Chapter 64: Warmth
Wang Jinbao added fuel to the fire. “Sister, without that house, how am I supposed to get married?”
“Brother-in-law is out to ruin me!”
“You bore him children, took care of the household, and served his parents, and what’s the result?”
“He stabs me in the back over something this important! He is trying to force me to die!”
“He wants to cut off the lineage of our Wang family!”
Wang Sufen’s temper was instantly stoked. She lunged at Xu Hui’s father, ripping and clawing at him. “You surnamed Xu, if you don’t give me an explanation for this today, I’ll never hear the end of it with you!”
With a few quick slashes, she scratched several bloody welts across his face.
Wang Jinbao stood to the side adding fuel to the fire, wishing his sister would wreck the house entirely. He wanted the one surnamed Xu to know how formidable they were! They would have to buy him another watch, a sewing machine, a bicycle, and a radio before this matter could blow over! Otherwise, he could forget about living a peaceful life.
Slap! Xu Hui’s father delivered a ferocious backhand across her face.
“Have you caused enough of a scene?”
“Your daughter just came back, yet you show absolutely zero care or concern.”
“Is your heart and eyes filled with nothing but your younger brother? Nothing but your maternal family?”
“Fine then, pack your bags and get the hell back to your maternal family!”
When Xu Hui’s father flew into a rage, Wang Sufen was completely dazed by the blow. Cupping her face, she stared blankly at him. Her husband wanted to kick her out? They were an old married couple, yet he wanted to kick her out?
Xu Hui’s father continued his furious roaring: “My own things are mine to give if I want to, and mine to withhold if I don’t!”
“He isn’t my biological son, so on what merit am I supposed to look after him?”
“Do you not know the current situation of our household?”
“Yet you’re still adding to the chaos!”
“Besides, it was explicitly stated from the start that the house was a loan, not a gift!”
“What’s the matter? Has your Wang family already treated this old man’s property as your own?”
“Where can a person not get married? Renting another place works exactly the same!”
Wang Jinbao blew his top. “On what merit! The doors and windows of that house were freshly painted, and the furniture was freshly made…”
Xu Hui’s father snatched the enamel tea mug off the table and smashed it ferociously down right at Wang Jinbao’s feet. “This old man was the one who hired the workers to do that labor, and your sister paid for the supplies!”
“Her wages belong to our household, not to your Wang family!”
“What right do you have to spout absolute nonsense at me? Get the hell out!”
“And you—if you want to live this life, then live it. If you don’t, then get a divorce and return to your old Wang family!”
“But you must transfer your job over to Xu Hui. Don’t you dare dream of taking it back to your maternal family!”
Wang Jinbao was thoroughly terrified by the violently enraged Xu Hui’s father. Wang Sufen was equally frightened; her husband had never thrown such a massive fit of fury before. She had no choice but to urge Wang Jinbao to head home first.
Then, she shut the front door, cutting off the probing gazes of the neighbors, and quietly picked up the broom to sweep up the mess.
Xu Hui sat on the sofa with her head drooping. Even when the house was in a complete uproar just now, she had remained entirely indifferent.
Xu Hui’s father sat down in a huff, taking several large gulps of water before speaking. “How do you think Huihui managed to come out so quickly? It was traded using that courtyard house and the cash and coupons!”
“Wang Sufen, let me warn you: in the past, when you subsidized your maternal family, I kept one eye open and one eye closed. But our household has just lost a whole courtyard house and eight hundred yuan… In the future, buying a job for Huihui will require money too. If you dare subsidize your maternal family again, we will get a divorce!”
“What?”
“You compensated them with the house? That’s a house! How could you give away a house?”
“The house was promised to Jinbao!”
Wang Sufen couldn’t halt her screeching. “On what merit did you just hand it over the moment she demanded it? Didn’t you know how to drive the price down?”
“Without that house, what is Jinbao supposed to do?”
The temples of Xu Hui’s father throbbed with intense pain. “Enough! On what merit? You ask on what merit?”
“Purely because Lin Wan’s husband is Huaiming’s superior officer!”
“Purely because if her husband gives Huaiming a rough time and suppresses him at every turn, our son’s future will be completely ruined!” With that, Xu Hui’s father stormed back to his room, slamming the door shut with a heavy crash.
Xu Hui snapped her gaze toward the shut door of her father’s room. Her brother’s superior officer? That old widower who was nearly fifty? Lin Wan went to be the replacement wife for a widower who already had grandchildren? To be a stepmother and step-grandmother to others? Truly, like mother, like daughter!
