Chapter 420: Daughter-in-Law, Don

Li Yue's emotions have been highly unstable these past few days.

According to her original plan, she could have avoided all contact with the Jia family for one or two months, letting them sit idle until her brother Li Ye unleashed his decisive move.

But she had only twenty-odd years of life experience—she'd eaten less rice than others had salt—and severely underestimated the power of human "laziness."

Yes, laziness.

For the first ten days after the wedding, Li Yue and Yang Yumin ate out every meal, and Yang Huahua and Yang Yujiao ate at their shop on Xiushuijie.

Meanwhile, the Jia family's four or five people crammed together in the west wing, eating instant noodles.

Li Zhong hauled over half a truckload of instant noodles and handed them out like wedding candy to guests; the remaining dozens of boxes were dragged into the house by the Jias, who rotated flavors and somehow managed to stay peaceful, causing no trouble at all.

But after ten days, the Jias finished every last instant noodle in the corner and began scheming.

First, they approached Yang Yumin and demanded he arrange jobs for his two brothers—not as department heads or anything fancy, just as chauffeurs for private cars.

My god! A car driver in 1984? You'd give him a department head position and he'd still take it.

Yang Yumin wasn't even a department head yet!

Yang Yumin spat right back, and the two sides erupted into a furious argument in the courtyard; the Jia elders wept and wailed, accusing Yang Yumin of having "no conscience," sending Li Yue storming out, turning a corner, and immediately calling Jiang Hong over.

Jiang Hong had spent the past two years overseeing security at Pengcheng's Seventh Factory, commanding dozens of retired soldiers, half of whom lived in Zhongguancun—he could be here in minutes.

The Jia family's four or five people instantly fell silent; her family was large and powerful, and when Li Yue spoke, her words carried weight. Only now had Li Yue's perspective shifted from what it once was—if it hadn't, she would have already beaten them senseless, for strength still ultimately prevails.

Reason? Whoever has the bigger fist holds the truth.

After being silenced, the Jias stopped bringing up jobs altogether—and out of fear, they even began considering returning to their hometown.

But three things that followed changed their minds, and they fully decided to stay in Beijing.

Li Ye had previously had Jiang Hong help his sister renovate Yang Yumin's house: he installed a bathroom, a toilet, and a native heating system.

By mid-November, temperatures had dropped below freezing, so Li Yue would naturally turn on the heat; she'd lived in Zaojunmiao for two years and was used to heated rooms.

But the Jias had never lived in a heated home before—in their old village, they had one stove that kept going out.

For elderly people, the difference between having heating and not having it in winter was like heaven versus hell.

Old Man Jia: "Ah, my old cold legs have found salvation—I'm not leaving, not for anything."

Old Woman Jia: "I'm not leaving either. Even eating steamed buns every day here is better than back home—eight yuan a day for buns and still have change left!"

A few days later, the eldest Jia son did his second thing.

"We don't need to spend those eight yuan anymore—I found Yang Huahua's restaurant. Wow, she opened it on Xiushuijie, the busiest street in Beijing, and hired two assistants—no idea how much she makes every day!"

"Let's go help her out. If we help her willingly, how could she turn us away?"

From that day on, the five Jias showed up at mealtime at Yang Huahua's restaurant on Xiushuijie, sat down, and opened their mouths waiting for food.

As for helping? Yang Huahua dared not let them help—if they worked, wouldn't she have to pay them?

But now that their food and lodging were solved, the Jias lived comfortably in Beijing—why would they ever think of returning home?

No farming, no labor, food and drink guaranteed—this life was incredibly tempting for rural folks in the early 1980s.

And the third thing involved Li Yue.

The telephone, which had cost thousands to install, Li Yue barely used—but became the Jias' favorite status symbol.

After Li Yue and the others left for the day, the Jias somehow discovered the key hidden under the flowerpot and began calling their village committee back home, chatting with familiar villagers.

Once they started, the sense of achievement and satisfaction was far more thrilling than any delicacy.

They got addicted—all of them.

"Good heavens, the Jia family has a telephone?"

"Of course! My son's an official in the Central Selection Department—we live in a heated house and eat out every day. Remember to bring Old Qiu tomorrow—I need to chat with him; I miss him after just a few days."

Why were so many so-called "luxuries" later chased after? Precisely because they carried a "show-off" quality.

