“Fen Ma?” Wang Juan sat up a little straighter.
Tian Xiaohua came over and pressed her daughter’s arm. “Don’t move, just lie still. Mom and Dad came to see you today. How are you feeling now?”
Lin Jiazhen, who had just brought in some water, saw that the Wang couple had arrived.
She put down the thermos, poured a cup of hot tea for the eldest daughter-in-law, then quietly stepped out.
Only then did Wang Mei reply, tears streaming down as she spoke, “Mom… my life is so miserable. How could I be so unlucky?”
“Don’t cry, don’t cry. You can’t afford to be weak now.”
Seeing her daughter like this, Tian Xiaohua was also a bit moved.
She handed her some tea and asked many questions before suddenly sighing, “Xiao Juan, do you know about your mother-in-law coming to our house?”
Wang Mei said she knew. “My mother-in-law told me. Mom, what do you think about this?”
During her hospital stay these past two days, she had been thinking—if she had just stepped back a little during the fight that day, none of this would have happened.
Now the child was gone, and she wouldn’t be able to have any more in the future.
What would she do in the Zeng family?
After all, she knew very well that her father-in-law desperately wanted a grandson.
When she heard that her mother-in-law was demanding compensation, Wang Juan didn’t dare to oppose it.
Besides, for the sake of her future life in the Zeng family, her parents would probably have to make some concessions.
“Xiao Mei, your mother-in-law is driving us crazy!” Wang Zhigang had been holding it in for a while but couldn’t anymore. “They’re holding big-character posters for Shuyi and running to the factory gate every day. Now I’ve lost all face at the factory. Do you know? They want nine hundred yuan from me! Just think about it—where would we find nine hundred yuan?”
Hearing that number, Wang Juan was stunned as well.
Tian Xiaohua sighed too. “Son-in-law, you know your younger brother’s engagement was broken off. It won’t be easy to find a match for him in the future. And Weibing is getting older—he needs a job before he can find a wife. Where would we get that kind of money?”
Wang Zhigang agreed, “Xiao Juan, you’re usually so considerate towards us. Can you talk to your mother-in-law and ask her not to demand so much? Who can afford such an amount?”
Tian Xiaohua nodded repeatedly. “Yes, Xiao Juan. Or else when you get the money, you can give it back to us later.”
Wang Zhigang nudged his wife’s arm, “What are you saying? Xiao Juan also needs money to recover. We have to leave some for her.”
Listening to her parents going back and forth, Wang Mei silently let tears fall, “Mom, Dad, don’t you know that I won’t be able to have children anymore?”
That question immediately silenced Wang Zhigang and Tian Xiaohua.
“But Xiao Mei, we really don’t have that kind of money,” Wang Zhigang said awkwardly. “You can’t expect us to sell blood, right? Besides, you need your family as a support now. If your brothers had any ability, the Zeng family wouldn’t dare to bully you. You understand that, don’t you?”
“You can’t force us, Dad. Are you going to push the Wang family into a dead end?”
In the hospital room, the three Wang family members kept talking. Lin Jiazhen stood at the door, saw the daughter had arrived, and hurriedly said that Wang Zhigang and his wife were inside.
“I knew they’d be here. We didn’t see anyone at the factory gate, so they probably came here,” Zeng Shuyi coughed hoarsely. “Mom, you should go rest at home. I’ll stay here.”
“I’ll stay,” Lin Jiazhen said, knowing her daughter didn’t like the eldest daughter-in-law.
“Listen to me, go home first, have some food, get some rest. I’m not going to eat you alive, don’t be so afraid,” Zeng Shuyi pushed her mother out, and when she returned, Wang Zhigang and his wife had already left.
She looked at the eldest sister-in-law in the hospital bed. “Did your parents tell you to ask for less money?”
Faced with Zeng Shuyi, Wang Mei felt guilty but also didn’t want to look at her. “This is our family’s matter; it has nothing to do with you.”
“What do you mean it has nothing to do with me? Eldest sister-in-law, you need to open your eyes. After you were hospitalized, it was my mom who ran around taking care of you. As for your parents, they were busy with work and went to the Ming family for money.” Zeng Shuyi snorted, “You don’t know how much money they asked from the Ming family, do you?”
