Chapter 11: Li Mei Returns Home

  Qin Ming rubbed his head, and bitterly smiled: "Dad, although we don't have money at home, there's always food to eat. Moreover, an old person can't eat that much. I went with Li Mei to pick her up, do you know what my big brother-in-law said? I almost got into a fight with him. He actually said that if his mother had a fever or fell ill, it was because we abused her and we'd have to pay compensation. If she died after going back home, then it would be our fault for killing her. His words were so extreme, how could I possibly bring her back? No matter what, I'm just the son-in-law. When we got married, my family gave them gifts, but they didn't give us a single cent in return. Even Li Mei's wedding dress was bought by me before our marriage. Now she's learning from those heartless people, if I don't stand firm, there won't be any peaceful days at home."

  "You can't just ignore your mother-in-law, can you?" Qin Shan was a very considerate person.

  "I don't care, I send 30 kilograms of rice every month and give her five yuan. That's it, but she can't say a good word, as long as Li Mei says something bad about her brother or sister, the old lady will scold." Qin Ming said with grievance, if he didn't value Li Mei so much, he would try to consider everything for her.

  Qin Qing didn't say anything, but he picked up a big river and put it on the edge, scooped out some water to wash his face.

  Qin Shan thought for a moment and said, "It seems we need to discuss what to do next. We should gather all the family members at our ancestral home." Qin Shan was a kind old man, but not a pushover. If they didn't think carefully, the second son's family might fall apart.

  When they arrived at the ancestral house, Qin Shan said after thinking for a while: "If Li Mei returns by herself, we won't say anything more and just live our lives. If she doesn't return, let's just pretend that our family never had this daughter-in-law."

  One night as husband and wife, a hundred days of kindness. Although Qin Ming was sad, he thought that Li Mei had become more and more overbearing, and he couldn't admit his mistake first like before. If not, in the future, his sister would also not be able to live peacefully at home.

  "Dad, isn't this a bit too severe?" Qin De didn't want any unexpected changes to occur in his second brother's household, and while he had to consider the bigger picture, he also had to take care of the smaller feelings.

  "It can't be helped, it's done this way. If Li Mei is still a sensible person, she will return after suffering some grievances in her natal family. If she is like her brother and sister-in-law, the second son's family will disperse sooner or later. It's better to disperse early than late." Qin Shan's eyes were piercing, recalling that their family was poor back then and had no choice but to take Li Mei as a daughter-in-law.

  Li Mei walked home with a bundle, her pace slowing down as she went further. She hoped Qin Ming would catch up to her, but even when she arrived at her mother's village in Guangyuan, there was no sign of him. The situation at her mother's house was clear to her - after all four brothers had a falling out, she rarely returned home. If it weren't for her elderly mother, she wouldn't have come back at all, let alone sent grain and money every month.

  Thinking of her as the only daughter in the family, but four brothers married and forgot their mother, let alone this married sister. Thinking again about the villagers' maintenance of Qin Qing, she felt extremely jealous, gritted her teeth, and entered the village.

  "Hey, little sister, didn't you just arrive a few days ago?" Li Mei's sister-in-law Xia Hua smiled, but when she saw that Li Mei only had a small cloth bundle with nothing good in it, the smile on her face faded somewhat. Without any benefits to be gained, of course she wouldn't let Li Mei stay for dinner.

  "I've come to see Ah Ma." Li Mei saw Xia Hua's distant gaze and naturally guessed the general idea, so she didn't take advantage of it and nobody paid attention.

  Li Mei turned around, rubbed her eyes, and went to the low hut behind the house. She saw her elderly mother cooking and took a closer look, only to find that it was not the rice she had sent over a few days ago, but rather coarse rice.

  "Mom, how can you eat this? Where's the rice I sent for you?" Li Mei said with a heartache, but she had already guessed that it was probably taken away by one of her sisters-in-law.

  Li's mother saw Li Mei coming and was slightly flustered, saying: "At my age, I still eat such good rice, it's better to leave it for the younger ones to eat."

  Li Mei scowled with anger and said, "Since you won't eat it, I won't send any next month either. That way, it won't end up in the bellies of those heartless people."

  "What's wrong with you, child? Those are your brother and nephew. There's a saying in the countryside: no matter how thin the land is, no matter how poor the son is, how can you say they have wolf-like hearts? By the way, it's not a holiday or anything, what brings you here?" Li Mu asked curiously, seeing Li Mei carrying a small package. "Did you and Qin Ming have a fight?"

  Li Mei nodded and said: "That dead thing actually hit me!"

  Li's mother knew some of her son-in-law's temper, although she was not as careful with her daughter as with her son, but also loved her daughter very much. Besides, Qin Ming's temper was not that bad, how could he beat her for no reason.

  "You must have done something to make Qin Ming angry, that's why he hit you." Li Mu saw it clearly and said bluntly, "Xiao Mei, don't be ungrateful. If it weren't for Qin Ming being so honest and reliable, which family would agree to let you send me some grain every month?"

  Li Mei listened and indeed it was so, a married-out daughter is like spilled water, she hadn't seen anyone else who pulled her natal family along like this. If Qin Ming had a bad temper, he wouldn't have agreed, Li Mei thought that Qin Ming still had some good points.

  "He can't hit me just because of his sister either." Li Mei said angrily.

  "Sister? You mean that little girl of yours who went to the big city has come back?" Li Mu's triangular eyes turned, and her eyes shone with cleverness.

  Li Mei nodded and said, "Actually, my little sister is not bad. She bought clothes for me, Qin Ming, and Da He. I just said that in the future, let my little sister buy clothes, but Qin Ming got angry and even fought with me."

  Li's mother listened, her eyes rolled over, and she tapped Li Mei's forehead, saying: "You're a fool. Coming back from the big city, you still don't have any money or things on you. There are some things you can't ask for directly, you need to think of ways to make people willing to give them to you. You're also foolish, those siblings have a good relationship, how could they be short of clothes like Da He?"

  "Mother, you don't know that the young girl got married outside and found a soldier, but he sacrificed himself. She's pregnant with a big belly, what money can she have?" Li Mei said disdainfully, "Later on, it's possible we'll even have to support her!"

  "Listen, you foolish thing. Even if that young girl needs to be supported, it wouldn't fall on your family's shoulders. Don't you have an uncle and older brother and sister-in-law? I've seen that young girl before, she's pretty, even if she gets pregnant, what's the big deal? She's still young and educated, finding another rich widower wouldn't be difficult. You're just stupid, only thinking about the present, when you have something, you give a little; when you don't, you say a few nice words, no one will blame you for that. But you're making such a big fuss because of the argument between your sister-in-law and Qin Ming, in the future, won't your sister-in-law have some thoughts about you? If she becomes successful, can you still benefit from it?"

  "Anyway, Qin Ming hit me and didn't let me apologize, so I won't go back." Li Mei said in a huff, after hearing what her mother said, she really felt that she had been too willful before.

  There is still one more at 8 o'clock!