Film and Television World Life Record

Afterwards, Li Mu began to inquire about the funeral arrangements for Su's mother, which were all handled by Mingyu, who also paid for them.

The purchase of the burial plot alone cost more than 20 yuan, and with other expenses, the total came to 40 yuan.

Li Mu was secretly astonished. Modern people not only can't afford to buy a house while they're alive, but they might not be able to afford a burial plot after they die!

……

After listening to Mingyu's words, Li Mu glanced at the people in the room. Seeing that no one spoke, especially Mingcheng, who curled his lip as if he disdained Mingyu's words and did not want to speak.

He was the one Su's mother doted on the most when she was alive, and he was also the one who spent the most money in the family. It seems that Mingyu bearing all the expenses for Su's mother's funeral had nothing to do with him.

Li Mu said, "Mingyu, Mom has several children. You can't pay for it all by yourself. As the eldest, I'll take care of it."

Mingyu refused, saying, "Big brother, no need, I'll do it!"

The two declined several times, but each insisted on paying for Su's mother's funeral expenses, making Mingcheng and Zhuli, who were standing nearby, extremely embarrassed. They were the ones Su's mother loved the most when she was alive, and they were also the ones who spent the most of the family's money.

Su Mingcheng could remain silent, but Zhu Li was a woman of pride and understanding. Having just received such an expensive gift from her elder brother, even knowing the family's savings were limited, she couldn't help but speak up.

“Big brother and Mingyu are both Mom’s children. She was so good to us when she was alive, so we should also contribute to the cost of her funeral.”

As soon as Julie finished speaking, before Li Mu and Mingyu could react, Mingcheng, who was standing to the side, became anxious and quickly interjected.

"Brother, since Mingyu has already paid the money and made arrangements for her funeral, let Mingyu take responsibility."

"As her child, having raised her all these years, shouldn't I give her some money to spend on her?"

Her words left the people around her speechless, and even Julie looked at her husband in surprise.

Mingyu wasn't one to suffer a loss, so she was willing to cover all the expenses. Firstly, she wanted to fulfill her responsibility; secondly, out of respect for her elder brother Su Mingzhe, she didn't want to haggle over every little thing.

Unexpectedly, Su Mingcheng was quite self-righteous, claiming he was the least qualified person to say such things.

He gave a cold laugh: "Su Mingcheng, don't you know where all the family's money has gone over the years?"

“Look at Dad’s clothes. He has a few new ones. Mom and Dad have been saving every penny. Where did the money go? Did the dog eat it?”

Do you even deserve to say such things?

Su Mingcheng was immediately enraged and pointed at Mingyu, shouting, "You think you're worthy? So what if you have a few stinking coins? What's so great about that?"

Su Mingyu remained expressionless, spread her hands, and said coldly, "I do have a few stinking coins! It's a pity you don't. You only know how to sponge off your parents and ask your family for money. If you're so capable, then produce some stinking coins yourself."

"You don't even want to pay for Mom's funeral!"

Su Mingcheng's face turned bright red with anger. He stood up abruptly, ready to attack Mingyu.

Only after Li Mu and Zhu Li firmly stopped them did they give up.

Pointing at Mingyu, he shouted angrily, "Su Mingyu, I did spend some of my family's money, but didn't you spend any?"

“There are several children in the family, and every one of them has spent the family’s money. How am I sponging off my parents? You saw me spending the family’s money. You need to provide evidence to support your claims.”

Mingyu's eyes flashed with anger as she coldly said, "Since you want evidence, then I'll show you the evidence."

As he spoke, he turned to look at Su Daqiang.

"Dad, where's your account book? Didn't you bring it with you? Let him see who's really sponging off us and sucking our blood."

Su Daqiang was a little frightened. He looked around cautiously and saw that everyone was staring at him. He immediately lowered his head and opened his bundle to look for the account book.

As a stack of account books was brought out, Su Mingcheng seemed a little exasperated, pointing at Su Daqiang and saying, "Dad, you've really got guts, keeping accounts! Does Mom know about this?!"

Su Daqiang shrank back and became even more silent.

Chapter 9 The Truth

Mingyu smiled and stepped forward.

“All our expenses from childhood to adulthood are recorded here, even the candied hawthorn skewers my eldest brother bought when he was a child.”

As she spoke, she picked up the thin book at the top and said, "This is mine. All the expenses I've had in the Su family since I was a child are recorded here."

He picked up a few more books and said, "These are my elder brother's."

Then, pointing to the remaining stack, he said, "The rest are all yours."

As he spoke, he looked at Julie, who was standing next to him in shock.

"Second sister-in-law, you're a professional accountant, take a look at these ledgers and see who's really sponging off their parents."

Su Mingcheng's face flushed red again. He jumped up and pointed at Mingyu, saying, "Su Mingyu, stop being so sarcastic. As children, what's wrong with spending some of our parents' money? It's all money that Mom gave me, and you're blaming me?"

When Julie saw Su Mingcheng like this for the first time, making it sound so natural for him to sponge off his parents, she felt both wronged and ashamed.

A surge of anger rose within him, and he slammed his hand on the table, roaring, "Su Mingcheng, shut up!"

