Witty Wife, Better Life-Chapter 808 - 798 Out of Money

After seeing off her guests and shutting the courtyard door, Qiu Shuping heaved a sigh of relief. She turned around, saw Zheng’s mother who had enjoyed the commotion, and couldn’t contain her anger anymore. "You smoking nuisance, why are you always so spiteful? Can’t stand to see me well, right? No wonder you can’t keep a man; you’re just too harmful..."

Qiu Shuping didn’t end up fighting with those asking for money, but she did start bickering with the onlookers.

Despite the Zheng mother and daughter being just two people, they weren’t as well-educated as Qiu Shuping, so they were slightly inferior in fighting skills. From one with solid technique to the other having a numbers advantage, the two sides were evenly matched for a while. Since the courtyard door was shut and they were left to their own devices, they eventually separated on their own.

Both sides ended up worse for wear, covered in injuries, but Qiu Shuping looked particularly worse off from a glance. Zheng’s mother had aimed for her face, so after the fight, Qiu Shuping’s face was striped with injuries.

However, Qiu Shuping targeted areas where the flesh was thicker and less visible, ensuring the pain was present without showing the wounds.

Thus, when they parted ways, both were pretty beaten up. By the morning’s end, the courtyard had quieted down, as both Qiu Shuping and Zheng’s mother lay on their kang, unable to get up.

Lying on the kang, Qiu Shuping felt pain all over her body. After all, she was an elderly lady and despite her resilience, fighting against two younger people hadn’t favored her well. Back in her room, she winced in agony.

But her mouth spared no one; she cursed the Zheng mother and daughter from head to toe. Not satisfied, she then cursed old man Li terribly and even dragged her children into the rant, focusing mainly on her daughters-in-law.

It could be said that even though she was the only one home, the old residence was chaotic that morning.

By noon, Zheng Huilan, being the least injured, barely managed to get up to cook for herself and her mother. Honestly, she felt somewhat afraid of her mother-in-law, so without Zheng’s mother by her side, she cautiously stepped out to cook, fearing an encounter with the fierce old woman.

Fortunately, Qiu Shuping had no energy to get off the kang, which allowed Huilan to finish cooking tremblingly and hastily retreat back into the room with the dishes.

Of course, lying on the kang, Qiu Shuping heard the noise from the main room. She didn’t speak, just listened intently until the noise ceased, then she began to mutter curses again.

This time, the target of her wrath was Zheng Huilan. She accused her daughter-in-law of treachery, of colluding with her in-laws to beat her, the mother-in-law, until she couldn’t leave her bed, without even offering her a bite to eat, branding her heartless and cruel.

As she cursed, she remembered her own husband and switched targets again. She was vigorously cursing old man Li as a deceitful wretch when the team leader knocked on the door.

"Team leader, you’ve come at last, look at this mess. Your uncle hasn’t returned yet, how about this, I go cook some food, and you stay and wait for your uncle," Qiu Shuping said, struggling to get off the kang and trying to sound congenial.

"No need, my uncle isn’t home," the team leader, knowing it was pointless to converse further, replied and left the house promptly to head towards Aunt Xue’s place.

Everyone in the village knew even the smallest gossip, so thinking that old man Li hadn’t returned home yet, he must have gone to the Xue family. Sure enough, when the team leader arrived at the Xue family’s home, there was old man Li, dining with Aunt Xue and her son.

Being cornered by the team leader in the house, Old Li and Madam Xue both felt their faces burning with embarrassment.

Normally, it could be said that Madam Xue was employed to take care of Old Li, and it was fine for them to have meals together. But now that Qiu Shuping had gone home and Old Li was still coming over to the Xue Family’s place to eat, it certainly raised some eyebrows.

"Cough, cough, Brother Team Leader has come, haven’t eaten yet, right? You’ve come at just the right time, have some with us," Madam Xue adeptly handled the situation and went straight into the house to get the bowls and chopsticks, showing much more sincerity than Qiu Shuping who just talked.

Team Leader was here to collect money, and it wasn’t appropriate to eat at this time, so he quickly declined, "Auntie Xue, no need to fuss, I’m just here to talk to Uncle Li and then I’ll leave. I’ve already eaten at home."

"Hey Gensheng, what do you need me for?" Old Li was too anxious to eat.

"Uncle Li, here’s the thing, my aunt went to the brigade last night to make a phone call to my brother Hongjun. You know the brigade’s phone is communal, and everyone has to pay for their use. My aunt said she didn’t bring any money last night, so I’ve come to settle the payment. We can’t owe communal money, right?" The team leader said, smiling as he pressed for the payment.

Old Li was shocked at the mention, his wife had made a call to Hongjun last night? Without a doubt, she must have been complaining about his behavior. Old Li was frantic, if his son found out about his problems, that would be terrible.

"Oh, that matter, right, no worries, we are all from the village, we definitely can’t duck out on communal debts. Tell me how much it is, I’ll pay," Old Li, ever concerned with appearances, knew that considering Qiu Shuping had just returned penniless, it was unrealistic to expect her to pay. So, as he spoke, his hand was already reaching into his chest pocket.

"Hehe, still, my uncle is generous. My aunt talked for quite a while, totaling a bit over five yuan—I rounded down, so just give five yuan," the team leader said, smiling.

"What? Five yuan for a phone call?" Old Li’s expression was as shocked as Qiu Shuping’s the previous night.

"That’s right, maybe my aunt just got back and was missing my brother Hongjun, one call lasted over ten minutes, not to mention she made more than one call. It’s all recorded in the brigade’s book," the team leader clarified, indicating he wasn’t making unfair demands.

Old Li’s hand, reaching for the money, froze; he didn’t have five yuan in his pocket now, what should he do?

Had the team leader come earlier to collect, there might have been money, but in the morning, the last ten yuan he had was borrowed by Suqin to pay for her child’s school fees. Now, he truly didn’t have so much money.

As for Madam Xue, she was certainly more cunning than Qiu Shuping, with a clear objective: money. Thus, after clashing with Qiu Shuping once, she changed her tactics. She intercepted Old Li on the road, dragged him home, and started lamenting.

Old Li, driven by his bruised male ego, was manipulated into handing over money for various reasons by her. For instance, spring planting was around, and she didn’t have money to buy seeds. It was a big issue; Old Li, having had a year-long ambiguous relationship with her and her being a widow and mother, could not just watch them starve, so he had to loan the money—there went fifty yuan.

Having procured seeds, the Xue family still lacked fertilizer. It was only Madam Xue and her daughter, one at school and the other being a housewife, with no one to go out and collect or haul manure, so if they wanted a good yield from their land, they had to buy fertilizer.

Having spent the major sum on seeds, spending another ten or twenty yuan on manure didn’t seem like much anymore. In this way, the almost hundred yuan in Old Li’s pocket was quickly depleted by Madam Xue.