Chapter 44: Implicated Again

Listening to her daughter's indignant tone, Li Xiangqin pursed her lips and silently withdrew the emotions from her eyes.

In her previous life, the third child and his wife had badgered their way into securing the job. Zhao Meijuan had managed to hold onto it for barely six months before handing it over to her sister-in-law from her maternal family.

It didn't need much thought to know that Liu Hehua and her daughter had conspired together to scheme for the job, ultimately ensuring the Zhao family reaped the benefits.

But this time, no one would be able to lay a finger on her job.

"As long as I don't agree, no one can dream of taking it. Regardless, I've effectively broken ties with the Zhao family today. From now on, we are strangers."

Every single person in the Zhao family had a thousand schemes up their sleeves; only the third child, that blockhead, was destined to be chopped up for firewood sooner or later.

"Mom is right. The Zhao family is a case of 'the beam is crooked, so the rafters are warped.' I've been sick of them for a long time."

The fifth child snorted and moved behind the chair to massage Li Xiangqin's shoulders, acting all sweet and sycophantic. After a while, she tilted her head to peek at her mother's expression and asked tentatively,

"Mom, can you give me one yuan?"

"What do you need money for?" Li Xiangqin knew this girl wasn't up to any good. Give her two days of peace, and she’d already be looking for trouble.

"I made plans with my classmates to go boating. In this heat, I have to buy an ice pop, right?"

"Play, play, play. Your head is filled with nothing but eating, drinking, and playing. Little Sixth is out queuing to buy coal; shouldn't you be helping with the loading and unloading?"

Li Xiangqin brushed her hand away, stood up abruptly, and glared at her.

"There are only four of us left in this house. Instead of thinking about how to help share the burden, you only think about playing. Do you have any sense of family responsibility at all?"

The fifth child pouted and picked at her fingers unhappily. "Mom~ wasn't it just a coincidence? I've been helping with the housework these past few days; I haven't been lazy at all."

"How dare you use the word 'helping'? Are you not a member of this family? Sharing chores is your duty. If you feel like a guest in this house, then you don't need to do anything at all. Open your eyes and look—whose guest lives in someone else's house year-round?"

After shouting a few words, Li Xiangqin ignored her aggrieved look and went straight to her room to sleep.

The fifth child stomped her foot, blaming that menace Zhao Meijuan for getting her caught up in this mess again.

*Forget it, I'll go out next time.*

Li Xiangqin didn't wake up until two-thirty in the afternoon. After washing her face to cool down, she pushed open the door to find the house quiet. In the kitchen, a pile of newly bought coal briquettes sat ready.

Where had the other two gone to run wild?

With nothing else to do, Li Xiangqin took out the newly bought vegetables, intending to make herself a short-sleeved shirt.

Once the heat subsided slightly, she grabbed her vegetable basket and headed out to buy a block of tofu. There was still quite a bit of fried fish left at home, which would be perfect for a stew tonight.

"Xiangqin, going grocery shopping?"

Wang Erying was sitting in the shade of the courtyard tree, picking small stones out of a tray of rice. Seeing Li Xiangqin come out, she looked up and greeted her.

"Yes, want to come along?"

"Sure. We've run out of vegetables at home too. Let's see if they have celtuce for sale; I'll make a cold dish when we get back. It'll be refreshing."

Wang Erying brought her tray back into the house, and a moment later, she emerged with her own basket. The two walked toward the market together.

"I heard you lost your temper again this morning?"

"You heard about that?"

Li Xiangqin didn't hide it and recounted the incident of the Zhao family coming to apologize.

"It's been non-stop lately. I got fed up, so I just tore the mask off. It's better to have no contact from now on; it's less trouble."

"Sigh, it must be hard on you."

Wang Erying gave her a sympathetic look. A neighbor had told her that the Zhao family had come knocking early in the morning and were chased away by Xiangqin shortly after.

"If they go too far, just make a scene and we'll come to support you. The people from our machinery factory are very united; if anyone needs a hand, everyone is happy to help."

They were all employees of the same factory, seeing each other constantly. If anyone had trouble and called out, no one would stand idly by.

"I know. As long as the Zhao family knows their place, they won't come knocking again."

Every family has its own troubles; constant friction over small things can be exhausting. If absolutely necessary, she didn't want to trouble others.

That said, Erying's children were raised better than hers. At the very least, Sanjiang was a filial child, and in the end, he was the one who took his parents in to care for them in their old age.

The two of them circled the market, buying common items like potatoes, eggs, eggplant, and green vegetables—nothing special.

Finally, Li Xiangqin bought a block of tofu and a few cucumbers. Upon returning home, she stoked the coal stove to start stewing the fish and made some multigrain flatbreads. The corn and bean flour ones were toasted on the stove, becoming fragrant the more they were chewed.

"Mom, I'm back." The fourth child brought his bicycle into the house and called out, "Smells delicious! What good food did you make, Mom?"

"Fish stew, it's almost ready. Go wash your hands and get ready to eat."

Li Xiangqin came out of the kitchen. Seeing that although the fourth child looked tired, his eyes were bright, she knew his shift at work had gone well.

By the time the food was served, the fifth and sixth children had arrived home on time.

As soon as he entered, the sixth child sniffed the air, his eyes lighting up. "Smells so good! Did Mom make fish stew again?"

"Wash your hands and eat."

Li Xiangqin called out and sat down at the small square table. She took a bite of a flatbread; the texture was rich and mellow.

The fifth child washed her hands and sat down beside her, looking at her mother with a fawning expression. "Mom, I listened to you today and didn't go out to play. I helped Little Sixth move the coal briquettes."

"At least you're being sensible."

Li Xiangqin gave a grunt of approval. The four of them quickly polished off the half-basin of fish and tofu stew, using the broth to soak the flatbreads so nothing went to waste.

Once they were full, the fourth child scrambled to wash the dishes and clear the table with efficient movements, making the fifth child feel inferior by comparison.

Leaning against the doorframe, the fifth child watched the fourth child busy herself, her eyes flickering. *Mom has been fond of Fourth Sister lately... is it because she's so efficient with chores?*

"Fourth Sister, how is work?"

"It's alright, just recording data and memorizing theories every day. My brain feels a bit overloaded."

After wiping the table clean, the fourth child walked over to her and spoke softly.

"Fifth, there are only four of us left in this family. Don't make Mom angry in the future... Mom has had a hard time these years."

Hearing this, the fifth child immediately became indignant.

"Fourth Sister, I've been wronged! It's been Third Brother and his wife causing trouble lately, and I've been caught in the crossfire several times. This morning, Sister-in-law brought her mother over under the guise of apologizing, but they were actually after Mom's job. Even though they failed and fled, they still left Mom furious. My plans to go boating with my classmates were ruined, and I got scolded by Mom too."

The fourth child froze, her face clouding with anger. *What exactly is wrong with Third Brother?*

Moving out was already hurtful enough to Mom, but allowing his wife and her family to come and cause chaos—what was he thinking?

Ever since their father passed away, the brothers had held significant grievances against their mother. She had seen it all, but Mom had poured her heart out to them all these years; how could they not see it?

The fourth child couldn't understand. After finishing the washing, she took a towel to dry her hands and entered Li Xiangqin's room.

(End of Chapter)