Shi Meilan borrowing money from her family for him, stubbornly pulling a hundred yuan out, proved her loyalty.
Why marry a wife? Of course, a wife is to be useful! Li Jianye married Shi Meilan because she was smart, never suffered losses, looked good, brought him face in public, was handy, and cooked well.
Now, he added one more criterion for Shi Meilan: sharing the burden of debt.
A good wife stands by her husband through thick and thin, supports him with heart and soul no matter what he faces.
A woman who can elevate a man to greatness earns the praise and applause of many—that is a woman’s greatest honor.
He once thought about replacing Shi Meilan with Wang Yulian, but after today, he felt no need.
Seeing Shi Meilan work so hard to borrow money from her family for him, he was willing to stick with her.
Even if he had other women on the side, it was just play—his true wife would still be Shi Meilan. No matter how obedient Wang Yulian was, he wouldn’t replace her.
Because Shi Meilan was a good woman!
That day, after returning from Shi Family village, Li Jianye wanted to move back to the front east room to spend some intimate time with Shi Meilan, but she said his injury made his body weak and insisted he stay in the west room.
Li Jianye didn’t think much and stayed in the west room.
…
After returning from Shi Family village and settling Li Jianye, Shi Meilan began borrowing money all over the village.
Each time, she brought Li Jianye along, and all the IOUs were signed in his name.
Shi Meilan and Li Jianye were respected in the village. They weren’t borrowing due to gambling debts but because of an accident.
They borrowed money to quickly buy tutoring books for the kids preparing for the college entrance exams. The villagers were willing to lend.
However, no matter who Shi Meilan borrowed from, she never went to the Lao Hu Family at the village’s edge.
Shi Meilan said it was because she was dealing with a broken engagement and felt too ashamed to ask.
Li Jianye agreed—Shi Meilan had even managed to handle such a difficult matter as breaking off an engagement, showing how capable she was.
Some in Li’s village lent money, some didn’t. Altogether they borrowed over thirty yuan. Even Zhao Erjie was forced by Old Lady Li to lend twenty yuan. Now, they were just a dozen yuan short of two hundred. It looked like it was almost enough.
At this moment, an event interrupted Shi Meilan’s borrowing plans.
Old Lady Li’s fifty-sixth birthday banquet was coming.
Shi Meilan’s revenge had reached its critical stage.
…
June 12th was a scorching, brilliant day.
The sky was cloudless, the blazing sun scorched the earth, and cicadas in the trees chirped incessantly.
By afternoon, the veteran chef from the town arrived at the grand courtyard of the Li family with a group of apprentices, bustling with preparations.
Old Lady Li loved noise and prestige. She got up early, dressed in a bright new outfit, and greeted the arriving guests with a smile so wide it nearly split her face.
Zhao Erjie pushed her father-in-law to the side, seating him behind a table so the limping old man could socialize.
Since his leg was crippled, his temper had worsened; any slight displeasure set him off. He needed to scold his daughter-in-law to assert his authority, and the more people around, the louder he was.
Zhao Erjie was annoyed. She left him at a table with Li family relatives and turned to collecting gift money.
The red envelopes were few. Most people only host banquets for their fiftieth or sixtieth birthdays, but Old Lady Li held one every year.
Guests came unwilling to give big envelopes—some gave only one yuan, others fifty cents, and some brought vegetables instead. It wasn’t even enough to cover the banquet costs!
This losing proposition, the old woman insisted on holding!
Her father-in-law loved to scold, her mother-in-law loved to show off, her husband was always driving elsewhere, and her son worked in town but never earned enough. What a miserable life!
Zhao Erjie grew angrier and angrier. Just as she found a seat to catch her breath, she had to listen to people praising Shi Meilan.
“Ah, the Li family really hit the jackpot with Shi Meilan as a good daughter-in-law. It’s like their ancestral grave is smoking with good fortune.”
Zhao Erjie was about to explode.
She was forced by Old Lady Li to lend twenty yuan to Shi Meilan and hadn’t even gotten a word of praise!