The Jias suddenly discovered a way to gain emotional value—and once they started, they couldn't stop: you finish your call, I make mine; you call Zhang San today, I call Li Si tomorrow—no fighting, take turns.

Within less than a month, they'd racked up a huge phone bill—until Li Yue noticed.

Li Yue was furious—truly, she was about to explode.

She'd never been the type to endure humiliation or injustice! How could she bear such humiliation? That's why she'd called Li Ye, asking how much longer she had to endure—and that's how Li Ye realized his sister's emotions were unstable.

But Li Yue didn't realize that her anger had terrified Yang Huahua.

On Saturday afternoon, Li Yue felt unwell and returned home hours early, wanting to lie down.

But when she got home, she found her mother-in-law Yang Huahua and Yang Yujiao had also returned early.

"Mother, why are you back so early today? Yujiao, did school let out early?"

"Huh? Mother, why are you packing?"

Li Yue entered the main room and saw Yang Huahua and Yang Yujiao packing bags—it looked like they were preparing to leave.

Yang Huahua, seeing Li Yue enter, gave a nervous smile: "A relative back home is sick—I thought I'd go visit."

Li Yue froze, then hurriedly asked: "Which relative? Why didn't you tell me sooner? I should've arranged for a sleeper ticket!"

Yang Huahua whispered: "No need for a sleeper ticket—this person's gotten used to comfort, so now he's lazy."

Li Yue felt embarrassed too; she didn't consider herself lazy, but she couldn't deny she'd grown accustomed to comfort—wasn't that all because of the past two years with her brother Li Ye?

But then Yang Huahua pulled out a savings book and handed it to Li Yue.

Li Yue exclaimed: "Mother, what are you doing?"

Yang Huahua said: "I'm going back home. I don't feel safe leaving this savings book in the house—you keep it for me."

"I won't keep it. You must keep it yourself—or give it to Yumin, or Yujiao."

Li Yue would never take her mother-in-law's savings book—every yuan in it was earned through Yang Huahua's early mornings and late nights, through sweat and toil.

But when Li Yue handed the book to Yang Yujiao, she noticed her sister-in-law's eyes were full of tears.

Li Yue was no longer young—she instantly sensed something was wrong.

She immediately asked Yang Yujiao: "Yujiao, is there something Mother's hiding from me? Tell me the truth—if you lie to me, I won't forgive you."

Yang Huahua quickly said: "Xiao Yue, what are you imagining? Yujiao's just thinking about me—"

"Wah!"

Before Yang Huahua could finish, Yang Yujiao burst into tears.

"Mother says… Mother says she won't come back after returning home. She says she's just a stepmother—if she doesn't live in Beijing anymore, the Jias won't be able to stay here."

Li Yue stood stunned for a long moment, then shouted: "What kind of logic is this? The ones who should leave don't, but the ones who shouldn't are being driven away?"

Mother, you're letting them force you out? Don't even think about it—I'm kicking them out today!"

Seeing Li Yue furious, Yang Huahua panicked.

"Xiao Yue, don't get angry! You absolutely mustn't get angry—you'll hurt the baby!"

"What baby? Yumin won't get upset so easily—I'm calling him right now to come home. I won't endure this another day."

In her anger, Li Yue misunderstood Yang Huahua's "baby"—she stormed over to the phone.

Yang Huahua stamped her foot hard, jabbed a finger into Yang Yujiao's forehead, scolded her for speaking out of turn, and hurried after Li Yue.

She truly cared for Li Yue—she always felt her presence had planted a dangerous bomb between her son and Li Yue.

But before Li Yue reached the phone, it rang.

"Ding ding ding."

"Hello? Who is it?"

"Huh? Sister, did you swallow a gun? Why so angry?"

"How can you even ask? I've endured this long—your promised decisive move—"

"Tonight. Right tonight. Right outside your door."

"What? Oh oh oh."

Li Yue's expression shifted rapidly from storm to overcast, then to clear skies and sunshine.

"Alright, that's settled."

Li Yue smiled as she hung up, then turned to Yang Huahua: "Mother, wait two more days. If it still doesn't work, I'll send you back."

"Tonight we're having an outdoor movie. Have dinner early, then go claim a good spot."

Yang Huahua stared at her suddenly transformed daughter-in-law for a long time—then suddenly burst into tears.

"Daughter-in-law, don't scare me like that."

"Yujiao, call your brother right away—tell him to come home immediately!!!"

(End of Chapter)

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