"If anyone says something,, just rebut them directly. As long as you give the money to your maternal family, we will too. Some people, when it’s not their business, they just know how to jump in," Zhao Tianhe acknowledged. He wasn’t very smart, but he knew he could ask smarter people for advice.
"Right, let’s see what those people will have to say now."
Zhao Tianhe mentioned his mother-in-law again, who seemed easy to get along with at a glance, but after a few meetings, he knew that was just a facade.
"Yuemei told me that unless it’s a festival or New Year’s, she won’t give money to her maternal family," he affirmed with certainty.
"You can’t rely on your mother-in-law’s side, and I’m not just talking behind their back. It’s the truth," he added.
Wang Yuemei wasn’t favored in her maternal family and even experienced gender preference from her parents.
"Sister-in-law, I’ve known that for a long time," Zhao Tianlei chimed in. "If you’re planning to go back early for New Year’s, discuss it with your wife, and don’t forget to buy train tickets in advance. Since it’s the summer break now, train tickets aren’t easy to come by."
This year, they planned not to return to their hometown for the New Year but instead to visit his wife’s family.
As for Fang Chaoyang and his two siblings, they also had no plans to go back to their hometown, mainly because Grandma Fang was getting on in years. Travelling back and forth would require several days on the train, and at her age, transferring trains was too troublesome, a real ordeal.
As for Zhao Xinxin, even though it was her first year of marriage, she had no plans to return to her hometown either, seemingly because she was pregnant and in the early months, afraid to travel far.
So, only Cao Dali’s family of three, along with their own couple, would be going back.
"I’ve got this. I’ve already arranged with Dali and the others. We’ll buy tickets early. Little Candy is too young to sit in a hard seat," he assured her.
"Sister-in-law, help me talk to Yuemei. She doesn’t talk much, but she still has expectations of her maternal home," he requested.
After all, they were her biological parents.
If she really convinced her, it would put Yuemei in an impossible position.
"You persuade her yourself. They say teach your wife by the pillow. Just assure her that you will treat her well. Of course, it’s not just about saying it; you need to show it through actions," she advised.
Zhao Tianhe didn’t stay long before heading back.
He still wanted to persuade Wang Yuemei.
Wang Yuemei looked at him, "You’re back?"
With the in-laws gone back to their hometown, now it was just the two of them living in the yard. Every day, Brother Xiao He would take her to the factory, and in the afternoon, she would come home by herself to wash clothes, cook, and clean the house.
"Yuemei, when can you ask your team leader for some time off? We need to visit our hometown," he said.
Wang Yuemei remembered that it seemed the in-laws have mentioned going back home, hadn’t they?
But as a temporary worker, she couldn’t just take such a long leave. The factory would never approve it, right?
She wanted to ask if she could leave the factory...
She has been working there steadily, this job was something her mother found out about when the factory was hiring and had her go take the test. She passed and got the job, but it was only a temporary position.
Because of this, her mother wanted a large portion of her salary, claiming if she had not known about the hiring, she wouldn’t have known about the textile factory’s recruitment.
Her mother also said she was saving it for her, to give to her when she got married.
But when she got married, she didn’t see a penny.
Clearly, her mother had deceived her.
"I might not be able to get the time off, I’m not an official worker, just temporary," she replied.
"Go ahead and ask for the leave. If the factory doesn’t want you anymore, I’ll find you a job, and it’ll be as an official worker this time. We need to go back and talk about dividing the family property. We’ll be living in the Capital City from now on, and my big brother and the rest will stay in our hometown," he explained.
That was why Zhao Tianhe needed to return to his hometown.