While she was fuming, she spotted Shi Meilan and Li Jianye arriving with Li Tianci and Li Tianfu.
Since they were family, they didn’t need to bring gifts.
But Zhao Erjie wasn’t pleased, so she seated Li Tianci and Li Tianfu at the main table and, citing “not enough chairs,” placed Li Jianye and Shi Meilan at a side guest table, forbidding them from sitting at the main table.
Zhao Erjie told Shi Meilan, “Second sister-in-law, your sister-in-law has been busy all morning. You just got here—go help her out. Make some tea in the kitchen.”
Zhao Erjie simply didn’t want to see Shi Meilan resting.
Surrounded by guests, Shi Meilan had no choice but to comply.
Sure enough, Shi Meilan stood up obediently.
“Sis-in-law, you sit down and rest. I’ll help in the kitchen.”
Zhao Erjie was pleased.
After Shi Meilan went to the kitchen, Zhao Erjie saw more guests arriving and hurried to the door to greet them.
This guest was the widely known Widow Wang. She came alone, without her daughter.
Widow Wang was evidently dressed up today, wearing a simple pale dress, her hair pinned low with a hairpin, looking less like a rural woman and more like a figure out of a Republican-era painting.
Two strands of hair fell in front of her face, giving her an air of lingering charm.
Zhao Erjie curled her lip and said flatly, “Here she is.”
Widow Wang gave fifty cents in gift money.
Zhao Erjie cursed her silently as a freeloading widow and casually seated her at the guest table, conveniently beside Li Jianye.
Before she could turn away, two more people arrived—Hu Chengjun and Hu Honghua.
Seeing Hu Honghua, Zhao Erjie rolled her eyes. She was Shi Meilan’s lackey.
Then she looked at Hu Chengjun, her uncle’s lackey—this man was a rare visitor, known for his odd temperament and little interaction with the village.
Rumor had it he recently delivered meat to town and made a good profit.
No one knew why he was so interested today, coming to their family’s banquet.
Zhao Erjie barely acknowledged them but took their gift money—and found it was two yuan!
Now she was happy, smiling as she led them to the guest table.
This time, at the guest table, to the left sat Li Jianye and Wang Yulian; to the right sat Hu Chengjun and Hu Honghua.
The four all knew each other and seemed decent people with no shady deeds, so sitting together didn’t draw attention.
They looked just like ordinary folks!
But at this table, Li Jianye sneaked glances at Wang Yulian, who casually kicked his leg with the tip of her shoe.
Hu Honghua bowed her head deeply, and Hu Chengjun sat up straight, expression cold.
The banquet was noisy, and Li Jianye’s voice blended into the clamor, fading into the background. He silently nodded, calm as a tranquil mountain.
Until a cool breeze drifted from afar.
“The tea in the kitchen isn’t ready yet,” Shi Meilan came out from the house, smiling as she passed through the noisy crowd. “Let’s have a few drinks.”
With her back to Hu Chengjun, she poured a glass of wine for Li Jianye and Wang Yulian.
Hu Chengjun looked at her back. As she turned, he lowered his gaze. He drank his cup in one gulp. The surrounding noise faded away; only the sound of her footsteps, pouring water, and the smile in her eyes remained.
Even his rigid mountain-like calm could be shaken by her.
…
But Shi Meilan didn’t notice Hu Chengjun at all.
No matter how much that mountain trembled, she was unaware. Her eyes were fixed on Li Jianye and Wang Yulian.
Seeing both finish their wine, her heart raced fiercely, and she bit her lip hard.
In her previous life, this pair of scoundrels had stolen her money, secretly cuckolded her, climbed over her head before she died—she hadn’t forgotten the hatred in her final days for even one day.
In this life, she would ruin them both—destroy their reputations so thoroughly they’d never lift their heads again.
…
Li Jianye and Wang Yulian, however, were completely unaware.
After three cups, just as the chef brought out the dishes, Wang Yulian suddenly felt unwell.
She felt hot all over.
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