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

Chapter 47 Falling out
That's his beloved car! His most precious possession!

Liu Yongguo stared blankly at his brother, who was collapsing in his arms, feeling extremely troubled. He quickly took the man back to the hospital.

Ma Cuihua instinctively wanted to teach Liu Yongming a lesson.

Liu Yongguo quickly glared at her, "Mom, say less! My little brother doesn't want to live anymore! He's been crying all the way here!"

Everyone in the ward was completely dumbfounded.

Ma Cuihua said irritably, "He still has the nerve to cry! He chose his wife himself, and she's the one who gave birth to this worthless child. I didn't even cry, so why is he crying like this!"

"Mom! It's not about my wife and kids!" Liu Yongguo said anxiously, glancing at the listless Liu Yongming, shaking his head and sighing, "His bicycle was stolen, and he can't think straight."

"Cough, cough, cough!" Xu Manzhi choked on her saliva in shock, staring wide-eyed at Liu Yongming. "How could Yongming be so unlucky? His wife got arrested, his son became a daughter, and now he can't even afford a bicycle!"

"Wah!" Liu Yongming couldn't hold back his sobs and burst into tears, jumping up and down, stomping his feet, and then pounding his chest. "My bicycle! My bicycle!"

Xu Manzhi was startled and quickly moved to the side, tugging at Liu Yongguo's clothes and muttering, "It seems like losing the car is worse than losing my wife, what should we do?"

Liu Yongguo was also anxious, "If only I knew what to do! He's been crying the whole way, and I can't ask him anything. I don't know what happened either."

Enraged, Ma Cuihua climbed off the hospital bed and slapped Liu Yongming twice across the face, yelling, "Shut up, you old bastard!"

Liu Yongming was stunned by the beating and finally behaved himself.

While crying and trembling, Ma Cuihua pointed at Liu Yongming and scolded him, "I raised you with great difficulty and sent you to college, not so you could come here and act crazy! I won't pursue Fang Meixiang's matter anymore, and we don't want that good-for-nothing anymore. You have to pull yourself together now and go and resolve Fang Meixiang's matter!"

Liu Yongming slowly lowered his head. "Mom, how should I solve this?"

Upon hearing this, Ma Cuihua became even angrier. "How else can this be resolved? You can get divorced once, you can get divorced twice! I think this Fang Meixiang is not as good as that Lin Qin! Have you spent a lot of money on Fang Meixiang?"

Liu Yongming remained silent.

Suppressing her anger, Ma Cuihua gritted her teeth and said, "They're faking marriage! We have to get all that money back! Most importantly, we have to get a divorce! We don't want Fang Meixiang or the child! When we go out, we'll say that Fang Meixiang is faking marriage and money, and we can't admit to anything else. You're still the most promising child in our Liu family. After you graduate and get a job in two months, Mom will find you a good wife who is a good match for you."

With Ma Cuihua as his pillar of support, Liu Yongming gradually calmed down.

Liu Li, who was standing to the side, was not having it.

"Mom, you and Second Brother have been talking for so long but haven't gotten to the point. Lin Qin was the one who made me like this yesterday, and she's the one who made you so angry that you ended up in the hospital. Are you just going to let this go like that?"

Ma Cuihua looked at Liu Yongming.

Liu Yongming took a deep breath, slowly closed his eyes, and his face contorted with rage as he thought about what happened yesterday. "I went to Shanglin Village, but I couldn't find Lin Qin and Lin Yi, so I smashed up their house and destroyed their vegetable garden. As a result, the villagers of Shanglin Village extorted fifty yuan from me, and my bicycle was stolen there too, boohoo. My bicycle, my bicycle!" Xu Manzhi glared fiercely at Liu Li. "He can't even mention the bicycle now. Why are you always provoking your second brother? Come to think of it, isn't it all because you were looking for trouble! If you hadn't provoked Lin Qin, would she have hit you? If you hadn't fought, your eldest brother and mother wouldn't have gotten into this mess trying to stand up for you!"
Liu Li, you're not getting any younger, and the high school entrance exam is just around the corner. It's bad enough that you don't study properly, but you also cause trouble every now and then. Our family is already chaotic enough; we can't count on you for help, but don't be so willful and make things worse!

In the past, Xu Manzhi would never have said such a thing to Liu Li. After all, Liu Li had good grades and was good-looking. She might be the second college graduate in the Liu family. With her looks, it wouldn't be impossible for her to find a rich husband in the future.

Xu Manzhi saw value in Liu Li and fawned over her in every way. But now Liu Li has stopped studying, her face is disfigured and she doesn't know if she will be left with scars. She hangs out with hooligans all day long and is a disreputable person.

Forget about the future, it would be good enough if we didn't get led astray.

Xu Manzhi was convinced that Liu Li was ruined, so she naturally wouldn't be as polite to her as before.

"Xu Manzhi! Even my mother didn't say anything to me, so what right do you have to lecture me? Don't think that just because my older brother is protecting you, you can ride roughshod over me!" Liu Li glared fiercely at Xu Manzhi, her fists clenched.

Liu Yongguo roared in frustration, "What are you doing? She's your sister-in-law, what's wrong with her saying a few words to you? Besides! Did your sister-in-law say anything wrong? Instead of studying properly, you spend all your time learning nonsense from those people! Would you have done this in public before?"

Liu Li used to be very concerned about her image and was particularly good at pretending. When she left home, she was incredibly sweet-talking, gentle, and polite, and everyone who saw her would praise her. Now, Liu Li can even start trouble in front of the neighbors, and everyone who sees her will roll their eyes at her.

Liu Li stomped her feet in anger, "I knew you men were all the same! You forget your mothers after you get married, and you don't want your sister anymore once you have a wife! Since you don't like me, I'll just leave!"

Liu Li stormed out of the ward.

Ma Cuihua was so angry that she gasped for breath, slapping her thighs and wailing, "What sins have I committed! They're all here to collect debts!"

The next day, Ma Cuihua was discharged from the hospital and returned home.

Liu Fang then brought her child to their door.

Ma Cuihua and her family looked at the unfamiliar Liu Fang and the two men behind her with suspicion. "Who are you? What do you want?"

Liu Fang nudged Xu Manzhi, who was blocking the door, with her elbow, walked into the courtyard, looked around, and finally fixed her gaze on Liu Yongming. "You're Liu Yongming? Meixiang's man?"

"Who are you people?" Liu Yongming saw the child and roughly guessed Liu Fang's identity, but he was unwilling to admit it.

Liu Fang sneered, "Go inside and talk. You don't want to be laughed at by the neighbors anymore, do you?"

Ma Cuihua swallowed back the insults that were on the tip of her tongue and stormed into the main room.

Holding the child, Liu Fang glanced at the Liu family and said indifferently, "I think you should have guessed who I am by now. I won't beat around the bush. This child is Liu Yongming's daughter. Meixiang has been arrested and can't raise the child, so I had no choice but to send her back to you."

"Why should I?" Ma Cuihua slammed her hand on the table in anger. "That bitch swore she was carrying a son. If it weren't for my grandson, I wouldn't have let her in so easily! Now her diploma is fake, she's a fake person, she's committed a crime and is in jail, and she thinks she can cling to us after giving birth to a worthless child? Dream on!"

(End of this chapter)