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

Wang Ximei echoed Wang Fengying, shouting loudly, "You're so capable of making up lies, but you're not capable of getting A-Jian out to confront us! I want to see how he got into this No. 1 Middle School in the city!"

Most of the other villagers who came along were just there to join in the fun, while others came to mediate the fight out of fear of trouble.

Lin Ying then understood the purpose of the mother-in-law and daughter-in-law's visit, and immediately laughed, looking at them as if they were clowns.

She didn't argue, but silently walked to the phone and dialed a number.

Wang Ximei and Wang Fengying stood with their hands on their hips, watching the scene with indignant expressions.

The call was answered quickly.

"Hello, is this Ms. Ji, Xu Jian's homeroom teacher?"

"Yes, who are you?"

"I am Xu Jian's mother. Hello, Teacher Ji. I would like to ask what Xu Jian's middle school entrance exam scores were this time? Also, which high school did he get accepted into?"

Teacher Ji was clearly impressed with Xu Jian. She didn't even need to check before telling him Xu Jian's grades and the school he was admitted to. She also spoke to Lin Ying in a very warm tone, "To be honest, Xu Jian performed exceptionally well in this year's high school entrance exam. I was worried that he was putting some of his energy into the saxophone, which would affect his academic performance. But I didn't expect that he not only plays the saxophone well and speaks fluent English, but his academic performance is also outstanding."

I'd like to ask Xu Jian's mother, do you plan to send your child abroad to study in the future?

Lin Ying was flattered by Teacher Ji's praise and couldn't stop smiling, not knowing how to respond.

When she hung up the phone, her face was frozen from smiling.

Meanwhile, Wang Ximei and her daughter-in-law, who were staring at Lin Ying, looked grim.

Lin Ying crossed her arms smugly. "This is my son's homeroom teacher. You can't believe what I say, but his homeroom teacher wouldn't lie to you! If you still don't believe me, you can go to the No. 1 High School in the city and ask! Your Xu family's grandson, who brought honor to the family by selling everything they owned, can't compare to the child raised by our Lin family. What are we going to do about it!"

I know you're unhappy, so please continue to be unhappy, hahahahahaha.”

Lin Ying laughed arrogantly as if she had gone mad. The angrier Wang Ximei and Wang Fengying got, the louder she laughed.

The villagers were worried that Wang Ximei and Wang Fengying would be angered to death, so they quickly went up to persuade them to go back.

The two were practically dragged out of the store.

Once they left, Lin Ying returned to normal.

The customers who had bought clothes hadn't left yet. Knowing that Lin Ying had raised such an outstanding son, they all came forward to congratulate her and bought something.

Lin Ying easily made another fortune.

Turning back to Xu Dahai, who was settling accounts, she snorted irritably, "You didn't utter a sound when they came to cause trouble!"

Xu Dahai awkwardly touched his nose. "Wife, you were so powerful just now, you could have easily taken down anyone. If I went over there, I would only cause trouble for you. I'd better just keep quiet. But I did see it just now. My sister-in-law was so angry that her veins were bulging and her eyes were almost popping out. In all these years, this is the first time I've seen her so angry. And my mother, she was completely stunned."

Lin Ying scoffed, "Isn't this normal? In her eyes, apart from Xu Jie, she doesn't care about any of her other grandsons. Now, the grandson she looks down on is more outstanding than her precious darling. How can she be happy about that?"
"Now that we've fallen out and are living separately, if we were still entangled, do you believe your mother could force me to make the Lin family help her raise her grandson!"

Xu Dahai blinked, about to say it was unlikely, but then he thought that his mother wasn't very sensible and might actually do it.

Because his family hadn't made him look good, Xu Dahai became much more subdued when speaking to Lin Ying.

When Xu Dashan returned home from get off work in the evening, he found the house deserted, the kitchen empty and the pots and pans cold. He was dumbfounded. He ran to his neighbor's house to ask and learned that Wang Fengying was at the old house.

They hurried over and, as soon as they entered the old house courtyard, they heard Wang Fengying's sobbing coming from inside.

Xu Dashan's expression changed drastically. "What's going on?"

Zhang Guizhi, who was picking green beans in the yard, looked up at Xu Dashan and said irritably, "Brother, you've finally arrived. My sister-in-law has been crying at our house all afternoon. People who know her say she's upset because A-Jie didn't do well on the exam, but people who don't know her might think we did something to her!"
She came to our house crying like this for no reason. Isn't she afraid of going blind from crying? I think it's bad luck!

"Alright! Stop talking." Xu Dachuan nudged Zhang Guizhi twice, signaling her to shut up, before explaining to Xu Dashan, "These past two days, everyone in the village has been saying that A-Jian got into the city's No. 1 High School. My sister-in-law and Mom don't believe it. They think A-Jian didn't do well on the exam. My second sister-in-law is deliberately spreading rumors everywhere, just to put A-Jie down."

They were seething with anger, so at noon they took a lot of women from the village to the town to confront Second Sister-in-law, demanding that she clarify the truth. Unexpectedly, Second Sister-in-law directly called A-Jian's homeroom teacher and asked him to speak.

That's when I found out that not only was A-Jian good at his studies, but he also studied something else, I don't know what that is. Also, A-Jian speaks English very well, and his homeroom teacher even asked my sister-in-law if she planned to send A-Jian abroad to study.

Everyone heard it clearly. Mom and my sister-in-law were humiliated, and my second sister-in-law even showed off in front of them. Mom was so angry that she felt dizzy and came back saying she felt unwell. She has been lying in the house ever since.

The elder sister-in-law lay in the main room crying, and had been crying for a long time. Several groups of people from the village had come, but nothing they did could stop her.

Xu Dashan's face gradually lost its color because of Xu Dachuan's words. He thought about how his family had spent all their savings to support their son's education, only for his son to be admitted to the Fifth Middle School, while Xu Jian was admitted to the First Middle School. He felt extremely sad.

But he was still a man, unlike Wang Fengying who was so fragile.

Xu Dashan stepped into the main room, tugged at Wang Fengying, and his voice suddenly sounded much older, "Don't cry, the child has already tried very hard. Even if we don't compare him to A-Jian, he is still one of the top students in our family."

"What's the use! You know how big the gap is between No. 5 Middle School and No. 1 Middle School! Why? Why did we all work so hard, and our kids even repeated a year, and they only got into No. 5 Middle School, while Xu Jian's grades were so bad before, not even a fraction of A-Jie's? Why did he get into No. 1 Middle School? I'm not convinced, I'm not convinced!"

Wang Fengying cried until her voice was hoarse, and in front of Xu Dashan, she started to act childish and take her anger out on him.

Xu Dashan was exhausted after a long day. Not only was there no food when he got home, but he was also subjected to his wife's unreasonable nagging. He instantly lost his temper and said, "What can you do if you're not happy? We've already emptied our savings to buy a house in the city, and we've sent our child to school in the city. What else can you do?"
Go out and see for yourself. In our village, in the entire Pingxi town, how many families can achieve this level of success? This is the limit of my ability. If you're still not satisfied, go do whatever you want. I don't care anymore!

Xu Dashan turned and left angrily.

Wang Fengying's heart sank completely, and she cried even harder. (End of Chapter)