Reborn as an 80s-aged woman, her unfilial son begs for forgiveness on his knees.

Upon hearing this, He Caifeng laughed instead, her laughter full of sarcasm: "Pay money to marry me? Li Wenjun, put your hand on your heart and tell me, in the city, which family doesn't give two hundred yuan as a bride price?"

Is two hundred yuan a lot?

Just the fact that I gave your Li family a big, fat grandson is priceless. How dare you talk to me about bride price?

You are a large state-owned factory, and I am also a public employee of a state-owned enterprise.

You have difficulty taking leave and get deducted a lot of pay, but aren't your brother and I the same?

Your brother works in a research institute, and those positions are very competitive. If he's absent for too long, the whole project will have to stop.

I went to ask my supervisor for leave today, and he looked very reluctant. I had to plead with him before he finally granted me a day off.

If I don't go to work tomorrow, I don't know how my boss will scold me.

"And you, you just tell me to stay here and guard this place, but what about you? Does your company have to function without you?"

Since Li Wenjun can't get leave, then she can't either.

It doesn't make sense that just because her father-in-law is sick, she, as the eldest daughter-in-law, has to take care of him.

Li Wenjun frowned.

"Our company has been focusing on production targets and speeding up progress lately, so those of us who sit in the office have to take turns going down to the workshop to fill in for us."

If I take a long leave, the workshop will be even more short-staffed, and the management definitely won't approve it.

Besides, Director Wang and I don't get along. If I take a long leave of absence, he might use it against me and make things difficult for me.

He Caifeng sneered: "You're afraid that Director Wang will make things difficult for you, but I'm not afraid that our director will give me a hard time?"

You're a grown man, and you can't even stay by your own father's bedside when he's sick, yet you have the nerve to boss me around as his daughter-in-law.

Let me tell you, Li Wenjun, this is your father, not my father.

Don't try to pin all your responsibilities on me.

"I, He Caifeng, married into your Li family to be a daughter-in-law, not to be a slave."

The two argued back and forth, giving Li Wenhai a headache.

"Stop arguing, it's hard for you to take time off. Are you going to leave Dad to lie in the hospital alone?"

"In any case, we must come up with a plan today."

Li Wenhai was in a real bind.

Li Wenjun and He Caifeng both fell silent, their gazes fixed on Li Wenhai. The only sound in the ward for a moment was the regular "beep-beep" of the electrocardiogram monitor.

Suddenly, He Caifeng had a flash of inspiration.

"Wenhai, we said last time that we would bring Xiaomei back."

Xiaomei is Dad's own daughter, so it's only right that she comes to serve him.

Besides, what's the use of a girl studying?

When they grow up, won't they belong to someone else's family?

Why not let her come back? That way, we can save on tuition fees.

If she comes back to take care of Dad, both our families can finally catch our breath. Wouldn't that be the best of both worlds?

Even if she still wants to go to school, letting her take a two-week leave won't cause any problems, and it will give us a break.

Upon hearing this, Li Wenjun's eyes immediately lit up.

"That's a good idea."

And what about the older sister? She closed the door for a few days, what happened?

Business is nothing compared to our dad.

It's settled then.

The eldest sister and the youngest sister are used to doing housework and are more efficient at serving others than we are.

Besides, they are both their father's own flesh and blood. If they don't help now, when will they?

As long as they are there, why should we worry about anything?

Girls are more meticulous than us, who are often clumsy and inept. They're better at taking care of people than we are.

Li Wenhai agreed, finding it reasonable.

"But will this work?"

Xiaomei is still young; I'm afraid her mother won't agree.

He Caifeng pursed her lips: "What does she disagree with?"

"Isn't Xiaomei Dad's child too?"

Li Wenhai still felt something was amiss.

With so many adults here, why would they send a teenage girl to the hospital to serve others? What kind of talk would that make?

Besides, Xiaomei is in school. If she takes leave to come back and take care of her father, it will delay her studies and she won't be able to get into university. Who will take responsibility for that?

My mom will definitely be the first to object.

These days, Li Wenhai is most afraid of his mother.

He can't handle it if his mother makes a scene.

"Wenhai, what are you still hesitating about?"

Xiaojuan is almost sixteen years old.

She's not a three-year-old child; can't she take care of herself?

Besides, Dad is just physically weak; he can go to the toilet by himself.

It's just about staying at the hospital with Dad, talking to him, bringing him water, and handing him medicine. How difficult could that be?

Think about it, we're all people on official business, who has the patience to sit in a hospital room all day?

If any of us take leave to come here, we'll have to have our pay docked, which adds up to a considerable loss.

Xiaomei won't have her pay docked if she takes leave, so why not?

Li Wenjun was very tempted when he heard this.

"Brother, let's do it this way."

She is her father's own daughter, and serving him is her duty.

Besides, if she were truly filial, would she really refuse such a small thing?

Li Wenhai sighed and finally decided that Li Xiaomei should take a month's leave to take care of her father, as half a month was simply not enough.

We also need to notify Li Xiaojuan.

She's rich now, so she should pay for Dad's medical expenses.

Lying in his hospital bed, Li Jianguo, who had already woken up, felt utterly dejected.

He listened to his two sons outside the ward discussing how to call their daughters back to take care of him, and felt as if a bucket of cold water had been poured over his heart.

He originally thought that his two sons would compete to take care of him after he fell ill, but he didn't expect that they were planning how to push the burden onto their two daughters.

Everyone says that raising children is for old age security, but in the end, he was lying in a hospital bed, and all his sons were thinking about was how to save trouble and money.

Li Jianguo closed his eyes, a single, cloudy tear seeping from the corner of his eye.

If Zhang Wenying hadn't divorced him, if she were still here, he wouldn't have ended up in this state.

He seemed to miss Zhang Wenying very much.

These past two days, my eldest son has been doing everything in a bad mood. Even when I take him to get a checkup, he does it with impatience.

Li Jianguo knew in his heart that his son thought he was troublesome and a burden to everyone.

He opened his mouth, as if to say, "Maybe I should be discharged."

But what good is being discharged from the hospital?

In that cold, impersonal house, he probably wouldn't even have anyone to pour him a cup of hot water...

The three of them unanimously decided that He Caifeng would go to process Li Xiaomei's withdrawal from school first thing tomorrow morning.

They felt it would be better for Li Xiaomei to stop going to school.

Li Xiaomei doesn't go to school, so the elderly at home are taken care of, meals are cooked, clothes are washed, and even her baby is looked after.

It's really not good to have someone in the family to take care of the housework.

So, we might as well just let Li Xiaomei drop out of school.

Anyway, what's the use of her reading so many books if she's a girl?

She'll get married eventually, so it's good for her to learn how to manage a household early on.

Li Xiaomei had no idea that she had been tricked by her own brother and sister-in-law.

It's early autumn now, and Li Xiaomei is wearing a new long-sleeved white shirt, black overalls, and white Warrior shoes that her sister bought for her. She looks youthful and energetic.