novellhall Chapter 178 Sister-in-law Wang gets angry and hits Aunt Zhu
Chapter 178 Sister-in-law Wang gets angry and hits Aunt Zhu
With Huo Yanchuan not home, Wenrou kept herself busy.
Sun Mei originally wanted to take the initiative to befriend Wenrou, but Wenrou ignored her completely, so she set her sights on Li Xiuying.
Knowing that Wenrou wasn't home during the day, she brought over some mountain produce sent from her hometown.
"Auntie, I'm your neighbor next door. My name is Sun Mei. My husband is Commander Huo's subordinate. This is something I brought from my hometown. Please have a taste." Sun Mei smiled and handed over the basket.
Li Xiuying had only been here a short time and was busy taking care of several children every day. She wasn't very familiar with the people in the compound yet.
Seeing Sun Mei's politeness, she smiled and accepted it.
"Oh, you're too kind."
The two chatted for a while at the door. Li Xiuying didn't expect the people in the family compound to be so enthusiastic.
"Our Xiaorou is usually stubborn and headstrong, but she has a very kind heart. You are all neighbors, so you should help each other out in the future." Li Xiuying had a very good impression of Sun Mei and said many gentle things.
"Yes, Wenrou is so capable. You are so lucky to have such an outstanding daughter." Sun Mei praised Wenrou in front of Li Xiuying.
Her words made Li Xiuying feel even more comfortable. Now, hearing others praise her gentleness, she felt genuinely proud.
"Oh my, you really know how to talk." Li Xiuying's smile never faded as Sun Mei praised her.
However, she also knew the principle of "he who takes a gift is bound to be obligated to give it to someone," so she took some things from home and gave them to Sun Mei before sending her away.
When Wenrou returned, she learned that Sun Mei had come to her door on her own initiative. Her face turned cold, and she instructed Li Xiuying, "That Sun Mei next door is dishonest and has bad character. If she comes to our door again, just ignore her."
"Ah, I thought she was a pretty nice person. If what you say is true, then I won't talk to her next time," Li Xiuying replied.
She can stay here now and doesn't want to cause any trouble for Wenrou.
She didn't know the people in the family compound, so she figured it was always right to listen to gentle people.
The next day, Sun Mei wanted to visit Li Xiuying again to try and get closer to her, but Li Xiuying directly blocked her at the door and refused.
Seeing that the person who had gotten along well with her yesterday had suddenly changed her expression today, Sun Mei guessed that Wenrou must have said something to her. So she explained to Li Xiuying, "Auntie, I had some misunderstandings with Wenrou before. Please don't let what she said affect our relationship."
Li Xiuying hadn't planned to say anything more to Sun Mei when she heard her mention Jiang Yan again.
"You don't know what happened recently, do you? The murderers who killed Jiang Yan's parents have been found. Those people almost kidnapped Jiang Yan back then."
Li Xiuying doesn't care about anything else, but she treats Jiang Yan like her own grandson, so she can't ignore his affairs.
"What did you say! Our little treasure was almost snatched away?" Upon hearing this, Li Xiuying's expression changed immediately.
Wenrou never told her about such a big thing that happened. Also, Xiaobao's parents were murdered. How will Xiaobao bear it after she finds out the truth?
"Yes, Auntie, you know, that poor boy Xiaoyan is really pitiful. He has to cook every day, and Wenrou is busy too, plus she has two daughters to take care of. Sometimes they don't even have time to look after him..."
Sun Mei only said half of what she meant before stopping.
Even so, it was enough to make Li Xiuying lose her composure.
She said it would have been so much better if Xiao Bao had stayed with her, but Wenrou insisted on bringing him to the family compound.
I'm usually too busy to take care of him, and I still make him do laundry and cook. He was even almost taken away by someone else.
How could she be such a good mother?
She's so angry!
"Auntie, you can't really blame Wenrou for this. After all, there's a difference between biological and adopted children. I'm only telling you this because I mean well. Please don't tell her that I'm the one who told you all this."
Sun Mei had been beaten up by Wenrou because of what happened last time, so she dared not offend Wenrou again.
"Don't worry, I know what I'm doing." After saying that, Li Xiuying turned around and went into her house in a huff.
Upon seeing this, Sun Mei wore a smug smile.
Who told Wenrou to be so ungrateful? She took the initiative to make peace with her, and yet she dared to curse her to have an unhappy life in the future.
Who's truly unhappy? We'll see.
