Chapter 2: The Flushed Sons

Li Xiangqin retorted, stepping directly over several wooden stumps to sit in a chair in the living room, her gaze lowering to hide the expression in her eyes.

It feels so good to have a flexible body!

"Yapping, yapping, yapping—a bunch of heartless things! Your father was just buried, his body isn't even cold yet, and you’re already busy calculating your own interests. Aren't you afraid that if the old man knew from the grave, he wouldn't be able to keep his coffin lid down?"

The group was stung by their mother’s retort; their faces tightened, and their expressions turned unnatural, though that didn't stop them from harboring their own thoughts.

The third son stood in the corner, muttering discontentedly, "It’s a new society now. When people die, the light goes out; feudal superstitions aren't acceptable."

Li Xiangqin turned her head to look at the third son. Before she could speak, the second son rubbed his face and stood before her, fawning with a smile.

"Mom, I know you're sad that Dad is gone, but we need to settle who takes over Dad's job as soon as possible. If it drags on, complications might arise. I’m the second son in the family; according to the order, Dad's job should go to me."

"Bullshit! We are all Dad's sons, why should it go to you?"

The third son was immediately displeased.

"I don't agree with the second brother taking over. Among us brothers, everyone is living better than I am. Meijuan doesn't have a steady job yet, and I'm the only one supporting the family. Mom, you can't just sit by and watch."

Watching her two sons refuse to give an inch, Li Xiangqin glanced at the eldest son and his wife, who were watching coldly from the sidelines. They only cared about money; they didn't care who got the old man's job.

The remaining two, the fourth and fifth daughters, perhaps knowing that the job wouldn't fall to them, tacitly huddled in the corner, remaining silent.

As for the youngest, little sixth, he was only fifteen this year. He sat with his head down, flipping through a comic book, still in that state of being fed and having no worries.

"I don't give a damn about your grandmother's leg! You have the nerve to fart in front of me? You’re suffering because you deserve it. To marry your wife, you practically drove me to my death. Now you’re coming to me to complain? It’s too late."

From a mother-in-law's perspective, she didn't like Zhao Meijuan’s "sickly beauty" act, but the third son insisted on marrying her. After a long stalemate, she couldn't hold out and had to grit her teeth and nod.

Zhao Meijuan, relying on the fact that she had the third son wrapped around her finger, decided on the day of the wedding—just to show off—that she and her mother would demand an extra hundred yuan for the "getting out of the car" fee and the "change of address" fee, or she wouldn't get out of the car.

The marriage had been agreed to through gritted teeth, and she had been holding back anger ever since.

In contrast, the third son stood there with his bicycle, full of joy, waiting eagerly for her to take out the red envelope, letting his mother-in-law and wife humiliate her.

Even now, she couldn't forget how Zhao Meijuan, sitting on the back seat, had triumphantly flaunted her power.

Before the daughter-in-law had even entered the house, she wanted to ride on her mother-in-law's head. How could she agree to that?

Blood rushing to her head, she raised her hand and slapped her son, angry that he had embarrassed her on such a joyous day.

Unexpectedly, to defend the third son, Zhao Meijuan jumped off the bicycle and shoved her, causing her to hit the corner of the wall at the entrance of the residential compound, drawing blood on the spot.

It was only because her younger brother from her maiden home had come to witness the ceremony and happened upon it that he brought his nephews to back her up. When the third son's mother-in-law saw the situation turning bad, she quickly came out to smooth things over.

She said something about how "there are no elders or juniors in the first three days of marriage" and that one shouldn't get angry, and she made the third son kneel and apologize.

The wedding had already reached that point, just one step away from completion, and she didn't want to ruin her son's wedding, so she gritted her teeth and endured it.

Thinking about it now, she must have looked like a spineless fool in the eyes of the Zhao family.

"Stop pulling a long face and acting pitiful in front of me. She didn't just lose her job today; you knew that when you married her. Now you realize that one person earning money isn't enough? Someone like you couldn't even catch a fresh meal if you were eating shit. And your job at the soap factory—your father and I spent money, pulled strings, and used up all our favors, even giving away the things we had saved for a rainy day. You’re only a year away from becoming a permanent employee, what else are you dissatisfied with?"

Back then, to get the soap factory spot for the third son, besides cigarettes and alcohol, they had spent six hundred yuan in cash, plus two furs the old man had hidden away.

Being looked down upon by her mother-in-law and accused to her face of being unemployed and a freeloader, Zhao Meijuan’s face turned pale. She bit her lip and glanced at the third son, her eyes red.

"Mom has always looked down on me. It’s me who has dragged you down."

The third son immediately pulled her behind him, glaring at his own mother with a dark face.

His mother had disagreed since they started dating. Now that they were married, she still kept a cold face every day, making his wife give him the cold shoulder and throw tantrums every time they were intimate.

"Why are you always targeting my wife? We’re talking about taking over Dad's job now. Besides, can the benefits of the soap factory compare to the machinery plant?"

Li Xiangqin watched the third son’s protective stance, jumped up, and slapped him twice.

*Slap! Slap!*

"Screw your mother-in-law's legs! Eating from the bowl while looking at the pot—I really want to slap you to death, you turtle-son."

A shameless glutton. All the food he’s eaten over the years has only grown his body, not his brain. As soon as Zhao Meijuan says two soft words, he’s immediately so confused he doesn't know which way is up.

After the two slaps, the room went quiet.

In all the years they’d grown up, this was the first time their mother had been this explosive, cursing as soon as she opened her mouth and hitting as soon as she raised her hand.

"Mom, how can you hit people?"

Zhao Meijuan widened her eyes in shock, looking at the third son’s flushed face, her heart aching as tears welled up.

"I’m disciplining my own unfilial son; where do you get the right to interrupt? You should be thankful you didn't crawl out of my own gut, otherwise, just based on your sharp tongue, your mouth would have been beaten swollen long ago."

Humiliated by her mother-in-law in front of everyone, Zhao Meijuan’s face flushed red, and her tears burst forth like a dam.

"How can you humiliate people like this? I don't want to live anymore..."

"Pah! Those two drops of crocodile tears only work on the third son. I don't buy that act. You didn't even cry at your father-in-law's funeral, but now you're putting on a show? Get out, don't be an eyesore."

"Wuu wuu... You Zhang family are bullies!" Zhao Meijuan covered her face and ran out the door.

"Wife!" The third son chased after her without a second thought. *Bang!* The door slammed shut with a thunderous sound.

Li Xiangqin squinted, having cursed away a pair, and finally felt a bit more comfortable.

She glanced sideways at the second son, her gaze icy, making the second son subconsciously take a step back. Today’s mother was too fierce.

"You’re also eyeing the job at the machinery plant?"

Thinking of the third son and his wife being driven away by their mother, the second son swallowed hard, but ultimately unwilling, he spoke dryly.

"Mom... my situation is different from the third brother's. Up until now, I’m still just a temporary worker..."

Before the second son could finish, he was interrupted by Li Xiangqin’s explosive voice.

"Who’s to blame for you ending up as a temporary worker? When you first finished school, your father and I, to keep you from suffering in the countryside, used up our favors to get you into the machinery plant as an apprentice. But what did you do? You skipped work every day and were nowhere to be found! You secretly made friends with a bunch of hoodlums, and after being goaded by them, you dared to hide it from your parents and go to the countryside, talking about 'forging your physique with labor' and 'being a successor of the new era'... *Spit!* Who doesn't know you were all chasing after the female educated youth?"

They only found out the truth when the neighborhood committee’s letter of commendation arrived at their house. Thinking about it made her liver ache with anger.

New story begins, welcome to read!