Shen Meng glanced at Lu Zhenping, turned her head away and when she turned back, her eyes were already brimming with tears, all traces of her previous stubbornness gone.
"What are father and mother saying? How could I possibly think of hitting dad? I’m just a daughter-in-law married into this family, with the man of the house rarely at home. As a woman left alone with the children, I carefully make a living. Every time I send money, mother, Xiang Lan, Jiaojiao, and the two younger sisters-in-law all say it’s useful, asking to borrow some every now and then. Very little is spent on me and the children each month. Even the brick house we lived in when we got married, I gave it up when mother asked, and moved to the old courtyard’s broken house with the children, all for the sake of family harmony. I thought as a daughter-in-law, I did enough, but still, they think I am restless," she whimpered, "I... I really don’t want to live anymore~..."
These matters had already been known by most people in the village when they came up previously, but Shen Meng thought that Lu Zhenping did not know. A woman’s tears can sometimes be very effective. She felt that her tear-streaked face, along with her sobbing, was incredibly impactful. After settling this issue, she could use her anger as a reason to not let Lu Zhenping enter the bedroom tonight, which she internally thought was very feasible.
Lu Zhenping: "..."
How did she manage to switch from being stubborn to frail in an instant, and those teardrops, how could they fall just by saying so???
He observed carefully but couldn’t find the knack, only attributing it to her being terribly wronged.
Seeing his wife show weakness, seeing how distressed Mingyang and the kids were, he looked towards Liu Sanjin and Lu Changzhu.
"Dad, Mom, don’t wield the precept of doing this for my sake. Who it really benefits, don’t you think I don’t know? It’s obviously inappropriate for Shen Meng to slap back. How could she raise a hand against her own father-in-law!"
Lu Changzhu and Liu Sanjin felt relieved hearing him say this; before they spoke, Lu Zhenping continued: "However, things might turn ugly when my father-in-law finds out, and if he takes action, I won’t stop him. But since Shen Meng just mentioned it, mother, and you two sisters-in-law, return the money borrowed from Xiao Meng. Mom should also prepare to pay back what Miaomiao and Lanhua borrowed. So many people are watching, it wouldn’t be good to default on the debt."
Their faces turned ashen. After all the noise, he wasn’t just thinking about when Shen Fugui knew about today’s incident, hoping he would come and give him a beating; he was also calculating the household money. This damned fool, how worthless he is, they thought to themselves. They should have strangled him the moment he was born.
"You... you really are my good son! Humph!"
Lu Changzhu turned and began to walk away. Seeing him leave, Liu Sanjin also wanted to follow, while Wu Xianglan and Zhou Jiaojiao, shrinking their necks in fear, wondered where they could find the money to repay. What they previously received was long spent to the last cent.
"Hey, don’t just walk away! We should settle this properly."
"You, Lu Zhenping, do you even act like a dutiful son or daughter anymore? Today you’ve trampled your parents’ dignity underfoot. What are you after? Have you lost your mind?"
People outside began gossiping, too. Previously, when Lu Zhenping sent home allowances and letters, everyone would praise him a few words. But this time, he seemed only concerned about his wife and not at all about his parents’ kindness. If it were them, they would rather not have such a son at all.
Zhou Jiaojiao, Wu Xianglan, and the escaping Lu Jiahe also felt that their elder brother was behaving like he had gone mad. Before, when he came home, wasn’t he always peaceful and pleasant? When had he become so extreme?
Lu Zhenping, no longer leisurely as before, set his face straight, his gaze cold and detached as he stared at the crowd. This changing expression startled everyone a bit.
"Mother, there are some things I do not wish to speak too clearly about. Do you still remember the Dragon Boat Festival when I was five years old at home?"
Liu Sanjin’s face stiffened as she stared incredulously at Lu Zhenping, then shuddered backwards, nervously clasping her sleeves and looking left and right. After a moment, she stabilized and looked back at Lu Zhenping.
"You, you know... Okay, okay, Miaomiao and Lanhua borrowed money from Xiao Meng, I paid it back for them first, I will bring it home, Jiaojiao and Xiang Lan should hurry up and send the money back to your elder sister-in-law."
After saying that, she trembled and hurried away, Lu Jiahe seized the opportunity to run up and support her, constantly wiping the sweat from her forehead.
Wu Xianglan had no money in her hands, and Shen Meng never looked up to her, she barely lent her any money. Now in front of so many people, she could only shamelessly say, "Big brother, you see, I have no money, can I write an IOU? I will pay it back, I will definitely pay it back, haha, haha!"
"Mingyang, take out the paper from your backpack and let your second aunt make an IOU. Remember to let her put a fingerprint on it."
Lu Mingyang responded with an "ah", immediately took out paper and pen from his backpack, and handed it to Wu Xianglan, since he couldn’t write, he looked towards his authoritative father.
Lu Zhenping clicked his tongue, reluctantly starting to write.
Wu Xianglan spoke too quickly, Zhou Jiaojiao wanted to stop her but couldn’t. She indeed had quite a bit of money on hand, including what she brought from her parents’ home, the dowry given by Lu Jiaxuan during the wedding, and what she occasionally skimmed from the grandmother, most of which were swindled from Shen Meng.
She pursed her lips, feeling too ashamed to write the IOU, right now paying back the money was the only real solution, pacifying the big brother and sister-in-law to calm them down, that way Jiaxuan’s job could be preserved.
"Big brother, sister-in-law, I’ll go home and get it now. Times were tough at home before, and I only dared to ask the sister-in-law for money when desperate. Now Jiaxuan is able to work too, I can’t care about anything else, as long as he does well, my life can look forward. Today sister-in-law was wronged, I’ll have Jiaxuan buy some meat at the Cooperative Society to replenish her health, I’m going to get the money now, big brother, sister-in-law, just wait a moment!"
She turned around and ran off, indifferent to Wu Xianglan calling her from behind. The money in her hands had its uses, there was no way she would pay for Wu Xianglan; their family was a bottomless pit, helping them now meant no returns in the future.
Having secured the IOU, Lu Zhenping smiled and said to those still outside: "We have things to attend to at home and can’t keep you all any longer, we’ll talk another time."
After speaking, he closed the door, also shutting Lu Jiasheng who was standing nearby outside, then picked up the bag placed on the ground, and looked at his mother and the four children standing up together.
"Let’s go inside, are you still standing here like door gods?"
Shen Meng looked down at the children. At this hour, they would definitely be late for school, and with the commotion going on for so long, it must have affected their studies.
"No school this afternoon, tomorrow I’ll take you to school to explain the situation, so you don’t get punished to stand."
Mingyang and the others clearly didn’t want to go either, their eyes fixed on the back of Lu Zhenping, with an inexplicable wariness. Shen Meng almost laughed out loud, good children, now they were indeed standing with her.