Chapter 678: The System of a 1950s Mother (35)

"Come to think of it, did the Old Zhuang Family offend some deity? Someone saw her arguing with Xie Yun's daughter the other day. It sounded like she was scolding Xie Yun's daughter for spending her family's money to raise a child that had nothing to do with them, and she even wanted Xie Yun's daughter to help her look after her grandson..."

"She has the nerve to say that! Her grandson was born to Mingcheng and another woman; what does that have to do with Yangyang? No wonder they fought. If it were me, I'd fight too."

"So, you're saying Zhuang Laotai is suffering retribution?"

"Maybe so!"

Qiu Caohua, who heard the rumors: "..."

She was so angry she nearly couldn't catch her breath.

Retribution, my foot!

What heinous thing had she ever done?

It was clearly the rats that chewed it up!

Speaking of rats, she said to Zhuang Laotou with a lingering sense of fear: "Old man, is there a rat nest under our house? Why are there rats chewing our money and stealing our grain every other day? Why don't we have our son come back and fix up the house? It's probably too old, and the rats have become a plague."

Zhuang Laotou had the same thought.

The money could be chewed to shreds even when wrapped in thick oil paper; if they didn't clear out the rats, how could they dare to hide money at home in the future? But if not at home, where else could they hide it?

Only—

"Our son has to work; how could he possibly find the time?"

"If he doesn't have time, then have him send some money back, and we'll hire someone."

Qiu Caohua had long wanted to tear down the old house and rebuild it.

Look at those two old, broken-down houses the Xie Family had back then; how neat and bright they were after being torn down and rebuilt.

Thinking of this, her eyes darted around: "That little hussy has a place to live now, so those two newly built rooms are just sitting empty—what a waste. When we start building our new house, we'll go stay at her place for a few days."

Zhuang Laotou opened his mouth: "Will she agree?"

Qiu Caohua looked as if it were only natural: "The money she used to build that house came from our son; what's wrong with us staying there for a few days? It's not like we're staying forever."

Of course, in her heart, she hoped to stay forever, so they wouldn't have to spend money building a new house.

But that was, after all, the Xie Family's foundation; if they really stayed long-term, the villagers would definitely talk.

But staying for a few days in the short term, what would there be to talk about? Which family doesn't borrow a place from relatives or neighbors when renovating their house?

However, Qiu Caohua's plan ultimately failed to materialize.

What caused her supposedly perfect plan to die in the cradle wasn't that Xie Yang was unwilling to lend her the house, but that her son hadn't sent any money back.

"Mingcheng really said that?"

After receiving her son's letter and having someone read it to her, Qiu Caohua was so angry her chest heaved up and down:

"No way! He wouldn't be that unfilial; it must be his wife. That woman looks shrewd at a glance; it must be her holding onto our son's salary, not letting him send money to us!"

Zhuang Laotou sighed: "Since our son says money is tight, then the house renovation isn't urgent."

"How is it not urgent!" Qiu Caohua said anxiously, "The rats have become a plague, and you say it's not urgent? When all the good things in the house are chewed up or stolen by rats, what will you and I eat? Are we still going to live?"

"Then let's save up more. Our son only said that such a large sum of money is tight, but the five yuan in living expenses for his grandson will still be sent on time. If we spend sparingly and save enough, we can renovate..."

"That will take until the end of time!"

Qiu Caohua interrupted the old man.

She couldn't wait a single day.

Just thinking about the rats appearing in the house at every turn—and the key was that even after using rat poison and setting rat traps, it was useless; they still chewed what they wanted to chew.

Five yuan a month—even if they didn't spend a cent and saved it all, it would take a year or more. She was just afraid that before they saved enough, the money would be chewed to shreds by the rats again.

"No! We must make our son send us money! Either that or have him come back himself—choose one!"

Qiu Caohua said with firm resolve:

"Otherwise, I'll go talk to his unit's leadership and see if there's such an unfilial son! He dumped a brain-damaged child on us two old folks to raise, and when the family needs him to do something, he makes all sorts of excuses."

Believe it or not, Qiu Caohua actually used this tactic to get money from her son.

The Old Zhuang Family had money to build a new house!

Qiu Caohua boasted to everyone she met, feeling triumphant.

No matter what the villagers thought in their hearts, they naturally fawned over her on the surface.

This made Qiu Caohua even more smug. Carrying her grandson, she arrived at "Nuan Shu Zhi Jia" once again and said to Xie Yang in a tone of condescension: "Our family is going to build a new house. Your two rooms are just sitting empty anyway; give me the key, and lend them to us to stay in for a few days."

"..."

Xie Yang was practically defeated by her thick skin.

"Not lending them."

"On what grounds are you not lending them? That was built with the money my son gave you! If it weren't for the money our family gave, could those two new rooms of yours have been built?"

Xie Yang rolled her eyes: "That was the compensation I deserved for working like a beast of burden for your family for ten years! You want it back? Fine! Have your son come and work like a beast of burden for me for ten years, and I'll return the money to you!"

"..."

Qiu Caohua was so angry she was panting heavily.

Zhishu Xifu came to deliver some freshly made tofu to Xie Yang and, seeing this scene, asked in confusion: "What's going on here?"

Xie Yang told her Qiu Caohua's intentions.

Zhishu Xifu laughed in anger: "How long has it been? Why are you still harping on this? Mingcheng's mother, are you truly ignorant or just pretending? What kind of life did Yangyang live in your house for those ten years? To put it bluntly, if she really wanted to pursue this, could your whole family get off easily? We're all in the same village; we see each other every day, which is why she didn't make a big scene. Taking three hundred yuan from you to settle this was giving you enough face! Just let it rest!"

"What three hundred! My son clearly gave her six hundred!"

"Don't you remember her father gave your family two gold bars?"

"How much are two gold bars worth? The old man took them to the black market back then and only sold them for a hundred or so."

"You said it yourself, that was back then. A hundred or so back then, wouldn't it be worth three hundred today?"

"..."

Qiu Caohua was left speechless by Zhishu Xifu's retort, and as she left, she glared at Xie Yang indignantly.

"Don't pay her any mind!" Zhishu Xifu pulled Xie Yang into the house, "It's a good thing I came over. I originally intended to have Liuqiang make a trip to bring you some tofu, but thinking that I hadn't been here for several days, I just decided to come myself."

"Did your family grind tofu today?"

"Indeed, everyone in the family, young and old, was craving it. Now that the spring plowing is finally finished, I just made up my mind to make some."

"Thank you for thinking of us, Auntie." As Xie Yang took the tofu, she took twenty duck eggs out of the Nongchang Warehouse.

"Whoa!"

Seeing a pile of duck eggs suddenly appear in the courtyard, even though Zhishu Xifu had been fortunate enough to witness a "miracle" once before, she was still startled.

Xie Yang took the basket handed over by Qiuni, picked up the duck eggs into the basket, and handed it to Zhishu Xifu: "This is definitely a thank-you gift for you!"

Zhishu Xifu: "..."

"Yes." Qiuni nodded and said crisply, "Our family already received duck eggs this morning!"

Zhishu Xifu opened her mouth: "... In that case, the old immortal has been watching over you all along!"