mesbooks Chapter 33 Misunderstanding
Chapter 33 Misunderstanding
"It was just a blind cat catching a dead mouse."
Aunt Wang muttered to herself, "This time I didn't get a sense of superiority; instead, I got a cold shoulder."
With a dark expression, he went back inside.
Zhou Chunxia then led Li Xiangyang and Liu Xiulan into the house.
The first thing you see when you push the door open is Liu Xiulan's father, Liu Guangyao, sitting on the kang (a heated brick bed) smoking.
He seemed to be in a bad mood.
Seeing that his daughter and son-in-law had returned, he was not very happy, and only glanced at Li Xiangyang and his wife briefly.
He said calmly, "Come up on the kang (heated brick bed) and warm up."
His attitude was extremely cold.
In the past, he was quite enthusiastic about Li Xiangyang; otherwise, he wouldn't have agreed to marry his daughter to Li Xiangyang.
But ever since he learned that Li Xiangyang had been idle and doing nothing productive all day after their marriage, his attitude towards Li Xiangyang changed drastically.
After all, he was a genuine old farmer who believed in the importance of hard work to support his family.
He couldn't stand Li Xiangyang's idle and lazy nature from the bottom of his heart!
He also regretted not having properly vetted Liu Xiulan, allowing her to marry such a scoundrel.
"Guangyao, why do you always have such a long face? Didn't you see Xiulan and Xiangyang came? This time they even brought so much meat."
Seeing that her husband's attitude was indifferent, Zhou Chunxia felt uneasy and muttered something.
"It's better for me to keep a straight face than for others to put on a brave face."
Liu Guangyao puffed on his cigarette, his tone still somewhat sarcastic.
He had overheard the conversation outside, but his first thought was that Liu Xiulan was lying!
How could someone who's been lazy and good-for-nothing for over 20 years suddenly become a good person? And even run dozens of miles in the freezing cold to chase a deer?
Even the fish that the Li family brought back for Liu Jianguo last time, he thought it was Li Xiangyang's older brother, Li Xiangdong, who caught it. He believed that the Li family only said it was Li Xiangyang who caught it in order to save face.
He was somewhat disappointed in his son-in-law, Li Xiangyang.
Naturally, they wouldn't give them a friendly look.
"Father, you've confused me. What's wrong with you? Just tell me."
Seeing Liu Guangyao's sarcastic tone as soon as they entered the door, Liu Xiulan became anxious.
I was also a little angry.
She begged Li Xiangyang for a long time before he finally agreed to take her back to her parents' home.
As soon as she entered the door, her father gave her a cold shoulder.
So he handed Li Doudou over to Liu Jianguo to take care of, and sat down next to Liu Guangyao to get to the bottom of things.
"Sigh~"
Liu Guangyao sighed.
"Xiulan, your father knows you want to prove yourself, but you also need to be down-to-earth and persuade Xiangyang to go to work, which is the right path."
Instead of making up some fabricated story about shooting a deer.
"What...made up?"
"...?"
Li Xiangyang and Liu Xiulan were both stunned.
"Yes, it's all made up!"
Also, how much did you spend to buy so much meat? These days, it's not easy to earn money. If you used the money you would have spent on meat to buy whole grains, how much could you buy?
Your father-in-law fell and injured himself again recently, so things will be tough for your family from now on. You'll have to be careful with your money.
Liu Guangyao frowned and spoke earnestly.
Li Xiangyang and Liu Xiulan then understood what was going on.
It turned out that the father-in-law had misunderstood them, thinking that he had asked the family for money to buy these things, and complained that they didn't know how to manage their money.
They also worry about their future.
"Father, Xiulan isn't lying. I caught a red deer a couple of days ago. I caught the fish myself in the village reservoir, and I only bought a few pounds of pork, which cost me some money."
Li Xiangyang explained with a smile, then pulled out two packs of Daqianmen cigarettes from his pocket: "By the way, Dad, I bought these two packs especially for you."
"Daqianmen...? These cigarettes aren't cheap, are they?"