Putting aside other aspects, Su Mingcheng was indeed very good to his wife. Upon hearing this, his tone stiffened, and he sat down dejectedly.

Although Julie is a pampered girl, she is well-mannered, proud, and considerate.

Next, under the watchful eyes of the others, he began to look through their account books one by one.

The more I looked, the more shocked I became, and the redder my face became, especially when I flipped over Su Mingcheng's thick stack of books and Su Mingyu's thin one, I was completely stunned.

Unexpectedly, without realizing it, they had taken so much money from home, not including the food they usually ate.

Then look at Mingyu's, it's pitifully small. Not to mention pocket money, she barely spends any money on study materials. After going to university, she stopped spending a single penny of her family's money altogether.

No wonder Mingyu's relationship with her family is so cold. It's hard to find a family that favors sons over daughters like this. Compared to her own parents, it's like heaven and earth.

She couldn't even believe that Su's mother, who she remembered as being so good to her, had such a side to her.

No wonder Mingyu and Mingcheng have such a bad relationship. A lot of money that should have been spent on Mingyu was spent on Mingcheng by Su's mother.

If she had a brother like that, she would have stopped seeing him long ago.

For a moment, she couldn't quite believe it, and she turned her head with difficulty to look at Su Daqiang: "Dad, is this true?"

She actually believed it to be true, but these ledgers overturned her preconceived notions.

She makes a living by numbers and accounting. The numbers in this ledger allow her to see a completely different mother-in-law, father-in-law, and husband through the warm and harmonious scenes of the Su family in the past.

Su Daqiang seemed startled and glanced at Zhu Li cautiously: "It's true, it's all true. I've recorded all our household expenses on it, there's no mistake."

"Back then, I even won the first prize for thrift and diligence in the school's household management competition because of these account books!"

Julie sighed softly; today's accounts had surprised her greatly.

She has always been competitive and ambitious, pursuing independence and a carefree life. Unexpectedly, she ended up becoming a freeloader alongside Mingcheng.

She even suspected that her mother's untimely death might be related to the fact that they had spent all the money, were frugal, and were short of funds, leaving them with no time or energy for medical treatment. Although she knew this speculation was somewhat far-fetched, she felt guilty nonetheless.

Looking at Su Mingcheng beside her, who showed no remorse whatsoever and even acted with righteous indignation, she became even more furious.

……

At this moment, Li Mu suddenly remembered something and said, "Dad, Mingyu was such a good student back then, a prospect for Tsinghua University, how come she ended up going to a teachers' college?"

Su Daqiang shuddered, glanced cautiously at Mingyu, and seeing that she didn't react, he whispered, "It was all your mother's idea."

“At that time, you went abroad to study, and Mingcheng was in a relationship and needed to get married, which meant a lot of expenses for the family.”

“Mingyu’s tuition for university is also an expense. Your mother felt that a girl didn’t need such a high level of education, so she secretly found Mingyu a free teacher training college through independent enrollment.”

"It's not my fault, it was all your mother's idea. You know I'm not in charge at home." He looked at Mingyu expectantly, afraid that she would get angry and take it out on him now that Su's mother was gone.

Li Mu said, "Wouldn't that be too unfair to Mingyu?"

Su Mingcheng glanced at Mingyu, snorted, and said, "Serves her right for always making Mom angry. Mom has already done her a favor by raising her to 18. She still wants to get into Tsinghua University?"

Li Mu glared at him, his expression serious, and said, "Su Mingcheng, is this what an older brother should say? Other brothers are afraid that their younger sisters will be wronged, but you're here kicking them when they're down. Do you have any brotherly manners?"

Su Mingcheng said nonchalantly, "Brother, does she even acknowledge me as her brother? She's always been against me since we were little. Anyway, I didn't know I had a sister."

These words really angered Li Mu.

"Really? I remember when we were little, you were always the one who started all the trouble. You even made Mingyu wash your own clothes, and if she didn't wash them, you wouldn't let her study. You would run to Mom to tattle, and you even hit her more than once."

Su Mingcheng still didn't think he had done anything wrong.

He said stubbornly, "What's wrong with a younger sister washing some clothes for her older brother? She can't even do this simple thing and talks back to me all the time. What's the point of having a younger sister like this?"

Li Mu gave a cold laugh.

"With your attitude, you expect Mingyu to do your clothes? When you were in school, why didn't you ask your teacher to do your homework for you?!"

"It seems that Mom has really spoiled you all these years!"

Not only Li Mu, but Julie next to him also stared at her husband in shock, wondering how he could say such things so confidently.

That's my own sister!

His face immediately turned red with anger, and he slammed his hand on the table, shouting, "Su Mingcheng, what's going on? Mingyu is your own sister!"

"We must make this clear today!"

Seeing how angry Julie was, Su Mingcheng remained silent for a while before finally speaking.

“She’s a jinx. Ever since she came into our lives, Dad was demoted to the school library, and our family’s living conditions have plummeted.”

"Not only do I dislike her, but Mom does too. She's just an unwanted person."

Li Mu gained a deeper understanding of Su Mingcheng's stubbornness. He also had the task of reforming the unstable factors in the Su family, which was quite a headache. Perhaps he would have to take some drastic measures in the future, otherwise it would be ineffective.

……