Chapter 9: A Pair of Debt Collectors

She drove all the way home before she finally calmed down. The daughter-in-law was already married into the family; making a scene wouldn't bring the things back, and it would only turn her own household into a chaotic mess. It wasn't worth it, so she gritted her teeth and endured it.

As for her now, she didn't even care about her son anymore, let alone her daughter-in-law.

Li Xiangqin snapped back to reality, planted her hands on her hips, and went straight on the offensive.

"If you don't want people to know, don't do it in the first place. You’ve been playing the third son for a fool, but you’re just as dim-witted—sold out by your own family and still helping them count the money. Your mother used the money from selling you to marry off two wives for the Zhao family. Your mother really hit the jackpot by giving birth to a 'valuable' daughter like you."

"You're lying, it's not like that."

Zhao Meijuan stepped back, her face turning pale.

Her mother loved her; her maiden home would always be her support system—that’s what her mother had told her personally. It was this wretched old woman who looked at her with disdain and made the whole family look down on her.

"Don't try to deny it by playing dumb. Your third sister-in-law's dowry was one hundred yuan in cash, a suitcase, and a wool coat. Those things were gifts I gave to you; if you aren't blind, you must have seen them.

The rest of the money and items were taken by your mother, who claimed they were being saved for your brother to get a wife. By that calculation, both wives in your Zhao family were paid for by our Zhang family.

Just because the third son took a fancy to you, our Zhang family was forced into being the biggest suckers."

Zhao Meijuan’s lips trembled. Looking utterly devastated, she stumbled back, shaking her head with red-rimmed eyes, refusing to admit it.

Ever since she started seeing Zhang Jianshe, she had been maintaining the reputation of her maiden family and cultivating an image of filial piety, all because she was terrified of being looked down upon.

She never expected her mother-in-law to tear away this veil of shame so ruthlessly.

Beyond the guilty conscience, she felt even more humiliated.

Her father was just an ordinary worker, and her mother didn't have a job. They had already emptied their savings just to get a wife for her eldest brother.

Zhang Jianshe was indeed chosen with her mother's help, largely because the Zhang family was well-off, her father-in-law had good benefits at the machinery plant, and she could take over her mother-in-law's position once she retired.

She had poor health, and her mother had told her since she was a child that she had spent a lot of effort and money to raise her. It was her responsibility to be filial to her parents when she grew up.

The dowry was hers to begin with; it was only right that she used it to honor her parents.

How could this wretched old woman make it sound so despicable? When it came down to it, wasn't she just stingy about these few things?

"Third Brother~, I didn't hide the dowry matter from you. You supported me back then, too. Being filial to my parents is what a daughter should do, right?"

Zhang Jianshe looked at his wife, bewildered, and nodded blankly.

"Mom, I did know about giving the dowry to my mother-in-law..." He had thought it was for her mother's retirement, but he truly didn't know that his father-in-law and mother-in-law would use it to get a wife for his brother-in-law.

Once the things were given to his mother-in-law, they were hers to dispose of... but hearing his mother put it this way, he felt like something was off.

"So, I raised a wolf with a white eye that bites the hand that feeds it. Fine, very fine."

Li Xiangqin nodded. To vent her frustration, she raised her hand and slapped him across the face.

"You paralyzed dog, what kind of sin did I commit to give birth to a debt-collecting ghost like you? Since you two are so filial, why don't you just go be a live-in son-in-law? Why are you hanging around my house?"

A debt-collecting ghost had brought home a troublemaker to disgust her together. Li Xiangqin even wondered if she had dug up someone's ancestral grave in her past life to deserve this retribution.

The third son clutched his face, feeling aggrieved to death. Being hit yesterday was one thing, but to be scolded and hit again first thing in the morning—who had he offended?

"Mom, it's been so long, why are you still angry?"

He had been married for a year, and his mother was still fuming. Wasn't her temper a bit too big?

"Screw your mother-in-law's legs. I was the one who spent the money, and I was the one who got hurt. The disgusting things the Zhao family did will never be forgotten by me. Whenever I think of it, I’ll come to settle the score with you."

Li Xiangqin took a deep breath and turned back to the kitchen. Staying with idiots for too long was bad for one's lifespan.

"Mom, I made rice porridge and heated up some steamed buns." The fourth daughter saw her mother enter the kitchen and quickly reported. Her mother's temper this morning could have blown the roof off, and she was scared too.

"Boil some more eggs, one for each person."

She had been scrimping and saving from her own mouth every day, but it hadn't earned her any loyalty from those ingrates. She might as well eat better herself, improve her health, and let the rest be damned.

"Ah? Mom, there aren't many eggs left in the jar. If we eat them all at once, Leizi will throw a tantrum."

The fourth daughter was a bit uncertain. Her mother had always doted on her eldest grandson, and almost all those eggs had gone into his mouth. If she regretted it later, with her mother's current combat power, wouldn't she be beaten to death?

"Leizi has his mother to take care of him; he won't lack for food. Look at you, your face is sallow and you're malnourished. If you faint at work and they fire you, I won't give you another chance."

Li Xiangqin looked at the fourth daughter's timid appearance and felt a pang of guilt.

She had indeed neglected the fourth daughter. If she had just given her a little more attention, she wouldn't have ended up in that miserable state.

"You are the daughter I carried for ten months and gave birth to, not someone I picked up off the street. If you need anything, just ask boldly. I'm not a tiger; I don't bite everyone I see.

There are so many people and so much to do in this house; I'm busy as a millstone every day. You’re the most low-maintenance of all the children, and I’ve always been grateful to you for that."

The crying child gets the candy; the fourth daughter was too quiet, so quiet that she could be ignored.

In a family with many children, the most sensible one is always the one who suffers the most.

The fourth daughter looked up in surprise. When she met those eyes filled with love and heartache, her throat tightened.

"Mom... I understand." So Mom had been thinking of her all along; she was just too busy.

"Mom understands. Tomorrow morning, I'll take you to the machinery plant to report for duty."

Li Xiangqin pinched the fourth daughter's thin cheek, turned around, took four eggs from the jar, washed them, and put them in the pot. Thinking of the third son and his wife whom she had just scolded, she added two more.

Beat them when they need beating, scold them when they need scolding, but eat as usual.

Zhang Jianshe snapped out of his daze, glanced at the two figures busy in the kitchen, and then turned to his teary-eyed wife. His heart felt heavy.

Zhao Meijuan was swaying, her figure wobbling, but Zhang Jianshe didn't even reach out to support her.

"Third Brother~, are you angry with me? Do you think I shouldn't have left the dowry to my parents?"

Zhang Jianshe looked at her tear-streaked face and couldn't help it; he helped her sit on a small stool.

"I agreed to you leaving the dowry to your maiden family at the time, so naturally, I'm not angry with you. It’s just that I suddenly feel my mother has had it very hard... I remember when we were preparing the dowry, there was no money at home, and my parents had to scrape it together from relatives."

Hearing this, Zhao Meijuan's face turned pale, and she subconsciously clenched her fists.

In the end, he was still blaming her maiden family for greedily taking the dowry; he wasn't happy about it.

You wretched old woman, if you make me unhappy, don't think anyone in this house will have a good time!