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

Chapter 97 Li Lan's Unspeakable Secret
“My mother-in-law is the kind of person who bullies the weak and fears the strong. When she saw that I was serious, she chickened out. She was worried that if we really got divorced, Dahai would take his anger out on them and have a falling out with them, so she hid away and kept quiet.”

My sister-in-law is shrewd too. She was initially taking her anger out on me, but when she saw I'd lost my temper, she started apologizing and crying. I used to be easy to talk to, but this time she absolutely refused to compromise. My point is this: whatever size house they built for the eldest son, they want to build us the same size house now. If they don't build it, we'll separate. I won't care about the old couple's future; it's either a divorce or everything.

How could your brother-in-law possibly agree to a divorce? He immediately went to his parents' house as I suggested. In all the years I've been married to him, this was the first time I'd ever seen him so defiant. My in-laws were crying and wailing, and they called all three of their sons over to discuss it.

Lin Qin's curiosity was piqued. "And then? What was the result of the discussion?"

Lin Ying smiled smugly: "Of course he's going along with my wishes! Dahai's older brother has really gotten a great deal. What can he say? If I tell Dahai to give the money to the third wife to help her out of her emergency, I'll get a divorce, and I'll definitely get a divorce. Do you think Dahai's older brother can persuade me?"

All he could do was take out money and support us in building the house. You have no idea how angry Dahai's wife was. I heard that the couple even fought that night.

I felt so relieved when I heard that!

After Lin Ying finished speaking, she looked around the room with envy. "Although they gave money, it was still not as much as the big house. Before coming to your house, I was thinking of building three tiled houses, one main room and two bedrooms. One room for us and one room for the two children. That would be about right."

Seeing your magnificent house has made me feel quite envious! I feel like three tiled houses aren't enough. The eldest son built five big tiled houses!

Lin Qin immediately knew that Lin Ying was still resentful about the differential treatment she received from her in-laws.

"Sister, you've at least gotten the money to build three brick houses. Since you don't want to take care of your in-laws in the future, just bear with this loss for now. You can use this as an excuse when you need to take care of them in their old age. People say that suffering a loss is a blessing, so don't be angry."

"If you want to build a big house, I can lend you some money. You can pay me back when you have the funds."

Lin Ying teased, "Oh! You've struck it rich now! You've got quite the nerve! Let me tell you, men with money don't stay honest, especially since you and Wenjun are a second-marriage couple. The best way to keep your relationship stable is to hurry up and have another child."

With your two children, this family is finally complete!

Lin Qin sighed and rubbed her forehead. "Why are you just like Dad? We only got our marriage certificate last year, and since then we've been busy building a house. We've even incurred a lot of debt. You could say we didn't do anything last year except make money."

"The house is finally built, and the debts are paid off. We should be able to relax a bit! We'll let things take their course with the children; I'm not in a rush."

Lin Ying knew that Lin Qin was telling the truth, so she didn't say anything more.

Just then, there was a knock on the door.

The two remained silent. Lin Qin opened the door and looked at Li Lan with surprise.

"Sister-in-law! What's wrong? Is something missing from the room?"

Li Lan quickly shook her head, hesitated for a moment, and then whispered, "Can I ask my cousin something?"

Lin Qin nodded and let Li Lan in.

As a result, Li Lan sat down and looked like she didn't know how to start the conversation.

The two sisters patiently waited for her to organize her thoughts.

After a moment, Li Lan finally mustered up the courage to look at Lin Ying and asked, "Cousin, I want to ask how much the fine for having more children than allowed is in your area?" The two sisters subconsciously looked at Li Lan's stomach.

Remembering Li Lan's seasickness and nausea earlier, Lin Ying asked worriedly, "Are you pregnant?"

Li Lan remained silent, offering no denial.

Lin Ying and Lin Qin exchanged a glance and continued to press, "How many children have you had with Fu Gensheng?"

"One! It's a girl." Li Lan's voice was very soft, but fortunately the room was quiet, and both sisters heard her clearly.

Lin Qin breathed a sigh of relief, "One is fine. In our rural area, even the first girl can have a second child. What are you worried about?"

Li Lan's eyes immediately welled up with tears. "I'm worried that this baby in my belly is another girl. My parents-in-law are really hoping for a grandson. They say that their family only has one son, Fugen, and they can't let the family line die out. My first child was a girl, and they've been urging me to have a second child ever since she was born."

Now that I'm pregnant with my second child, I'm worried I won't meet their expectations. If it's a girl, they'll definitely want another one. I just want to know how much the fine is?

Actually, you can find out about this by asking the villagers, but the village is never short of gossipy women. As soon as they start talking, they can start spreading rumors and making things up. They keep staring at her belly. If she has a son, that's fine, but if she doesn't, the couple will definitely be forced to have their tubes tied.

Li Lan dared not speak out, and dared not even let the villagers know that she was pregnant.

Lin Ying had also witnessed the situation of the Xu family's third branch, so she could understand Li Lan's dilemma. She honestly told her, "Five hundred. The first time you have an extra child, the fine is five hundred. The second time, it doubles or even triples. It depends on the situation in each village."

However, I heard that the more remote the area, the stricter the enforcement and the heavier the penalties.

Li Lan turned pale with fright, tears welling up in her eyes.

Lin Qin didn't know what to say about this, so she just said, "You should discuss it with Fu Gen. Your belly isn't showing yet. If it really doesn't work out, go back and prepare for childbirth. Come to the city when you're close to giving birth. Even if the people in your village are watching your belly, they can't follow you around every day. They can't possibly chase you all the way to the city."

Li Lan nodded absentmindedly and left, feeling troubled.

The two sisters whispered to each other for a while before going to the kitchen to cook.

Lin Ying quickly took out a chicken and a duck that she had brought, both of which were already slaughtered.

Lin Qin knew this was Lin Ying's habit over the years, so she didn't say anything, but just took out some shiitake mushrooms that she had saved up at home.

"We'll make chicken soup with shiitake mushrooms and ginger duck later! Dad grew a lot of ginger, so we can add as much as we want." Lin Qin spoke with an air of wealth and power.

Lin Ying was incredibly envious. "Your place is really great! Just your family has such a large plot of land that you can't even cultivate it all. Even if people come up to build houses in the future, they won't be able to take over the land you've cultivated."

Lin Qin laughed heartily, "That's impossible. This whole island belongs to our family. Dad can do whatever he wants with it. With all this stuff for him to play with, do you think he'd want to go back?"

"What? This entire island belongs to you?" Lin Ying was so shocked her eyes almost popped out of her head.

(End of this chapter)