“How much?” Wang Mei asked.
“Five hundred,” Zeng Shuyi spread her hands. “See? Impressive, right? But they must have told you there wasn’t any, asking you to understand because there are two younger brothers at home. They said Wang Weiguo won’t have good prospects for marriage in the future, and Wang Weibing needs a job before he can support you.”
Pausing, Zeng Shuyi sneered, “But look at how you’re doing now. Did they make things easier for you? All they care about is money, just trying to squeeze every bit of value out of you.”
Wang Mei was stunned.
Zeng Shuyi continued, “Think about it—you’re going to live in the Zeng family from now on. My mom is easy to talk to, but my dad… you know what kind of person he is. Do you think now, as you are, he wouldn’t try to persuade my eldest brother to divorce you? Eldest sister-in-law, if you and my eldest brother divorce, do you think the Wang family would still want you?”
Those words made Wang Juan’s heart skip a beat; her hands and feet turned cold. Her greatest fear was Zeng Xiangping making her divorce.
“I’m advising you—be clear-headed. You don’t need to get involved in the money matters. Just don’t take a stance. Of course, if you insist on being stubborn, then I can’t help. Anyway, I have time.” Zeng Shuyi finished speaking, patted her pants, and stood up. “If I can persuade you to go home, think carefully while you’re here. When it’s mealtime, Mom will come bring you food.”
Watching Zeng Shuyi leave, Wang Juan broke out in a cold sweat. She hated Zeng Shuyi, but what she said was the harsh reality.
If they divorced, her family would surely try to find a way for her to remarry, but she couldn’t have children anymore after remarriage. How could she find a good family?
In the hospital room, the Wang family son-in-law was getting more and more anxious, unable to collect himself until his mother-in-law arrived.
Zeng Shuyi was selling goods during the day, and early in the morning she went to the factory gate where Wang Zhigang worked.
Wang Zhigang ran back and forth between the hospital and the Zeng family twice in a row. After Wang Juan was discharged, he went to the Zeng family, but Zeng Qingliang didn’t even let him through the gate. He said without money, he wasn’t their Qin Jia Gong, and there was no way to see the daughter.
“Xiao Mei!” Wang Zhigang shouted at the gate. “Xiao Juan, come out quickly. Dad came to see you.”
The neighbor Liu Xiwang ran over quickly. “You’re Xiao Mei’s dad, right? Oh man, what’s wrong between your two families? You’re the Qin Jia Gong, but Qingliang shut you out?”
“Noise, it’s nothing serious. I just came to see my daughter. There was a fight with the Qin Jia before,” Wang Zhigang made himself sound pitiful, which only made Liu Xiwang more curious.
Liu Xiwang loved to meddle and immediately went to the Zeng family. “Qingliang, you can’t do this. It’s the Qin Jia Gong coming to see his daughter; how can you not let him in?”
Zeng Shuyi, who was still eating, immediately put down her chopsticks and rushed in front of Wang Zhigang. “Let me tell you all—there’s no way they can come in because the Wang family caused my eldest sister-in-law to have a miscarriage. You all know they’re planning to have kids soon, and my eldest brother will be the only child. If this had happened to you, would you let them in?”
After those words, no one sympathized with Wang Zhigang anymore.
Zeng Shuyi went back to Wang Zhigang. “I told you before, don’t play tricks on me. No matter what, if you’re in the wrong, admit it obediently. Otherwise, I’m braver than any of you.”
When Zeng Shuyi returned home, she deliberately looked at Liu Xiwang. “Lao Liu, I’ll say one more thing to you. If you’re really that bored, you can go wash clothes at the factory.”
Liu Xiwang: ……
Everyone in the yard laughed heartily, though some said Zeng Shuyi’s mouth was too sharp and no one would dare to mess with her in the future.
Zeng Shuyi didn’t care what people said outside. She sat down and resumed eating.
Amid the crowd’s gossip and pointing fingers, Wang Zhigang quietly withdrew. He tried several times but never managed to see his daughter. Zeng Shuyi was like a vulture, not giving him any chance.