Xu Hui felt slightly comforted inside. She deeply despised Lin Wan—that cheap, shameless woman! She was completely different. She was going to marry her brother’s comrade-in-arms. She was going to marry Huo Xiao! He had become a deputy regiment commander at such a young age, and he was exceptionally handsome! Once she became the wife of a regiment commander, she would turn back to pack Lin Wan up! Packing Lin Wan up would be far too simple; she could just instigate her stepchildren and step-grandchildren to deal with her!
Thinking up to this point, a hidden trace of pure gratification actually surged within Xu Hui’s heart.
Hearing the words of Xu Hui’s father, Wang Sufen could barely even stand steady. Her younger brother was her very heart and flesh, but her biological son was her absolute weakness. She had given birth to a son with her very first pregnancy, which allowed her to stand completely tall in her in-laws’ home—unlike her sisters, who spawned a long line of daughters and couldn’t lift their heads at all in their husbands’ homes.
Slap! Wang Sufen delivered a ferocious slap across the face of Xu Hui, who was currently daydreaming.
Caught entirely off guard by the strike, Xu Hui was completely dazed.
“It’s all to blame on you!”
“If you hadn’t invited this disaster, would our household have lost everything down to the absolute bottom?”
“You disgraced us and forced us to offer apologies and make amends to a foul girl and a dead shrew, and you even made it so your uncle can’t even get married!”
“Your father completely ruined you with spoiling!”
Xu Hui stared at Wang Sufen in pure disbelief. Her mother had struck her!!!!
“Mom, you struck me?”
“You would rather see me rot in a prison cell than trade the house to rescue me?”
“In your heart, is there nothing but my brother and my uncle?”
“I hate you!” Driven completely wild by the surging resentment in her heart, Xu Hui cupped her face and bolted straight out the door.
In her fit of rage, Wang Sufen didn’t bother to manage her, nor did she possess the state of mind to care.
At the hospital.
Looking at the meat dishes covering the table, Zhang Aimin rubbed his hands together. It was far too lavish!
“Oh my, ever since Wanwan found a partner and secured a job, this Uncle Zhang has constantly been basking in our Wanwan’s light!”
“Over these past two weeks, I’ve eaten more meat than I usually do in a whole year!”
Huang Guixiang delivered a flirtatious glare to him, placing a piece of duck neck into his bowl. “If there are blessings, just hurry up and enjoy them!”
“Wanwan knew you loved konjac braised duck, so she specifically instructed Hongqiang to go buy it!”
Zhang Hongqiang, who was currently burying his head to gorge himself with absolute vigor, thought to himself: My sister instructed me? Forget it. Whatever Mom says goes!
“Hurry up. Once we finish eating, I will announce a piece of excellent news.”
With Huang Guixiang’s excellent news acting as a heavy bait, Zhang Aimin and Zhang Hongqiang finished eating with lightning speed. After finishing the meal, Zhang Hongqiang proactively went to heat water to wash the lunchboxes. The dishes they ate today were full of meat, leaving the lunchboxes heavily coated in grease, which couldn’t be cleaned with cold water.
“Mom, wait until I finish washing the lunchboxes before you announce it!” He was a vital member of the family, so how could he be absent?
Lin Wan wore a beaming smile. Ah! She truly adored this kind of warm scene. This was exactly what it felt like to possess a home and family. She absolutely loved it to death.
The moment Zhang Hongqiang trotted back inside, Huang Guixiang cleared her throat slightly. “Regarding Wanwan’s matter, that family compensated us with eight hundred yuan and a big stack of coupons!”
Zhang Hongqiang pouted in pure dissatisfaction. “Mom, this doesn’t count as excellent news at all!”
“My sister was beaten until she was hospitalized. Can eight hundred yuan possibly substitute for the suffering my sister endured?”
“Mom, I’m declaring my stance regardless: I resolutely refuse to forgive them!” When he turned around, he would definitely go slash the tire valves of that dead woman’s bicycle! Hmph! He would even smear dog poop all over her bicycle seat!
Huang Guixiang delivered a sharp slap to the back of his head. “Your sister’s matter requires your forgiveness?!”
Zhang Hongqiang stiffened his neck. “My sister’s business is my business! Why don’t I possess the right to refuse forgiveness?”
Lin Wan quickly peeled a banana and stuffed it straight into his mouth. “You possess the right! Sister hasn’t forgiven her either; it’s just that we can’t refuse the money, otherwise we’d just be letting her off too cheaply!”
Chewing on the banana, Zhang Hongqiang nodded in deep agreement. “Exactly! We cannot let her off cheaply!”
“Mom, look, your awareness isn’t nearly as high as my sister’s!”
Huang Guixiang slipped off her shoe, preparing to pelt him with it. Zhang Hongqiang wailed dramatically as he ducked right behind Lin Wan’s back.
Watching this exact scene unfold, Zhang Aimin burst into a laugh of absolute contentment.