Since Huo Yanchuan went on his mission, Wenrou has been listening to the radio and news every day to keep up with the situation in Yuzhou.
Although she didn't say it to her face, she was worried every single day.
Besides Huo Yanchuan, everyone else in the compound, except for the injured Wu Li, also went, including Zhu Chao.
Sun Mei has squandered most of the money Zhu Chao gave her in the past few days.
However, she also saved some money for herself.
The family has no money left except for the allowance Zhu Chao receives to make ends meet.
Aunt Zhu had originally hoped that Sun Mei would return the money she had given her before, but unfortunately, once the money was in Sun Mei's pocket, there was no way to get it back.
"Xiaomei, Xiaochao gave you a lot of money before, right? He's not home right now, and this month's allowance hasn't been paid yet. Could you take out some money first? We don't have any money to buy food at home." After hesitating several times, Aunt Zhu finally spoke to Sun Mei.
"What money? That money is all gone. Where would I get any money? There's still some cornmeal in the kitchen. Just make yourself some corn porridge." Sun Mei said impatiently while eating sunflower seeds.
She used that money to buy a lot of snacks, such as melon seeds, dried fruit, peach shortbread, sponge cake, and malted milk powder, which were all locked in the cabinet in her room, and there was no share for Aunt Zhu.
She also hid the eggs and sesame oil.
"How can corn porridge fill you up?" Aunt Zhu's face changed immediately when she heard this, but she didn't dare to argue with her.
After all, she was still hoping that Sun Mei would give her a big, healthy grandson, so she could only endure it for now.
"How can you not be full? You don't work all day. If you want to eat something else, find a job to earn money to buy it yourself. Where would I get the money to give you?" After saying that, Sun Mei turned around and went back to her room, ignoring Aunt Zhu.
Aunt Zhu was so angry that she could only turn around and go to the kitchen to cook corn porridge for herself.
This corn porridge was bought by Sister Wang when she was still alive. She usually eats white rice and white flour, and hasn't eaten corn porridge in a long time; the cornmeal has even gotten infested with worms.
But there was nothing else to eat at home, and she was so hungry that she could only filter out the insects and make herself a few cornbreads.
When Sister Wang was at home, she earned enough money to improve the family's life every now and then.
Back then, our family ate white rice and white flour every day, and sometimes we even had meat.
With Zhu Chao's allowances, their family's life, though not as good as Commander Huo's next door, was much better than other families.
But now, just for a bite to eat, Sun Mei is actually making someone this old find work?
She's so angry!
But Zhu Chao is away on duty and not at home, and Aunt Zhu has no other choice but to think about where to earn some money first.
Thinking this, she unknowingly left the family compound and walked into the field.
At that moment, she saw Sister Wang leading people to plant mushrooms, and Xiao Ya was playing on the side, holding a slice of watermelon that had been chilled with cold water, eating it happily.
Besides leading people to grow mushrooms, which earns her thirty yuan a month, Sister Wang also works in the kitchen.
She usually only needs to prepare the food, sometimes go back to lend a hand, and then wash the dishes and clean up after everyone has finished eating. She can earn 30 yuan a month.
Although it's tiring, the thought of earning sixty yuan a month fills her with energy.
Previously, Zhu Chao's monthly allowance was only fifty or sixty yuan. Even so, she didn't even get half of that; Zhu Wenying would take the other half.
Now, the sixty yuan she earns each month is enough to support herself and her daughter, and she can even save half of it.
Xiao Ya not only had chilled watermelon in her hand, but also stewed vegetables and white rice made by Sister Wang. She was enjoying her meal when she heard someone call her name from behind.
"Little girl." Aunt Zhu's eyes lit up when she saw that Little Girl was eating so well.
Hearing the sound, Xiaoya turned around and saw her grandmother walking towards her.
"Grandma..." the little girl called out subconsciously.
Although her parents were divorced, she had lived with Aunt Zhu and Zhu Chao for so many years, so it would be difficult for her to completely cut off contact with them in the short term.
"What are you eating? Let me see." Aunt Zhu said, snatching the lunchbox from the girl's hand without waiting for her to agree or not.
The aroma of rice mixed with the smell of meat made her unable to resist, and she picked up the lunchbox and started eating.
She never expected that Wang Guixiang, who had divorced her son, would still have money to buy meat.
This pork and cabbage stew with glass noodles is incredibly delicious when eaten with white rice.