As for Zeng Qingliang, he was easygoing about other things, but when it came to the grandson, he refused to give in. So Wang Zhigang went to speak with Zeng Qingliang’s supervisor, but Qingliang didn’t accept it and directly asked the supervisor if he could accept the situation.
Of course, no one could accept it, so no one spoke for Wang Zhigang.
There was nothing else to do. In the end, Wang Zhigang paid nine hundred yuan, plus compensation for the days Zeng Shuyi and the others lost work.
After receiving the money, Zeng Shuyi split the lost wages between her brothers and second brother-in-law, kept two hundred seventy for herself, and gave the rest to her father.
Zeng Qingliang only gave fifty yuan to Wang Mei. “This money, you can use it to recover your health or give it to your family—whatever you want. The rest of the money I’ll keep for you two. If you need more later, just come to me.”
Originally, Zeng Qingliang planned to withhold Wang Juan’s bride price and give the rest to his son and daughter-in-law. But when he learned that Wang Zhigang and his wife were targeting Wang Juan, he kept the money.
The Wang family son-in-law didn’t dare refuse. She had no backbone now and could only stare blankly at the fifty yuan.
Until her daughter brought in tea, the little girl walked slowly, making Wang Mei’s heart tighten. “Mom, have some tea.”
Seeing her daughter so obedient and sensible, Wang Juan burst into tears, hugging her tightly. “My child… from now on, I only have you.”
Zeng Yuling, held by her mother, didn’t understand why her mom was crying, but seeing her sadness, she began to wail too.
In the living room, Lin Jiazhen quietly said, “Qingliang, isn’t it a bit wrong to keep Xiao Juan’s money?”
“Why give her money? She’ll just give it to the Wang family. We’d be wasting our effort,” Zeng Qingliang said coldly. “She gives the Wang family ten yuan a month, and we get ten yuan for living expenses. We used to tolerate her, but why keep tolerating her now?”
Zeng Qingliang was not a good-tempered man and never showed consideration. He was like this before and still was.
Zeng Shuyi took the money, first asking Zhao Fu to get a ticket for a three-wheeled cart, then spending two hundred twenty to buy a second-hand one, using the two hundred seventy yuan she had. She spent it all cleanly.
She returned the rented cart and when she rode the new one home, everyone at the alley entrance stared in disbelief.
“My goodness, Shuyi, you’ve only been in business a short time and you’ve already bought a cart?” Xu Zhaodi looked shocked. Her family also had a bike but had to save for a whole year to afford it. Shuyi hadn’t been doing this long.
Zeng Shuyi smiled, “Try it yourself, then you’ll know whether it’s tight or not.”
She didn’t waste words with the older folks. With the new three-wheeler, she wouldn’t have to worry about owners refusing to rent to her, and a three-wheeler could carry more goods than a bicycle, letting her sell more.
After this incident, the Wang family never came to look for Wang Juan again, nor did they contact the Zeng family.
Until late July, when Zeng Shuyi went to the Yin Hang to withdraw money, she ran into Shi Yinghua.
“Shuyi, you should go home soon. I just saw the postman go to your house, it seemed like he was delivering a Lu Qu Tong Zhi Shu to your eldest brother.” Shi Yinghua was also there to deposit money. She glanced at Zeng Shuyi, surprised to see her able to come to the bank, clearly her small business was doing well.
When she heard it was a Lu Qu Tong Zhi Shu for her eldest brother, Zeng Shuyi’s smile immediately vanished. She didn’t go home but instead went to find Bai Duoduo at the tavern.
“He’s such a fool. Let him repeat a year and he’ll still get into college,” Zeng Shuyi said angrily, taking a sip of wine.
Bai Duoduo saw Shuyi was upset and comforted her, “Sister Shuyi, you said before that studying isn’t the only path. Maybe in the future, we’ll live better than those bookworms. Don’t you think so?”
“Yes! I will definitely live better than him!” Zeng Shuyi raised her cup again. “I’ll drink, you drink tea, let’s toast!”