Back to 1984: Earning Money, Raising Kids, and Keeping the Household Busy

Chapter 12 Liu Yongming Raises His Charges

“Work assignment, work assignment. If it weren’t for your job, my sister and I wouldn’t have to suffer so much! You have to help your sister out in the future. That bitch Lin Qin treated me like this, and I still have the injury on my arm! If all else fails, just say that I don’t get along with her and threaten to kill myself to force you to divorce!” Ma Cuihua suggested defiantly.

Liu Yongming frowned even more. "Mom, this is the only way we can do it. I don't want you to be known as a wicked mother-in-law unless it's absolutely necessary."

When Ma Cuihua heard that her son was thinking of her, she finally felt much better.

"Alright, then hurry up, or your sister won't be able to go to school!" Ma Cuihua urged Liu Yongming before leaving.

After seeing them off, Liu Yongming thought for a moment, bought some cheap biscuits, and rode his bicycle to Shanglin Village.

He had planned out how to explain things to Lin Yi and persuade Lin Qin to go to the school to explain, but when he arrived at Shanglin Village, he found that his father-in-law's house was locked and there was no one in sight.

Just then, Lin Qingxiang walked over, and Liu Yongming quickly stepped forward and asked, "Uncle, do you know where my father-in-law went?"

Lin Qingxiang looked Liu Yongming over carefully, and his face immediately fell. "Didn't you come back a long time ago? Lin Qin only took the child back to her in-laws' house because she heard you were back. What? Don't you know why your father-in-law isn't home?"

Faced with Lin Qingxiang's questioning, Liu Yongming looked somewhat embarrassed and displeased, and explained calmly, "I've been interning at my workplace recently, I haven't been living at home."

"Why did you send your wife and kids back home if you don't live here? Are you going to let your mother's family bully them? What kind of husband are you?" Lin Qingxiang berated Liu Yongming mercilessly, showing him no respect whatsoever.

Liu Yongming couldn't stand it anymore, so he turned around, got into his car, and drove away.

Lin Qingxiang spat on the ground, "Pah! What a piece of shit!"

Liu Yongming didn't see Lin Qin and didn't want to go home and be nagged by Ma Cuihua and his sister, so he had no choice but to go back to Fang Ying's place.

Fang Ying raised an eyebrow when she saw that he was late and asked, "Did you go to deal with that old hag?"

Liu Yongming let out a sigh of relief, looking depressed. "I went to Shanglin Village, but didn't see her. I don't know where she's gone! Today she even went to my sister's school and caused a scene, making my sister ostracized by her teachers and classmates. It seems this woman is becoming more and more uncontrollable. Do you have any good suggestions?"

Fang Ying's lips curled into a slight sneer, "You thought you were so capable! Now you know to come begging to me? Humph! I have plenty of ways to manipulate a woman! Doesn't she care a lot about her daughter and her father? Just use the two of them to force her to submit!"

Liu Yongming suddenly realized, "No wonder she's a woman who got into a junior college, she's really smart! I'll go to Shanglin Village a few more times in the next few days, I don't believe they can hide forever!"

The following morning, Lin Qin completed the discharge procedures for Liu Yaya. The child's back injury still hurt, so she had to be held very carefully.

Lin Yi specially went back to Shanglin Village to borrow a wheelbarrow, put Liu Yaya on it, and the two carefully sent the child back to Shanglin Village.

These past few days, Lin Qingxiang would come over to Lin Yi's place after finishing his work. Seeing that Lin Yi's door was open, he would go straight inside and ask, "Where is he?"

"Coming, coming!" Lin Yi ran over from the backyard and beckoned Lin Qingxiang to sit down and talk.

Lin Qingxiang didn't stand on ceremony with him, sitting down on the small stool and starting to smoke. "Let me tell you, your son-in-law came over yesterday evening, couldn't find you, and left. The way that kid acted with his nose in the air made me furious." Lin Yi paused, then sat down. "What did he say?"

"What else can I say? I asked him why you weren't here, and he asked me back how he could not know where you went. He couldn't answer and gave me a dirty look, then turned around, got in the car, and drove off! What a piece of trash! Let me tell you, that kid is obviously no good. Lin Qin and the child have really suffered this time. Who knows what will happen if we send them back!"

Lin Qingxiang, being an outsider, saw things more clearly than Lin Yi. The good son-in-law in Lin Yi's eyes was not what he seemed at all.

Lin Yi fell silent.

Lin Qingxiang glanced at the small gate in the backyard and asked in a low voice, "How is the child?"

Lin Yi looked worried. "She has a large burn on her back. She cried and screamed every day for the past few days, saying that it hurts here and there. Her mother and I have been taking care of her day and night, but she is still not fully recovered!"

Lin Qingxiang felt heartbroken upon hearing this, and he went to the backyard to check on the child. When he saw the injury, his anger surged back to his head.

He started cursing and yelled all the way from the backyard to the front yard, alarming all the villagers nearby.

Lin Qingxiang then recounted all the things the Liu family had done, so that everyone could condemn them.

Liu Yongming came over again in the evening. Seeing that there were people in the house, he immediately rushed in and said, "Dad! I've come to pick up Aqin and Yaya."

Without saying a word, Lin Yi stepped forward and grabbed Liu Yongming by the collar. "Now that the child has been discharged from the hospital, you've come to pick him up. Where were you before? What were you doing when your mother, your sister-in-law, and your sister were bullying them?"

Liu Yongming's face flushed red and then turned pale as Lin Yi scolded him. He forcefully broke free from Lin Yi's hand and frowned in dissatisfaction. "Dad! Talk to me, don't hit me. I'm still studying and can't take care of things at home. Instead of scolding me, you should talk to Aqin. My mom only said a few words to her, and she talked back to her. Yaya is the same, she's spoiled rotten. Look what she did to my sister-in-law this time. My brother insists I give him an explanation."

Lin Yi laughed, "So what? What the hell are you doing here? Let me tell you! My daughter has me, her father, to protect her. She's not someone your Liu family can just trample on! You want to take them away from me today? Fine! Give me back what injuries Ya Ya and my daughter sustained, and whoever did them. Otherwise, get out of here right now!"

Liu Yongming's expression changed slightly. "Dad! What nonsense are you talking about! Haven't we already put the past behind us? Aqin and Yaya are fine. Now that I'm back, my mom and the others definitely won't treat them like this anymore. Besides, what kind of married daughter lives at her parents' house all the time? If word gets out, where will I put my face? And it won't look good for you either!"

"Bullshit! I don't care about your reputation or anything like that. Reputation is something you earn yourself! Your Liu family does nothing right, so you deserve to be shameless!" Lin Yi cursed angrily.

Liu Yongming didn't want to argue with him, so he craned his neck and shouted into the backyard, "Qin, Qin! I'm here to pick you up. Take the child and come back with me! I promise that none of those things will ever happen again."

He had barely finished shouting when Lin Qin appeared.

Liu Yongming smiled smugly at Lin Yi, then began to berate Lin Qin with dissatisfaction, "We've been married for so many years, you know what my mother and her family are like, why do you have to argue with them? Now look what's happened, the children are suffering because of you, and you even went to Ali's school to make a scene, do you know that you've ruined Ali's future!"

"Hurry up and pack your things and come back with me. Tomorrow we'll go to Ali's school and explain things to her teachers and classmates. Ali needs to be able to attend school normally; she's in her final year of junior high, and her studies can't be affected."

(End of this chapter)