Looking at the large Qianmen cigarettes on the table, and then at Li Xiangyang, Liu Guangyao's thoughts were in disarray.
If they hadn't actually made money, who would be willing to spend money on this cigarette...?
Could it be that what Xiulan just said was true! Li Xiangyang has really changed for the better...?
"Oh... Dad, I really didn't lie to you."
Understanding that Liu Guangyao was worried about her well-being, Liu Xiulan tugged at his arm and started to act coquettishly.
"Alright, alright, I'll believe you this time. I also hope that Xiangyang can be down-to-earth and make a good life for himself in the future. That way, I can rest easy."
Liu Guangyao's complexion gradually improved:
"Come here, bring DouDou here, my little granddaughter. Did you miss your grandpa?"
He then picked up Li Doudou and started playing with her.
"Come on, I've sliced some radish and mixed it with sugar. Everyone, come and have a taste."
Zhou Chunxia put the meat in the kitchen, cut a plate of shredded radish, mixed it with white sugar, and brought it out for everyone to eat as a snack.
"Mmm, delicious! These must be homegrown radishes! They're so crunchy."
Liu Xiulan grabbed a few shredded radishes and put them in her mouth, completely disregarding her image.
In the Li family, she is a wife, a mother, and a daughter-in-law, but back in the Liu family, she can still be a daughter.
After all, she's only twenty years old this year, still a young girl!
"You, you're a mother now, and you're still as greedy as ever," Zhou Chunxia said, pointing at Liu Xiulan. "By the way, tell your mother, what happened when your brother said you went to sell fish? And what's this 'deer' thing?"
Liu Xiulan nudged Li Xiangyang with her elbow: "You tell us."
So Li Xiangyang told them everything that had happened recently, which was also a way of reviewing the situation.
When they heard that he could now earn tens of yuan a day, everyone was a little unsettled, and a barely perceptible hint of envy flashed in Liu Jianguo's eyes.
By the time Li Xiangyang finished speaking, it was already past 2 p.m., and it was time to prepare dinner.
Since they had come all this way, Li Xiangyang and his family weren't planning to leave tonight. Tomorrow morning, he would take a horse-drawn carriage to pick up Li Xiangdong so they could go to town to sell fish.
"Jianguo, go and buy a pound of sweet potatoes and roast them. Your father and brother-in-law are going to have a good drink today."
Liu Guangyao generously pulled out 6 cents from his pocket and told his son to go buy some wine.
He had just listened to Li Xiangyang talk a lot, and he was convinced that Li Xiangyang had improved, which made him very happy.
Since Li Xiangyang had brought so much meat, they decided that they had to have a drink today no matter what.
Liu Jianguo seemed to have something on his mind too. He took the money and went out to buy wine without saying anything. In the past, given his personality, he would have offered a word of advice.
When he returned, the food was ready, and today's dishes looked very tough.
There was pickled cabbage and carp soup, stir-fried pork with pickled vegetables and glass noodles, boiled venison with scallions and soybean paste, and rice.
He was completely stunned!
"Mom, we haven't even eaten this well during the Lunar New Year!?"
Liu Jianguo said with a smile, while making sure to fill Liu Guangyao and Li Xiangyang's bowls with roasted sweet potatoes.
Finally, I'll treat myself to a drink too.
"Yes, it's all thanks to your sister and brother-in-law that we were able to celebrate the New Year early."
Zhou Chunxia looked at the table full of food and wine and smiled.
For some reason, I felt a lump in my throat again. This is the kind of life a human being should be living!
"Come on, everyone have a drink. Xiangyang and Xiulan brought DouDou back, and Dad is happy today too."
Seeing that the atmosphere was just right, Liu Guangyao took the lead in raising his glass.
Everyone raised their glasses in response, but the woman, instead of drinking alcohol, raised her fish soup as a toast.
Even Li Doudou was caught up in the lively atmosphere and started babbling something.
A scene of joy and harmony.
After drinking for a while, Liu Jianguo suddenly started crying.