure nonsense!”
“Now you’ve seen her, right?”
“Once you’ve seen her, get the hell out!”
With that, Huang Guixiang’s derisive gaze landed on their completely empty hands, mocking, “Showing up empty-handed, and you call yourselves older brothers and sisters-in-law!”
Zhang Hongjun’s face flushed crimson as he explained, “Auntie Huang, it’s just that the supply and marketing cooperative has already closed…”
“Bah!”
“Do you dare claim there isn’t a single block of brown sugar inside your rooms?”
“Then where does the brown sugar water your wife secretly hides away to drink come from? Did it fall from the sky?”
“And you, eldest branch’s wife! You secretly mix malted milk extract for your brats, and the moment your brother-in-law approaches, you immediately slam the door shut. Afterwards, you even instruct your brats to claim they didn’t drink any! You lie before you’ve even wiped your mouths clean!”
“Do you actually think anyone craves your things?!”
Exposed so flagrantly, the faces of Bao Yan and Zhong Hongmei turned an ugly shade of blue and white. They muttered in their hearts, Who cares if you crave it or not. If we don’t hide it well, it’ll be thoroughly pillaged by you sooner or later.
Zhang Hongjun wanted to explain further, but Zhang Aimin, carrying a thoroughly black expression, barked them away: “Go, go, go! Stop looming around here!” He had completely seen through them by now; none of his children could be counted on. Only Guixiang and Wanwan were reliable.
Chasing his sons, daughters-in-law, and grandchildren out, Zhang Aimin discussed the arrangements for accompanying her and delivering meals with Huang Guixiang.
Huang Guixiang said, “We don’t need you for any of it!”
“Someone from Wanwan’s unit is coming to look after her, and I have to go to work tomorrow too.”
“I’ll come to deliver lunch to Wanwan at noon. Have Hongqiang accompany you to eat at your factory cafeteria.” With that, she pulled out some cash and coupons and shoved them into Zhang Aimin’s grasp.
Old Comrade Zhang didn’t keep a single cent of private savings for himself every month, handing over every bit of his earnings to Huang Guixiang. Whenever he needed to spend money, only then would he ask Huang Guixiang for it.
Zhang Aimin nodded, casting another glance toward Lin Wan on the sickbed. “Don’t be afraid of spending money. Go to the state-owned restaurant to buy some chicken soup or something for Wanwan. If you’re short on cash or coupons, I’ll go find someone at the factory to borrow some.”
Huang Guixiang pushed him out the door. “Got it, no need to borrow. Wanwan gave me plenty.”
The moment Zhang Aimin walked downstairs, he overheard Bao Yan grumbling in a low voice, “How on earth does that dead girl Lin Wan possess such spectacular luck?”
“She actually got to stay in a cadres’ ward!”
“Heaven truly is blind. A person like her, who embodies every trait of being treacherous, lazy, poor, and wicked, on what merit does everyone coddle her!”
“It’s truly infuriating!”
Zhong Hongmei added, “Alright, Eldest Sister-in-law. Lin Wan has a good life, and Dad favors her too. What can we possibly do about it?”
Bao Yan felt even more resentful. “That old fool of a father can’t even distinguish who his own biological flesh and blood is. Truly, having a stepmother turns a man into a step-father!”
“His heart has completely drifted off to the ends of the earth!”
“Hmph, when he gets old and can’t move in the future, it’ll be too late for him to remember his biological children!”
“Don’t expect us to serve him then!”
“Let whoever he favors look after him instead!”
Zhong Hongmei said, “Eldest Sister-in-law, a bit of complaining is enough. There are plenty of elders who give all their money and housing to the one they favor most, only to dump the burden of their old-age care onto the most honest son in the end.”
“Eldest Brother and Second Brother are kind-hearted, so they won’t be able to escape it.”
Zhang Aimin froze in his tracks, his feet feeling as heavy as if they had been poured with solid lead, completely unable to take another step forward.
Heh~ So it turned out the resentment of the first and second branches ran this deep! They didn’t want to care for him in his old age, assuming he would latch onto them like a burden when he grew old!
Zhang Aimin was driven to a sarcastic laugh. Hidden within the shadows, the expression on his face remained completely obscured. After standing in silence for a brief moment, he quietly turned around and headed back upstairs.
Immediately after, he intentionally walked down the stairs with highly heavy, resounding footsteps.