These past few days, she's been eating nothing but corn porridge and corn cakes, without any meat or fish at all, and her mouth is almost completely tasteless.
The little girl stood there dumbfounded as Aunt Zhu wolfed down her food after her lunchbox was snatched away. Her eyes were filled with tears of grievance.
She was used to being beaten by Aunt Zhu, so even when her lunchbox was taken away, she didn't dare to say a word and could only stand obediently to the side and watch.
Aunt Zhu quickly finished Xiao Ya's meal, then her gaze fell on the half-eaten watermelon that Xiao Ya hadn't finished. In the end, she ate the watermelon right under her, leaving only the rind.
"Grandma... I'm hungry..." She had just picked up the lunchbox and hadn't even taken a few bites when Aunt Zhu snatched it away and ate it all. The little girl immediately burst into tears of grievance.
"Why are you crying? You won't starve if you skip a meal. Besides, you're just a little girl, how big can your appetite be? It's not worth much anyway, so eating so much is a waste of food."
Aunt Zhu tossed the lunchbox to her, wiped her mouth, and turned to leave.
Even though Xiaoya no longer lives with her, she still dislikes Xiaoya for being a girl and is used to hitting and scolding her.
After Aunt Zhu left, Xiao Ya could only stand there hungry, clutching her lunchbox, tears streaming down her face.
When Sister-in-law Wang heard the sound, she noticed that something was wrong with Xiao Ya.
"What's wrong, little girl?" she asked as she walked over.
When Xiao Ya saw Sister Wang, she told her everything that had just happened.
"Grandma just came over and ate all the rice and watermelon in my lunchbox. Mom, I'm hungry, I'm not full yet." The little girl hugged Aunt Wang and cried so hard she could barely breathe.
Today's meal was specially packed by my mother from the transport team's canteen. She couldn't bear to eat it herself and saved it all for her.
But to her surprise, she barely ate a few bites before her grandmother snatched the food away and ate it all.
"Zhu Wenying!" Upon hearing Xiaoya's words, Sister Wang's face immediately darkened.
She never expected Zhu Wenying to be so shameless as to steal the child's food.
Before she and Zhu Chao were divorced, Zhu Wenying bullied her and her daughter. Now that she is divorced and has no connection with the Zhu family anymore, how dare she still bully them?
"Little girl, come on, Mom will get justice for you." Sister Wang put down her work for the time being, took Little Girl's hand, and walked towards the family compound.
When they arrived at the entrance of the family compound, she and Xiaoya were stopped by the guards.
She used to be a military wife and could come and go from the military family compound.
Now that she's divorced, she has no connection to this place anymore, so naturally she can't go in.
Just then, Sister-in-law Wang saw Wenrou riding her bicycle back from afar.
Seeing Wenrou, she knew she had a chance.
"Sister-in-law, what are you and Xiaoya doing here?" Wenrou asked them, looking at them with a puzzled expression.
"It's all because of that shameless old hag Zhu Wenying, who stole Xiaoya's food. I'm going to settle the score with her today."
Sister-in-law Wang told Wenrou everything that had just happened, and Wenrou was shocked when she heard it.
Zhu Wenying is so shameless, trying to steal food from a child.
"Come on, I'll take you in." After she finished speaking, she said to the guard at the gate and led Sister Wang and Xiao Ya into the family compound.
As soon as they entered, Sister Wang took Xiaoya to Zhu Chao's house.
Zhu Wenying had just finished eating and was getting ready for bed when there was a knock on the door.
Immediately afterward, Wang's wife's angry shouts came from the doorway: "Zhu Wenying, you come out here! You shameless old hag, you even try to steal the little girl's food! How come you haven't starved to death yet?"
Zhu Wenying was surprised to hear the noise and didn't expect Wang Guixiang to come to her door. She was stunned and before she could open the door, Sun Mei came out of the house angrily and opened the door.
It was too late for her to stop them; the moment the door opened, Wang Guixiang rushed inside.
"Wang Guixiang, what are you doing?" Sun Mei's expression changed when she saw Wang's sister-in-law rush in, and she asked loudly.
Ignoring her, Sister-in-law Wang rushed towards Zhu Wenying, grabbed her hair, and slapped her across the face.
"Why did you steal Xiaoya's food? Zhu Chao and I are divorced, and you still want to bully us? I'm not letting this go today."
In the past, Sister Wang endured all kinds of mistreatment at home just so she could make a living.
But now that she's divorced, she won't put up with it like before.